Just after returning from Hawaii, we went home and found out Travis’s grandpa Herb had passed away.
After trying dozens of combinations of how to get out to Utah for the funeral. Despite a major pending storm traveling across the middle of the United States our winning combination to get to Utah was to pile our whole family, including Lily (Nala stayed with a friend) into the truck and drive across the i-35 to the 80 to the 70 and all through Colorado.
The weather turned too poor to drive through by Kearney, NB and we stopped for the night. The next stay was scary drive and by the time we reached the Spanish Fork canyon it was dark and extremely scary. That canyon was the worst part of the drive, and of course it was at the end, and in the dark!
As soon as we rolled in Travis went to work unpacking the truck and tending to the kids while I dashed over to the church to practice a solo I would be singing for the funeral. I found out like an hour before. But his sister wanted to play I Know My Redeemer Lives, but thought it would be prettier if someone sang along. So there you go.
The best part of the funeral, in my opinion, was when the speaker was sharing a story of how Grandpa Herb used to bounce them on his knee and sing, “trot trot to Boston, get of loaf of bread…” and a collection of laughs, sighs, and tears were shared because everyone in the room seemed to have had that same experience with Grandpa.
Aside from the funeral, we were also able to spend ample time with all of Travis’s family and even squeezed in my family in such a short time.
A highlight was going out to my grandma’s home and getting to see some of my cousins, a few aunts, my dad ,step-mom, and Alex; and ALL my siblings! It’s been YEARS since we were all together. And somehow this special bond between Avery and my baby sister, B was formed; it was perhaps, my favorite part of the whole trip.
Our drive home started out so beautiful; I’ve forgotten just how beautiful the dessert can be, especially at sunset. Most of the drive really was blessedly smooth; just those canyons that got scary. But we made it home. And once the kids were in bed, we wrapped up in blankets and tried to get warm!! It was a very cold trip!
No comments:
Post a Comment