Grandpa Bill

Hard work, Love, Brick Layer, Farmer, Dairyman, Forgiveness, Family, Outdoors, Sports, 500, Cards, Competitive, Fish Lake, Cabin, Float Tubes, 4th of July, Time, Talk, Sledding, Snow

Justin's Grandpa Tuttle (his mom's dad) passed away very unexpectedly last week. We spent this last weekend up at his funeral.

My memories of Grandpa (hopefully Justin will write his down too since mine are limited to the last 7 years:) : I went to their home for Thanksgiving before Justin and I were even engaged. It was slightly overwhelming. There are 7 brothers and sisters in that family (all married - so that makes 14 aunts and uncles to keep track of) and their kids - all have at least three but mostly 6 or 7 and in some cases the kids kids. I was pretty shy, and not great at keeping track , and most of the cousins thought that I was Aubree (justin's sister) at least the first couple of days, so that made it easier:) But Grandpa made a special effort to talk to me, find out where I was from, about my family etc. Every time I saw him, he hadn't forgotten anything I'd told him and always asked about the different aspects of my life. Almost everyone who spoke at his funeral talked about his talent for making you feel loved. Aunt Tracy mentioned that every one of her kids had at some point told her that they were sure they were Grandpa's favorite. Courtney (a cousin) said that he'd gone down to visit Grandma and Grandpa a couple of weeks before he passed away and that Grandpa knew what was going on in each grandchild's life, talked about each of them, and prayed for each of them (that's 29 not including spouses or greats). It's an amazing talent that I want to cultivate as well, which so far I'm not so sure I'm good at in my life.

My other key memories of Grandpa involve Fish Lake Utah. They have a cabin up there. It's where I learned to like fish, fishing, float tubing and play 500. Justin bought me my own float tube the first summer we were married so that I could join in the fishing - i surprised myself by loving it. Basically we'd fish all day and play games by night. or in my case give up and read. The Tuttles are a highly competitive family, me not so much. The only time I saw Grandpa get frustrated with Grandma was when they lost a game of 500.

So beautiful there. Did I mention that my little brother came with us one year and they again made him feel completely part of the family...

Ah competitiveness (Justin definitely gets it from his mom's family). They also like to play capture the flag with paint ball guns. Picture this little blonde girl (21) surrounded by cousins she doesn't really know yet in full paint ball gear (did I mention that the only time I played laser tag I got a negative 101) after getting only a few hours of sleep the night before (sleep is really key to my emotional state). The first time I got hit I cried. My sweet husband covered for me and sent me back to the tent for a nap. Good times:)

We tried to stop by on our way to and from Provo. He loved our kids as well. All the sledding pictures from the Christmas post were taken at his house.

Grandpa also had hard times in his life. He was a hard worker and taught his kids to work hard. In his retirement years after selling his farm he got sued by the man that he sold it to. The man who purchased the farm said that he didn't have the water rights. This is categorically untrue although it's way too complicated to get into here. As a result of this law suit (a portion of which is still pending) he lost all his savings. He was betrayed by some neighbors in his tiny town of Holden Utah, and things just got ugly. Some who stood against him were church leaders, but he never wavered in his faith or allowed his children and grandchildren to either. He did confront those he felt had been dishonest, they refused to change and he still forgave. He said he had what was most important... his family.

Everyone of his 29 (I think that's right) grandchildren traveled from around the country to be at his funeral. I think he definitely had his family.

We love him and miss him so much.

The funeral was beautiful. It was so fun to be able to talk to the cousins (whom I now know better and can keep track of most of them, kids are a different story).

However, on the way home our car broke down in Cedar City, UT and we all got the stomach flu. Ahh more good times. I seriously thought (while throwing up at 11 pm at a gas station in Cedar - just remember the pioneers had it way worse, my Daddy is coming to save me:)