A quick Trip to Montana

     My family planned a fast trip up to Montana for my Grandpa's funeral. We left early on the 27th of December for our drive up there. We took Lena and her boy friend Jason in the car with us so we were packed to the brim. Its a good thing that we had Lena in the back sitting with Jace because a 12 hour car ride is a loooong time for a toddler to be strapped into the car. We did make some stops along the way, but getting Jace back into the car was always a pain, as well as the next 30 minutes it took him to calm down. We did get a couple of naps out of him through the trek, (which was always nice), but he always seemed to wake up when we would stop for gas, (darn it all). We stopped in Havre for dinner around 7:00 pm and bought ourselves and "Ugly Burger." If you haven't had one, you should totally take the time to go to Havre, Montana. Those burgers are amazing! Seriously! We got to Grandmas probably around 8 ish. She had places all farmed out for us to sleep. Tallus wasn't thrilled about having to go to Aunt Heidi's to sleep, but somehow we made everything work. We were shipped off to one of Grandma's cousins, I think. Some sort of relative anyhow. Paul, Jace, Me, and my little sister Kess all went. Lucky for us though, she lives in town and has nice steady water flow so we could take an actual shower vs turning the water on, getting wet, turning water off, soaping up, turning water back on, rinsing, turning water back off, etc. Its really hard to do a Grandma's house shower in the middle of winter. Its really cold. So having a normal shower was actually a treat.
      The next evening was grandpas Viewing. We had a big fun family dinner at Aunt LeAnna's beforehand. It was actually really fun to have all the cousins that were able to come gather and be there for some family time together. We all slowly left LeAnna's and headed into town for the viewing. Seeing Grandpa for the first time since he passed wasn't as hard on me as I thought it would be. Its hard, but I also looked at him, and knew that he wasn't there. Is body was so different without his spirit inside of him. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have of the Plan of Salvation, and to know that Grandpa is still there, he's just not here on earth in the form of a man any more.
     Paul and I made plans to spend the night with Krista and Craig that night. Krista is my cousin who is super close to me in age. We are pretty close. She is seriously so amazing. She had a baby maybe 3 days ago, and we welcomed us into her home with open arms. I just love that girl. We crashed on the floor on a mattress and had Jace in the pack and play in the other room. That morning we got up, cooked some yummy breakfast together, and got ready for the funeral.
     Going to my Grandpa's funeral was actually a really neat experience for me. He lived in Chinook, Montana. Population: not a lot, and most of those people are not LDS or even really religious for that matter. But the effect that he had on his community was truly amazing. They held his funeral in the gym of the high school (mind you this isn't a very big gym), but all the chairs were filled on the floor, and people were sitting in the bleachers above, which also seemed pretty packed. There were people from all walks of life, from child to grandparent that came to the service. We ran into one teenage girl who was covered with tattoos, and sobbing a great deal talking about the amazing impact that my grandpa had had on her. I knew that he was a great man, but I didn't grasp the vastness of it all until that day. I feel so so blessed to have had him in my life not only as passer by, but as my grandfather. As Grumpy as he might've seemed to me as a little kid, he will always hold a tender place in my heart.
     The branch held a family luncheon for us, which was more like a ward party (which is totally okay because most of the branch is family anyway ;) and Grandpa had his heart attack the night of the branch Christmas party so they never got to have their party). And after that most of us split our different directions. We stopped at grandmas house to say goodbye and give her our love, then we left. We traveled a few hours to Helena and stayed in a hotel room that night, then took our journeyings early the next day. It seems like such a waste to only spend a few days up in Chinook when it takes 12 hours each direction to get there, but the few days we had there with family are very precious to me. I know I am going to miss my Grandpa, but I am so so grateful for the legacy that he has left behind.

Just starting out the trip. We are happy because he haven't been in the car that long. Notice Jason in the back, totally passed out. Yeah, he was a little tired :)

I decided I needed Lena to join me for a fun picture too. And there's Jason again, still sleeping. 

Cute little Jace boy is actually happy in this picture. Again though, we had just started the trip, so he really didn't know what he was getting himself into here. 

Great Grandma has a retro Barbie house with lots of Barbies. Jace had a blast playing with them. 

I told my Grandma I wanted to snap a picture of her before I left so that I could have one of just the two of us for memories. 

Good ole' Chinook. Cold, icy, and full of memories. I am so grateful we were able to make the trip to Montana. I know the reasons behind the trip weren't the happiest, but it was really nice to be with family.