Thursday, April 28, 2011

{water for elephants}

I knew I needed a good read, besides my People's magazines, to keep me occupied on my flight to SLC last week.  I have always heard good things about this book--Water for Elephants.  Now, I have to admit, it did make reading it a little easier since I could picture Robert Pattinson as the main character.  Ya, I kinda have a crush on him :)
I read about half the book before I arrived in UT, and then the next few days were spent at the farewell to our grandfather.  When we arrived back at my parents' house, all of the girls (except for Heather, but plus Rita), and EVEN Tom decided to go see the late movie since it has just been released.
I LOVED IT!!!  It was so good, and my boy Robert and darling Reese Whitherspoon did a fantastic job.  I might just have to go see it again.
Oh, and on my way back, I actually did finish the book, unlike many of my paint jobs.  Loved the book & the movie equally as well.




Wednesday, April 27, 2011

{i love them......like, a lot}

These photos will always mean a lot to me, but especially because we went back to Grandpa's farm to take them.   The sky was blue and those great, big trees were full of singing birds....
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{tears, laughter, and plagiarism}

I feel very fortunate that I was able to be there for my grandfather's funeral.  It felt better than ever to be together as a family and I know it must have meant a lot to my father to have all his children there.  I was able to say goodbye to a very special man, someone who held me in his lap many times and gave me those good Garner kisses.   I know he loved me as much as I loved him.  I learned so much about him and the life that he lived and it left me feeling like I wanted to be a better person because of him.  I am thankful that he was such a kind man to everyone around him and I am especially grateful for the father he was to my dad.   I cannot imagine not having the knowledge that we will be together again.
In most cases, plagiarism is bad---very bad, BUT I have to {copy and paste} word-for-word how my sister, Camille, captured our weekend.  So, here it is....with my photos.


I love this picture of my Grandpa

and

I love this last picture of my Dad with his Sibs

There is a lot of love in this Garner family
I love knowing that

I love that all my Sibs were there
I love that we all slept in one big room together
(even though we had our own)
and stayed up until I don't really remember falling asleep
laughing and crying and planning

I loved hanging out and catching up and eating treats
with my cousins
and aunts and uncles
and great aunts and great uncles
Garners love their treats
Leslee always made sure Grandpa had his

I loved hearing the stories
from Jo about the tricks and memories and heartaches
they shared

I loved hearing my Dad say that Grandpa was
the best complete father anyone could hope for
I can agree on that....for him and for me

I loved hearing Blair say that Grandpa taught him
to love his wife
That Grandpa and Grandma had quite the
love affair
with each other

I love that Scott threw out a marshmallow egg
to each of his Sibs
Because they were Grandpa's faves

I love that the funeral home let us give
Grandpa one more ride in his pick up truck

He always loved to drive his pick up truck
Fast
Hunched over the steering wheel
Smiling

I love that all of his Grandsons
rode with him
and his Sons
drove him

I love that he received a 21 gun salute
and the dignity that the honor guard gave him
and that now he is resting next to Grandma

I love that the ward made ham for the luncheon.
Since Grandpa was a butcher
He was a ham snob.
He would have loved that ham.

I love that
we drove down to Grandpa and Grandma's house
one last time
and climbed the box car
to scan the property
and looked over the canals
and stood in front of the cow barn
and listened to the birds in the trees
and listened to each other say
'remember....'

And then,
we all (except me because I had to drive)
jumped in back of Dad's pick up truck
and rode down to Kelly's Market
where Grandpa use to work
and where he and Dad always took us for candy

Oh, we got candy too, one last time.
$28 worth

I love this family.

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