Granny's weekend

Wednesday morning we went to the pool with Charees. That was fun. It feels like it been forever since we've gone to the pool together because she was out of town in June and I was gone for July. 

We're loving our new neighbors. Their boys are almost 3 and almost 4 and their daughter is almost 7. Perfect. And their super friendly which is the polar opposite of our last neighbor's who I actually never even met and I never even learned their names. They were polite but completely antisocial. But these new neighbor's... We talked and exchanged numbers the first moment I met the wife and her daughter and I think I went in their house every day after that and was even hanging out in their basement (with several other neighbor's too... It felt like a block party) minutes before we left for the airport this time. Abigail has declared Thalia her best friend and Brady promptly spoke up that Thalia was his best friend too. Ha. It's all going swimmingly well... I have high hopes for our future together. 

Thursday morning I was just doing laundry and packing and stuff. I called Abigail's school at 1:30 or so to find out how much the back to school supply kit was and details of how to order one because even though they're a rip off, I just had been so busy and didn't want to drag three kids to the store for that crap. Well, turns out, they decided not to offer it this year. Of course. So I went to Thalia's house to pick up Abigail to take all the kids to Walmart to buy school supplies but the wife's mom was there and was all "just let Abigail stay and play! The girls are having a great time!" So the mom and I exchanged numbers and are BFF now too. She loves my kids and adores Brady and that he's so scrawny. Ha. 

Two hours later and I was unpacking school supplies and watching the girls and Brady play while Elizabeth napped. Brady fell asleep on my bedroom floor at 3:50 while he was watching me pack and Chris got home at 4 and was all "when should we go to back to school night?!" Ha. So we woke Brady up at 5 or something and our big happy family went to meet Abigail's teacher and see her classroom. I really like her teacher. She is young and bubbly. Brand new to the school and just got married in June. Getting home, we decided to go on a family walk and Abigail invited Thalia and then Thalia's mom and dog came too. Ha. Not what we'd planned but still fun. And after we got home, all the neighbor's were out and it was just fun hanging out with everyone. And then we all ended up in my neighbor's basement because all the kids were excited to see the balance beam. 

We left for the airport sometime after 9 I think. My flight left at midnight. Elizabeth fell asleep right as we took off and didn't wake up until after we'd gotten off the plane. I left her in my wrap the whole time and just let her hang her upper body out. I think that really helped because she acted more like she was buckled in and it kept her from really wanting to explore. But even not contained, it is just her personality to be content hanging out on my lap. Also, I found it humorous that she was seriously perfectly behaved and not a single person complimented her because normally people are so vocal. Maybe because we landed at 2:30am Denver time. It didn't matter, it was just unique. 

Em picked us up and we headed straight to the farm. We stopped at chick fil a for breakfast (for us) and one other time for nursing (for the babes) and it was a great drive. I love looking at all the homes. Even the mobile homes and run down homes and old and new homes and small and big homes. Alllll of them. I love them all. Everything is so pretty and non cookie cutter. It's definitely not Parker. 

We brought our stuff in, did light cleaning, mom and Liza came, and we all put on Sunday clothes (I had my own clothes but I chose one of my favorites of grandmother's dresses and wore that instead) and headed to the funeral home to dress grandmother's body. I'm so grateful that I could be a part of it. I know it's just her body and not truly her, but I loved the time with grandmother. Her petite little figure and beautiful soft hair. Mom, Liza, Em, Harriet, and I dressed her and did her makeup while Nathan, Clara, Collin, and Elizabeth roamed and played. When we'd walked in, I didn't think it looked like her, but by the time we left, she was precious clothed in her full temple outfit. My favorite part was probably fixing her little curls over her ears. It's like I do with my own Elizabeth. 

We ordered a Hawaiian pizza from the buzzery and picked it up on the way home. It was delicious. Dad and Jeff and Skye and will arrived shortly after we did. We spent much of the evening cleaning and decluttering and preparing for the funeral and family dinner afterwards. Walter and bekah and the boys arrived after 10pm. 

Saturday morning was busy. I'd asked mom to wake me up but I think she got busy and forgot because I woke on my own around 9:30. Panic. There was so much to do. Have no fear, it all got done. Dad helped me work on the eulogy while I did my makeup and held Elizabeth. We left by noon and worked on it more while Em drove us to the church building. I was typing on the laptop on the console while buckled in the back between two large car seats. Dad was thoroughly amused. We kept coming up with just so many things we wanted to say. It was hard to limit it and to say things in a cool and collected way instead of my natural tendency to just gush and repeat. 

