Friday, September 3, 2010
Salem Days 2010
So Blake's parents live in a place called Salem, and every summer they have Salem Days. We try to go every year to watch the fireworks at night, but this year a few of us decided to to the fun run together! It was great! This was the first time Blake and I did a race together, and I really liked that. I hope it is not our last, I really enjoy being competitive with him! However, he said it was not enjoyable at all for him and he doesn't think he'd be interested in doing another one. I told him if he would actually train for something like that, he might enjoy it more! He actually did a lot bette than I thought he would! He kept a great pace and finished right at a half hour! The only bad thing about the race was that no one saw me finish! So I have no finishing pictures! Same thing happened at my last race, the freedom run, and that was my PR for a 10k! So lame! There is a picture of me starting though, so there is proof that I did it! All in all the day was really fun, and hopefully the race will become a family tradition! Next year I am wearing Neon colors though!! The pictures loaded backwards, but I'm sure you'll get the idea!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Friday Harbor
(this is a long one!)
For my Grandma's funeral we went back to where she spent the last 32 or so years before she came to Utah, and that's a little island off the coast of Washington, called Friday Harbor. Our trip there was so wonderful, and bittersweet at the same time. Friday Harbor, to me, represents safety, love, comfort, joy, happiness, beauty, and peace. It is the most beautiful place I have ever been, and I think a lot of it has to do with the emotion that is attached to it. It was hard going there and doing all the things that are so familiar and that have been cherished memories and traditions, knowing that it would be the last time, in a long time, that I would be able to do those things, smell those smells, and see those places. Doing this post makes me very emotional, which is why perhaps I have put it off so long. Nothing will remind me of my grandma more than my pictures of Friday Harbor, and nothing will make me miss her more than talking about this place.
This is our very first view from the ferry each time we come to the island
We did have a wonderful time though. Blake's parents were kind enough to take Kaleb and Maylee for us for the four days we went, so it was like a little honeymoon for us. Which was definitely needed! The weather while we were there was rainy pretty much the whole time. It didn't bother us at all, and we spent our days at the different beaches on the island. South Beach was where we spent our first day. That beach is definitely a favorite in our family, and Blake and I wanted to make sure we got plenty of time there. While there we discovered some tide pools in a bunch big rocks just of the shore. The life found in those pools was totally captivating! We spent hours discovering creatures and playing with crabs! It was a lot of fun, and I totally felt like a little kid who had never seen anything like that before! That was a major time we missed Kaleb, because we knew how much he would have loved it too!
After the beach we had a burial service for my grandma. She chose to be cremated, so we buried her ashes along side of my grandpa and his sister, in the cutest little cemetery that has been around for over 100 years. It's a little white church that sits atop a hill and the cemetery cascades down the hill side. With her ashes, a good friend if her crocheted her a lavender and white mini blanket the perfect size to drape over her urn (lavender was grandma's favorite color and flower), the same pattern she had crocheted for all of her grandchildren, great grandchildren, and close friends. Her daughters put just a few pretty little flowers in with her as well, with copies of her favorite hymns. It was a really special moment, and it sounds odd to say, but it was really pretty too. I know grandma would have been pleased with the care and love that went into that service. It was very simple, and just what she wanted.
The next day was the worst weather of the trip... pouring rain pretty much all day! It was also the day of grandma's memorial service. Her service wasn't until the afternoon, so in the morning Blake and I set out to Deadman's cove and Lime Kiln park. They are right next to each other and pretty much the same place, but is it whale watching territory. We were lucky enough to see three pods of Orca whales that came right into the cove and played for about a half hour!! As many times as I have been to Friday Harbor and have tried to see the whales, I never had! I definitely felt like it was a tender mercy from the Lord to give us that amazing experience on our last trip there. Unfortunately, because the weather was so bad and our camera is not the greatest all the pictures I attempted to get were just gray. The whales were just far enough away that apparently my camera couldn't focus on them. Especially with all the rain that was happening! It was awesome though, we saw a few jump completely out of the water and do side flops, we saw several breach, one breached completely out of the water, there were a few that were doing head stands so you could just see their bottom half of their bodies sticking out of the water... it was so amazing! After the whales left we just played on the beach getting completely soaked! We of course took the opportunity to get some great photo ops with each other! Cheesy, I know! The light house in the pictures is my favorite place on the island. I don't even know why, except that I just love it. I love the light house. You can tell by some of the pictures how wet we really are! And of course Blake was determined this time to get in the ocean, so he climbed down the rocks and got in up to his knees! :)
This is a picture of my family at the reception held after my grandma's service
The day after the service was the day every one started traveling home. I was so nice to be there and to have that closure too. It was also nice to come home and hold my children again. The highlight of my grandma's life the past 10 years have been her great grandchildren, who she called her "greats" and we in turn called her "Great'! She truly was a great woman, and I hope that I can follow her example of nurturing, generosity, good will, strength, and so many more attributes! I will be very pleased with my performance on earth if in my funeral service I have half the good things said about me as she had said about her!
