We went up to Utah for my Grandpa's funeral. It was a beautiful ceremony. At the graveside my Grandpa was "piped home." Grandpa's mom was born and raised in Scotland and my Grandpa has Scottish roots (and also went there on his mission). "Piping Home" is a Scottish/Irish tradition where a bagpipe player plays the pipes as the casket is put into the hearse and then again at the graveside as they bring the casket out of the hearse. It's cooler than how I'm explaining it. My sister made the comment that the bagpipes shouldn't be called bagpipes. They should be called tear-jerkers because once they started playing, everyone started crying. They also did a military salute thing with the bugle and the firing of the guns since my Grandpa served in World War II in the Navy. There is something so sad and beautiful to see a casket covered in the American Flag. I didn't get any pictures of any of that because I was just standing there crying.
You should have seen how many beautiful flower arrangements there were. Prettiest flowers I've ever seen.
The best part about funerals (maybe the only good part about funerals) is being with family. I was able to see cousins and aunts/uncles that I haven't seen forever.
My mom and her brother and sister.
Hanging out at Grandma's house.
It just so happened that in my family there were three birthdays the week of my Grandpa's funeral (one on the day of the funeral), so after the funeral we had some birthday cakes and ice cream.
Later that evening, we all went out to see the kiln my Grandpa helped restore. My Grandpa was super involved with the Sons of the Utah Pioneer program and one of the projects My grandpa was in charge of was restoring this kiln. He spent many hours on it and every time we went to see my grandparents, we went to see the kiln.
Riding in the back of Grandpa's truck up to the kiln.
Hiking up to the kiln.
You can see the kiln off to the right. Here is a picture of most of my family. Although it was for a sad reason, I was glad to see my family.
That is the best part of funerals. Seeing cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. that we don't get to see very often. So sad that a funeral is what gets us together. We need a big family reunion.
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