~Day 2• 120: how they ended up

I ended up keeping Ashton home from school today. He got his vaccines yesterday and they hit him hard today. He's had a fever and been very tired. He took a three hour nap. He never does that. He seems to be a little better tonight. We will see how is tomorrow morning. 

The girls were busy as always. We had an appointment today and they were everywhere. I thought they would end up on their heads somewhere. 

I went visiting teaching tonight. It was nice to talk. When I got home, Nick told me there was a note from Cailee to Brookie. It was so sweet! It said, "To BrookLynn, I am happy to have you as a sister. It is fun to have a sister. Love Cailee"

So sweet! I need to remember this note when they are at each other's throats over a Barbie doll.... 

~Day 2• 119: Stop it

Ashton had his 11yo well check today. I'm a little late. His bday was in January. Oops. He got some more vaccines so he can go to 6th grade. No! I do not have a child old enough. None of the kids listen to me though. They keep getting bigger. 

He did really well today. I think he was nervous. I didn't sugar coat the shots. I hate them. They hurt. They won't be the last. He was good. He's in a little pain tonight. His arm is sore at the shot site. Poor guy. But it's a necessity. 

The girls had to come with me. So they were prepared with their drawing things. They had a hard time sitting still tho. Not surprising. 

This little Bean finished her school project tonight. She needed to create a display showing her animal. She had a giraffe. BrookLynn drew the giraffe! Turned out good. Cailee helped complete it. I suggested using rocks and dead weeds to create the desert landscape. Creative, I know. I try. She told me where she wanted the objects to go, and I put the hot glue down so she could stick the stuff on it. She kept saying how much fun it was. And it was enjoyable. I think it turned out well! 

~Day 2• 118: The Cutest, Laughing Bug!!

Alissa and JJ wandered down today. First thing he did was sit and watch Ashton and his friend play the Xbox. He was quite interested in it. He sat there for a while, just watching. It was cute. 

Then he started crawling around looking for stuff to get into. Our house is boring. So he found uncle Nick. Nick can get him to smile and laugh.... See below. 

JJ decided Nick was the one to jump on.  He was bouncing on Nick's neck. I'm glad JJ found him just as useful as his bouncy seat at home. 

Then he discovered Cailee's birthday balloons. Nick was holding him while his mom was teasing him with it. This little guy was laughing and laughing at that balloon! I have never heard him laugh so hard before!  It was the cutest thing ever! We sure love this little Bug! 

~Day 2• 117: Is there STEAM left today?

Today we were full of STEAM.  It started out with everyone getting ready really early to head to the the Ortho to get xrays.  The two oldest kids are being looked at next week to see if they need braces.

After the xrays, we had a lot of time (surprising) before school started.  So we went back home and finished Brookie's school project.  She needed to make a 3D version of the insect she was given.  She had the honey bee.  We put flowers in her box this morning.  It was kind of fun.  I think it turned out pretty cute.

Then tonight was the STEAM night at school. (Science/Technology/Engineering/Arts/Math).  The kids were able to do all sorts of fun things.  It started with the 3-4-5th graders doing a music program.  They sang and played recorders and played the bongo drums.  It was really good.  Ashton was part of a small group that did their own thing at the end.  It was fun to watch.

One of the stations was a Bubble Station put on by the 1st grade team (Cailee's teachers).  The kids were able to blow bubbles and create their own wands.  They had a great time.  The girls also used colored bubbles to create those lovely pictures. 

The kids were also able to pick up their artwork they have been working on this year.  Cailee created a snail.  Ashton created a dragon.  Brookie had a birdie and an owl.  They were so proud of their work.  They did a good job!

Another station was the volcano station, created by the 2nd grade team (Brookie's team).  The kids have been collecting empty plastic water bottles for weeks.  And this is why.  They filled the bottles with baking soda.  And the dish detergent.  And finally the vinegar.  The kids couldn't wait to do this one and they got so excited when the bottles overflowed.  Fun stuff.

There were also two food trucks there tonight.  The kids chose Waffle Crush.  They were big waffles for little tummies.  The waffles sounded too rich for me, so I opted for the cheese truck.  I should have gone with the waffles.  My grilled cheese sandwich wasn't worth the money I paid.  Oh well.  Lesson learned.

