Logan, Utah is not the ideal destination of choice in January in which one is guaranteed plenty of snow and plenty of cold. We were fortunate during our journey last week to have met with dry roads and sunny skies on the day of my grandfather's funeral and burial. The funeral itself was a fitting and bittersweet tribute to the man who so many of us called "grandpa." In fact, the entire service was performed by the grandkids (i.e. my cousins): prayers, conducting, talks, and testimonies. Its been many, many years since I had seen my cousins and while we all wish that we had been meeting under different circumstances, it was, nonetheless, sweet to reunion with them and meet their families.
Many of my happiest and most treasured childhood memories are the times that I spent with my cousins. Its so important to us that Brock develop those precious relationships with his cousins and it is through Jamin, my brother's little boy, that Brock has found not only a favorite cousin, but a best buddy. They both knew grandpa-or "grandpapa" as they called him-and shared this opportunity to say goodbye to him. It was at the burial, in cold and snowy Logan, that they boys were able to play wildly in the snow, throwing snowballs and making tracks. In other words, they played, as cousins do, creating memories and turning a serious event into playtime, lifting the spirits of all those who watched them play. I'm sure if "grandpapa" was watching, he was smiling.
"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!" Brock believes he is half dinosaur and spent much of the day roaring at everyone, particularly people he had never met. He also threw in dinosaur stomping to enhance his performance. It garnered plenty of chuckles and endeared him to his great aunt Julie.
You can see the mountains blanketed in snow and can imagine that even with a clear, blue sky and sunshine, it was still quite chilly outside. When you're a kid, however, a chill in the air has nothing on wide expanses of snow and a three year old's imagination.