The viewing was nice. The granny slideshow was great and everyone present was so kind and good to talk to. Dad offered the family prayer in the relief society room. I kept Elizabeth with me during the funeral service instead of in the nursery. For some reason I just wanted her to be there. With me. And at the service. Weed had been texting me just shortly before. Said she had been praying for me and I asked her to pray specifically that I would be able to feel peace and be composed while I did my part with the eulogy. She is such a wonderful friend. I loved loved loved Walters remarks. The stories and commentary were all so funny and endearing. When I first agreed to do the eulogy, the only thing that would come to my mind was granny saying "Yoohoo!" and somehow I completely forgot about it until Walter ended his remarks and mentioned it and said that he's sure on July 27th, papa was just hanging out with his thoughts when he was interrupted with a "Yoo-hoo! Clyde!" That makes me want to smile and cry and smile some more. So precious. The general themes of the funeral service were granny being a good shot and loving her guns, the huge number of snakes she's killed with garden tools or guns  (and turtles she's beheaded with small knives), and that her reputation precedes her and she's a force to be reckoned with. Everything was spot on. After Walter spoke, granny's home teacher spoke, and then the bishop. They spoke along the same lines we did and also focused on her rock solid testimony. We sang because I have been given much and be still my soul was the musical number sang by three women in the ward. The whole service was great. The graveside part was also nice. The weather held out for us. Partly cloudy and a light breeze. The family dinner at our house was wonderful. Publix fried chicken and slaw and Lima beans and white acre peas (is that their name?) and Mac and cheese and cheesy potatoes and spiral ham and all things southern and delicious. People are so kind. 

Most people left by 7:30 I think and we all hung out a bit. Walter and bekah went to the store to get some groceries and black jack cherry ice cream because it was granny's favorite (they were out) and the fixings to make milky way ice cream. We watched the olympics some before going to bed around midnight. Most everyone had trickled away earlier except for Walter and me. We got to brush our teeth together like old times. ; ) I think I went to bed close to 2. 

I made sure to have mom wake me up  at 7:30 (I can't set my alarm because then it'll wake Elizabeth up too) so I would have plenty of time to get ready. Elizabeth had been awake during the night and had a hard time falling asleep again so she slept the second half of the night in bed with me. So when I woke up, I was able to quietly dress and get ready in my room while I kept an eye on her in my bed and then was able to wake her up and get her dressed and fed. Emmy and Collin were running slightly later so we actually had even more time. And then of course Elizabeth pooped in the car on the way to church so actually I ended up being at least 30 minutes late for sacrament meeting. And she pooped again at the end so I was also late for Sunday school. The relief society lesson was great on being a shepherd to other sisters in our ward. I loved it. 

After church we made ham and cheese sliders with our leftovers and took a family picture out front (minus Elizabeth because she fell asleep on the way home from church and transferred to her pack n play which means that she must have been exhausted and I didn't want to wake her). Sunday evening we hung out outside a bit pulling babes on the wagon a bit and then that night, the adults and Collin and Elizabeth hung out and watched granny's slideshow (while Collin and Elizabeth actually fell asleep) and it was the greatest. Commenting on all the pictures and granny and her clothes and activities and things that were just so her. I have no idea how I have such attractive grandparents. I think their younger pictures are so cute and you can tell they were really good looking, but they got even so much more attractive as they aged. I could seriously look at their faces all day long. It's crazy how beautiful they are. 

And today was good. Thankfully Emmy woke me up because mom never did. We all got to work with stuff. Em and mom did yard work. Liza and I searched every drawer, closet, and cabinet for every sheet, towel, and pillowcase in the house so that we could sort and organize everything. The towels got all done. Mom still has to continue working on the sheets next time she goes down, but it was productive. We worked and packed up and left around 4. We visited the cemetery on our way through quitman. When we pulled up, I immediately was cheered by the two piles of fresh dirt next to one another. I've always predicted and hoped that granny and papa would go within just months of each other and I'm so happy it came true. 

The drive up was good, we stopped for gas and chick fil a was all and got to the airport perfectly at 8:45 for my 10:15 flight. Everything was easy and went well. Elizabeth slept for the last hour and a half of the flight. She was good and simple. When I landed I texted Chris. His response. "Sorry, I just woke up."  Ha, so I guess we'll have an even layer night than anticipated since we'll be waiting a while. I'm just thankful he's always so willing for me to visit Georgia and do my airport runs. He's the sweetest. I'm excited to see the kids and nervous about getting into real life. School and a first grader and living in my own house? I have a feeling this'll seem weird for at least a few days. ; )

I'm back in Colorado!