I really didn't want to go to the STEAM night because I was out of steam today.  The kiddos have been talking about this night for awhile now.  Ashton really wanted to participate in his music program.  The girls wanted to visit the stations created by their teachers.  I'm glad we took them.  They really did have a good time.  They each saw some friends.  We saw some friends.  It was overall an enjoyable night.  Now I'm going to enjoy sleep.

~Day 2• 116: Imaginations

Brookie and Cailee. These two are pretty fun to watch when they get to imagining. They took over my piano and created some kind of doll house. 

Then Cailee was watching her balloons swirl with the fan airflow. She kept at it for quite awhile. Then she was playing 'basketball ' with them in the kitchen. Silly girl. 

~Day 2• 115: Lets make some noise JJ

Busy day today.  It started with a trip to the Urgent Care to make sure Brookie didn't break her foot.  She fell on it at school on Monday or Tuesday and she has been in pain all week.  I think she bruised it, but I wanted to get an xray to make sure there really wasn't a hairline fracture.  Nothing showed up on the films, but the doc said to keep an eye on it this week.  If she is still in the same amount of pain in another week, then there could be something there that could possibly show up later on.  Making her take it easy is going to be tough.  She has a hard time with that.  I hope we don't have to go back later... we will see.

Oh, and Cailee had to show us how she could run on air... she always has something new to show us.  Goofball.

Ashton and Nick came home from their first father/son campout.  Nick has never been able to take the time off work to go.  So I felt like we graduated in a way... and I think they had a great time!  They smelled like a campfire, but they enjoyed it.  I understand it was a good turnout.  Ashton was so worn out that he took a long nap on the way home.  He never sleeps in the car and rarely naps at all.  So this was one tired monkey.  So glad they got to go.

We were very excited to have JJ for the day.  His mom and dad took off for a fun show, so JJ needed some place to hang out.  As shown in the pictures, he was never without some sort of audience.  Cailee said, 'Let's make some noise JJ!' And they did.  My toy collection for a baby consisted of some metal measuring cup thingies and a couple plastic cooking utensils.  I'm not equipped to do baby anymore, but they made noise!  I think the girls liked it as much as he did.

  And his shirt is fabulous!

Uncle Nick got down on JJ's level and had some fun.  JJ is very poker-faced.  It's kind of funny.  We didn't get a lot of reactions out of him, but it was fun to try.

Nick got a little grin out of him when he was kind of flying him in the air.  And then Brookie--she is his favorite!  She really got him going and even got a laugh out of him.  It was so great!

JJ discovered the video game controller.  He and Ashton were playing something... or Ashton was playing and JJ was drooling on the controller.

We took JJ in to watch the fish a couple of times.  He sat there for a long time, just watching.  He tried to grab one of the fish while it swam by.  Cailee came and sat with them too.  It's fun to watch them sit quietly together.

Toward the end of the day, JJ started to get a little cranky.  We fed him and tried to keep him entertained.  It reminded me of when my kids were tiny.  I basically changed stations with my kids to change what was stimulating them.  Nick got JJ's mom on facetime and that distracted him for a bit.  Then Nick and JJ tried to take out Ashton...I think JJ won.  He really is a good baby. It's so fun to have him.

He is a really snuggly little guy.  First, Brookie wanted him to rest on her shoulder, but he was more interested in attacking the pillow.  But he was lovey on Nick and me and we soaked it up.

Ashton was able to go to his best friend Ian's house tonight.  They got ice cream and played an intense game of  '7 Wonders.'  They played the game for ages and from what I understand it is pretty involved.  He came home with the game, so we are going to read through the instructions and see exactly what it entails.  We might end up playing it tomorrow, you never know.

Great day with some great kids.

~Day 2• 114: Did mommy melt down?

Nick and Ashton left for their first father and sons camp out. I think Ashton was pretty excited. I guess it had been raining earlier today, so I hope the weather is ok. The girls were missing the boys, too. 

Cailee earned her video game rental, so we picked it up tonight. She made sure she picked out a game that the other two kids wanted to play. She always thinks about them in decisions like this. She and Brookie had fun playing, but I know they can't wait for Ashton to get back. 

