Dietz Family Reunion + Goodbye, Grandpa Don

We were back at the lake for our Dietz Family get-together right after we returned from our vacation. Last year we had it at the Rheault Farm park here in Fargo. I was so happy Aunt Cindy and Uncle Carey hosted all of us at the lake again this year. I have so much love and nostalgia for Lake Franklin!

Lots of good food and visiting. 💜

It started raining later on in the day, so we all piled into the screen porch (and the garage) to stay dry.

My childhood friend Sonja and her family were in town for the AirSho, so they came over after we got back from the lake and spent the night at our house. It was fun to visit with them and their girls, who became fast friends with Clara.

Sonja brought us eggs from her chickens along with lip balm and soap that she hand made from tallow!

The next day (Sunday), we drove to Alexandria for the visitation for Dana's grandpa Don, who passed away on July 25th. Grandpa had been declining for some time now, but it's still so hard to lose a grandparent. We stayed at the lake Sunday night and attended the funeral and burial service on Monday. It was good to see all of the cousins that we don't often get together with, though we wished it would have been under different circumstances, of course.

Grandpa was a farmer and big into John Deere, so much so that his nickname was Grandpa John Deere. He reminded me a lot of my own Grandpa Don, who was also a farmer and partial to all green farm equipment as well.

I always liked their wedding photo.

Grandma with all the grandkids, spouses and great-grandchildren.

All the grandchildren were pallbearers.

Grandpa was in the national guard and had a full military service at the burial. Christel is a captain in the navy and was able to present Grandma with the flag.

We will miss you, Grandpa. We love you!

More fashion fun...we stopped for some snacks and apparently a clothes change attempt after we left the burial service. Brynn didn't realize we were stopping so soon and was only half-changed. We got a good chuckle.

Clara chose a couple of flowers from Grandpa's funeral to bring home.

Hubert attempted a s'mores cookie of sorts and things got a little out of hand. Haha. They still tasted really good though.

It was a beautiful night for a side-by-side ride.

We've been getting ready to celebrate Clara Rae turning 10 tomorrow! She is at an overnight birthday party tonight for Prairie Joy and will attend another overnight party for her friend on Saturday after her family party.

Comments

theweckerlys said…

What a nice tribute to Grandpa Don. Always hard to say goodbye, that's for sure. The pictures of Brynn in her half-outfit are hilarious. Glad you guys got out on the side-by-side, looks fun. Great pictures of the picnic at Franklin!

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