May 8, 2010...

Grandpa Bob passed away on December 20th and we had his funeral on December 26th, but Iowa's winter was terrible so we put his burial off until this last weekend. The date was chosen in honor of his birthday which was May 10th and because it was Mother's day weekend. As I said in a previous post I  made a very last minute decision to come home, because I just couldn't stand being the only one who missed it. The following pictures are from his burial. It was a cold dreary morning, but we were all their huddled together as a family. I'm so glad that I was able to be there with everyone.

Grandpa was cremated and my cousin Scott made his urn.

Some of the family huddled together, sharing stories, and hugs.

The gravestone. It's carved from a rock found out on the farm. My parents have the other half of the stone and they plan to use it as their headstone one day as well.

The local veterans came and did the traditional gun salute. This was an especially emotional moment, because my grandfather was one of them. I remember watching these same men and my grandfather with them doing salutes over the years, but this time the salute was for him.

Grandpa asked my father and my uncle Paul to dig the hole. They did a beautiful job. Then when it came to burying him my brother and their brother, my uncle Steve stayed behind to help.