For my Grandma's funeral we went back to where she spent the last 32 or so years before she came to Utah, and that's a little island off the coast of Washington, called Friday Harbor. Our trip there was so wonderful, and bittersweet at the same time. Friday Harbor, to me, represents safety, love, comfort, joy, happiness, beauty, and peace. It is the most beautiful place I have ever been, and I think a lot of it has to do with the emotion that is attached to it. It was hard going there and doing all the things that are so familiar and that have been cherished memories and traditions, knowing that it would be the last time, in a long time, that I would be able to do those things, smell those smells, and see those places. Doing this post makes me very emotional, which is why perhaps I have put it off so long. Nothing will remind me of my grandma more than my pictures of Friday Harbor, and nothing will make me miss her more than talking about this place.
This is our very first view from the ferry each time we come to the island
We did have a wonderful time though. Blake's parents were kind enough to take Kaleb and Maylee for us for the four days we went, so it was like a little honeymoon for us. Which was definitely needed! The weather while we were there was rainy pretty much the whole time. It didn't bother us at all, and we spent our days at the different beaches on the island. South Beach was where we spent our first day. That beach is definitely a favorite in our family, and Blake and I wanted to make sure we got plenty of time there. While there we discovered some tide pools in a bunch big rocks just of the shore. The life found in those pools was totally captivating! We spent hours discovering creatures and playing with crabs! It was a lot of fun, and I totally felt like a little kid who had never seen anything like that before! That was a major time we missed Kaleb, because we knew how much he would have loved it too!
After the beach we had a burial service for my grandma. She chose to be cremated, so we buried her ashes along side of my grandpa and his sister, in the cutest little cemetery that has been around for over 100 years. It's a little white church that sits atop a hill and the cemetery cascades down the hill side. With her ashes, a good friend if her crocheted her a lavender and white mini blanket the perfect size to drape over her urn (lavender was grandma's favorite color and flower), the same pattern she had crocheted for all of her grandchildren, great grandchildren, and close friends. Her daughters put just a few pretty little flowers in with her as well, with copies of her favorite hymns. It was a really special moment, and it sounds odd to say, but it was really pretty too. I know grandma would have been pleased with the care and love that went into that service. It was very simple, and just what she wanted.
The next day was the worst weather of the trip... pouring rain pretty much all day! It was also the day of grandma's memorial service. Her service wasn't until the afternoon, so in the morning Blake and I set out to Deadman's cove and Lime Kiln park. They are right next to each other and pretty much the same place, but is it whale watching territory. We were lucky enough to see three pods of Orca whales that came right into the cove and played for about a half hour!! As many times as I have been to Friday Harbor and have tried to see the whales, I never had! I definitely felt like it was a tender mercy from the Lord to give us that amazing experience on our last trip there. Unfortunately, because the weather was so bad and our camera is not the greatest all the pictures I attempted to get were just gray. The whales were just far enough away that apparently my camera couldn't focus on them. Especially with all the rain that was happening! It was awesome though, we saw a few jump completely out of the water and do side flops, we saw several breach, one breached completely out of the water, there were a few that were doing head stands so you could just see their bottom half of their bodies sticking out of the water... it was so amazing! After the whales left we just played on the beach getting completely soaked! We of course took the opportunity to get some great photo ops with each other! Cheesy, I know! The light house in the pictures is my favorite place on the island. I don't even know why, except that I just love it. I love the light house. You can tell by some of the pictures how wet we really are! And of course Blake was determined this time to get in the ocean, so he climbed down the rocks and got in up to his knees! :)
This is a picture of my family at the reception held after my grandma's service
The day after the service was the day every one started traveling home. I was so nice to be there and to have that closure too. It was also nice to come home and hold my children again. The highlight of my grandma's life the past 10 years have been her great grandchildren, who she called her "greats" and we in turn called her "Great'! She truly was a great woman, and I hope that I can follow her example of nurturing, generosity, good will, strength, and so many more attributes! I will be very pleased with my performance on earth if in my funeral service I have half the good things said about me as she had said about her!
