Dad's funeral

Well it has been a whirlwind of the last 2 months. I finally am able to write about our trip to Reno for Dad's funeral. Grandma Horsley was so nice to put up with us for a whole week. I enjoyed looking for her scrapbooks and learning more about my dad, Grandma and her family. I found some awesome pictures of my Dad and here is proof that he played the accordion. The day of the funeral we arrived early to practice because all the kids and grand kids were singing "I am a Child of God." I didn't know how I was going to make it trough when we actually had to preform because I was in tears about the whole time we practiced. We took a quick family picture before we started.

We have almost the whole clan. We are missing Uncle Paul and his family. :(

Before we started we have a family prayer which Johnny was asked to give. It was so beautiful and heartfelt. The funeral was beautiful and well attended. We even made it through the song because sweet Joesph was singing his little heart out. He made me and everyone in the crowd smile. I was so touched by the family, friend and community support that we were given to us that day.

The following day we all traveled to Grandma's property where we have spent a lot of time over the years camping and cutting Christmas trees. It is a special place to all of us so this is where we decided to spread some of his ashes. Here is some of the crew:

Danielle made a new best friend with Aunt Mary. (Probably helps that she has some Swedish fish in her pocket.) Everyone of course loving Johnny and all his stories he likes to tell.

We had a few spots where we spread Dad's ashes. After our first spot, we decided to take the "back way" to the big pond. Well this "back way" was pretty overgrown so what should have been a 5 minute walk, ended up being about 30 minutes because we got a little lost. I just laughed because I bet Dad was laughing his head off watching us do things the hard way. We had to all cross the creek, which didn't have a bridge. I was snapping pictures like crazy trying to get a picture in case someone fell in. LOL I think Brad got his foot wet a few times trying to help everyone across.

Here is one of Dad's resting places.

Grandma Horsley, Mom, Mary, Wendy, Me, and Candice.

I really don't even think we have ever had a pictures of just us girls.

Lexi also made a new best friend with her cousin Marissa. She LOVED her, is an understatement. She followed her around like a little puppy dog, and Marissa was so great to watch and play with her.

It was a great way to celebrate Dad's life. I think about him often and miss him a great deal. I have already found myself wanting to call him with doctor questions or to just say hi. Whenever I see an orchid or anything to do with Hawaii, I remember him and his happiness he found growing orchids in Hawaii with Mom.