Did mom have a meltdown ? Hm... Slightly.  Did the girls have meltdowns? Uh, yup. I let them play a little longer before bed, but mom was met with opposition. There is only so many times a person can ask nicely before they might lose their cool. Cailee works toward putting  a sticker on a sort of behavior chart. She lost that privilege tonight and that made her more disruptive. Then Brookie couldn't find her Jammie shorts in her oh-so-clean room, so she lost it. Mom's fuse blew. No one was happy. 

Brookie calmed down. Mom calmed down. Cailee was still upset, so I went and talked to her. I asked if she had anything to say to me. She said, "I want my daddy." Lol she is blunt. She said it wasn't because I got mad at her, but she just missed him. We both said we are going try harder tomorrow. She fell asleep very quickly. Then Brookie said she was wired. Ok. Well, you are going to go to bed anyway. She was asleep in minutes too. 

Peace. And mom is going to bed early. Kind of. I hope the boys had more fun than the girls did. 

~Day 2• 113: Wild Women

Goofy girls.  This morning Cailee was playing with her new birthday stuff she got yesterday.  She had her drawing stuff from Aunt 'Sa spread all over the floor... in the walkway.  She was so excited to play with it.

Then the girls and I had an appointment this afternoon.  they wanted to look over the balcony.  I'm sure they would have jumped off had I let them.  They were so wound up today.  Oh my....

And these women... oh my.  There was something in the water tonight at Bunco.  It was a great night as always, but there was just something... So much laughing and joking and silliness.  It was so much fun!  It was crazy hair night.  Of course I forgot to do anything.  But it was fun to see what others had done.  

We also had two 'ghost' players for awhile.  Meet miss piggy and Pinky Pie... Pinky was a bit possessed for awhile.  Scared the stuff out of Melissa when it decided to move on its own.  Made for great entertainment for the rest of the night and I don't think she will be living it down anytime soon.  This was some much needed laughter tonight.  Thank you Bunco Babes!

Of course we had to get a group picture.  We were going to have Heather's son take it from the balcony... but then we were all worried about him dropping the phone in the process.  Good call to have him to come us.  Great picture!

Then... a handful of us stayed till around 11pm and just talked.  What happens at Bunco, stays at Bunco.  I'm not sharing what we talked about.  But it was very fun and very enjoyable and very informative lol   It was fun to have Alissa subbing tonight, too.  I'm surprised that big 'R' on the wall is still on that wall.  There was some good smack talking about the relocation of that R to Alissa's house.  I still think Heather just needs to take a picture of it and give to Alissa in a frame...a 4x6 might work well. haha

It's been a long day.  Time to try to get some rest.  It will be just me and the girls tomorrow night.  Nick and Ashton are taking off for the Father/Son campout.  I think my girls are looking forward to some girl time.  g'night.

~Day 2• 112: What do we call her?

This little miss turned 7 today.  I cannot believe it.  She is our youngest and it's kind of hard to fathom that this will be our last 7 year old.  We are trying to enjoy our kids as much as possible, because time is flying by very quickly.  

The young picture on the left is when she was probably around a year old.  I can't remember for sure.  I do remember the name we called her.  She had a cute, bald and rather large head when she was a baby.  We lovingly called her cue ball.  She grew out of that and grew into her cute head.  She is a fun little girl with a big personality.  She is constantly surprising us.  She is always coming up with some goofy dance, or a song or  something funny that makes us smile.  She loves her books.  She loves to use her imagination.  She loves music.  She loves to laugh and giggle.  She loves to be tickled.  And she loves to cuddle.  And the thing that always gets me is how concerned she is for others. She has her moments, like everyone, when we wonder if she will survive the night because of her attitude... but for the most part she is very loving.  She is always thinking about her siblings.  She wants to include them in things.  She wants to share with them something she bought.  If she is picking out a game or a movie, she is concerned if they will like to watch or play it with her.  She is a tiny little thing with a big heart.

She used to fit in our laps, but now she is all limbs hanging out all over the place.  We sure love our little 'Beans.'  And I don't know exactly how she got that nickname.  I think we just started calling her Cailee Beans, and it stuck.  She will tell you that her full name is Cailee Beans Cardona.  Or just Beans.  We love our cute little Cailee.