Monday, August 23, 2010
Kaleb and the foam pit
We couldn't talk Kaleb into jumping off the trampoline, but he couldn't enough of this! He loved being tossed into the foam!
Kaleb and Tractors
Kaleb loves tractors. He has loved them for a long time now, like well over a year. So you can imagine the heaven he was in when we went to Sundance for breakfast and there was a huge tractor! The only good pictures I have myself of this trip are the tractor pictures. Hopefully I can snag some off of others and do a real post on our Sundance breakfast with the whole family. We went up there the morning after my grandma passed away, to get away from it all and do something a little more her style. It was great. But like I said... no real post about it until I get some pictures!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Pioneer Day Weekend
The weekend of July 24th is Pioneer Day here in Utah. This year was nice because as I mentioned in Blake's birthday post, the week before my grandma had had a massive stroke and was in the hospital. I spent everyday, going to visit grandma, and then arranging dinners for the whole family. My mom's sisters were in town, and my sisters and brother were all here in Orem pretty much everyday too, to see and be with grandma. So to say the least, there was not much time left for my own little family. Blake was so great through this whole process though. There was never a question asked or a sign of being tired of having the kids every spare moment he was home, he just let me go do what I needed to do so that I could help my family out and be with my grandma. By the time the weekend had rolled around grandma was looking pretty stable, and I felt like I could go do some other things. So in between visits with her on Friday, Blake and I and his family went to South Fork Park up Provo canyon for a picnic. It was so nice to get away from the hussle and bussle of home and be out in nature and play in the stream! The kids loved it, and of course the adults had to start a water fight! We all came home wet! I really love Blake's family, it is so nice to be married to someone and to love their family too. I feel so much love and support from them, and they are truly an extended family. My sister-in-laws and I have great relationships and I love and revere his parents just as much as much as my own. I really am so lucky. Here are some pictures... :)
(these first few are from the lake the next day)
After we got home from the park I went back to be with grandma. I was sitting there talking to my aunt when we noticed that something was definitely wrong with grandma. She look very uncomfortable and almost in pain. I thought she was nauseous and was going to throw up. We would ask her what's wrong and she wouldn't communicate back. I would ask her to squeeze my hand and she wouldn't. That was very untypical of her, she had been able to communicate with us pretty well, with either words or hand squeezes. So I took her blood pressure and pulse and it was high. The nurse called the Dr. and they ordered an MRI to see if she was having another stroke. This whole process was about an hour and a half. The nurse told us that she had gotten the report back and that there had been no change. So I felt good about it and thought maybe she was just tired and not responding because of that. So on Saturday we decided to go to the lake with Blake's family. Again, we had a great time. It was so nice to be able to relax and enjoy our surroundings. As we came back into cell phone reception I had a few missed calls. It was my mom saying that turns out that grandma did have another stroke, and that there was little to no hope for recovery. Remind me to never go out of cell phone reception again! Seriously?? My heart just sunk and we rushed back to go be with her.
On Monday the decision was made to bring her home on a program called hospice. Hospice is basically death bed care. The nurses come and give meds to make the family member as comfortable as possible until they pass away. At grandma's initial assessment the nurse said she had about 3-5 days, that was around 1:00pm. The nurse came back at 7:30pm to do another assessment and told us that she had entered into another phase of the dying process and it would be about 48 hours. At 10:30 that night grandma started to get really rattley in her breathing and seemed to be struggling and uncomfortable. My mom called the nurse to ask some questions about the meds she left and how and why to give what. After explaining grandma's symptoms to the nurse, she told my mom it sounded like it would be within the next 24 hours. I stayed the night with grandma that night so that my mom and aunts could get some sleep. I left the house around 5 in the morning and was back at 9:30 with my family to say their final goodbyes, and make breakfast for everyone. Blake took the kids home after breakfast and I stayed with my grandma, mom, and aunts. I decided to go home around 2:30pm and shower and take a nap. I got back to the house at 6:45 and grandma had passed away about 10 minutes before I got there.
