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.