Back Again

The last few weeks have been such a blur.  We came back to Las Vegas on the Sunday after Lance's Mom's funeral.  It was hard to leave.  It was hard to be away.  It was hard to return to "normal" life with time going on.  Wednesday morning Lance got the phone call from Kirsten that Great Grandpa had passed away that morning.  Kirsten had been planning to start her drive back to Seattle that day so it was good that she was still there.  It was such a different call and feeling.  There was sadness, but we had all known that it was coming and that there was peace in a hard struggle ending.  So Friday we packed up all over again and hit the road back up to SLC again.  *All pictures in this post are cell phone quality. 

We weren't looking forward to loading the kids up in the car again for the same long drive, but we were glad to be going back.  Our first stop as we got in to town was gradndma's park where Kir met us.  Her kids and ours hugged, and skipped and played happy to be reunited again.  The sun was shining and I thought grandma would like it with the kids happy and playing all around. 

Over the next few days we stayed close to each other.  We watched lots of Olympics which has been a great distraction and ate way to many chocolate Dunford Donuts.  We got up early on Saturday and met up with the Wilkinson's at the Zoo.  We had been there twice earlier in the summer, but this time Lance and Kir and kids also got to join us.  It was awesome as all the animals were out and super active. 

That night our little family and Brice headed up the canyon for some dinner and smores. It was great to be up in the mountains and enjoy some time together and be able to talk a bit. Kai and Rori had a blast getting filthy climbing this huge dirt hill and having grandpa all to themselves.  Brice has been so strong and so good about talking with all of us.  Our hearts are very much with him every second. 

  

On Sunday Lance, Brice, and Tyler got up early and drove to the Cabin to make sure things were taken care of there. I know it was a very difficult trip for all of them. Kirsten and I stayed back at the house with the kids and tried to get some more things done around there.  We are very fortunate in that Colleen was so organized, but it is still a bit overwhelming to look around and see all that will need to be done over time.  That night we headed to Tyler and Kimberley's for a waffle dinner and then back to Grandma's park to put up some pinwheels. A sudden rain and wind storm quickly passed through.

On Monday Lance took Jake, Kai, and Emme on a hike while Kirsten and I ran some errands at Target and Costco with Rori, Zuri, and Kate. That night and the next day were spent at the Viewing and Funeral. The kids were troopers and did fairly well making it through all of that.

On Tuesday night several of Colleen's family members headed to Tarahumara (one of Colleen's favorites) for some dinner. The kids had a blast with the face painter and the adults were happy to relax and fill up on the yummy food.   

On Wednesday morning we got up super early and hit the road to head back to Vegas. We are tired and emotionally drained, but grateful to have gotten to be there to honor great grandpa and spend more time with family.