Quick trip to St. George

So my Grandpa Fish (my mom's dad) passed away on September 24th.  At first I didn't think we would be able to go to the funeral, but then we heard that both of my brothers were going to make the trip so we decided we should as well.  We rarely have all of us together so it would be worth it.  

Well the trip down was awfully long.  It took us 11 1/2 hours.  We had to drive slowly though many parts due to rain.  It was coming down so hard, at one point Damon asked if it would break the glass. We saw a man driving a corvette with the top down and another man on a motorcycle during two different down pours.   I felt so bad for them.  

We saw some great fall colors on the way down. 

 And we took some silly pictures. 

 This was just after the first picture and Tyler poked Chris in the eye (accidentally by waving his hands too much.)

 My cousin Danielle let us stay with them while we were there.  We are such a big a crazy group that I feel bad imposing on people.  She was a great host, thanks Danielle.  The kids did well sleeping there although it took Jenna awhile to fall asleep the first night.  Kaylee felt like she had a fever and fell asleep in minutes.  Thankfully she never got super sick.  I kept her on some medicine to help keep her fever down and feel better.

Monday we visited with my family before the funeral then went over to the church.  It was a very nice service.  My mom spoke as well as others.  There were also some wonderful musical numbers.  My uncle is an amazing french horn player.  He plays with the Salt Lake Temple Orchestra (I think that's what it's called.) And my brother and his wife did a piano/flute duet that was very good as well.
Then we had lunch at the church.  We had a big group and ate all the food that was provided.  Then we drove to Toquerville for the burial.  It was good to drive by my grandparents old house and think about the memories that were made there.  My grandpa served in the military and had an honorary salute at the grave (playing of Taps and rifle shooting).  That was pretty neat.

Then we went to my Aunt Shelly's and let the kids play.  It was good for them to spend some time with their cousins.  It is hard living so far away that they don't get to see them very often.

 In the evening we went for a quick walk and the kids discovered some mud from the recent flooding of the river.  They had a blast throwing rocks in the gooey mud and watching it splatter everywhere.  Damon got sprayed pretty good, but he had fun.

 We told memories in a circle when we got back to Shelly's and spent some time remembering my grandpa.  It was a good time.  Then we headed back to Danielle's to get ready for the drive back to Colorado the next day.

We hooked up the Wii in the van for this trip and the boys thought it was great.  We discovered however that certain games will not be played in the van in the future.  Cars 2 and Mariokart are too competitive and the boys shout way too loud - Tyler especially.  Batman and Star Wars were much better.

 We saw a full rainbow on the way back, but of course I couldn't get a very good picture of it.  It was on the other side of the van.

 We actually drove through some snow flurries on our return trip and saw some white covered mountain tops.  I guess that's what you get with high altitudes.

We stopped at the Lego store on our way home, it was a nice break to get out and stretch our legs.  The boys love going there and checking out all of the different sets.  They also have blocks you can build with which is fun.

It was hard driving two long days so close together, but I am glad we went.  The way back we made better time and got home after 11 1/2 hours, but that included the longer stop at the Lego Store.  The boys were happy that we got to eat at McDonald's twice.  The girls still don't eat well there,  all they eat are the fries.  They wouldn't even eat a yogurt parfait.  Oh well.

My grandpa was a great man and I learned some more things about him.  He will be missed.  I am grateful that I know that I will see him again.