Saturday was a very nice day. Even though it rained (everywhere except at the cemetery) and stayed quite cloudy the entire day, everything associated with dad’s funeral went very well.

1. I put my pictures from Saturday onto a slideshow. Clicking on the link should cause the slideshow to open in your movie application.
2. I took some video at the cemetery with my little point-and-shoot camera. The video includes the bugler playing taps. Very touching.
3. Lots and lots of family came to the funeral and most went to the cemetery and to the luncheon afterwards. I really appreciated getting to see many relatives I haven’t seen in a long time.
4. While funerals like this are also kind of family reunions, there is never enough time available to chat with people in attendance. There were many people there I would have liked to have visited with, but there was no time.
5. The sun did shine briefly, just as Uncle Nate was saying the dedicatory prayer. I was standing outside of the canopy that the funeral home had set up and could feel the sun on my head. It made me cry (again).
6. The Sims Funeral Home provided for us outstanding service. They are very professional and kind and courteous. Darren and his father Duane are great people.
7. The Soda Springs 8th Ward Relief Society raised the bar with this funeral. From Monday evening when dad died through Saturday evening after everything was pretty much finished, food showed up regularly. There was quite a houseful of people at mother’s and no need to do any cooking. If anyone went hungry, it was definitely their own fault.
8. Mother is doing very well. She’s gotten a couple of good nights’ sleep since the funeral and is busy wrapping everything up. She’s still got a lot of stress in her life, but as the new “normal” settles in and she gets her new routines set, that stress will dissipate.
9. I’ve started the process of figuring out probate in the State of Idaho. The court house in Soda Springs was not helpful (all they would say was, “hire a lawyer”). There should be no reason for simple, straight-forward estates with the appropriate paperwork such as wills and trusts already completed to have to hire a lawyer in order to gain access to the forms and paperwork needed to file with the magistrate court. Soda Springs is part of Idaho’s Sixth Judicial District and it looks like there is a Court Assistance Office open in Pocatello each day from 9-10 am and 2-3 pm. I think I’ll go there tomorrow to see if they can give me any assistance. My hopes are not very high.
10. I’ve started putting together a SmugMug website where the slideshow and video will eventually be stored. I’ve gotten very tired of Flickr and it’s lame capability. SmugMug has significantly more capability, including being able to be linked directly to my blog.