Wow I havent been here in a while...

So I realized that I havent posted a blog in quite some time, so I thought to myself what a better time to start than now? I figure if you really want to know about my life you can come here and read all of the boring details that I dont care to post all over facebook for everyone to read, plus 99% of those people dont care. So I guess I will just start up again here.
Im going to upload some of my pictures from my trip to Texas and Boston on my way to school this semester and explain the awesome adventures that took place, because they were pretty spectacular not going to lie :) But I thought maybe I should catch you up on the basics of what has happened since the last time I blogged.

Dad and Mom's engagement pictures

Well I decided to hold off on the mission thing right when I turned twenty-one which was good because then I was home when dad lost his battle to cancer on March 14th, 2012. Its been hard, some days more than others but everyone is pretty strong and I think we all realized that in the end, it needed to happen and there were so many blessings when he did die that I would not have changed a thing about how it happened. Did I want dad to die? Of course not! But I would not change how things played out.
First off it was my off track so I was home and working at the law firm, where pretty much everyone is LDS or knows about them, and all of the Latter-Day Saints somehow know my family and have worked with either mom or dad. So the night after I came home from the hospital I called and left Julie a voicemail and I tried to go to work I think a week after but my body was not allowing me to do so without getting super dizzy and nauseous but im glad I was working at VF because I called in when that did happen and they didnt question my judgment at all which was very nice because I was not taking advantage of it, im too stubborn to stay home just because, so im glad they knew that.

Grandma and the first grandbaby

Garrets travels from Afghan

Anyhow the timing was just right so that we were all able to be home. Garret flew in just in time to get a nice suit for the service, Stuart & Lindy and Clara all drove out and can I just say that having a baby at the lodge all week was one of the best 'medicines'. The fact that she was still happy as ever and still needed a schedule kinda kept everyone else happy when they were around her. You cant hold a giggly smiley baby and not smile back at that darling little girl! It was nice because we had so much family there and it kinda release some of the tension when there was any and I think that was a great blessing to have her there with all of us.

Flowers from my roommates :)

We were so blessed by the members of our ward, our employers, our friends, our family and even our neighbors brought flowers over to us. Were still not quite sure how they found out, we think that the spanish branch learned of dad's passing and we have several families at Jefferson Square that are in the branch that probably spread the word.
We had so many flowers that our house smelt of them all week long, sister Olson came over and volunteered to host and doctor the flowers to keep them all looking nice and we used them for the service. Our table was covered in food, along with our fridge and our freezer and it was all pretty good. Some must haves at a funeral are: tissues, advil or something for headaches, water and such to keep you hydrated. Things that are nice to have are fruit, everyone brings over cookies and desserts which are nice and you pretty much just want to eat junk but having fruit sliced up and ready to munch on was great because we ate that a lot. Granola bars, fruit snacks, extra tooth brushes for out of town last minute packing guests, the lodge was awesome! The vials let us use the Lodge and it was first of all beautiful and second of all perfect for having everyone together and still being able to go off and be on your own when needed.

At the service

We had Tish & Jeff, Patty, Lori, Michael & Jocelyn all come up and stay with us. It was really nice to have some family there from both moms side and to be able to have all of dads family there as well. Apparently Lori's kids wanted to come up really bad but they couldnt which is unfortunate, it would have been nice to see everyone but life is life and you cant do everything that you want all the time.
Our house was bombarded with people starting the morning after. I remember waking up to Sister Thelin (the RS President) and Sister Whitnaw in our living room, and that was just the beginning. One of my favorite things that we received was a book from the primary. They had each drawn a picture for dad and the made it into a book. They also all wrote their name on a heat and taped it to the piano in the primary room that sunday, and they took a picture and sister Ball and sister Danes brought that out to the lodge that afternoon. I saw the picture and just started crying, those kids will never know music the same way they did when dad played, I wish I could have heard him play for them at least once, but I know he is up in Heaven playing like he has never played before!
Anyways, thats just some of my thoughts and biggest memories of the events. I hope it wasnt too sad or boring to read, just some things to summarize and give my view point on the funeral and such activities.

Dads Grave

 p.s. Funeral potatoes are my favorite way to eat spuds, covered in cheese :)