Memorial Day Weekend

We started out Memorial Day weekend by stopping by Grandpa Richards' grave. We left him some flowers and told Ryan more about him. Ryan is pretty smart when it comes to what happens to our spirits when we die. I told him we were visiting his grave where his body is. I asked where his spirit was and he said heaven. Then he asked me if Grandpa's head was also buried with his body. :) I assured him it was. :)

Ryan really liked the eagles on Grandpa's grave. On our way home from our weekend he couldn't remember his name so he said, "What is my Grandpa's name with the 'seagulls'?" It took me awhile to figure out that he meant EAGLES. So cute. I loved being able to visit Grandpa and remember him and share with Ryan my favorite memories of him and how much he loves us and how he watches over us in heaven.

Then we were on our way to Island Park to spend the weekend with the Hale family. We never take very many pictures, but we had a lot of fun. The kids especially love being with their cousins and aunts and uncles and with Grandpa Hale.

Here are some more pictures on our way up to Island Park. We stopped at Mcdonald's for lunch and to entertain the kids we made pretend mustaches. Here is Ryan's fry mustache!

 

When we stopped to get flowers for Grandpa Richards, we got some floaties and some swim goggles for Ryan. He insisted on wearing them right away. He called them his "spy goggles". Ryan talks constantly and if Jared and I are having a discussion, he will interrupt us and yell and yell. He is just so fun in the car! :) He kept asking if we were there yet and when we would be there and if Jared could drive faster, etc. Finally Jared told him when he closed his eyes the car drove faster. So while Ryan had his eyes closed he fell asleep! With the goggles on. I tried to take them off, but he wouldn't let me. Unfortunately, they made for a very short nap!

We got there around 5 pm Friday, ate pizza, played games, went swimming and waited for the rest of the family to arrive. Swimming was fun. Brady loved it and would jump off into the water and he would also walk off the steps and go under water. I was so proud of him! Ryan is still really scared of the water. Hopefully it eases through the summer. It usually does. He starts swimming lessons in a couple weeks and I hope he does okay!

On Saturday we played a lot, went for a walk where Ryan found a huge stick (would've been a great picture moment!), went shopping with Sydney for a shirt which Island Park was completely out of! We played lots more games, I took a nap with Brady, lots and lots of food too!

On Sunday we went to feed the fish. I always heard about it, but have never gone. It's always been bad weather since I've had kids. We were very disappointed until we saw one fish. It was eating the cheese someone brought and was not interested in the fish pellets we were throwing in. We were just glad to see one! Jared said it was way smaller than what he was used to seeing. :( But counting our blessings! I actually took some pictures.

The fish are in a huge spring that is water coming up from the mountain run off. It was so pretty! Ryan wanted to go swimming in it. Fortunately, he didn't push it. :)

Where are the fish?

After taking a picture of Daddy and Brady, I wanted one with Ryan. I went over to him and picked him up to sit like Brady. He freaked out! He is scared of heights and I wasn't thinking. He was really mad at me.

Here he is crying. I am a great mom! ;)

I felt bad and couldn't get him to stop being upset, so I asked him to take a picture of me and Daddy. He never gets to hold this camera so he wiped his tears away and started clicking. Not too bad for a four year old.

Megan, Brady, Jed, Kaden, Tara, Brooklyn, and Sydney

No make up pictures on the internet for all to see are the best!

We finally saw a fish! Ryan says he saw it, but I'm not positive he really did. :)

Terrible picture of Mom and Dad and Brady, but I absolutely love Ryan's face in it! Love him!

The rest of Sunday was spent playing more games, swimming again, Sydney teaching me two different styles to do my hair, painting nails with the girls, and eating more food! We have so much fun and love our family so much!

On our way home we stopped at Big Jud's and got the huge burger to share with our whole family. We also always get ice cream. Yum! I didn't take pictures again. :(

We stopped in Shelley at Grandma Hale's grave to place flowers and these fun pinwheels we saw at the store. The boys loved these! Tanya stopped there after us and said that Grandma would have loved that! I wish I knew her better and I love hearing about her from everyone. In the car Ryan asked a lot of questions about her. He asked what she liked. It was really cute. :) Jared said she loved playing with her grandkids and Ryan asked, "Am I her grandkid?" I really want to keep her memory alive and visiting her grave on Memorial Day is one good way.

We love and miss you Grandma!

Going to these graves and seeing pictures of my friends' who are angel mothers visit their babies' graves made me sad we don't have a grave to visit for Annie. I know that I would have done everything the same if I went through it again, I just wish I had tons of money to make that decision easier. :) We miss Annie and all that would have been. I hope she is happy in what she is doing and knows how loved she is.

The rest of the car ride was pretty good. Ryan played with Jared's phone and Brady napped. I read a book while Jared drove. We got home and unloaded and unpacked everything! It was great! We both crashed the next day though feeling sick. I still haven't recovered from the long weekend. Hopefully tomorrow! We did have a nice weekend though. We love our families, we love those who have passed away, and we are so grateful to be together with everyone again someday.