Grandpa Harding...

My grandpa Harding died on December 12, 2011. It is always a relief, and a good thing when someone who is old and ill, dies. He had lived a long, full life, and it was time for his mind to leave his body. My grandpa's body was done. He had a seizure in the night and fell of his bed, and died. My grandpa did not want to be embalmed, so once he died, we had a small window of time to bury him. My grandpa was a simple man, a farmer. He wanted a simple funeral - well, he didn't want one at all. In fact, my grandma was going to bury him and not tell anybody until he was already in the ground. Luckily, my grandpa fell off his bed, and my uncle Kim got called to help my grandma. That is why we were able to attend the funeral. My mom - his only daughter - was working back east, and due to the time constraints, couldn't make it to the funeral. I filmed it for her. Back to the funeral...we were told no flowers, and we weren't to dress up. My grandpa did NOT want it in a church, and so we all met - his grandkids and kids - at Kim's house for lunch. Then we went to the cemetery and had a little graveside service. It was nice. I got to be a pall bearer. I didn't know girls could be pall-bearers. But it was awesome that we had enough of his grandkids to all be pallbearers. It was really great catching up with cousins I have, who I never see. It's always emotional for me to attend any funeral. I didn't know my grandpa very well - I can safely say - not many people did know him well. I do know he was an honest man who truly loved his family - although he didn't always know how to show it. Here are a few photos of the funeral, and a photo I took of my grandpa this summer. With my grandpa - I lost a loyal blog reader...until we meet again...

Harding Hideout...with friends!

We took our friends out to the Harding Hideout again this year. The kids love being able to bring their friends. We had a good time. There were frogs, lots of them - so much, in fact, that we had to tell the kids they couldn't touch them anymore. I hope they were playing dead, and not really dead. Ooops. They always have fun on the slide, swing, and in the water. Its really important for me that my kids have great friends. I think so many of the choices you make as a teenager are determined a lot by your friends. I am so happy of the friends my kids have chosen and who they love to spend their time with. We had a good day together, and everyone left a bit early, which gave us time to sit and talk to my grandma and grandpa. Definitely a good day!

Myton

This is flat-iron. It signifies being close to Grandma and Grandpa's. For as long as I can remember, we watch for it on our way out. We only have about a 7 minute drive after the first person spots it! We went out to Myton for a reunion of JUST our family...meaning my aunt and uncles and cousins. No extended/extended family...(you have to understand my family to know what this means). It's fun for me to get to talk to my cousins and their spouses, and have it be a smaller affair. The kids get along great, and it's awesome company. This year, BJ's cell phone fell out of his pocket when he was on the swing...it fell right into the water. So - the rest of the afternoon, everyone searched for the phone, and we even drained the pond. He eventually found it, and was happy to be able to turn it into his insurance for a new one! We went on the Harding Hauler, saw pigs, and just hung out. It was a fantastic day. I missed my brothers and my cousins who weren't there. Maybe next year...

My Grandpa...

My grandpa came home from the hospital yesterday. He is an avid reader of my blog. He has congenitive heart failure. We were worried, and headed out to spend the afternoon with him. We were chopped liver compared to the cute nurses he spent his weekend with, but we tried. All my mom's brothers were there also as well as my cousin Brian. I requested a family picture. They obliged...it was a fun day spent with family. Love you, Grandpa and Grams!

Here they are, the LeGrande Harding Family. Everyone in this family is famous. Seriously. My Gram is a famous artist. My grandpa a famous airplane mechanic. My uncle Kim is known for his incredible park, a member of the school board, craziest YM President to ever have served. John is a teacher at the USU institute. He's a doctor, you know. My mom is a famous world traveler teacher extraordinaire. That leaves Howard - or as they call him in Myton 'hwrd' - apparently there are no vowels and 1 syllable when you pronounce his name in Myton (Myton is a thriving metropolis, in case you were wondering - go ahead, google it). I was once at a store, and someone found out that THE HWRD - from the basin - was my uncle. They were in awe and almost bowed to me. It's true. He's well known ALL OVER the basin...next time you're there, ask anyone you know about 'Hwrd'. Then, there's the matter of Chickety Split cups. 28 years ago(at least), my dad gave my Gram a bunch of Chickety Split cups. 28 years later, she still has them. Gram is also famous for being frugle. Go ahead...just ASK how many rakes she has...you never know when you will need more than 20, right Gram? Here is proof the infamous cups are still in use (although, we almost had to wear protective gloves to handle these)
I took a 5 minute(it was 8 degrees) stroll around the house, and snapped these few photos. I'm not a very good landscape photographer, but I gave it a go.