Grandma B's funeral

 My Grandma B died on October 10th.  I am sad that grandma died. But I know she was ready to go and I'm sure she is happy to be with grandpa.

My plane on the way to Las Vegas.

We stopped by David and Sandy's house for dinner on the way from Vegas to Cedar City. It was very nice of them to let us stop by and the meal was delicious.

Me, Sandy and Cheryl-Lynn

David, Me and Sandy

David, Me, Sandy and Cheryl-Lynn

Friday morning, we headed to western Colorado. We gathered at Boyd and Connie's house (which they bought from grandma and grandpa). We had a nice time visiting.

Cheryl-Lynn about to throw a fresh picked apple to those waiting on the other side of the ditch. (The area around the tree was really boggy.)

Lots of people. They got a new record at 58 people over the course of a few days (54 at one time).

Saturday morning, we went to the church for the funeral. Here are some photos of displays. There was a nice video of photos from grandma's life.

The funeral was nice. The great grandkids sang a song, the grandkids sang a song, my dad and Gaylene sang a song, Connie led the music, each kid spoke and Boyd conducted (since he's bishop of the Cedaredge Ward).

Front and back of program

Inside of program

Front and back of program cover.

Inside of program cover

The pall bearers (all the grandsons) carrying the casket after the funeral.

What a good looking family! All 4 kids, all but one grandkid, many grandkid-in-laws and most great grandkids came (although none of the greats from my siblings and me).

Judy, Steve, Boyd and Sue

Cris, Jon, Cheryl-Lynn, dad and mom

Luncheon at the church.

We walked around the fields (which are quite large). Me, Mom, Sarah Sederstrom, Cheryl-Lynn, Cris, Cyena
Cyena is Taryn's third child. She somehow ended up on the walk with us on Saturday. We got to a point where the ditch was a bit wide (Cris wasn't sure she could get across it). Cheryl-Lynn, Cris and I attempted to help Cyena across: she jumped big while Cris and I swung her. Cheryl-Lynn was on the other side to grab her. However, Cris and I didn't let go of her so CL got her legs and Cyena ended up being like a bridge across the ditch. We couldn't let her go because she'd fall in the ditch and possibly hit her head. So I stepped into the ditch, getting my sock wet, and then had Cris let go. Cyena stayed dry and safe. We still aren't sure how she ended up with us.....

Star trying to get some sleep on the floor. She started referring to the grandkids as the "fabulous 5" and the "fifteen that follow". (The fabulous 5 being the oldest 5, aka the two daughters' kids, which included Star.)

Connie with Cyena, who was out cold.

Back rub line up: dad, Jen, Kiersten, Auri, Star

We played a couple games of Oh Heck! Star and Jon were definitely the most competitive. They would really go at it sometimes. The rest of us just let them.

Clockwise starting with Jon: Jon, Jack, Cheryl-Lynn, Josh, Jen, Connie, Me, Star

Same as above but with Devin showing his lovely face in the photo.

Another angle of the same crew.

Final scores from the first game.

A few people changed for the second game. The addition of 10 year old Levi and Matthew was interesting as they hadn't played before. A favorite moment was Matthew sluffing his king of trump under Levi's ace of trump. Matthew had bid 0 so it worked out well for him. Devin ended up giving a lot of pointers to those two.

Jon, Jack, Josh, Cheryl-Lynn, Kiley, Kiersten, Matthew, Me, Star, Levi

Another angle of the same game but flipped.

Connie was really glad we played as she said it wouldn't have been right to not play Oh Heck! However, after 2 games, we were told it was time to leave. (It was probably around 10:30.)

Cyena and Me. 

We stopped by the cemetery on the way out of town. We were amazed that they already had grass over grave.

We managed to make the long drive from Cedaredge to Vegas with no real back ups or delays so I had plenty of time to make my flight home. Yeah!

Goodbye Sunshine

Last Monday, we had an unfortunate accident.  Sunshine, Megan's bird, flew into the bathtub and was drowned.  It was devastating for the whole family.  Sunshine had a ton of personality and his antics kept us all amused.

