My Uncle Mike (Maurice Hardy) passed away on November 1st 2013. Because we had recently returned from Stephenie's funeral and were going to soon be going to Texas we couldn't afford to all go and Steven couldn't take the time off work. So I made arrangements for the kids to get to and from school on the day of the funeral and me - Sam - and Olivia all climbed in my van with my mom - Spence - and Blake and made the drive. We split gas and mom treated us to dinner on the way down. Spence kept Sam entertained with his dS or some other gadget. Sam loved every minute of it and it was fun to see him having a good time with my big brother.
My mom stayed at Ann’s and the rest of us stayed at Clarks. Sam did not like the air mattress but I finally got him used to it. Olivia did not like the porta crib so we smooched on the bed until Liv fell asleep and I was able to move her to the crib. It was not a great nights sleep.
They had a nursery at the funeral! It was fantastic. The second Sam saw all the toys I no longer existed in his mind. I kept Olivia with me and she slept through the entire funeral! It was perfect and a fantastic funeral! I have always loved my Uncle Mike but it was so much fun to learn some more things about him. Here are a few things I learned:He was in the ROTC and would hitch hike from Logandale to Cedar City to go to school and then back again for the weekends. He was a Mason and his first job in Salt Lake was on a home. He had a lot of land not far from the construction site. He would watch very closely what everyone did and then go to his lot and do the same thing. That is how he learned to build homes. He has built many (maybe most?) of the homes in Logandale! He built a church building and complained that they paid him too much so when he was offered a job again he said no because he felt like he was stealing from the church. He made his boys work work work! When they thought they were almost done he would say that the sun was still up so they could do one more batch of cement. At the Luncheon I asked my cousin Kay (Mother of 6) how she managed to not lose her mind (because I was struggling with my 4) and she recommended a chore chart. This inspired me to come home and give my family a FHE on hard work and I created this chore chart. It worked really well until Elese's envelope fell off. I'd like to make a better one and try again. They cards are color coded (morning - afterschool - before bed). The kids have actually developed the habits of getting them done without looking at the cards but I'd like to fix the board so they have something to go back to so when they ask if they can play with friends I can just say "Check your cards".
It was really nice to spend time with my extended family and it was also really fun to just spend some time with my brothers. My Mom decided to stay and spend some time with Ann so we were all able to discuss her health and our other concerns.
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