Cailee wanted to take a treat to school to share with her classmates, so we went to the dollar store to see if there was anything she wanted to take.  Nothing there, but... she saw the balloons and proceeded to tell me that I could get her some balloons so she would be surprised in the morning.  I told her if she knew about it, it wouldn't be a surprise.  She said she would be surprised anyway.  So she got some balloons.

Birthdays at our house are pretty low-key.  Sometimes the kids wake up to balloons in the living room.  Sometimes they don't. I am not a 'party mom,' so we celebrate with family.  That is how I celebrated my birthdays growing up, and I survived.  I just can't handle 50 little kids running around... So we do cake and ice cream and gifts.  It's enough :)

She did get a 'Frozen' cake.  It was pretty and it was chocolate and it was yummy.  She had fun trying to blow out her candles.  She told me not to put on trick candles (like I did for Ashton) but I didn't know what candles were trick or not.  She had some.  It was fun to watch her spit on the cake.  And yes, she did spit.  I think that's why John didn't have any...

Alissa and John and JJ came over to celebrate.  JJ looked like he wanted to go swimming in the fish tank.  He was intrigued in it.  I think he liked it more than he liked the ice cream and cake his parents tried to feed him.  His face was cute when he tasted them.

Cailee is a lucky girl.  Aunt Sa gave her an art book, featuring Petshops.  It's similar to a book that Brookie has, and they are both excited to be able to draw and color together.  She also received several books, including her favorite "If you give a moose a muffin," and a "Pinkalicious" coloring book.  Her face when she opened them was cute and when she hugged her books, it made me smile.

I think she had a good day.  I still can't believe my baby is now 7.  Happy Birthday, Cailee Beans.

~Day 2• 101-111: Slightly Behind Here...

I am so far behind.  I didn't post one night because I was tired.  I didn't post the second night because I was tired.  I had just driven hours in the car with three children.  I wanted sleep.  So I got it.  Now, 11 days later, I'm catching up on my 'daily blog.'  I knew this would happen if I stopped only ONE day.  I was good about taking pictures every day, and posting them in my 'unpublished' day.  So here goes on writing it all up....All 11 days.  Oh my.

Day 101-Saturday, April 11th:  The day we left Utah.  The kids started out playing outside when it wasn't raining.  The girls absolutely LOVE the swing set in the back yard.  We loved it growing up, and I'm glad my kids can enjoy it now, too.

I had to take pics of the kids each giving grandpa loves before we took off.

Grandpa and Ashton got to talking about scouting.  Dad pulled out his old scout uniform stuff and Ashton was enjoying seeing all the things my dad did.  Brookie even liked to get into the fun by wearing my dad's hat.  Ashton saw the Eagle Scout pin, and I think he was intrigued to see what he is working toward. 

And this little sweetie... she sure is a cutie!  Oakley is Julie's youngest.  She climbed up and snuggled with me and played dragons with me and was just cute.  Period.  She speaks very well for her age (reminds me of Ashton) and I just loved talking with her!  Aunt Julie stole a hug from Cailee, too.  I think Julie had to threaten her tho...Oakley was naturally drawn to her favorite Aunt.  Good girl.

And Julie stole my phone.  I think she was bored.  And yes, I'm sharing the beautiful pictures.  The middle one is the best though.  Love my sisters!

Now the time to leave is upon us. I had to take a picture of the white board that Brookie and Braylin made.  They had different mood hearts and were making different sentences out of them.  It was cute.  They also were having fun in the basement before we left.  They were playing games and ipad and whatever, just to be together.  I wish we lived closer so they could be together more often.

And then I forced the grandkids into one picture.  And then I forced the adults into a picture.  And then I forced my kids to take a pre-drive selfie.  Everyone loves the pictures.  I know they do haha  I was so fun to visit.  It was hard to leave.  But it was good to start our journey home.

And the mountains.  Oh, the mountains.  I sure miss this daily view of the Wasatch Range.  Even with the snow caps.  I just LOVE them.  And as I was driving out of town, I drove past the JiffyLube and realized that I really needed an oil change before I started driving hundreds of miles.  They were SO fast!  I was in and out in about 20 minutes... go JiffyLube!  I wish I had one near me in Arizona.

