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Monday, March 14, 2016

Grandma Blank's Funeral

We left Friday morning to drive to Utah. John noticed a problem with a tire on the van, so we switched everything over to his little car. Other than not having cruise control, it worked out well.
Running around at a rest stop in Nevada. We took the southern route because of weather delays and needing chains on Donnor Pass.
Jonah loved the "beautiful lights" in Las Vegas.
We arrived in the middle of the night and Terri arranged a lovely place for us to stay with her family. We left early the next morning for the viewing. At the graveside, daffodils were passed out to place on the casket.
It was windy and biting cold, so this part was kept brief. Then there was a beautiful memorial service back at the church. I learned a lot about Grandma and remembered some fun stories. The kids sang Little Purple Pansies and family memories were shared, including John's about having Christmas Eve talent nights.
Afterward the whole family had hot dogs and big gulps in her honor because they were her favorite. Scott searched all of the bottles and was upset because there was no water. Such a weirdo. Although it was my first big gulp, so maybe he gets it from me.
Some of us out-of-towners went to the Provo City Center Temple open house that afternoon. It was a very long wait in line because they ran out of reservations.
Uncle Joseph helped entertain the kids.
It's a beautiful temple. Scott asks about the Oakland temple when we go, so I was glad we could tour the inside of one together.
We headed back to the church to have pizza with everyone who was left. All 9 of the kids and lots of the grandkids (22 out of 25 I think) were able to come for the services.
Sweet, chubby Wesley was a big hit.
Brady's fiance, Hunter, ran around and played with Scott and Jonah until it was late. We slept a few more hours, then headed out in the morning. We stopped briefly at Julie and Christian's to tour their new house and try some homemade cheese.
 The rest of the drive back was beastly. The weather was clear, so we went north, but hit ski traffic and it ended up taking almost as long. 29 1/2 hours in the car total and we were only in Utah for 32. John had to take his time off unpaid since he's a contractor and we need to save for baby leave, but it would've been nice to have stayed out there longer. I'm grateful we could all go and see everybody. Hearing how much Norma loved her family reminded us to focus on the time we have with each other.

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