Matthew wrote a page and a half about Sunshine:

Sunshine was always happy. He ran away from water and didn’t like baths. He always chirped at my Hex-Bug tank bot. Sunshine always bit at you when you tried to take him out of his cage. He rang his bell in the morning to wake us up. He got stuck up high on the wall and we had to make a wigywagy fishing pole to get him down. I made him a welcome sign when we got him. He flew a lot and always made us happy. Sunshine was hard to catch and he stood on my toes. When he wanted to go into his cage he flew or ran to the top of his cage or his playground. He loved devices and the wake up. Sunshine loved to flip and chew cards. He stole a LEGO once. He loved to attack his bells. He climbed his wall and hung from the ceiling. He loved to sing into his water dish. Sunshine was on top of the swing and climbed through his toys. He wore his bell as a hat. He always slept on his thinking perch. Sunshine loved to be on a shoulder or under chins. He stole Cheerios. He knew who would take him back to his cage. Sunshine went to his thinking perch and back down. He’d fall down and hang out down there. He nodded his head and ate his perch. He read my Kindle. Sunshine tore his toys apart. He always puffed up when it was chilly. Sunshine was the best bird ever. 

Matthew expressing how we all feel.

U built a coffin for Sunshine and Megan decorated it.

Getting ready to bury him.  The paper is a tiny copy of Matthew's writing about Sunshine.

U engraved a stone for his grave.

We miss you Sunshine!

Grandpa B's funeral

Grandpa B died on August 12th. He had been steadily declining and we knew it was only a matter of time until he died. Even though we miss him, we are glad he is no longer in pain and that his body and mind are whole again. I have so many fond memories of grandpa and grandma--being lackey #2 (or occasionally #1), playing war at their house in New Mexico with it being the grandkids against grandpa and Aboobenadam, going deer "hunting" (aka looking), watching the Rockies play (who knew grandma and grandpa ever stayed up late?!?), getting ice cream, going 4 wheeling, playing Yahtzee and Oh Heck!

I caught a flight early Thursday morning to Grand Junction because that was when Allegiant flew there.

I spotted prairie dogs on my walk from the airport to Cris's hotel.

Mom picked Cris and me up. We wandered around downtown Grand Junction for a bit before heading to Delta. Here we are in front of a parking meter bench.

Cris and Me with metal buffalo

Me and Mom with a big bike

We were able to visit with grandma for a bit which was really nice.

Cris, Grandma, Me

Mom, Grandma, Me

We met up with dad, Jon and Cheryl-Lynn a bit later when they arrived in Delta. We went to a nice Italian restaurant and celebrated my parents' anniversary. Then we headed to Confluence Park. It was nice to walk around a bit although it would have been nicer with fewer mosquitoes!

On the walk

Cheryl-Lynn, Mom, Me, Jon and Dad

Dad, Mom, Jon, Me, Cheryl-Lynn and Cris

The next morning, Cheryl-Lynn and Jon went to visit grandma while Cris and I ran some errands.

Cheryl-Lynn, Grandma and Jon

We bought delicious peaches!!! (It only cost $5!)

We headed up on the Grand Mesa for a bit. We enjoyed the views and the scenery.

We had beautiful scenery while eating lunch.

Me, Cheryl-Lynn, Dad, Cris, Mom and Jon
Cheryl-Lynn wanted to know if people saw us if they would think we were a couple of parents with four teenagers or a couple of grandparents with four grown children. She thought it was definitely the former.

Cool clouds.

All of us but dad went on a few short hikes. (Dad went to help dress grandpa's body.)

Me, Jon, Mom and Cheryl-Lynn

Cheryl-Lynn and Me with the wildflowers.

Jon and Mom

The wildflowers were really beautiful!

We hiked around a small lake.

Francy thought about diving into Jon's mouth.

Mom, Me, Grandma and Cheryl-Lynn at Grandma's place. We went to listen to Paul Chamberlain. He played a large variety of songs and we really enjoyed listening to him (even if grandma did not approve of some of his songs).

Mom and Grandma. They discussed plans for when to leave for the funeral the next day and my mom mentioned that she might want a snack before the funeral. Grandma said, "Like a cookie!"

Grandchildren wall hanging that mom made Grandma many years ago. There sure are a lot of kids on there!

Friday evening, we gathered at Uncle Boyd and Aunt Connie's home for a cookout. They purchased my grandparents home so it was really fun to visit the house. It was also great to see so much family. I haven't had a lot of opportunities to interact with many of the younger cousins as adults. (I'm the oldest cousin and there is a 26 year spread. My youngest cousin is 16 and entering her junior year of high school.)

A couple other random observations: I think I'm the only brown eyed cousin of the bunch. There's lots of blue and green eyes in the family. I suppose that's not surprising when my grandparents (and subsequently all their children) had green eyes.

I understand how Sarah feels a lot of the time at high school as I felt short a lot of the weekend. Three of my girl cousins are between 5'10" and 6'0" and many of the boy cousins and uncles are over 6' with Garth being the tallest at 6'5". My Aunt Connie, who is 5'8", says that she feels short when she's with her family so I'm not the only one.

