Today has been a pretty crazy day. Emotions that ran the gamut from sad to excited to content to exhaustion. (If exhaustion can be an emotion.) 

We were up around 8, which was a little later than a normal work day. We were up getting ready, gathering food and getting dressed for the day. We had several stops to make, and we on a schedule.

First stop was a hard one: Grandma Suker’s Funeral.

When I found out when her funeral would be held I was pretty bummed and was faced with a hard choice. In the end, I was happy to at least have time to pay my respects and see members of the Suker family. 

We met up with my lovely cousin Heather outside the meeting room. 

She was dressed in her grandmothers cloths. From the dress to the pearls, it was a really cool way to remember her. Everyone else was there. It was cool to see them, but as with all funerals, there was a lot of sadness too. All of the conversations seemed to be centered around a few different themes. First, how surprising it was that she left so suddenly. Second, how much zest and energy she had for life. Finally, how she would have been miserable to have to try and live with an extended illness, and how wonderful it was for her to be able to life a full healthy life. 

We left. With lots on our minds.

We headed up to Logan. 

Still in our church cloths…

and mostly enjoying the ride together. 

Well almost.

Our second stop was actually Providence, the town just south of Logan. It turns out that my Grandma June Pipkin is a Cache Valley girl. A couple of months ago I got an email from my Aunt Kathy telling me that there was a Pickett family reunion, giving me an email address, and getting me in contact with a distant cousin. Her name is Dorene Skidmore. She and I emailed, spoke of the phone and got aquatinted. She was so excited to meet us. It made me really nervous and excited.

The Reunion was for my Great Great Grandparent’s Children:
George M and Annie Reading Pickett

Here are their Children.

The was being held at a park on the edge of town. It was called Von Beur Park.

There was a pavilion full of people. We approached very slowly. 

A little lady with white hair and a huge smile said, “You must be Allison.” I said that I was, she said “I’m Dorene!” then gave me a HUGE hug.
Here is Dorene.

 Moments later we were all surrounded by a group of women introducing themselves to us. They all insisted that we eat, and directed me to the Leland Pickett table. One of the woman was named Fran. Fran was, it turned out my Aunt Relda’s Son’s wife. John is his name.  

John and Fran. 

The table was full of other unfamiliar faces. One of them started to talk to me. 

Hi name was Neal. 

(I spoke to my mom and dad when we got home, and Dad sent me some pictures. I thought it would be a fun way to show my siblings, and keep in line who I met. )

Ok, so this lovely lady on the left is Julia Pickett, or as it says in Grandma Pipkin’s Life Story, Aunt Jules. She is Grandma June’s stepmother. The handsome blacksmith turned butcher is Grandpa Leland Pickett.  It was cool to speak to Neal their youngest son Neal. I don’t have any super great pictures of him from the day, but…

Dad sent me this AWESOME picture. 

Leland and Julia and all of the kids.

Relda, June and Halvor are the children of Estella and Leland. 

 I met Neal, little boy in the middle. 

He is the guy with the sweet handle bar mustache with red shorts.
He is sandwiched between his oldest daughter Shaunna Lee Pickett Sanderson, his nephew (Son of Aunt Ailean) Ronald (Ron) Orlan Scott Jr., Neal Pickette himself, John, Fran, and Mark Tarbet Beutler (Aunt Marilyn’s Youngest son).

Neal and I talked. He lives in a cabin in Lava Hot Springs. He almost presented himself as some kind of hermit out there. We both agreed about the beauty of south east Idaho.  He talked about going down to work for a few months in the summer with Grandpa Pipkin. It said it was too hot. We got into conversation about his parents. I didn’t know when and how his mother passed away, so we talked about it. She wasn’t 60 when she died, which seemed young and begged the question, how. Neal’s answer CRACKED me up. “She had too many damn kids.” He did eventually say she had a stroke which quickly lead to her death. Then we talked about his dad whom he said worked until he was in his 80’s. He passed away after going into the hospital for something simple, then caught pneumonia. Which is what he died of.

On a lighter note, Karl and John’s great grandchildren had a BALL together. This is Camden. He was really into the sprinkled donut holes that we brought. Not as much as his little brother Hudson, who asked if he could have the one on my plate.  

Final stop, A Visit to the Hicken Family Home in Logan.
Aunt Shirlene and Chelsea where there, busy making making apricot and pineapple jam.

Mirah was in hog heaven, or DOG heaven.
Yes, she is hugging Barkley.

He was really sweet with her, she LOVED every minute of it with him. 

Until she yanked his leg and he snapped at her. Poor Barkley. Aunt Shirlene hid him away so that he could be safe. This of course broke little girls heart, but only until we showed her the complete cowboy and indians people set that she loved to play with. 

Other great news, Grandma and Grandpa Barney came to visit while we were there. 

OH, did I meantion Andy? He reminded me SO much of the boys. SO much energy, so cute, so fun, so cool. Then there was Ezra. He is closer to Mirah in age, and was so sweet. 

A great day full of Family.