Great-Grandpa's Wake

We had a lovely celebration - BBQ with family to remember grandpa and spend time together sharing our memories and stories. It of course was a Stange get together so there were definitely a few unconventional moments that we are all so accustomed to.

Jaydon found Dippy the cat and was in heaven. However Dippy much preferred Joe's loving touch to Jaydon's.

Jaydon played more Legos with Ed which made Ed's day. He even kept telling us that he would clean up the mess Jaydon made because he liked watching Jaydon make the mess.

Jaydon is never too sure of Great-Uncle Bill but once he was on the shoulders running around he gave up his apprehension and enjoyed it immensely.

There were three dogs and a cat joining the festivities. This is Bailey and she was in love with the new puppy Josie. They would run and chase and just in general cause chaos and get under your feet. It was great.

Bob made it to the party! He even brought his photo album from the San Fran to Kaui race that my grandpa, my uncle, Bob and his brother Tom did in 1980. They won their class and took 6th overall, for being the smallest boat in the field that was pretty great. Not to mention Bob had a plethora of good stories to share of sailing with my grandpa over the years.

And then the Stange family adventure came out. My mom, just back from a PE conference, had us all playing these different PE games or doing these card activities. My grandfather happened to say something about "you dang PE types" to my mom not long before he passed when she was trying to get him to get up and walk around in the hospital. So while I am sure my grandfather looked on this activity while shaking his head, my grandma, who went before him, would have been thrilled seeing the fun and wishing she could take part.

Jeremy pulled bent-legged dips and he and Jenny got 'em done. You can see the piano is decorated with photos of grandpa and family through the years. We also had a wonderful slide show playing on the TV for most of the event.

Uncle Bill never learned how to do a proper squat I guess because he kept falling backwards. L looked on in amusement.

Mom really enjoyed watching her brother fall over trying to do correct squats.

Britt got some active lunge move and embraced it fully.

Mary got into her hopscotch.

Here mom and Jaydon were going to try doing Bob's activity because he claimed he wouldn't be successful.

Mom did pretty well, Jaydon was on her other side and Mary came to help him but then so did the dog and he got some lovely doggy kisses instead of completing the move.

A good time was had by all with good food and some great memories. We passed around the photo albums, shared stories and remembered a great man.