Monday 12/2
Our snow covered yard is so beautiful
so peaceful feeling
Just a few hours later . . . .
Steve bundles up and gets to work shoveling
this very wet and heavy snow.
Tuesday, 12/3
Today's "project" was . . . .
To get the Christmas Tree put together.
This tree has served us well for many years
and still looks great . . . .
especially after it is filled with fun ornaments.
Some that are home made,
ones that have been gifted to us and some that were
purchased as souvenirs.
We love this years tree that reminds us of good times,
good family & good friends.
Tuesday 12/10
Today we flew to California to spend a week with
Linda's mother and to celebrate her
93rd birthday.
Thursday 12/12
Today we took mom to the doctor and the chiropractor.
The day after Thanksgiving she fell and her back has
been in a lot of pain since then. She has made
a couple of trips to the ER but X-rays
haven't shown any fractures.
Friday 12/13
Today is mom's 93rd birthday.
We had a luncheon at Polly's Restaurant with
some of the family
 |
| Greg, Ruthie & Rachel, Karen, Ron & Shelly, Pam, Heather & Bryan, Steve & Linda, Kim & Travis, Renny & Sharon Chelsea, Justin, Ema & Arianna These are the ones that attended (in no particular order) |
The restaurant employee's sang her a birthday song
and brought her a piece of Chocolate Silk Pie
with a candle in it.
She received a few gifts, including this
very soft, fury blanket from Kim & Travis.
Mom received several B-day cards and several phone
calls, including one from her 90 year old brother, Walter.
After the luncheon some of us went back to
mom's and we took a few pictures.
Jim wasn't able to be with us today, but he did
come over on Sunday.
We took a few more pictures and plan on seeing
if we can photo shop them into one good
composite picture.
This is the photo-shopped version.
Linda sent a plea for help to our Stake fb page and
a sweet sister, that we don't even know,
offered to help. She did a wonderful job and
we appreciate her willingness to help us. As
it turned out it is a most precious picture . . .
the last one of us, all together.
Jim brought mom a unique little gift . . . .
This is a replica of the moon with an actual
picture sculpted into the surface.
When you turn it on it literally looks just like
a real full moon . . . . too bad you can't see
it's beauty in the picture.
Saturday 12/14
This has been a very hard day.
We didn't take any pictures but we will give a
brief explanation of what happened.
By Friday night Linda's mom was in a lot of pain...
and this morning even worse.
Linda and her sisters, Karen & Pam, took their
mom to the emergency room. They spent
the next 10 hours there.
A CT Scan revealed a compression fracture in her back
at the L2 level (this after 3 previous visits
to the urgent care and doctor where X-rays were
taken and diagnosed with no fractures)
She also had a severe UTI which they treated
with an IV Antibiotic.
They sent her home with prescriptions for
Norco, Lidocaine patches, an oral antibiotic
and several referrals.
Tuesday 12/16
We left for home today. Little did we know that this
would be the last time mom would be
able to communicate with us as she told us goodbye and
that she loved us...
and with a gentle hug, we told her we loved her too.
Linda's mom is still in a lot
of pain and is digressing pretty rapidly.
She no longer wants to eat, listen to music or
watch television. She is also beginning to resist
taking her medications.
Friday 12/20
Today we spoke to Karen and learned that
mom was now under Hospice care.
They stayed with mom until her pain was under control
and she was resting comfortably.
Back at home we hurried and got things
for Christmas finished up . . . .
wrapping gifts and . . . .
placing them under the tree, anticipating that
we may have to make another trip to
California.
Monday, 12/23
Linda's mom is not expected to live much longer so
we decided to pack our bags and
head for California . . . Christmas will
just have to wait this year.
We decided to drive to Bountiful and stay the
night with Kevin's family so we
packed up all their Christmas gifts and
our things and off we went.
when we arrived at their house about 6:00 they had these
cute little gingerbread houses the kids had made,
displayed on their kitchen table.
Kevin and Shea got home shortly after we arrive, but the other
kids were with Lani at her parent's house in SLC.
Shea opened one of her gifts (a PJ Max toy).
She thought that was so much fun that she
snuck away from us and . . . .
began opening more presents. When we discovered
she was gone, we quickly ran to find her
next to the Christmas tree with 3-4 gifts already
unwrapped. We cleaned up the scraps of wrapping
paper and re-wrapped the gifts and put them
back under the tree, all before the other kids got home.
At 10:30 they arrived home and . . . .
didn't want to wait until morning to open their gifts.
They seemed to be happy with their
Unikitty, Battle Blades & Star Wars gifts.
Tuesday, 12/24
Christmas Eve
We left Kevin's at 8:00 this morning and
began the 10 hour drive to mom's house.
We arrive right at 5:00 PST.
Mom was still hanging on, but had an
irregular breathing pattern and at this point
was unable to communicate anymore.
Jim and his girls came over for a visit and
Linda's sister, Pam, flew in at 9:30 p.m. so,
all the sisters are now together, taking care
of their mother.
Friday, 12/27
Mom is still with us. She is just like the energizer
bunny and just keeps on going.
