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!