April 2018 - Washington Trip for the Funeral

 My dad passed away on Wednesday the 28th of March.

His funeral was Saturday April 7th.

We headed to my mom's house on Thursday. I think.

We drove straight there.

It was a LONG drive.

We took lots of stops to get the wiggles out and nurse.

Here's a picture from one of our stops.

Traveling isn't fun for Ty but he does a great job being patient and content.

Friday the 6th, I helped my  mom get some stuff done.

The kids stayed home and played games and drew pictures with Sean and my brother Ryan.

My dad was cremated. My mom and I went to pick up his ashes that morning. 

That was an emotional trip.

After they brought us his urn to see, they put it in a box. And I carried it out to the car.

That was so strange. The thought that I was carrying my dad in a cardboard box.

Cremation is weird to me. But that's what my dad wanted so that's what we did.

I didn't want to see his dead body but because I didn't see it, it didn't seem real that he was gone.

All weekend I kept thinking I would see him. It felt like he must just be in the other room.

He really couldn't be gone. It just didn't seem real.

...

Later that morning my aunt Lisa flew in.

That afternoon we walked down to Flower World with the kids.

We needed a break from funeral preparations and sadness.

That afternoon more family came into town.

We played yard games and just sat around talking.

The girls had a fun time playing with my cousin's daughter Harlow.

The next day was the funeral.

I went to the church early with my mom to help set up.

The hour before the funeral was a "life viewing" of my dad.

There were lots of pictures for people to look at.

And there was a memory book for people to sign.

I helped my kids put together their own tribute table.

 The Fast side of the family brought some old pictures of my dad that I had never seen before.

I enjoyed the service.

I thought everyone did a great job paying tribute to my dad.

The chapel and overflow area in the back were filled.

I saw so many people that I haven't seen in a long time.
It was wondering seeing so many familiar and friendly faces. I felt so much love and support.

The luncheon afterwards was great.

People everyone left I made sure we got a few pictures.

My dad has five kids from his first marriage. And then me and Ryan.

He always told people that he had three biological children, 

he adopted two and then two adopted him.

I got a picture of all seven of us together.

From left to right: Ryan, Jon, Noel, Rachel, Sam, Chris and Aaron.

That clock on the table is my dad's urn.

His ashes all are in that except for a tiny bit 

that are in the necklace that my mom is wearing in the picture above.

After the funeral, we went back to the house and played games.

We had a good time playing Would You Rather. My mom and my aunt Lisa are hilarious.

The kids thought they were so funny.

I took a quick picture of my mom with her two sisters before they left that night.

I snapped a few more pictures.

The driveway is long and narrow. 

Aunt Lisa didn't want to back out of it so she just turned around the grass.

She didn't think we were watching but we were and we were all laughing at her.

We took it easy the rest of the night and the next day. 

And Monday we drove home. It was another long day.

(Then Tuesday morning Sean left on a work trip for a week and a half.)

Here's a few pictures I snapped on the drive home...