Goodbye Grandpa

This is a hard post for me to write. Last week was a hard week for us. A little over a week ago we got the call that we knew would be coming but were hoping it wouldn't be so soon. Craig's dad had passed away. Darald's health had been going down steadily the last couple of years. He was to the point that he was on oxygen all of the time and couldn't walk from one room to another without sitting and resting in between for a few minutes. The decline was hard to watch. We had moved him to Craig's sister's house about a month ago because he had been passing out. We hoped that once his doctor got his medications stable he would be able to be back home but that didn't ever happen. Craig's sister-in-law went to pick him up to take in to a dr.s appointment and found him. It looks like he went quickly and we knew he was ready to go. He has been saying that for the last few months. I looked through my pictures to find some that I really liked. This Craig with his family at on our wedding day.Most of the pictures I have of Darald after Amanda was born.....Amanda is either on his lap or really close by. She loved her grandpa.

This one is at Zach's Baptism.

This is one of my favorite pictures and only about 1 and 1/2 years ago. It is at Craig's nieces wedding.This is another picture of Amanda on Grandpa's lap.

This one was at Craig's graduation from USU just last December. This is that last picture I have have of him. Craig was so happy that his dad was able to make it. It meant the world to have his dad see him graduate.

We were lucky that Darald came and stayed with us for a week after Christmas. We had been trying to get him to come stay with us because we were worried about him home alone all the time. It is a time that my kids will always remember. We did puzzles and he was able to sit and talk to the kids. We also watched the Sugar Bowl with the U of U playing Alabama. This is the first and only time that Darald and I and Zach were all cheering on the same team. (Zach and I are a BYU fans and he is a U of U fan.) It was really fun. I remember how excited he was that the U won. He was funny because he said he couldn't sleep the night before the game because he was so nervous.

Craig and his brothers at the viewing.

Zach and his cousins were the pallbearers. As you can see Zach is the smallest one but he was honored to be a pallbearer for his Grandpa. Darald was a veteran of the Navy so he was given a military farewell with taps and the folding of the flag.

I love this picture because it is Zach paying his last tribute to his Grandpa. We will miss Darald but we know that he is so happy to be reunited with his wife Sherron who died 11 years ago. He has missed her so much. I look forward to the day when we will see them both again.