I can’t believe it’s only Monday.  Part of me feels like we crammed a whole two weeks in one weekend.  First I want to tell my family members, friends, neighbors, and sisters in my ward how grateful I am.  For the emails, texts, and notes.  It made my whole weekend.  Thanks for all your concern and sweet gestures, I seriously love you all.  I am so very lucky.

Even though the weekend had a bit of a dismal undertone, we really did enjoy ourselves…

Friday after work Zach and I went out to dinner with Zach’s sister and our brother-in-law.  We went to Caffe Molise in Salt Lake and we got to meet our niece Charlie for the first time!  She is such a sweetheart, and of course Zach instantly loved her from the beginning because he held her for a long period of time and was an absolute angel for him.  The instant babies become fussy, he is no longer interested.  It’s like he suddenly is holding a ticking time bomb, and he has to pass them off as soon as possible.  With Charlie, he couldn’t get enough!

Saturday, my mom and I decided to get together to run some errands before the viewing and funeral.  So while the boys went to the Utah vs. BYU game, we got a lot accomplished.  Zach, Blake, Dad, and my Dad’s friend Kendall all drove down together to Provo for the big rivalry game.  The game didn’t start until 7:00 pm, but Zach met at my parents house at 3:30 pm to be “on time”.  Zach runs on what the family calls “Henderson Standard Time” because he is always 20-30 minutes late for everything.  It’s a joke, because it seems like the family is always in their own time zone.  But for game day?  Zach was EARLY.  Miracles do happen, people!

My parents bought Zach’s ticket for his birthday, and they got seats on the FRONT ROW at the 5 yard line.  I am so glad my Dad decided to go, even with all that was going on with the family.  It made his whole YEAR.  I was worried that he would be a downer the whole time, but after seeing the close-up of the boys on ESPN, I realized how much fun they having!  My mom and I had gone out to dinner and we were planning on watching the last quarter or so of the game, and suddenly we get this flood of text messages from random people saying, “We saw Gary and Blake on ESPN at the Utah Game!”  It wasn’t until we got home (the game was being recorded) and we rewinded it back to view my father, in all of his glory, screaming his guts out.  Veins were popping out of his head, and he was completely red in the face.  My mother was mortified!  We laughed for a good 15 minutes, rewinding the clip over and over, each time laughing at his strenuous celebration face!

My mom and I had so much fun on our Girlz Night!  We went shopping for a few things for the viewing, and I drug her to Target to check out the new Missoni collection.  To be honest, I didn’t think that many people in Utah (besides my design friends) would really know who Missoni was or care about their collaboration with Target…but when we heard of the crowds of people waiting in line and all the commotion with the Target website crashing, I knew it was too good to be true.  We walked down the aisles, looking at the desolate shelves where the Missoni items used to stand.  There were only one or two items on each shelf or rack left.  If only I could have stood in line with those early bird crazies, I totally would have!  Please cross your fingers that the website gets items back in stock, cause I’ve got my eye on a sweet throw blanket!

After our errands, I took her to eat at Vinto.  We laughed, updated each other on “all the latest” as my mom calls it, and ate some delicious food.  We went back to her house so we could catch the last of the game, and so I could do her hair for the viewing.  We ended up not even watching the match, due to the score, and decided to watch Up All Night on Hulu instead.  I had been looking forward to this show for months because of all the funny commercials I had seen.  The pilot was hilarious, and I can’t wait to watch the upcoming episodes.  I think I have a more emotional link to Will Arnett’s character, because he is a clone of my husband.  Hockey?  Call of Duty?  Are you kidding, this is my husband in 3 or so years!  If you haven’t seen it, you will really enjoy it!

Sunday was my Grandpa’s viewing.  It seemed like the whole town of good ‘ole Magna came out to support my Grandma.  It was so great to see family that I rarely see from out of town, and fun to see so many of my parents’ friends there as well.  Sunday night was miserable.  Friday and Saturday, I had been complaining about a tooth ache to Zach and my Mom.  Sunday night hit and I couldn’t focus on anything other than the heartbeat in my tooth.  It throbbed all evening and night.  My sweet brother-in-law called his old bishop and got me a dentist appointment at 7:00 am Monday morning.

I haven’t been to the dentist for…a while.  I’ve been totally irresponsible and had neglected my teeth.  Turns out I’ve been brushing my teeth a little too hard, and my gums have been receding, leaving my poor roots exposed.  So, as the dentist is giving me a shot I say, “Now…is this going to wear off before I have to sing at my Grandpa’s funeral at 11:00?”  It was too late.  A couple of shots later, and a painful two fillings…I learned my lesson.  NO MORE neglecting my check-ups.  I went to work before the funeral, and my co-workers were getting a pretty good laugh.  My whole check, gums, and tongue were completely numb.  I was a nervous mess, praying that I would regain feeling before I had to sing.  My boss let me take the whole rest of the day off to be with my family, even amongst all the design deadlines we have coming up.  He is seriously amazing!  As I’m driving to the funeral, I am still numb.  I even practiced my song twice before, still numb.  Luckily my cousin, Sherrie, was singing with me in case I completely flopped!

The funeral service was perfect.  A few people spoke, including my Dad.  He told stories that made us all laugh, and he bore his sweet testimony.  His talk would have made Grandpa really proud.  As for me, I regained feeling in my lips and cheek before I got up to sing our song!  It went well, and I didn’t even shed a single tear until the last line.  Sherrie was a soldier and didn’t cry AT ALL!  My grandfather lived an incredible life, surrounded by the people he loved.  He left this life doing that exact thing, with those same people.

Last, but not least, even with the big loss…Zach and I have made an addition to our family!

No…not a sweet little baby.  I would actually prefer a baby over this new item.

A gun.  A rifle to be exact.  A Browning 300 something, something, X-Bolt?  Don’t ask, it all is so outrageous to me.  This is my husband’s birthday gift FROM ME!  I told him I would get him whatever he wanted and he wanted a stupid gun.

Suddenly he is into really into hunting.  I thought the pheasant hunting a while ago and the annual deer hunt with his family would suffice, but unfortunately he is too invested not to INVEST in a hunting rifle for the upcoming season.  There were two rules:  No “power stances” in the hallway pointing at the guest bedroom like with his pistol he received for graduation.  Never at any time is he allowed to “point” it at the guest bedroom, or any bedroom, or any THING for that matter in the house.  The second rule was that he couldn’t keep it under the bed…which may or may not be the location of the other weapon of mass destruction in our home.

Stupid gun.