Lee Anne Winter Walker

March has certainly been a whirlwind for the Walker family. The phrase "March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb" comes to mind. I thought it was going to be a relaxing month since busy season ended the end of February for Tyson, but it was not so on many levels. Here is the first little bit.

The morning of Sunday, March 6th Tyson got a phone call from his mom. This was a bit odd since Las Vegas is 3 hours earlier than Virginia. Turns out Tyson's Grandma Walker had passed away. She had been sick for a while, but was not any worse than normal, so it kind of came out of the blue. So, it was a bit expected and unexpected.

Grandma Walker had also been a widow since before Tyson was born, so about 28 years. The first thing I thought of was that she was finally with her husband again. I cannot speak for Tyson, as to how he was feeling, but I felt that she was happy to be where she was and had been ready to move on for quite a while.

So, this created a busy situation for Tyson. The funeral was set for Friday, March 11th in St. George, UT and then the burial for Saturday, the 12th in Burley, ID. Basically, he had to finish his week of work by Thursday afternoon to be able to make it to Las Vegas by Thursday night. So, he put in some long hours and was ready to go by Thursday.

He flew in to Las Vegas and then drove with his family to St. George on Friday morning. He said the funeral was nice and positive. I do love the eternal perspective that I have as a Latter-day Saint. It is just a great thing to know that there is life after death, we will see our loved-ones again, and that death is not the end. Truly, Heavenly Father's Plan of Salvation is amazing!

After the funeral they hopped in the car (again) for the 9-hour drive to Burley. I am sure there are many funny stories that happened along the way, but Tyson will have to report on those. The trip would have been a little (no, a lot) too fast and too much driving for the kids. So, we stayed home.

They buried Grandma Walker on Saturday next to her husband, Reed Sanders Walker. That is one of the Reed's that our son, Reed is named after (The other one is Reed Sanders Walker's father named Reed). We learned that Reed S. Walker was born on Marh 12th, just 2 days before our little Reed! Tyson said the burial was nice and they got to talk with lots of relatives.

They also got to see the old house (now owned by someone else) and the farm land that is still owned by Tyson's dad. Not too long after that, they were in the car again heading to Salt Lake City. Tyson flew out Sunday morning and got back into town Sunday afternoon!

Needless to say, Grandma Walker will be missed, but we are glad that she can be reunited with her husband. There is just something about funerals that really bring families together. I think it may be that realize how short this mortal life really is. We realize that we want to spend our time with the people that mean the most to us in this world (hopefully our families).

Grandma Walker's house in St. George.

Looking through things in her garage.

Inside her house

Headstone of Reed Sanders Walker.

Tyson with his parents, brother, and sisters

The casket

Lee Anne's 4 children

When they were married

The house Tyson's dad grew up in, located in Burley, ID.

The shed

The view from the house.

Tyson and Jared standing on the farm land.

Touching the dirt - apparently it is pretty awesome soil.

One of Tyson's few memories was in this spot. He remembers his dad throwing grapes super high into the air and catching them in his mouth. Thus, this picture was a must.