~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.