Great Grandpa Murray

Eric's Grandpa passed away the week before Labor Day.  They scheduled the funeral for Tuesday, the day after labor Day.  Which worked out perfect for us!  It was a crazy 5 days for me, but Monday after the Triathlon we drove up to Pocatello!  Elizabeth had flown in with Damon and Wade, and we all went to the viewing, had dinner and stayed in a hotel. Tuesday morning at the family prayer, they got this amazing picture.  Grandpa's body in his casket, Grandma in the middle of the front row, and ALL of their grandchildren!  Only Elizabeth and one other had to fly, the rest live within a 5 hour driving radius. Top R to L: Clint, Casey, Chris, Randi, Trent, Aaron, Tyler, Eric, Ryan, Dayna, Jordan. Bottom Row R to L: Jeneille, Anna, Raelynn, Elizabeth, Garrett, Grandma, Kurtis, Alisha, Russell, Heidi. (I knew all of them that day, but now I've already forgotten a few....oops!)

Pallbearers, including Kurtis and Ryan.

Family picture that almost didn't happen- it took a lot to convince Whitney to miss soccer practice to come to the funeral.  In the end it was a good experience and I'm so glad we didn't just let it go.

The kids had a great time swimming at the hotel!  Here's Owen, Cleo, Maris, Vivian and Naomi playing a fun game.

We made it!

Grandpa served in the military- so he got a military funeral.  I thought Owen and Cleo were so cute saluting. And then Grandma asked Eric to dedicate the grave!  (Other grandkids got to speak at the funeral.) It was a special time, he did a great job.

Our Murray boy in front of the beautiful headstone.  

And Owen LOVES to play with Wade!  We all do, but they are little buds. 

We will miss Great-Grandpa a lot.  We made sure to get up to see them once a year.  He was always excited to show us his treasures, drive the kids around on his golf cart, and give us the treasures of his stories.  Education was really important to him, since he only went to school through the 8th grade. All of his kids went to college, and he rewarded his grandkids for good grades.  He lived a good life and is loved by his posterity.

And here are two random photos that were missed in other posts.  Katelyn and Whitney being silly one night, and when I was on top of mount Timpanogos I called Eric, and he later showed me he had taken a screenshot right after. So cool!  I couldn't find this pic for the life of me when I wrote that post, so I'm just adding it now because I randomly found it. 

Half the fam Murray Triathlon

The morning after I got back from California, was the Murray Family Triathlon!  Since the older kids hiked the Narrows, I told them they were off the hook for this one. I didn't do it so I would be able to help Emma and Maris.

Here's Emma starting- she wanted to do the backstroke!  But then the next girl started catching her, so she turned over and booked it toward the finish :)

Oh, did I mention it was pouring rain??  It was.  We had an hour lightning delay.  Then they finally started but it rained the whole time. Brave athletes!

Emma finishing the run, and done!  great job!

Here's Maris breaststroking! and riding her bike.

She had to do a long 2.5 mile loop- I was worried about her being on her own, but I couldn't go with her.  She did great!  And here she is finishing her run with a sprint!

done, yay! 

Eric rocked the swim, and bike,

and here he is running and giving the girls 5's. You can see the raindrops in the first picture!  I love to see him run actually.  I'm so proud of how far he has come! 

Cuties with their medals, and Eric took 2nd in his division!  Way to go. 

And then we hurried home to change and pack up for our sudden sad/happy trip to Pocatello.

Last Harvest. Best Surprise we have ever pulled off!!

 The Church has decided to transition the Vineyard over to grapes that can be dried on the vine and harvested by machine.  Tragic in the eyes of some, but that's the decision that was made.  And so, Melissa had this idea that we should all surprise Dad and come for the last harvest. It's a good thing we all committed to it the year before, or I probably wouldn't have gone.  It ended up being horrible timing, and no one else in my family could go but me.  But I'm SO glad I went.  I carpooled with Jonathan and Katrina (and Ryder), so they helped pay for gas.  And were great company.  The surprise was perfect and I had lots of fun and I could tell it meant so much to my mom more than anything!  

This was the moment right after we surprised him. :) It was 6am and he had NO idea. It was wonderful!

After working in the vineyard for like 6 hours, we went home and had a party.  Since I didn't have any kids with me, I got to enjoy being an aunt to these cuties!  Audrey and Scofield.

We had a smorgasbord of Hansen favorites for dinner, and Katrina arranged these so cute on a platter for display.  Macaroni and cheese, lasagna, tuna casserole, tacos, grapes, salad, and watermelon. and for dessert, peach crisp, no bake cookies and wacky cake. :)

Grandmom and Grandad came!  And we sang together :)

 I took this picture of a picture Dad had in his office- little Emma, I mean Jenae!! 

