Grandpa Pedersen

Last Thursday my Grandpa Pedersen was laid to rest next to my Grandma in Parma, ID.

Obituary Link: Here

Grandpa had been sick for about 3 years, he had been in and out of the hospital and towards the end he was in a lot of pain. He also missed my Grandma every single day since her death in 1996. He'd had a lot of close calls over the last year and would make a complete recovery. So when he passed away we thought we'd be a lot more prepared but it was still kind of a shock.

He passed away June 25th, and everyone thought it was cute that he finally got to celebrate his wedding anniversary with Grandma on June 28th. It would have been their 55th.

We heard a lot of stories we'd never heard about Grandpa and the overall theme that stuck with us was how in love he was with Grandma. He had fallen in love with her at first sight, in front of the frozen peas at the grocery store. At the time she was engaged to someone else. Regardless, they were married 3 months later.

They had 6 kids:

Jan, Chris, Kevin, Jill, Jeff, Matt

And 20 grandchildren total ranging in age from 29 to 5 (in order according to parents, not age.):

Brandon

Jessa

Chase

Kaitlyn

Steven

Bobby

Amber

Bryan

Becky

Morgan

Stacia

Nicole

Kelli

Holli

Kate

Kenna

Tayla

Brianne

Zane

Zoe

Also: 1.5 great grandchildren. Ashlynn is Amber's little girl and Olivia will be joining us in September. (My brother's baby)

We got a few pictures together mostly since the family is spread over a couple states and it's not often that everyone is together. Out of my family it was only my Mom and I that were able to make it so we didn't take a picture. Also I didn't get a picture with Chris and his family either but here is everyone else:

Kevin & Ambi with Stacia and her husband Jake. (Not pictured: Morgan)

Jill & Dan with Nicole & Kelli

Jeff & Wendy with Holli, Kate, Kenna & Tayla

Matt & Belinda with Brianne, Zane & Zoe.

Some more pictures:

Some of the younger cousins

And Tayla...being Tayla. She is grandchild #20.

This is Ashlynn - the first great grandchild.

Even though it was through a sad circumstance, it was great to see everyone. While we'll all miss Grandpa, we're happy knowing he's out of pain and with his sweetheart again.