we had danny's dad's viewing and funeral yesterday and today.

it was kinda hard and we are happy that part is over with. danny gave a talk at the funeral and he did a really great job. I don't think I could've done that myself but he pulled it off. I played the piano for it and it went fine.

Alot of people came to the viewing to support Danny and he was surprised and really happy they came. Friends from school and old friends from the Dayton Branch and new friends from the ward...... Thank you to everyone who has helped him and all of us during this time.

The kids do not seem to get it really and I guess that's just how kids are. they are too little still, I think. Eva did say "Bye papa Jack" as we were walking out so maybe she gets it in her own way.

The things I've thought during this....

you never know when or how someone's life might end and the worst feeling in the world is to put things off until it's too late.......

there are always going to be good things and bad things about anyone and it's probably always better to think of the good things, especially with family.

how good it's made us feel that so many people have called us, and made us food, and just been there for Danny.......I don't think we ever really knew what people need when someone dies and now I think we have a better idea.


one little thing I wanted to get up and say at his funeral but I didn't do it........

Jack was this tall kinda scary guy........people would say he was a "man's man" but his appearance was a bit of a facade because he was really a gentle guy. He had crazy farm cats that would come around his house and he would always act really annoyed with them and kind of yell at them...but then around the front of the house he would always put a plate of cat food with a stone in it so it wouldn't blow away in the wind. Then inevitabely the cats would have kittens...which would really seem to irritate him. But he would prepare a whole little box for them...then if the cats were bad moms he would keep carrying them over to wherever the mom was. I remember he made a whole house for the cats with a carpet in it around the back of his house so she had somewhere to put her kittens. But the whole time he'd be grumbling and complaining about it a bit and telling them what to do...."Look at that mess you've got yourself into!! You need to take care of your kittens!"

they live in the country so they have mice and cats......one christmas eve we were over helping them decorate their christmas tree and having a nice little time when Jack saw a mouse running through the living room. It got cornered against the wall and instead of him killing it he made Danny hold up this huge long rug so they could guide it out the front door and try to scoot it out. This took like 5 crazy minutes and then danny was the weak link and he raised the rug up too high and the mouse ran under and slid under the bedroom door. His dad was like..."Danny!!!"

anyways just a story I had thought of.

dannys dad

died in a car accident last night. He was known to our kids as Grandpa Jack. Today Danny is going to try help make all the arrangements with his brother and his dad's wife, Vicki. We'll miss him alot. He was a farmer and a retired factory worker. He ran out mega-dairies, helped his neighbors, cleaned the local church, mowed a bunch of peoples yards, attended a one room school house in darke county as a child, and lived on the same property he was born on.

On fathers day he proudly showed us his new flat screen T.V. and he just bought himself a brand new car.He was the kind of person that never sits down. He always had chores going on and he came from the mindset of use everything until it literally falls apart, and then just duct tape it back together. On fathers day he was out in his straw hat that was duct taped on the top...and I said..."Danny get your dad a new hat PLEASE!!!" But he loved that hat and I think he probably had a bunch of new ones hidden away somewhere but the duct taped one felt the best.

Danny is doing okay...it's weird having someone close to us die suddenly. I've never really experienced it before. We do have confidence that his spirit is eternal, that he is in a different place and that it is part of our eternal plan to take this step. It has brought Danny alot of peace and comfort.

2 year old examination

a sparkler examination

a baby cousin examination

car sleeping examination

cousin examination

whiplash examination.

the foolish man built his house upon the sand.....

This months been a woozy doozy! I've been flat drunk for weeks......on summer loooooove baby.

Why do refeerences to alcohol just make me laugh....never having had a single sip my whole life i think I have a fascination with the weirdness of being drunk. I also have had the life long knack of acting drunk with no alcohol entering my system. Once 10:30 hits I'm as tipsy as if I was tossing back a tequila.......I guess I have had alcohol if you count Nyquil....or my dad's stash of "near beer" that has like .01 percent alcohol. That stuff is just NASTY! whoever invented that must have been a convert to the church because you have to have a serious hankering for some certain flavor to let that enter your body.

alcohol was not even what I was going to blog about.

I was on facebook and I saw a bunch of pictures of Newton...........Newton or Newtin as it's pronounced in these parts is where I went to school from K-12. One building. I never left that same building for any grade. It's not a private school just a small farm community that could support one small school. My class had about 35-40 people in it. By the time I graduated there were only about 7 male class members attending school at the building.

anyways the building is getting tore down this year. I believe soon I need to ask Nathan. I'm kinda sad about it...it just feels like a childhood home getting tore down. There are communities that seem to value their old buildings, renovate them, make them beautiful again......people do it with homes. In many older cities the old renovated schools are the center of the city and something they enjoy caring for. but oh well...I'm not going to chain myself to the front of the building while the wrecking ball is swinging down or become some terrorist and stalk the p.hill politicians.

so in dedicatory rememberance I would like my kids to see where I went to school. take a couple pictures. And say goodbye to where I spent 16,380 hours of my growing years. and maybe I'll write more about my memories someday. But I don't know where to start. And I can't do it now while I've got Eva in my lap napping and the large to do list of today ahead of us.......but maybe someday I will.