In May we made an unexpected and sad road trip to Utah for Spencer's funeral. John got called on Monday, May 15 that he wasn't doing well, and it was serious. About 12 hours later he passed away. I'll let John talk about the funeral and that part, but I do want to talk about the trip we had around the funeral. We decided to make a little bit of a trip of it. But first, John:
We arrived in Utah the day before the funeral. The whole family came into town. There was some winter weather in Wyoming that tried to keep Harold's family away, but he made it to Utah just before the funeral began. The services were very nice. It was neat that between the Family Prayer at the viewing, the funeral, and the grave dedication, all of my immediate family got to participate in some way. I played the piano for my three sisters as they sang "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" and I said the opening prayer. Joe, Jeff, and Dad gave the talks, and they did a great job paying tribute to Spencer. All of Spencer's nephews and nieces sang "I'll Walk With You" and all of his siblings and their spouses sang "I Am a Child of God." I was one of the pall bearers.
We took a couple of pictures at the grave side. One with my parents and all of their kids and one of my parents and all of their descendants (Spencer behind us for both). My siblings and I got a 24" x 36" canvas of the big family picture for my parents. It had to be big so they could actually see everyone's faces. Ellie is particularly cute in the big one!
We spent a lot of time that day with the Pearson family, and then again the next day. It was great to spend time all together with them since we all haven't been together for many, many years.
It still doesn't seem real to me that he is gone. Spencer has been a huge part of my life from day 1. While I lived at home I got to help care for him a lot, especially after Joe moved out. At that point I did everything except feed him (Mom is the only one who had the patience to do that consistently) - baths, diapers, bedtime, and anything else that needed doing. A big chunk of who I am is because he is my brother. I recall that one of the only times on my mission that I felt really home sick was when reading a short account of one of his birthday dinners. Even though we haven't seen him often since moving to Arizona, I still feel like there is this big hole in my life now. But it is comforting to know we'll all be together again some day. Love you and miss you brother!
Okay, back to me, Kylee. We tried to use the extra time we had to make some nice memories with our other family too. We visited the Ogden temple grounds. I hadn't been that close to it since it was renovated. Quite a change. Grandma Lucas went with us, and of course we had to go to Farr's Ice Cream after.
John got the best flavor, some chocolaty deliciousness.
Holland and I were going to share. I thought I would be sharing with her, but she commandeered not only one spoon, but both of ours. She occasionally, begrudgingly, shared a bite with me.
See the double spoon in one hand?! Good thing I love her so much.
I also took up my nice camera and played with it a lot in my mom's yard. Her yard is a-mazing! My girls came with me to take pretty pictures too. Which I guess for them included showing off their snail shell collections. Ew. But it's a whole acre of beautiful flowers, shrubs, trees, and grass, surrounded by picturesque fields and trees. It is simply perfect. We took about a million pictures, but this is a little selection of some of my favorites.
Gross shell collection!
We brought the tripod and wanted a little group shot.
Flying on my feet!
These pictures are little bit jumbled in order, but later David and Patti's family came for a visit. This alfalfa field was a fun place for them to play house. They stamped down their rooms and played away. I remember doing the exact same thing as a girl. It warms my heart to see them making similar memories with their cousins.
Playing in the alfalfa!
Such a beautiful yard!
That evening, I had to take some pictures of my kiddos with the beautiful sun rays coming through the trees!
A little blurry, but I love it!
Being thrown in the air. I love her.
She loves my dad. Really. She was so happy to see him again.
And this is what makes that beautiful yard all possible. My mom works so hard in her yard. When she sprays for weeds it takes a couple of days of spraying to get the whole yard and garden. Crazy!
Holland with her cool "sassies." (Sunglasses :) )
Apparently they're building a subdivision in the field behind my parents' field. It is practically a crime against nature.
I am trying to not be too upset by the changes to my childhood home. But seriously people, it is gorgeous, who wouldn't be sad by the wrecking of that view.
Oh my girls. :) And Hollands tongue. :)
We love taking off shoes and running barefoot in that soft, soft grass.
These pictures are a titch out of order, but it always messes up the formatting if I rearrange it, so I won't attempt to put it chronologically. On the way back to Phoenix, we detoured and saw the Manti Temple. We invited my mom and grandma to come with us. My dad was invited too, but he had an auction he had to be at. :)
Silly faces back in my mom's yard.
Look at all of those iris.
The evergreen tree we are kneeling in front of was a tree I planted in second grade. It was only a couple of inches tall when I planted it. Now I am kneeling in front of it with my daughter who just finished second grade. Sometimes the passage of times seems a little surreal.
Jumping in the yard!
Twirling in the shade!
Beautiful smiles and laughs by the new two year old.
On the hill to the side of the temple.
Grandma Lucas came with us, and we wandered around the temple together. We also used the bathroom in the lobby several times. It got to the point that it was a bit embarrassing. It is funny when I think about this little drive to the temple that day, I think about how I read John the book Edenbrooke. It is possibly my favorite regency romance I have ever read. It is so sweet, funny, and cute. John is a total gem and was in favor of me reading it to him because I liked it so much. I think he even enjoyed it.
Cool stairs. It looks like a castle!
After Manti, we stopped at Cove Fort. Apparently, it closes at sunset every day, so we barely squeaked in a little tour before it was too late. It was interesting to hear the history and see it with my girls. Holland wasn't that interested in the history or interested with staying with the group. She's a cutie pie though.
I think this was the desk with the telegraph. The bottles on the floor served as batteries.
Peeking through the walls at a couple of cuties.
Up on top of the walls.
In front of the doors.
They were pretending to drive the horses.
John was just out of sight to catch her if she slipped on the fence.
I think my grandma loved hearing about the history. It is reassuring that some things never change.
My sweet baby just wants to bee-bop at her own pace. Luckily for us, there weren't hardly any other visitors, so I wasn't worried about disturbing anyone by letting her wander.
We spent the night in Beaver, where my kids were beyond thrilled to be staying in a hotel! They did pretty good sleeping that night. We even ate at McDonalds for dinner, where they played at a play place and got a happy meal...talk about spoiled, in my day we would never, ever do that.... :)
The next morning we went to Bryce Canyon. We didn't go on any hikes, but we did wander around to the different overlooks. It was crowded, but absolutely gorgeous. Holland didn't love being strapped in. She wanted to wander around, but there were far too many cliff edges close at hand and people to be trampled by for her to wander independently. Some of the overlooks were pretty windy, but other than the stiff breeze the weather was perfect. Not too hot or cold.
Cute little sight-seer.
We have been thinking a lot about how we drive up through Southern Utah so often, but don't ever stop to see the amazing things we pass by. I am glad we took a chance to make a little trip of it.
Eventually we let Holly down to walk...when there were guard rails on both sides. :)
So incredible.
Here are a couple of family shots on the steps of the Manti temple.
Happy baby slept most of the way between Ogden and Manti. Guess that is what happens when you don't get as much sleep as you are used to.
They still talk about how fancy and wonderful that hotel was. I have to say, it was okay. It seemed a little renovated, but the bathroom was pretty dated and kinda gross. The breakfast the next morning was hilarious. It was in a room facing the morning sun with all of the walls being windows. It was like a hot house in there. John tried to stand to keep the door open, but the attendant asked him not to. Whew, we got a little baked.
Here are the kiddos playing after the picnic in Bryce Canyon. Three little pink girls.
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