MY BROTHER, - MIKE

Michael Louis Zundel
May 20, 1966 - September 18, 2010

My sweet brother passed away this past Saturday. It was not unexpected, but we thought we had more time with him. By Saturday morning, we realized it would be only a few days until he left us, but in reality it was only hours.

After 18 years of battling Crohn's disease and 2 years with colon cancer, the cancer won out.

Almost every member of our family was able to see him and talk to him the morning that he died. Only three of my children were absent on Saturday, but each of them had seen him in the past months.

We witnessed the tender mercies of the Lord extended to our family in many ways on Saturday. Mike had the opportunity to have his children visit with him just an hour or so before he passed and he became coherent, strong and peaceful and able to go without oxygen in order for him to give each of his four children a father's blessing as well as priesthood blessing for his sweet wife. He was then given a priesthood blessing by his father and two brothers-in-law.

It is a testimony to our family that the Lord loves us, blesses us and gives us exactly what we need. As a family we had planned to use this past Saturday as an opportunity to provide service to Mike and Liz in the way of some yard work. The lovely addition to their home was completed only 4 months ago but the yard was still not in working order. About a month ago we agreed on this date to meet together at Mike's home in Salt Lake - my sister and her family coming from Vernal - specifically for this project. Little did we know that our gathering would accomplish not only the service we had originally planned but also the purposes of the Lord - a chance to say good-bye to our brother and uncle.

Not only did we share tears and loss that morning - but the two wonderful brothers-in-law as well as my son-in-law and our children went right to his home to accomplish the original purpose of that day. By 8:00 that evening, just as darkness set in, we finished a project that we estimated may actually have taken us two days. The project went smoothly without one problem or setback - another blessing from our Heavenly Father.

As a family we are stong in the faith that Mike is free from the cares, worries and pains of this world. He lives and goes on, awaiting a reunion with his family - but what a reunion he is having with those who have already gone on before him. He was faithful, obedient, loving and kind. He worked hard to support his family - all through his long treatments and even from his hospital bed this past summer. The following is an exerpt sent to all employees at Bridgewater Corporation where Mike work:

"There are no words that can adequately express our feelings for Mike and his family. Mike joined Bridgewater in 1998 and has been a loyal and trusted employee and friend to many. Mike's work ethic and committment are an example to all of us. In his 12 years with our company, I believe he has only gone home early 2 or 3 times. Yet Mike told me that has never really felt well since he was diagnosed with Crones disease 15 years ago. He is one of the most positive, upbeat, kind and honorable people I know."

Even our family never really knew the suffering Mike endured with his disease. He never complained, never questioned why, never lost his faith. We will miss you dressed in the U of U red or the Cowboy blue. We will miss you on Superbowl Day. We will miss you at the backyard picnics and the birthday parties - but it is only for now.

I love you Mike - eternally, Manja



University of Utah and Dallas Cowboys - Mike's teams forever!

Manja and Mike - Corpus Christi, Texas; June 2009

Mike and Liz

THE ALAMO
June 2009

GETAWAY TO MESA VERDE

Day One:
Day one began with a great overview tour of the park. We spent 5 hours with Ranger Randy and he shared lots of interesting information about the park, the ancestral Puebloans who lived there, the flora and fauna - everything. It really was a great introduction and we learned tons.

Ranger Randy is a retired National Park Ranger, retired paramedic, retired wild firefighter and retired ZZ Top roadie. (This was a short stint during his youth when he found out quickly that roadies don't get to go to the fun parties, only the band does - roadies stay and tear down the set.) He works a few months a year at Mesa Verde doing private tours and he said he'll probably head up to the Jackson Hole/Yellowstone area for the winter and do snowmobile tours. What a great life. I enjoyed everything he shared, but Bryan got a little tired of hearing Randy talk and talk and talk.


It really is amazing to see how these people lived, how they labored to build their homes and store their food.



Standing by Ranger Randy's favorite tree in the WHOLE park - a giant Pinyon Pine (or as it is called in the plains states - Pin-yone, non Pin-yun. As interesting as his description of the tree and the numerous ways that the Indians used the tree was, it only made me hungry for pine nuts.


Our tour included a short hike to Spruce Tree House.





We had a great campground, very comfortable and the weather was PERFECT!

Deer were everywhere in our campground. We also saw coyotes and wild horses throughout the park (okay the horses are owned by the Ute Indians, but they roam wherever they want through the park until they wander into places the park doesn't appreciate them - then the Indians come gather them up and move them somewhere else in the park).

And yes, Manja won the scrabble game!

DAY TWO:

We took the ranger guided tour to Cliff Palace. Truly amazing what these ancient people did with the resources they had.




Ranger Tamara.
She talked very --- s l o w l y ---
and very --- d i s t i n c t l y ---
for all the foreign visitors - and she loved to use her hands to try and explain everything. I'm not so sure the hands were necessary, even I was confused sometimes. But we learned a lot nonetheless.







3 mile hike through the canyon to see petroglyphs left by the Ancestral Puebloans.






Sunset at Park Point, the highest elevation at Mesa Verde.


DAY THREE:

Leaving Mesa Verde we drove east to Durango, CO (otherwise known as my second choice after Sante Fe, New Mexico as places I would like to live) and then north to Silverton, CO and on to Grand Junction, CO and I-70 home.

The drive north was beautiful - the wild flowers were wonderful. The mountains were gorgeous.

Am I mistaken or does Utah have only vertical S signs? We saw these signs for about an hour as we climbed to 10,000 foot mountain passes.






Finally we arrive in Silverton - fun little tourist town.

Lunch in Silverton at the Thee Pitts!! Yes, the entire building was pink, inside and out, but the food was FABULOUS!! Pulled pork, mmmm - beef brisket, mmmm - bbq chicken, mmmm.
Really, if you find yourself in Silverton, Colorado or Glendale, Arizona - stop by and indulge!



Headed home - stop in Green River, Utah for a Blizzard and a watermelon.

Daniel's Visit

What fun - Daniel came home for a week's visit. We all enjoyed dinner in Grandma and Grandpa Z's backyard, visited with Laura, Quinn and the kids and Mike, Liz and their kids. It's been two years now since Daniel has been home in the summer. During his week's visit, he went with his good friend Tyler and others to hike Havasupi in the Grand Canyon. Then the day after he returned from that trip, we headed up to Bear Lake for the weekend.

From one end of the state to the other- Daniel has seen it all in one week!

We love ya, Daniel - SOOOOOO goood to see you!!



Emma and cousin Ally enjoy Grandma Z's teepee.





WEEKEND AT BEAR LAKE



The Fish Game - a throw back to Daniel's childhood. He saw this game in the store and had to buy it for Grandma Van Bibber because when he was a kid, his grandma had this game. And the tradition continues - grandkids love it!!



I think James LOVES camping!


....mmmmm