Our destination that day was my cousin's house.  Roni and Milt live outside Cedar City.  We stopped last year on our trip south, so I hit her up again this time for a place to stay that night.  Our kids don't spend much time together, but when they do, they have so much fun!  It was so nice of Roni to have us, especially after she just rode her bike about 75 miles (i think?) earlier that day.  Go Roni!  We were both exhausted.  She from riding her bike for miles, me from driving my car for miles.  We would have stayed up and talked forever, but we were both falling asleep.  It was nice to have a place to stay that night.

Day 102-Sunday, April 12: We woke up Sunday morning, and the kiddos were happy to get back to playing.  Roni was great and made us breakfast too.  I tried to help, but got fired.  I cannot separate eggs without cheating and using a little egg separator.  I mixed the whites with the yokes, so I gave up.  I got to do the sausage though.. I can handle that, as long as Ashton helped me.  It was a really yummy breakfast too.

They had church in a few hours, so they are all dressed up and looking nice.  The kiddos had fun playing and I had a good time talking to Roni and Milt for awhile.  We needed to get on the road, so of course I had to get pictures of everyone. The kids were being goofy in some pics, but they also stood still so we could get a good shot of all of them together.  And Roni and I ... yeah.  we are not the same height.  I was on my tip-toes and she hunched down lol it was great.  And it was so good to see them!  I'm glad they were open to letting us crash their house that night.

  Ugh.  Only 506 miles to go?  That's not long at all.  The kids did pretty well tho.  We had to make a couple stops along the way and get out of the car to stretch our legs.  But all-in-all, they did really well. It was soooo nice to finally get home.  Everyone was glad to see dad I think.

Day 103- Monday, April 13:  Cailee's position in the morning says it all.  We were all so exhausted.  None of us wanted to get up.  But we did.  We had a hard time functioning, but we did it.  Cailee wanted to wear her jammies to school.  I wish.

The day ended in some fun though.  First, Nick found me a good deal on a scanner/printer/copier thingy.  I got back from the funeral and visiting with family and I wanted to get more serious with the documents we have, or are going to have.  I want to do the scanning the right way.  So he found me that scanner.  I'm excited to get going with the items I have and get them uploaded to FamilySearch.

AND... the new lease is signed!  yay! we are officially staying in the house for at least another year.  I hope it will be longer, but for the time being, we are here.  I'm excited because the kids are in a good school.  We are in a good neighborhood. And we are in a good ward.  It's a good place for us now.  I hope we can stay longer.  We will see.

Day 104- Tuesday, April 14: I pull into work and there is a random duck sitting in the parking lot.  I had to take a picture of course.  I saw him a few days later... there is a lake nearby.  I would think that is more comfortable than the pavement.  

That night, the kids' school had a fundraiser at one of the McDonald's.  The kids talked us into going.  They wanted to see all their teachers outside of school.  They saw many friends there and had a good time.  We didn't stay to eat.  We took the food and came home and started watching a documentary on Minecraft.  After dinner, the kids got ready for bed and both Cailee and Brookie read to us before going to sleep.  It was a fun day.

Day 105-Wednesday, April 15: The girls came home from school with instructions on building dioramas.  Cailee had to do one about an animal and she chose a giraffe.  BrookLynn drew the animal for her!  It looks so good!

Brookie had to make a 3-D replica of her insect.  She has a honey bee.  She decided to hang it in a box so it looked like it was flying.  I love my two little artists!

Day 106-Thursday, April 16: Cute girls.  Brookie is getting pretty good at playing the piano.  She loves to just sit and play.

Cailee is a goofy girl.  We go to an appointment in this building with the little wall.  Every time we go, she has to climb on it.  Just like she had to sit IN the basket of clothes instead of putting away the basket of clothes.  She does have a mind of her own.  Silly girl.

Day 107- Friday, April 17: The day started with Brookie getting herself dressed.  She is wearing her school spirit shirt, her cute shoes and her little purse that held her chapstick.  She has a fashion sense of her own and I love it.

I also had a nice lunch with some friends from work.  Gini flew the coup and ran away to work at the corporate office.  So it was good to get together with her again and the other fun ladies at the office.  It was so nice!

