Thanksgiving and Happy Jack

Thanksgiving this year was happy and bittersweet. Even though we said goodbye to Grandpa Haynes, we had a great time being with family and friends. It really was a happy occasion, full of laughter and Happy Jack stories. Jake's eulogy was perfect, I'm sure it made Grandpa proud, and I laughed just as hard as I cried. I thought I would include his obituary here for my records:

Jack Drake Haynes, 87, a Fairfield farmer and rancher passed away on November 18, 2014 in Phoenix, Arizona.  A memorial service will be held on Monday Nov. 24, 11:00 a.m. at the LDS Church in Fairfield.Jack was born in Ogden, Utah in 1927 to Harry Raymond and Pearl Drake Haynes. He was the youngest of five children. He spent most of his early childhood moving between Utah and Montana. Jack attended school in Simms, Golden Ridge, and graduated from Fairfield High School.While attending Golden Ridge he met the first love of his life, LaVonne VanDeRiet. They married in Helena in 1946. They settled in the Sunny Slope area where they farmed and ranched together for over 50 years. He especially enjoyed working the cattle with his horse Trooper.Jack enjoyed his grandchildren, four-wheeling, fishing, hunting, the Sunny Slope yacht club, neighborhood get-togethers, and Fairfield basketball tournaments. He served in many capacities as an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and also as a school board member for Golden Ridge and Fairfield School Districts for many years. An eternal optimist he loved life, practical jokes, teasing, making up corny poems, and earned the nickname, Happy Jack.LaVonne preceded him in death in 2000. In 2003 he married Shirley Tippets Sands. They enjoyed traveling and wintering in Arizona.He is survived by four children, Brian (Pam) Haynes of Fairfield, Margie (Wes) Scott of Fort Benton, Patricia (Dennis) Gibson of Wenatchee, WA, Scott (Lori) Haynes of Fairfield, 17 grandchildren, 31 Great Grandchildren, and 2 Great-great grandchildren. 

The boys enjoyed playing with their cousins and spending a whole week at Papa and Nana's. The weather was a little on the chilly side but we made the most of it. The guys went coyote hunting several times and the kids got to do some sledding behind the 4 wheelers. Nana of course kept us full with lots of delicious food and crafts and a batcave for the rowdy kids. Benson wasn't so sure of the snow but thought it was funny to wear goggles while going for a short ride on the 4 wheeler. We thankfully escaped the stomach bug that wiped out so many of the family.The cousings all made turkeys and wrote what they were thankful for on the feathers. Some of the things Brig told me he was thankful for included Baby Bens, cousins, hot chocolate, sunshine, and Jesus. We have so many things to be thankful for this year. The first one being Benson joining our family rather quickly and unexpectedly. In fact, it was a year ago that I got the phone call from our caseworker. Before Brother Olsen even said anything I started crying because I knew why he was calling. Benson has brought us so much joy! The next thing we are grateful for this year is the flooding in our basement was brought to a halt before it did damage to the rest of the house. It could have been so much worse and we had so many people help us out! And finally, Jared has been accepted to CRNA school with Rhode Island Memorial hospital and Central Connecticut State University. I should mention that this is a miracle because it can take years to get into one of these programs because there aren't very many and each one gets hundreds of applicants. I am so proud of Jared for working so hard on his career. We are very excited to start our new adventure this coming Spring. It will be a big change but we are looking forward to it.

Brig making a snow angel

These pictures are a little our of order but here is Anna and Brig and their snowman named Olaf.

some of the grandkids watching the skeet shooting

Macy, Brig and Addy were inseperable

The older cousing waiting for the adults to go 4 wheeling.

Jared may have resorted to pulling carrots out of the garden to escape some of the commotion :)

Thanksgiving dinner

We of course had to play a few hands of Shanghi in honor of Grandpa.

The grandsons were the pallbearers

Halloween and Bens is 9 Months

 We spent Halloween in Shelby with some Weishaar cousins. Papa Choo Choo retired from Amtrak the same week so we had a blast celebrating his 40 years with railroads. We went to the trunk or treat and a few houses for candy. Brig was so excited that everyone was giving him sweets. He was very polite about it and even told some people to "have a good night and be safe!" After that Jared took the older kids to almost every single house in Shelby. They came home with pillow cases overflowing with candy.

Our little monsters!

Cutest little monster I have ever seen!

"A witch and her little monsters live here with one handsome devil"

Benson also tried out Brig's racoon costume he wore when he was one.

 At 9 months Benson is "cruising" around the furniture and chasing Brigham around the house. He is very sweet and happy all of the time. He has five teeth with three more making their debut. He loves his blue bear lovey, bath time, being tickled, cheerios, balls, stuffed animals, and being outside.

Brig showing off his big muscles

Tuckered out after a busy day of playing

 Brig wants to be a "cowboy doctor" when he grows up. He will often line up his animals to give them a check up. I like listening to his diagnosis. You will notice the giraffe has a band-aid on his leg. He had a fish hook stuck in his leg and Brig took it out. I'm guessing he remembers fishing with Grandpa Heagy and watching Jared take a hook out of his hand last summer?

 Benson is sporting a firefighter hat from Brig's preschool that day. We learned about the letter F. Next time I will try and take some pictures. It's kind of difficult though with seven busy preschoolers :)

 While Jared was on the East Coast for a grad school interview we went to play at Papa Moo Moo's. We had fun playing in the leaves, hunting for baby kitties and enjoyed some beautiful sunrises.

Too much fun! Nap time!

 Bath time has turned into splash time! Benson loves making splashes and being splashed by big brother.

This is how Benson likes to eat his food- with one foot propped up on the tray. Sill boy!