Happy/Sad

Almost two weeks ago my grandpa passed away.  He was such a great man and I wish I would have had more memories with him the past 20 years, but the ones I have from when I was young are great ones! Some of my favorites were having him pick me up from kindergarten in his nice maroon truck-I thought the carpet in the back was the best!  I loved being out in the orchard with him and going for tractor rides.  I LOVED eating the delicious peaches he and Grandma grew and I loved the walk-in cooler they would use to store the peaches when they had them in.  I remember people coming in weeks before the peaches were "on" and reserving their favorites to be sure they got as many as they wanted.  I still love the dirt smell of their big shed and the crisp, cool scent of the cooler! I remember going to BYU football and basketball games with him and grandma.  They would always get 3 tickets and take a grandkid with them each time.  They were such devout fans and I have vivid memories of being up playing outside or "helping" during a game and going in to see grandpa bang his head on the chandelier because he was walking out after a "poor" call.  They would irrigate and I loved playing in the "indian soap" foam that would happen where the water pooled.  They had irrigation boots of ALL sizes that would usually go up to my hips and I loved tromping around in them! My grandpa had a bunch of leatherworking tools and leather pieces in his basement den and I loved going down and making stuff with him.  Those tools were soo cool!! I have missed him these last 20 years even though we have lived fairly close, and I am soo happy he is now with my grandma.  I am sure they are enjoying doing temple work together now since they loved that so much here on earth, and I am positive they have found a way to create beautiful gardens and roses and fruits and vegetables because they were so talented with that here.

The best part of this is that ALL of my brothers came for his funeral.  We were only missing my sister-in-law Natalie and Sara and Molly, but for part of Sunday and Monday we had almost everyone together.  It was so much fun seeing my brothers and their families who came, I feel pretty lucky in the family department with great siblings and siblings-in-law and darling nieces and nephews! We got to hang out with Bryan and Annie on Friday after a rough drive down-their transmission went out :(.  We got some food at Little Acorn-deliciousness!- and went to Canyon View park to play and then went for a "hike".

The girls were definitely excited about the "hike" and the "adventure".  

This dude LOVES hats!

Saturday morning  Bryan, Phil, and Ryan played in and won a 3 on 3 tournament.  It was fun watching them all play together! Their team name was suggested by the proud OBGYN-Menstrual Cycles.  After a few games the announcer stopped saying their team name-can't say I blame him haha ;).  Ryan won the free throw competition they had in between one of the games.  We all enjoyed yummy snow cones while we watched.  

There was a kids' area that was actually pretty cool.  With the world's largest bunny how can it not be? Just kidding, but it is definitely the biggest bunny I have ever seen! 

 Best way for male bonding time? Put these guys in a hypothermic pool together.  When I jumped in with Bryan I thought for sure I was going to freeze to death! But before long they were back to cheerleader type tricks-video to come!

 This hypothermic pool leads to much overcrowding of the "hot" tub.

 Grandma never fails with the goodies and she showed up with doughnuts.  Ilene particularly liked her chocolate frosted one and spent a good 3 minutes licking off her fingers so she could re-enter the hot tub.

These are from Saturday morning at the tournament.  We had yummy snow cones.
 

 The kids dig some treasure hunting,

 Fish ponding

 Sand Art making

 Getting balloons animals.

 And huge bunny petting-seriously biggest rabbit I have ever seen! I am wondering if it eats other rabbits or just the small children who pet it?

 And more evidence of the pool stunting.

 Before the funeral Monday we took pictures since so many of us were together.  This is "all" the grandkids (minus Sara and Molly) and plus 2 adopted grandkids-my cousin's two kids.

 We needed to entertain the kiddoes so we played duck, duck, goose, Mother May I, and had a bunch of races.
The funeral was wonderful. I loved hearing stories about my grandpa that I hadn't heard before, but my favorite was the graveside portion.  It was so inspiring to see those aging veterans standing at attention and then seeing his flag draped casket and the respect they gave their fellow veteran.  I am so thankful for these men and the sacrifice they have given our country!

 The gun salute and taps were beautiful!

 Bryan and Annie and Jason and Christie and their kids left Monday after the funeral, but James and Scotty had just gotten here Sunday and could stay til Tuesday night.  So Tuesday we went up to the Living Planet Aquarium after Alli's tech rehearsal/pictures for her dance recital.
Cam thought all the animals were so cool so as long as he could see them he was happy!

 The kids thought the manta ray in the touch pool was pretty neat.

 The river otters were really active and playful so it was fun to see them swimming and running around all over.

 
 Ilene loved this frog statue.

We had such a good time are are now back to "regular" life, but it has still been pretty busy with a work trip for Ryan and a dance recital for Alli!