Then Ashton went on his first overnighter with the scouts.  He was excited to go, but I was missing him and hoping he had a good time.  My little one is growing up!  While he was gone, the girls and I went on a little outing in the car.  We went to get the car washed and they were having a party int the back seat.  The highlight was the rainbow colored soap.  The silliness continued with the rubber glove on Ashton's door.  I'm not exactly sure why the gloves came off, but they did.  Goofs.

Day 108-Saturday, April 18: Ashton returned home ok!  He had a great time and earned a lot of  things for scouts and was in one piece.  And his leaders were still sane.  Proud of this little man.  He's doing great things in scouts already!

And the girls... I made them clean their rooms just so they could mess them up again with their tea party.  I love it when they all play together nicely.

Day 109-Sunday, April 19: The day was pretty uneventful... until this one started being her goofy self.  She was running all over the place with her nightgown pulled over her head.  She has this little dance she does quite often, too.  She was dancing and falling and being silly.  Brookie was having fun with her too.  I love it when they get all wound up right before bedtime. 

Day 110-Monday, April 20: Displaced?  Yup.  One bed set was removed from one house and put into another house.  The living room seemed like a good spot to put it.  It didn't take up much floor space at all.

And Ashton... haha he got a new sleeping bag for the father/son camp out this weekend.  He was so excited to get it that he fell asleep with it.  But it was the wrong way.  I guess it's warm enough here that he just wanted it across his body instead of his body being in it.  Silly little man.

Day 111-Tuesday, April 21:  This is my view when I woke up.  The old set.  It's going into Brookie's room, but we have to move a bunch of stuff around.  And we were not up to it yesterday.  So the mattress is sitting upright in my room and down the hall.

This morning Ashton had a doc appointment, but we stopped of at the lab first.  I had to get some blood drawn, so he just came with me.  He had never seen the process before.  I think he was intrigued, a little. 

Tonight Ashton had his first Court of Honor for the big scouts.  All of the boys received multiple awards.  Their leaders are so great and are trying to help these boys along their scout journey.  I'm excited to see what Ashton can do.

Brookie was at Activity Days, but Cailee was with us and so excited to have daddy messing up her hair.  Plus she kept trying to avoid me taking her picture.  It was funny.

Ok-- i'm caught up now.  I'm not going to leave this thing alone anymore.  It's easier to do one day at a time, and I want to keep doing it.  It's fun to look back at what we have done in the past.  I wish I would have started doing it before last year... but oh well.  

~Day 2• 100: It's only a quarter of a beard...

Today was another low-key day. Courtnie slept over so the girls had fun today. They started out by eating waffles for breakfast. Then they were busy playing outside until I had to take her to meet her mom and pick up ashton. The girls had a lot of fun! 

While I was gone picking up ashton, my mom went to meet Julie and pick up Braylin. The girls ended up walking their stuffed dogs all over the house. Then they were building things downstairs with blocks. They also went outside quite a lot. I'm glad they all had fun. 

The night ended with the three little girls taking over the one big bed. Ashton was stuffed into the little couch and i will be in the small hidabed. The fun of having cousins sleep over :)

Earlier in the day, my cousin Cami and her hubby Kevin stopped by. We sat and talked for a long time. We pulled out some old pictures of grandma Beth. There is one that looks almost identical to Cami. They are both very beautiful. It was good to talk with her a bit and get a picture with her and her mom, Colynn. 

Right when Cami was leaving, my mom's aunt Ann came, and her daughter Kayleen. (Ann is my gma's older sister)  At the funeral yesterday, my great-aunt Roma (my gma's little sister) had given me an envelope containing what was supposed to be old pictures of my grandma Beth. Instead, I received pictures of Ann. So Ann brought down the envelope she received of my grandma and changed with us. It was good to see her and talk with her. I am privileged to be able to know so many of my mom's extended family. And with me getting more involved in family history, it's been fun to dive deeper into some things. 

After a very yummy elk roast dinner provided by my parents (LONG overdue too! I miss my dad's elk roasts) the kids were able to have ice cream cones. Ashton is going to kill me for putting up that first shot... But I got him just at the right moment! 