Once everyone had arrived and was able to say goodbye for the last time, we stood around her bed and sang her favorite song, Amazing Grace. Amazing Grace was sung at her table before every meal in place of a prayer. It was sung at my grandpa's funeral, and now hers. It was such a sweet experience. Once the hospice nurse arrived, we had the opportunity to dress her body and get her ready for the mortuary to come and get her for cremation. That too was such a sweet experience. My grandma was a woman of great dignity and poise, and she maintained that dignity even through death. I will miss her greatly, and mourn for the lost time on earth with her. I am also so grateful for the tender mercies from the Lord and helping make this a quick and peaceful process so that my grandma wouldn't suffer anymore than she needed too. Having a stroke was her worst fear, possibly the only greater fear of hers was to be a burden on anyone. But I know I will see her again, I can't wait for that sweet embrace on the other side of the veil. Her and I had a special relationship, and I am so grateful for the time that I had with her to build that relationship, and to learn from her. I love you, Grandma.
(these first few are from the lake the next day)
After we got home from the park I went back to be with grandma. I was sitting there talking to my aunt when we noticed that something was definitely wrong with grandma. She look very uncomfortable and almost in pain. I thought she was nauseous and was going to throw up. We would ask her what's wrong and she wouldn't communicate back. I would ask her to squeeze my hand and she wouldn't. That was very untypical of her, she had been able to communicate with us pretty well, with either words or hand squeezes. So I took her blood pressure and pulse and it was high. The nurse called the Dr. and they ordered an MRI to see if she was having another stroke. This whole process was about an hour and a half. The nurse told us that she had gotten the report back and that there had been no change. So I felt good about it and thought maybe she was just tired and not responding because of that. So on Saturday we decided to go to the lake with Blake's family. Again, we had a great time. It was so nice to be able to relax and enjoy our surroundings. As we came back into cell phone reception I had a few missed calls. It was my mom saying that turns out that grandma did have another stroke, and that there was little to no hope for recovery. Remind me to never go out of cell phone reception again! Seriously?? My heart just sunk and we rushed back to go be with her.
On Monday the decision was made to bring her home on a program called hospice. Hospice is basically death bed care. The nurses come and give meds to make the family member as comfortable as possible until they pass away. At grandma's initial assessment the nurse said she had about 3-5 days, that was around 1:00pm. The nurse came back at 7:30pm to do another assessment and told us that she had entered into another phase of the dying process and it would be about 48 hours. At 10:30 that night grandma started to get really rattley in her breathing and seemed to be struggling and uncomfortable. My mom called the nurse to ask some questions about the meds she left and how and why to give what. After explaining grandma's symptoms to the nurse, she told my mom it sounded like it would be within the next 24 hours. I stayed the night with grandma that night so that my mom and aunts could get some sleep. I left the house around 5 in the morning and was back at 9:30 with my family to say their final goodbyes, and make breakfast for everyone. Blake took the kids home after breakfast and I stayed with my grandma, mom, and aunts. I decided to go home around 2:30pm and shower and take a nap. I got back to the house at 6:45 and grandma had passed away about 10 minutes before I got there.
Once everyone had arrived and was able to say goodbye for the last time, we stood around her bed and sang her favorite song, Amazing Grace. Amazing Grace was sung at her table before every meal in place of a prayer. It was sung at my grandpa's funeral, and now hers. It was such a sweet experience. Once the hospice nurse arrived, we had the opportunity to dress her body and get her ready for the mortuary to come and get her for cremation. That too was such a sweet experience. My grandma was a woman of great dignity and poise, and she maintained that dignity even through death. I will miss her greatly, and mourn for the lost time on earth with her. I am also so grateful for the tender mercies from the Lord and helping make this a quick and peaceful process so that my grandma wouldn't suffer anymore than she needed too. Having a stroke was her worst fear, possibly the only greater fear of hers was to be a burden on anyone. But I know I will see her again, I can't wait for that sweet embrace on the other side of the veil. Her and I had a special relationship, and I am so grateful for the time that I had with her to build that relationship, and to learn from her. I love you, Grandma.
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