Remembering Sheldon

Friday after school Julie, Steve, and I drove to SLC for the purpose of celebrating Sheldon's life on what would have been his 32nd birthday.  We stayed at the Hilton Hotel near Temple Square.  We arrived at 3 am Saturday morning, so we spent most of Saturday in the hotel room sleeping and watching conference.  Eventually that afternoon it was time to pick up balloons, cupcakes, and flowers.  As soon as our errands were complete, we headed to the SLC Cemetery where we were joined with Sheldon's family.  We placed our flowers as well as a can of Mountain Dew and a package of red licorce on his grave which, of course, were things Sheldon loved.  Afterwards we all shared our favorite memories of Sheldon.  Some things made me cry; others made me laugh.  Steve said a beautiful prayer, and we ended our remembrance at the cemetery.  We then all drove to Famous Dave's where we enjoyed Sheldon's favorite meal.  For dessert we enjoyed strawberry cupcakes which was a favorite of Sheldon's. 

Sunday morning Julie, Steve, and I attended the morning session of General Conference.  It was an excellent meeting, and I thoroughly felt uplifted and edified as I left the conference center.  There were many messages shared in conference this past weekend that seemed especially for us as we try to come to terms with what happened in our family six months ago.

SLC Cemetery

Carol and Julie

Julie with her nieces and nephews
on Sheldon's side of the family

We all wrote message on our balloons before
letting them float away into the sky.

Here's Julie right after she finished
writing her message to Sheldon.

There's something very sweet in watching
balloons float away into the heavens.

Everything looked very pretty with all the
fall colors.  I'm sure Sheldon was smiling
down from above!

Famous Dave's was one of Sheldon's favorite
restaurants.  We've eaten here a few times before.
Being in SLC this weekend brought back
many memories of times we've shared
with Julie and Sheldon in Utah.

It was quite a large gathering.  I think there were
17 of us altogether.  Dinner was yummy.

We had tons of cupcakes.  I think most of us
enjoyed several different kinds.  Sheldon
had a sweet tooth, so I'm pretty sure he was happy
that we ended his remembrance celebration
with one of his favorites.

So sweet!

This was taken after the morning session of
General Conference.  It was a beautiful, fall
day in SLC.  The temperatures were
definitely not what we're accustomed
to coming from LV.

The temple is always breathtaking.