Well, 3 weeks into the year and I'm already behind. But I feel like I have a good excuse after such a crazy, long week. As I posted on Sunday I was thinking it was going to be a nice, quiet week then we would get ready to go out of town for the weekend. Lexie was chosen as "Star of the Week" at preschool so we had to make a poster for her to take to school on Monday. She had fun helping me put her name and all of the pictures on a big poster board. It turned out great!
Our plans for the week were changed when we got a call early Monday morning that woke us up. Bryan's dad Norman called and told us Grandpa Lyman finally "graduated" and they had to rush to do a small family service on Wednesday because Norman was having surgery in SLC on Friday. So we took Lexie to school, and while Bryan worked, I spent the day doing laundry and getting things ready to go. Tuesday we finished getting packed and finally left town right after noon. I wasn't sure how the kids would do on a 5 1/2 hour drive, especially the baby because she has had her moments of screaming in the carseat. The drive took us 6 1/2 hours with stops, and no one cried the entire time! We only stopped for gas and lunch in Richfield, then to gas up in Moab. I just pumped and fed the baby bottles the entire way which worked out nice because we didn't have to stop to feed her every few hours. The kids were beyond ready to get out and play by the time we got to Grandpa & Grandma Lyman's house. Sadly, that is the first time in almost 4 years that we have been to Blanding. It just hasn't worked out for us to go for several reasons so this was Hoyt and Sabrie's first time and only Lexie's second. James and Jenny got into town right after us so Bethany and Lexie played together and had so much fun until it was late and we all needed to go to the motel where we were staying. Lexie and Hoyt just couldn't wait and kept asking "When are we going to the hotel?" It wasn't the nicest place we've ever stayed and had some serious issues like the only heat was space heaters so it was pretty cold most of the time, but we stayed in a suite with 2 rooms, a bathroom, living area, and kitchen. Luckily the kids were super tired so they slept good (even if the Mom didn't). Sadly, the only pictures I took were in the hotel right before we left. I wish we would have gotten pictures with family and the service.
Hoyt ran around like a crazy kid the entire time we were at the hotel, opening cupboards and getting into everything. I was barely able to stop him long enough to snap a picture.
Lexie wanted pictures with Sabrie on the couch.
Sabrie is one of the best babies I've ever known; she's happy, rarely cries, and in every way is just a sweet little girl! Several of Bryan's relatives wanted to hold her, and she was good for all of them and I think she only cried once or twice the entire trip!
Because they didn't have much time to plan a funeral, the family decided to do a small family viewing on Wednesday with some songs and a family prayer, go to the cemetery to dedicate the grave, then eat lunch at a the Old Tymer Restaurant. They will do a full memorial service this summer when Bryan's Aunt Yvonne will be able to come (she has been in the hospital), and Norman will be recovered from his surgery. Here is a picture of Grandpa/Great Grandpa Stanley Lyman from a few years ago. He was 96 1/2 years old when he died, and had a great life with a great posterity! I only met him a few times, but from the things I have heard of him, he was a really great man who will be missed by many!
Like I said, I didn't take many pictures the entire week, so I borrowed some from Bryan's cousin Brad that he posted on FB. They hauled the casket in Grandpa Lyman's 1972 Chevy pickup that is still running with over 500,000 miles!
"Grandpa's last ride"
The pall bearers...a bunch of really great guys!
Bryan with his parents and siblings at the graveside. I had to keep the kids in the car because #1 it was freezing cold and I didn't want the baby out in that, and #2 Hoyt was asleep and boy did he need a nap! After the graveside we all ate lunch at the restaurant which Uncle Clisbee (Grandpa Stanley's brother) bought for everyone. It was really nice to eat and visit and a lot of the family stood and shared stories about Grandpa which was really fun and a great tribute.
The rest of the day we spent and Norm & Margie's house while Hoyt and Lexie played with their cousins Bethany and Patrick and the adults all visited. We had an adult family meeting and the boys all gave blessings to Mom & Dad Lyman before they left the next day for the surgery. It was a long day, but it turned out really nice! After not sleeping very well again, we got up and had no hot water in our hotel so we had to just get ready and eventually they got the hot water going in time for Bryan to at least get a shower before we packed up to leave. Then we found out someone had been breaking into cars stealing stuff in the neighborhood during the night. Bryan's parents got their van broken into and they made a mess and stole some money. The owners of our motel got their truck stolen and a few people got things stolen from their cars, but luckily none of the rest of us had left our cars unlocked or left anything valuable in them. We all had breakfast together and visited some more and one by one we all started the trek to our various homes. We left just after noon again Thursday and stopped in Moab for lunch at a little Mexican restaurant that was pretty good. Another short stop in Richfield, then we arrived back home around 7 taking us almost the exact same time as the trip there. No one cried until we reached Cedar City...success!
Friday Lexie went to school and I once again did laundry and tried to get things done so we could again leave town Saturday to head to my family's house for Jen's birthday and baptism. Again, I didn't get the camera out while we were there because it had just been such a crazy week and juggling 3 crazy kids took up all of my time. We had a hard time getting out of town as early as we would have liked, but we got some Papa Murphy's pizzas for everyone and to there just in time to bake them and feed everyone dinner before they all headed their separate ways for Saturday night activities. We went to church Sunday morning and had dinner then relaxed for a bit before getting ready for the baptism. We're so proud of Jen and her decision to be baptized. She's such a special girl in our family!
The baptism went great! I lead the opening song, and Bryan was a witness and helped with the confirmation. There were lots of family and friends who came to support Jen and after the baptism we headed over to my parents house to have dinner, then cake & ice cream. It was a great day!
We decided we were too tired to head home that night, and Monday morning Nate was going to take Bryan shooting. We stayed and were able to visit some more with everyone and headed home Monday afternoon. Whew...the week was crazy and boy were we tired when we got home! Hopefully we don't have to do any more funerals or quick trips around the state any time soon!
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