Each kiddo had fun with their ice cream on cones. But all four kids ended up with either mustaches or beards... Or in Ashton's case, a half of beard made out of chocolate. We all had to give him a bad time when he kept wiping his face, but he kept missing half of the chocolate. 

The kids all laid down to watch a movie, and I think were mostly asleep by 11. Tomorrow we head out for a two day drive home. It's been an enjoyable stay, but I think we are all ready for our own beds. 

~Day 2• 99: The Airbag? Really!?

Grandpa Bud was laid to rest today.  What a beautiful ceremony it was all around. We started the morning with a viewing and it was so nice to see so many familiar faces.  There were a lot of people that I knew!  The circumstance of the reunion is not fun, but what a great opportunity to see old friends.

 

After the viewing, we adjourned to the chapel for the funeral program.  There were so many great comments said and beautiful musical numbers played. The highlight for me was when cousin Nancy Scott did the eulogy.  What a great talk it was.  She talked about grandpa's younger years a lot and highlighted many of his accomplishments.  He worked at Thiokol for 33 years (might have been longer).  He worked on rockets, and blew things up and created so many things.  He was so smart.  He is a legend at Thiokol.  The thing that stood out the most was that he had a hand in developing air bags for cars!  Most of us had no idea he did that.  Apparently there are many things he helped create where his name is on the patents. 

 

I loved hearing about all the wonderful things he did in his life.  There were a lot of things that I didn't know.  But I do know that he was so selfless and giving and would do anything for anyone.  He could do anything.  He touched many, MANY lives.

 

After the funeral service we left for the cemetery.  He was in the Korean War and so he received a special military funeral.  The Honor Guard from the United States Army presented my aunt Colynn with the flag from his coffin.  It was so fascinating to watch how professional and honorable they looked.  I have never seen a military ceremony and I loved watching them fold the flag. It was a very special graveside ceremony.

 

After the graveside ceremony, we went back to the church and had lunch that was provided by the local Ward Relief Society.  It was very nice.  I stole da' baby, Preslie... Kade became a rug on the floor... Julie thought she could out-selfie me... and there were so many friends and family who stayed for lunch.  Which meant there was more time to talk with people.

 

The two top right pictures showed the room that I stowed my kids away in for the viewing.  The viewing was two hours and I knew that they would not last without things to do.  So I brought them a lot of distractions, which worked out pretty well.  They really did well overall today.  I was proud of them.  One thing that was kind of funny was that Cailee was fixated on the 'dead body.' She kept asking if that was the dead body and was there blood still in him.  No... then where is it?  She was very inquisitive.  She said, "I've never seen a dead body before." :) I'm glad she was asking questions.

After lunch, a bunch of us went back to Aubrey and Brandon's house to visit.  The kids really had fun playing together.  They don't get to play often, so it was fun to watch them have fun together.  They mainly wanted to jump on the trampoline.  But there were too many big kids, too many small kids... so Brandon did a good job policing the jump time.  I loved just sitting and talking with my cute family.  I miss them and am glad I was able to visit with them for a short while.  Loren and Shireena were unable to come from Alaska, but their missing presence was felt.  We missed them.

The cousins are having a sleepover tonight.  We stole Courtnie and Chandra took Ashton with her.  When we left Aubrey's house, we drove back up to the cemetery.  The flowers were still there and we let the girls choose a flower to take home.  The top left picture is of the girls being sad because we left the grave where grandpa is buried.  But then I made them be happy instead.  We also drove past the newly refinished Ogden Temple.  It is beautiful and I have not seen it finished yet. 

 

Tonight a good friend brought over dinner and dessert.  The dessert is chocolate cake, and the little girls sure loved eating it.  They were all trying to eat with their left hands at one point.  It was cute.

 

Today was a very nice day.  It is hard to say goodbye to a loved one, but what a wonderful reunion he is having in heaven.  He is with my grandma, his parents and siblings, and so many more family members who have gone before him.  It was so nice to learn new things about him. It was fun to hear things we already knew, but could smile at the memory.  It was nice to share with each other these stories and memories and feel of each other's love for him. 

 

You will be missed for a short time, Grandpa, but we will see you again and share these memories and feel of your love when the time is right.  You lived a full life on this earth, now start living a new life in Heaven.  I love you.  Dearly.