Good bye Grandpa Withers

So a very sad point during the month of October was the passing of my Grandpa Withers. The day after Jamason and Angle's wedding was my Grandpa's viewing and the next day was his funeral. So it was a week full of emotions.

I thought the funeral was beautiful. The speakers did a great job, my cousins and I had to sing, share a favorite memory of my grandpa and my sister and I gave the opening and closing prayers. It was great to remember so many memories of grandpa. I shared the following memory....

As I have been remembering the many memories of Grandpa there is one that has stuck with me all week long and it is a memory I share with my 4 year old son.

As long as I can remember we have always had some kind of animal in the back pasture. For the last few years it has been cows. My son loves to walk to the pasture and visit the cows and loves even more to help feed them. It seems that every time we come to visit great-grandpa and grandpa I’d find the three of them out back feeding the cows. My dad would get a pile of hay while Grandpa would get a scoop of feed. Together with my son’s help they’d fill the trough and then call for the cows. I can remember Grandpa picking up my son so that he could see the cows over the fence and telling him all about cows and how to feed them. This is just a small simple thing but a memory I will cherish forever. I know that Grandpa loved sharing moments like this with my kids and I am grateful for the kindness he showed them.

Now thanks to this great memory my son has imaginary blue cows that lives in our front yard. He often asks to go outside to check on his cows and to feed them. 

The following pictures are from the grave site.

The picture below is of my dad and his brother and sisters.

(from left to right) Guy, Trudy, Wendy, Zane-my dad

I thought this was a very special moment. This is my dad's uncle handing the flag from my grandpa's casket to my Uncle Guy. I thought it was so sweet to have a family member doing something so special. 

These are snap shots of my brothers, and some of my cousins placing their boutineer on the casket. They were the pall-barriers. 

My favorite part of this whole day was spending time with my family. I realized just how much I love and miss them. Some of my cousins live far away and others are close by but I don't see them much. I realized that with both of my grandparents gone it will be twice as hard to see them. But I hope that we can find time to be together. Below is a picture of all of almost all of the Withers grand kids. Two are on missions and a few others were not able to make it.  

This past May we had our family pictures take and Grandpa came along too. At the time we didn't realize these would be the last pictures take with Grandpa and I think they all turned out great.

I am so thankful for my knowledge of the gospel and eternal families. Experiences like these make me thankful for my temple blessing. I appreciate all of the support and prayers that were offered for me during this time. I truly felt the lords hand and the many prayers that were said for me and my family.