Weekend in the Valley

We spent the weekend in Star Valley, surrounded by family. Of my Grandpa's 155 descendants, 129 of them were able to attend the funeral. (I stole those numbers from a couple of my cousins. Glad someone knows those kinds of things because those numbers are pretty amazing.) In honor of my Grandfather being a WWII veteran, he had a military service performed at the cemetery. I had several people ask me for some pics, so I figured the easiest way would be to put them on my blog. So this is my apology for all these sad funeral photos.

presenting the flag to my Grandma:

My mom has some wonderful brothers and sisters on top of having great parents. I forget how fun it is to talk to them until I get the chance again. It was pretty hard to spend much time with anyone in such a quick trip, but it was nice seeing so many family members even though it was for sad circumstances.

Justin, the girls, and I stayed with my parents and brother Rob at one of my Dad's good friend's cabins. It was in a beautiful spot, hidden in a little canyon. I'm pretty sure it snowed the whole time we were there.

We found a way to entertain ourselves one night...I challenged my Dad to a leg wrestling match and he showed no mercy. I do however feel the need to say it wasn't a fair fight. I had to reach my leg clear back to hook onto his...look, his foot is above his hip and mine is already above my head. ;)

I think it took him 1 sec to flip me....I will be working on my squats and looking for a rematch soon.

Rob was next on my list...

I won't show the proof of him beating me, but there is proof I beat him with my left leg on my sister's blog. :)

This didn't end pretty:

Vicki was my last foe... I'm not better than her at many things, so when I can flaunt a victory of any kind in her face, I don't like to pass it up.

Hey Vicki, it looks like I'm really struggling. hehe

This is the money shot.

We also got to spend some time with Ash and her fam. We all went to Sherlock Holmes on Sat night. It seems like it could have been an alright movie, if I would have been able to hear it. I was a little annoyed at the sound in the theatre the whole time.

I'm so glad that I was able to be there to show my appreciation and love for my Grandpa. I will never forget the love my Grandparents shared and how they valued their family.

Remembering...

My Grandpa Putnam was a great man. He always made me and my family feel welcome immediately when we arrived to visit. I always felt a little sad that we lived so far away from both sets of my grandparents, when so many of my cousins lived basically next door, but they always made me feel loved none-the-less. I remember Justin hitting it off with him pretty quick by asking about his time in the Navy during WWII(he was a bottom turret gunner on a plane...not sure on all the official names...I better look into that) and looking through his "brag book" (pics of all the big fish he caught.)

Charlee with her Great Grandparents:

My Grandpa was known for his story-telling abilities. I like to think my mom inherited that talent from him...she always told us stories that her dad told her. Sydnee was lucky enough to get a front row seat to a story session a few years ago. Here he is telling Syd and Natasha Three Billy Goats Gruff. I have it on video somewhere and I tried to track it down, but couldn't find it.

Sydnee with her Great Grandparents:

We spent Sydnee's 6th birthday in Star Valley for a family reunion.

That was the last time I saw my Grandfather.

Tomorrow we head back to the Valley to say our final goodbyes to him. He passed away yesterday in the company of his wonderful wife, my mom, and a couple of his sons.

He has left behind quite the legacy...He had 7 daughters and 3 sons...50 grandchildren...and 69 great grandchildren! (I should check on those numbers for sure, because I bet my Grandmother knows, they always remember all of them on their birthdays and send a card with a Love Dollar.) I have lots of fond memories of my Grandpa and I know my family will miss him, but I am calmed by the thought that my niece Jada will be reunited with another family member.

New Look

One of the great reasons I love having Renae living so close, is that she is a great shopping buddy. It is nice to have her around when I am decorating a room in my house. She was here to help with Justee's room, and this last week...she helped with the master bedroom.

We made lots of trips back and forth to stores, comparing deals (Kohl's won by the way) and deciding what I liked best. Since Justin wasn't around to give his opinions, it was nice to have the second best thing: Renae's opinion. ;)

I wanted to paint an accent wall or two, but I'm not sure I like the color enough to paint another wall...it ended up being more blue and less gray than I anticipated.

Before paint:

After paint:

I know it it hard to tell color for sure from pictures, but here it is....too blue? It really was an easy paint job, and I could repaint it in no more than an hour...so if I decide I don't like it, no big deal.

If this color stays, the big question is: Do I paint the wall behind the head board too, or do I just keep the one?

The bathroom got a makeover as well. The small room with the toilet sports the blue paint also, but I opted not to take a pic of a toilet with a blue wall behind it.

Justin gets to come home to a new bedroom. Yay for him! I know he is so excited about it all. :)

"I'm not the milk, and the milk's not ME!"

Date nights are fun...They are even more fun when you get a chance to see a great friend too...and...even better when that great friend turns into a free babysitter. ;)


Renae watched the girls at her place while Justin and I went out to dinner at Del Frisco's. It was nice to get to go out before Justin left for Indianapolis.

I think Renae did a great job with the girls, and I think she learned a few things too.

Like: ~How to do a great finger sweep when a child is choking on popcorn

~When a 2 year old says she needs to go potty, even if she has gone 5 times in the last half hour, it is always best to take her word for it.

~Scholastic movies will sometimes show naked body parts in their cartoons.

About the last one...I bought a movie on Columbia House without paying very close attention. I thought it was the new Where the Wild Things Are. Turns out it wasn't, but no big deal. A variety of Children's stories should be a good thing. The crazy thing was that one of the stories (called- In the Night Kitchen) had a little boy float out of bed and float out of his clothes. I never would have thought that the artist would take the time to draw the details of the boy's parts....Crazy I tell you. Things like that should come with a warning...but I think Renae enjoyed it...while wondering what kind of movies I subject my children to. :)

My girls have been reciting their favorite line from that story ever since.

Just for Justin

Justin is working today. He has meetings in Denver for a few days and then he has to go to Indy. It is strange thinking about how we went from never having him around to always having him around, and now we will be without him for a while again (short while comparatively.) The upside is that after the next couple of weeks are over, we will be back to a "normal" living arrangement. That will be nice.


Anywho, last night I came across these pictures and realized that I never posted about our Texas trip. We left for the Red River Rivalry 2 days after Justin got home from Afghanistan. Being that tomorrow is the National Championship...and Texas is playing, I thought today would be a good day to reflect on our time spent at the Texas State Fair (aka FAT capital of the World.) The fried food was abundant and there wasn't a shortage of people standing in line to eat it either. They had almost any food you could think of dipped in a hot pan of oil...Although one thing I didn't see, and thought would be disgustingly great, was fried rainbow chip frosting! How could you go wrong with the best frosting known to man?

Stadiums are the best thing to take a picture of a man standing in front of....at least this sports fanatic....just look how happy he is.

This was the location of College Gameday.

After a little sight-seeing, we made it into the stadium.

BEVO!

Yay! Justin was happy because Texas won...we all know dealing with a man whose team just lost is not fun. That is the only reason I cheer for Texas, because if they lose...well, we all lose. So, HOOK EM' HORNS! Now...onto that sick food! We had to give a couple things a try. Here is a fried Snickers and fried Oreos. I liked the Snickers best, but Justin liked the Oreos. He said the Snickers grossed him out because it was like a turd. I liked the warm melted chocolate that oozed out when you bit into it. haha

It was a quick but fun trip...we hopped on a plane right after we stuffed ourselves with the local cuisine.