Dad's Funeral

Because of Memorial Day Weekend we had to push my dad's funeral back 4 days so it ended up being the day before his birthday and because of his condition the funeral home said we had to do a closed casket, which I didn't mind at all.

We had some time before the viewing started so I had to take some quick shots of Johanna Marie...yep same as me! She turned one and so cute! Thanks Jennifer for letting me enjoy your cute little one for a few minutes!

My mom asked me to give the life sketch of my dad...say what?!?! I am not good at speaking in front of people, let alone at my dad's funeral....but I was still honored to do so! I asked my sister if she would do the Obituary part, and she did a great job! The part of loved the best was that my dad said he had to miracles in his life, the first one being when they adopted me after trying for several years to get pregnant and the second one was my sister after being told they would never be able to have children of their own. I told of the times he would take us fishing in the Uinta Mountains, being our biggest fan at our different events we did throughout our childhood, and the silly names he would come up with each time he heard what gender we were going to have next. Like walla walla Hallenberger and restarea. I read some sweet things his students had to say about him, acknowledging the fact that grandpa was his favorite title, and sharing my testimony that this is not the end and we will be with him again! God be with you till we meet again, Dad...we love you! 

After I spoke the grand kids sang "I Am A Child Of God", then Ogden played "Ashokan Farewell" on his Violin and Ben sang "I can only Imagine". Pete Neilson said some nice words and then the Bishop spoke. It was a nice service and it was great to see all the love and support from family, friends, students, and coworkers. Elijah and Ian were honorary casketbearers and they it was so sweet to watch them take their job seriously. 

The original talk was 7 pages long and I didn't want to write it all out again, so you get the very short version!