So it turned out that my two girls and I were able to fly home for a week to be with my family for my grandpa's funeral. I traveled from Tulsa,OK to SLC, UT to Billing, MT. Then drove another hour and a half from Billings to my home town, Cowley WY. By now, I am used to this kind of a trip, but doing this by myself with a four month old baby and a 3 year old (busy, busy) toddler...well let's just say...I don't recommend it. My stomach was in knots and my neck was so tense and sore and I was in a complete sweat by the time I got there. I was so fearful I was going to loose one of them...mostly Alyssa. I ended up getting a child leash to keep her with me at all times through the airports. With all those people around and a baby to tend to, I just couldn't take any risks. I got some funny looks from people, but the ones who had traveled with kids before were smiling in agreement.
It was a beautiful service and almost all of the family was there to support each other and mostly to be there for my grandmother. She is the one who feels the loss the most. She was married to him most of her life and to all of the sudden she doesn't him around... I know she must feel so lonely.
During the family viewing grandma was saying her good bye's to grandpa before they closed his casket, and she just all the sudden started to cry...sobbing out loud kind of cry. In our faith, we believe in eternal families. We believe that we will see our families in the life after this one and we can be with them forever, if we do what is necessary in this life. My grandma and grandpa are an eternal family and even with my grandma knowing that, seeing her husband's face for the last time in who knows how long, was almost unbearable for her. After a few minutes, she pulled herself together and kissed him and said, "okay...I will see you soon."
It was the most sweetest thing and it touch me to witness that. It made me so grateful for being a part of this eternal family and the never ending happiness it can bring to me.
Other parts of our trip included visiting and laughing a lot with family. I hadn't seen a lot of them for a long time. Some of them I hadn't seen since my wedding in 2003. Of course it wouldn't be a Busteed family get together without tons and tons of good food. Every time I turned around there was something else I needed to sample. This trip was not good for my getting rid of the last of the baby weight goal. But it sure was fun!
So although this trip was filled with tears and sadness at times, it was also a enjoyable family reunion. I love going to Wyoming!
