Billings, Mt

This weekend we headed for Billings Montana for Chad’s Grandmother Evelyn Schwend’s funeral service. She was 88 years old when she passed away. She actually passed in late April and was cremated, but the ceremony wasn’t until June 7th, the anniversary date of Bill (Grandpa Schwend) and Evelyn’s wedding (1946!), where their ashes were joined together for burial after 20 years of being separated by death. Bill had died in 1988. It was a very nice outdoor service held in Bridger, Mt, where Bill and Evelyn had lived for several years. The cemetery was beautiful, filled with lots family and friends, and the weather was great!

The cemetery in Bridger.

Reunited at Last!

Chad, cousin Karma, Michelle, and Kristian

As I had been told a few times before, it’s true that that area of Montana is actually ‘Schwend country’, as was proven at the Bridger cemetery. There were many headstones with the name Schwend on them! And there were plenty of Schwend relatives at the service. We’re really not the only ones!

So…. on Friday, Chad and I had flown to Seattle, where we met up with his sister, Michelle, and her soon to be stepson, Kristian. From there we flew to Portland and then on to Montana. (Quite a day for Chad and I flying ID to WA to OR to MT!) We arrived Friday night and met up with many members of the Schwend family who were staying at the same hotel as us in Billings. Chad and Michelle got to catch up with their Uncle Steve and Aunt Verna (great people!) along with many cousins they hadn’t seen in over a decade and I got to meet them all! It was so wonderful and they were all so welcoming and kind! It’s hard to believe I’m just now meeting them all! Besides at the funeral service, most of the visiting took place at the hotel pool. It was an indoor, heated pool with two waterslides! Boy, were Chad and Kristian all over that! We all spent hours at the pool! It was quite fun to watch (no, I did not swim). Sometimes I think the adults were having more fun than the kids!

The 'Adult' cousins: Chad, Liza, and Janelle

Kristian

Saturday, the first half of the day was spent at the service and the reception. Then we returned to Billings for a few hours of swimming and later, we all went out to dinner at Fudruckers. Uncle Steve and Aunt Verna graciously treated everyone to dinner which was particularly nice of them since there were so many of us AND it was also their wedding anniversary! (Yes, they shared this wedding anniversary with Bill and Evelyn.) This was their 39th Anniversary! It was so sweet of them. After dinner, of course, we all returned to the hotel pool.

On Sunday morning, the four of us were up early for a return flight to Seattle where we said goodbye to Kristian and Michelle, and Chad and I returned to Boise. All in all, it was a very quick trip, but well worth it. It’s nice to know that Chad’s grandparents are finally reunited and it was so nice to catch up with and meet the Schwend family!