In Loving Memory, Neil Stanley Harding Sr

Hello all!  I hope you've been having a great week!  Things were good out here.  My Grandpa passed away this past Sunday, and his funeral was on Wednesday.  While obviously a sad time, it was also a joyous time.  It was great to get to be back with my family again, and not just from my parents down, but to see my aunts, uncles and cousins again.  I haven't seen many of them in quite some time.  My grandpa was always happy, and liked to play jokes, so of course it was a blizzard all day with anywhere between 8-18 inches of snow depending on what part of Salt Lake you were driving through!  I'll talk more about traveling out for his funeral later, but I love and miss you grandpa!

Last Sunday Jelly was trying to enjoy a nap when Winry found her.  Winry was very excited to have such easy access, but quickly got distracted by old habits!

Brooke continues to love preschool, and as far as I can tell is doing an awesome job!  This past week they got to make fruit loop quilts!!  She sure looks like she's having a great time.  Also, she's already established herself as the neat one who tries to keep everything organized in her art projects!

On Wednesday morning I flew out to Utah for my Grandpa's funeral.  I did my typical math for figuring out when to get to DIA, but apparently picked a very down morning, as when I got there the security line looked something like this.

And there was all of no one else waiting to get on the train to the gates...

And no one on my train.  So I did end up making it there earlier than needed, but I really didn't mind.  I would definitely rather get there early, and I just spent the time walking around exploring the airport (I ended up through security with 2 hours to go... those were supposed to be the 2 hours you give yourself to get through security and the other insanities of the airport...).  It was fun to walk around, and I found a part of the terminal that isn't on any maps, and actually has a pretty nice restaurant also not on any maps.  So I guess I'm cool and in the know now!

Meanwhile back at home everyone was partying!!

When I got to my parents house it obviously was time to get out my dad's new TV.  Why was that obvious?  Well, because I brought my Switch, and we didn't immediately have a TV available to hook it up to!

Here's my dad giving video games a go... with his razor...  Maybe he'll catch on when the next console comes out...

We didn't have terribly much time before we all had to head out for the funeral.  Remember that crazy snow storm I was telling you about?  Well, it fortunately didn't delay my flight, but it made driving anywhere a real mess.  It took my dad maybe 45 minutes to pick me up at the airport where it is typically a 15 minute drive, so we definitely had to head out early!  We made it on time and, surprisingly, intact.  We started at my grandparents church where there was a viewing and then my dad and his siblings each took a turn talking about grandpa.  I feel like I learned a lot about my grandpa while sitting there.

After that we headed to the grave.  My grandpa was in the marines, and so there were military officers there for the funeral.  They read a military something, played taps, and gave him a 9 gun salute!  I wish I had gotten the salute, but taps was still nice.  They also folded the flag and gave it to my aunt, who was primarily responsible for taking care of my grandpa over the last 5 years.  She did an awesome job, and I know everyone in the family is really appreciative of all of her sacrifices over the years.  Thank you Alyson!!

They also had a moment where all of the pallbearers got to place their boutonnieres on the casket.  After we finished at the grave we headed back to the church for a lunch and that was that.  We had strawberry ice cream and peanut M&Ms in honor of my grandpa, and as I type that I think I might have to go honor him again!!  Thanks Brooke's Halloween candy! :)  Grandpa, I love you, and I can't wait to see you again.  While we will miss you on this side of the veil, I know you have had a joyous reunion with grandma and your sisters, and I can't wait till we can all be together as a family again!

I flew back Wednesday night, and my flight got in just late enough for the snow storm to roll through Denver.  While the snow wasn't as bad out here, or at least not as much, at midnight it really doesn't matter how much snow is on the road, it's all terribly slow...  I'm not sure I ever made it above 35 MPH, and I had to pull off the freeway twice because of all the salt on the roads the other cars were throwing up.  You see, my windshield wiper fluid was either gone, or frozen, so I would drive for a little, suddenly be blinded by the salt on the windshield, pull off the road and smear snow all over my windshield and then I could see again.  I'm glad I only had to do this twice, but I guess those are the benefits of midnight traffic.  By the time I finally got home I'd been up around 23ish hours since waking to head to the airport.  What a day!!

Thursday it was basically all I could do to poke my head out of my shell.  In addition to all of the weather antics and late nights of the day before, I also got sick...  So Thursday came and went, but really I don't remember too much.  The rest of the family still had lives, however, and Monica took Brooke to dance class in the morning.  When they got there Brooke was the only one there, but shortly after another girl made it!  We think people didn't brave the snowy roads...

Friday was a more typical day with actually going in to work and all that, and Friday after work we headed to pick up our race packets for Saturday and grabbed some ice cream from Butterfields!  YUM!!  If you haven't been (and live at a distance you would even consider slightly reasonable to drive for ice cream) you should go!

Saturday was the big day!  Love 'em or Leave 'em!  Here's Monica and I at the start line!

To be honest I had no clue what to expect going into this race.  Monica wanted to run the whole thing without stopping to walk, and she did!  Good for you Monica!  As for me, well I've typically placed in the So Long to Summer 10K in August, but I hadn't done any speed training for this race, and I've spent the past 18 months trying to recovery form plantar fasciitis.  Well, I was still able to put out a good pace (7:50/mile), and at around 4.5 miles into the race I was able to pull into 3rd place in my age division, and never let it go!  Wahoo!  The Parker runs also always have Flippin Flapjacks at the finish line, and they are amazing pancakes.  I meant to get a picture holding my pancake breakfast with my medal so I could show you the "prize" I won, but we forgot, so it's just me and my medal.

This weekend has also been our stake conference.  While at stake conference this morning I was able to meet a sister from Mongolia!  She was called to temple square, but has been on a couple month stint in our mission.  She had breakfast at Tyson and Tina's house right after she got out here, and then she ended up in Parker!  It was a lot of fun talking to her, and while I typically could understand her Mongolian I am definitely out of practice!  That said we did talk in  Mongolian for a bit, and it turns out things have sure changed a lot in Mongolia over the last 10 years!!  I even eventually had to switch to English to make sure I was really understanding!  Sounds like the church is still growing wonderfully over there, and she said they're even building a new stake center!  That is really exciting.  She's heading back to Temple Square soon, so if you want to go say hi her name is Sister Naranbaatar, and She'll be there till July so we'll hopefully even go see her when we come out for Ragnar in June!

I want to close by bearing my testimony of the resurrection.  I know that Christ lives, and I know that because of his atonement we all too will live again.  I know that families are eternal, and that we can live with our loved ones again.  I know that one day I will get to be with my grandparents again, and I know that my children will get to know them too.  I am so grateful for the Gospel, and for the Atonement of Christ that lets all repent and return to live with God.  May we always seek to do His will, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.