The safety vest crew enjoying picking up trays with the Gator, and Katrina showcasing how sticky-muddy-dirty your hands get at the vineyard!

We picked a whole row! 

We got SOOO lucky and it was only in the 80's- the coolest picking I have ever done!  Ryder and Seth had a blast.  And Donny and Christine's girls were SO cute playing with leaves and sticks after the row was done.

panoramic of a row!

The row before we picked it.  So pretty.

me with a GIANT bunch of the most DELICIOUS grapes on the planet!!

I definitely gleaned a couple of bags to take home at the end!

This was when we met at a gas station at 5:45am before the surprise!  It was SO fun!  Most of us had spent the night at Derek and Raycelan's the night before, and got up at 4:30am to leave at 4:45 to drive there!

This was dinner on the way there, and the hours and hours of sunflowers we drove past!  All the way from home to St. George, and then from Tehachapi to Madera!

After picking we spent like 2 hours cleaning up.  picking up trays and washing stacks and stacks of picking pans.  Also here's classic Dad telling me and Katrina and the boys a story.

We arrived Friday night and left Sunday morning.  But it was absolutely worth it for THIS!! We were all together talking and picking and we sang several hymns together and it felt like Zion! :) Working hard and dirty but together and joyful and not as blazing hot as we thought it would be. 

Thanks for all the memories and lessons Vineyard!  

Lake Powell Blitz

 It is important to note that "Blitz" in the title refers to the trip itself, not the post! This post is one of the longest yet!  But our trip was SUPER short.  We drove down late Friday night after Whitney's soccer practice.  Then had 1.5 days on the water, and then booked it home as the kids had school Monday morning. Quick but WORTH IT! lake Powell is awesome. So get ready for one million pictures.

Here's the cute 11-year old cousins riding on the tube together.  Owen and Cleo.

Whitney and Maris on a bumpy ride

Chillin on the boat!  Owen, Cleo and Whitney

Emma and Grandma!

The kids exploring, and playing on the boat ramp while we unloaded the boat on the dock.

maris, vivian and cleo, and Eric trying the surfing feature.

Owen, Naomi, and Maris. And my view from the front of the boat at one point- Katelyn, Whitney and Eric

Whitney peace-sign photobombing me and Eric's boat selfie, and Lauren Kurtis Eric and Emma.

Owen, Maris, Katelyn.....and Grandma!

And the cliff-jumping pics!  There will be a lot of these haha.  Here's a bunch of us taking turns going off a cliff, and then Ryan's like "lets go higher!" So you can see in the next picture, Eric is jumping off the lower one while some kids get ready to go off the higher one.  Whitney, Owen, Maris, Cleo and Vivian did it.  My 3 probably did it 5 times or more, they just kept climbing back up to go again!

Sunrise over Lake Powell!  This time we got the hotel breakfast, and it was AMAZING. Sitting and eating with a gorgeous view of the Lake= luxury!   and here's me and poor Emma, who still doesn't love the boat.

Owen, Naomi and Maris, and Cleo and Whit

Owen and Katelyn

Lauren, Vivian, Maris and Cleo being cheerleaders

Ice Cream Stop!

We stopped in this little cove for a while, it was fun and private.

Me and the kids climbed up to the top of the rocks.

Later we got this cute family boat picture....

Right before a thunderstorm hit! We sped back to the dock getting rained on the whole way!  it looks sunny, but it was raining!

Emma and Maris helping Grandpa drive the boat

Cousin love!

Boat love!

Playing games while we waited for and ate pizza delivered to us at the Marina!  Very cool.  And look at Maris' red face!

After our sun break, I bought everyone tootsie pops from the little shop- apparently liking those is a Murray thing! They were a hit.

One more pic from the ice cream break.

Grandma went on the tube!!
With Maris and Vivian!  Not for very long though lol.

I just had to take a selfie with these gorgeous white and orange cliffs. 

Whitney, Cleo and Maris- brave souls getting some air!

Whit, Owen and Cleo up on the biggest cliff before jumping.

Mary took these funny shots of us when we were in that cove.  She, Brad and Ryan stayed on the boat.

Mary was happy at dinner one night that Katelyn was wearing a Harjuku shirt. 

Mary took a bunch of videos of the kids cliff jumping, and I got these still shots from those.  This first one in incredible- just a little girl falling through the air in front of the huge cliffs.

This one of Owen!!  leaping out into the unknown!! He LOVED the thrill of it.  And Whitney halfway down.

A great mid-air shot of Whitney.

And Maris jumping from 2 different spots.

Lake Powell was awesome.  I hope we go there many more times.  This time was great because we worked so hard to make it happen and it was worth it.