Uncle Gene's passing

Uncle Gene and Aunt Gwen have served as substitute grandparents for our children and the children of my brothers when they attended BYU. They especially enjoyed spending time at their Bear Lake cabin. Gene recently passed away.

The Thompson brothers made it out to be pall bearers.

Lots of cousins, some of whom we haven't seen in 50 or 60 years, were there: McConkies

Nichols

and Lallatins.

We were surprised to find out that Gene's family raised sheep when he was a boy in Soda Springs, Idaho. Here is the model of a sheep camp wagon that was in one of the bouquets. The prelude for the funeral in Salt Lake was all cowboy songs such as "Home on the Range" and "Red River Valley."

Here is Aunt Gwen with her kids Kris and Rand in front of the hearse with a special Y on the back window to honor ardent BYU football fan Gene.

Here are all the Thompsons who made it to the cemetery in Soda Springs surrounding Gwen..

and here are the Kunzes.

Of course we had to have our traditional Hooper water. Watch out so you don't get splashed with the traditional tossing of the water to get the fresh stuff underneath!

The slag pouring at Monsanto looks like an erupting volcano.

No trip to Soda is complete without a look at the geyser.