Idaho Part I: Grandpa

Contrary to my last post, today I'm feeling so grateful for my life. I love my sweet kids. I love my husband. And we have a pretty darn good life. Thanks for all the good advice. I'm working on it...and I know its going to get better. It already is!

Ready for the family vaca post? I'm going to do it in 3 posts actually to keep this post from taking me 2 hours to write and taking you 27 minutes to read.

PART I: Grandpa's Funeral

My sweet grandpa passed away on June 26. His funeral was held on July 1, in Declo Idaho, where he was born, raised, and lived out his good life. He was such a good man. He was filled with love for people and farming. You can read his obituary here.

I think funerals are a good thing. They provide closure and allow you to celebrate a life of someone you cared about. For me the funeral allowed me to see and connect with family that I hadn't seen in years. It helped me to know more about who my Grandpa was and how many people loved him. He was well loved by everyone he knew.

My Grandma asked my sister and I to sing at the funeral. I sang "Too Young" which was a song that was popular in the 50s. It was sang at their reception as my Grandpa was 19 and my Grandma was 16 when they got married. Despite being nervous and intimidated and quite rusty I was so grateful my Grandma asked me to sing. It gave me a chance to reconnect with something I used to love so much. Really, it was one of my passions. I had forgotten that. And it felt like a gift that I could give both my grandparents.

Here are some pictures:

They drove my Grandpa from the church to the cemetery (which is mostly fields) in the back of his pickup. He spent countless hours driving around in his pickup checking the crops. Several of my cousins rode with him.

Ruby and Auntie 'chelle

Madelyn and Sol getting some post funeral wiggles out.

This is the view from the cemetery to my Grandma's house. Her house is right by the grouping of silo's on the right of the picture. I think it so cool that she can look out her kitchen window and see my Grandpa's resting place. And he can watch over her (and the fields) from the peaceful hilltop.

Mason and cousins checking out a headstone.

Ruby and Auntie 'sissa

Grandpa's casket was remarkably beautiful.

At the dinner kids were running around. Grandpa would have enjoyed that.

To her thrill, Grandma helped Ruby get in on the action.

All of Grandpa's children, grandchildren, and great grand children. Amazing how one good couple make a difference for generations.

My cousin Cody
got a hold of my camera for like 5 minutes and proceeded to take all of these pics. Pretty awesome portraits:




Finally a family pic. Good thing the kids look great! They help the rest of us:


This part of our trip was easily the hardest, and most stressful however I feel it was a gift. I'm grateful for it.

Grandpa, we will miss you so much. But we know you're close and will keep you in our hearts till we see you again.