Picking plums.

Me, Cris and Cheryl-Lynn

Dad and Mom, Gaylene and Steve, Connie and Boyd

Nathan, Stephanie, Jon, Me, Brandon, Andrea, Cheryl-Lynn

Garth, Auri, Jen, Kiersten, Kiley

Stephanie and Auri. Their hair is pretty much the same color.

Many people helped put the license plate on my mom's new car.

Kiersten, Auriana, Jenalyse and Me

Garth and Cris

Beautiful sunset!

My sister and Cris went on a walk not long before we were going to leave. Dad said he would pick them up on our way out. However, when it was time to go, he discovered that Cheryl-Lynn had his keys. There was no answer on the cell phones. Jon ran off to try to find them and one of my cousins gave my dad a ride to try to find them. I laughed as I realized I'd been abandoned by my family but took comfort in the fact that the car was still sitting in the driveway.

On our way home, we saw the drive in movie in Delta. They were playing Angry Birds 2. The second night we saw it, we found the radio station for the audio. (No, we didn't stay to watch it.)

We played Oh Heck! at the hotel. I didn't like the initial seating arrangements with a mirror directly behind me (They told me to just hold my cards low.....). I put a towel over the mirror.

The next morning, we headed up to Cedaredge for the funeral. We saw the hearse not far in front of us. The grandkids all sang "For the Beauty of the Earth" during the funeral and it sounded amazing--there was some really nice harmony. My mom did the life sketch and my uncles both shared memories and reflections from grandpa's life. It is amazing how much you learn about someone at their funeral. My grandpa really was a remarkable man! As my grandma was leaving the chapel after the services, she said, "Look who is the boss of this family now!" It was really cute.

Front and back of the program

Inside of the program

Mom giving the life sketch.

The bearded ones: Devin, Uncle Boyd, Derek, Jon

The pallbearers (all the boy grandchildren) carrying the casket.

It was a beautiful casket!

Dad, Mom, Cheryl-Lynn, Cris, Me and Jon in front of the casket.

Grandma and all her immediate family that attended the funeral.

Grandma with Aunt Sue, Jack & Kristen and their 8 kids (Josh, Leah, Noah, Benjamin, Matthew & Levi and Sarah & Mark) and Star. I have lots of memories of Star and Jack with grandma and grandpa as we would often spend a week at my grandparents' house when Star and Jack were there too.

Grandma with our family.
Cris, Cheryl-Lynn, Mom, Dad, Me, Jon with grandma in front

Grandma with Uncle Steve and Aunt Gaylene and their family.
Back row: Weston, Derick, Uncle Steve, Jeff, Trevor, Brandon & Andrea
Middle row: Breanne, Aunt Gaylene, Nate & Stephanie
Front row: Phoebe, Grandma, Emma (the girls are Brandon and Andrea's kids)

Grandma with Uncle Boyd and Aunt Connie and their family.
Auri, Aunt Connie, Kiersten, Uncle Boyd, Devin, Kiley, Jen, Garth holding Garrett (Kiley's baby) with grandma in front

I love this captured moment between grandma and Uncle Boyd.

Jon patrolling the cemetery.

The Cedaredge Cemetery is in a lovely location with a nice view of the Grand Mesa.

Star, Grandma and Me at the luncheon/dinner after the burial.

Jon and Uncle Boyd
Everyone kept commenting on how much alike Boyd and Jon look. When grandma first saw Jon, she said, "Jon, you look like Boyd. Judy! Jon looks like Boyd." Multiple of Boyd's children commented on how much Jon looked like Boyd (and how he's like Devin).

Uncle Boyd and Uncle Steve wore a couple of grandpa's suits.

After the time at the church, we headed over the Boyd and Connie's where we played lots of Oh Heck!
Clockwise: Jon, Star with one of Jack's kids, Connie, Garth, Devin, Kiley, Me, Cheryl-Lynn

Another view of the same group.

Jack, Josh, Auri, Jen, Kiersten, Leah, Noah

Another beautiful sunset.

Star stayed with us Saturday night.

Me, Cheryl-Lynn and Jon before I left Sunday morning.

Jon and Boyd

Lunch with Grandma after church. (I wasn't there since my flight left Sunday morning.)
Cris, Cheryl-Lynn, Dad, Mom, Star, Grandma, Jon, Aunt Sue

Grandma with her two daughters.

This is what happened to Star when she went to board her plane. Eek! Good reason to have a paper boarding pass.

Star's plane sits on the tarmac with Cheryl-Lynn's plane at the gate.