We are giving her morphine every 2-4 hours and
that is keeping her comfortable.
The three sisters have been taking turns sitting with her
24/7 and sleeping in shifts.
Saturday, 12/28
It has been a long day, watching mom and waiting
for her passing. The Hospice nurse came around
5:00 p.m. and monitored her vitals,
held her hand and softly spoke to her.
We were able to, once again, tell her we loved her,
hold her hand, give her a little kiss and reassure her it
was okay for her to let go.
Steve & Linda, Karen, Ron, Shelly & Tara, Pam and Bryan
were with her when she passed at 6:14 p.m.
Hospice was wonderful and took care of all the
immediate & necessary details.
We began contacting family while waiting for the
mortuary to come.
Sunday, 12/29
At the beginning of Sacrament Meeting,
Bishop Brashear gave a short, but sweet tribute to mom
as he announce her passing to the congregation.
After attending Sacrament meeting we began
making plans for mom's funeral.
We set Saturday, January 4th as the date
with both the mortuary and cemetery.
We also set up appointments to meet with the funeral
director and cemetery.
Monday - Thursday
12/30/2019 - 1/2/2020
We spent the next four days making funeral arrangements,
contacting more family and friends, putting together
the funeral program and going
through mom's things and setting everything out
so families could pick out some mementos.
Three Sisters at work . . . .
in the garage . . . .
in the living room (and kitchen) and . . . .
in the hallway, filling up the shelves.
We had to write the obituary, gather 75 pictures and
select 3 musical recordings for a video
the mortuary would put together.
We picked her favorites -
2 Glenn Miller tunes, String of Pearls & Moonlight Serenade
and Frank Sinatra singing Young at Heart.
Mom had a lot of things done already, she had designed
the funeral program cover and had written a
piece about life, called "falling leaves",
that went along with the cover design.
(which, by the way, we searched for, for 3 days
before finally finding it).
She had a piece of music set aside (Remember Me) with the
note "to be sung at my funeral" written on the cover
(Shauna Tyler, a long time family friend,
and Rod Davis' sister, sang, and it was beautiful)
Mom had most of the funeral expenses covered.
The funeral director asked us if we had thought about
Pallbearers yet. When we told him mom wanted
all her grandsons...18 of them, he nearly fainted.
Then he suggested we use half of them at the chapel and
the other half at the cemetery... a great suggestion!
Some carried the casket while the others followed behind.
Mom's granddaughter, Rachel (Greg's daughter)
did all the flowers for just the cost of the flowers.
Here are just part of the flowers she did - They were all Beautiful
with mom's favorite Calla Lily, in most of the arrangements.
A couple of years ago we took mom up to the cemetery
to check on what was already paid for etc.
On that day she looked at casket pictures and picked
out one that was baby blue so we were able to
find one like it and that is the one we chose for her.
On Thursday, 1/2
Karen, Linda, Pam, Ruth Ann & Kari
all went to the mortuary to dress mom in her
Temple Clothes. . . . such a special experience.
Friday 1/3
We continued with our planning, writing the Eulogy,
printing and folding programs and gathering things
to put on display tables.
We made several trips to the airport to pick
up family members and got them
all settled in their hotel rooms.
Before tonight's viewing at the mortuary, a few of us went
over to the church to set up the display tables.
Main table with things mom had made, sayings she loved,
photos and flowers.
Guest Book & Programs with a quilt that mom made
displayed next to it. Mom used fabric paints to
make many of these with different pictures on them.
A couple of mom's paintings, Poetry, Life Story,
Brown Afghan she made and
green quilt she received as a wedding gift.
Tonight was the viewing at the mortuary.
The chapel was set up with all the flowers
and the video was playing
(it turned out great)
Mom looked beautiful and at last, so peaceful.
After the viewing, and for the first time
in many, many years . . . .
Steve, Linda and all our four kids,
piled in our car together, then . . .
Matt took the six of us
to Dunkin' Donuts for a little treat !
Saturday 1/4/2020 - Funeral Day
We met the Funeral Director at the church at 8:30 a.m.
While they were getting the Relief Society Room
set up with the casket and flowers,
we were putting the finishing touches on the
display tables and Linda was
reading through the Eulogy once again and
making adjustment to it.
After Robert offered a beautiful Family prayer,
Mom's three daughters,
Karen, Linda & Pam put her veil in place and
the funeral director closed the casket.
We adjourned to the chapel and completely
filled it with just our family.
Many visitor's filled the cultural hall.
We had a wonderful service with beautiful music
and wonderful talks.
Rachel made boutonnieres for all the
Pallbearers plus one each for
Greg and Jim and the son-in-laws.
The Grand/Great Grandchildren did a
wonderful job singing through smiles and tears
about giving grandma hugs and kisses.
("Grandmother" primary songbook)
Linda was able to deliver the Eulogy without
too many emotional breakdowns.
Shauna Tyler & Heather Snow both sang
beautiful music that reflected mom's life of
love and valiant service to others while
Trudy Whittaker helped invite the spirit with her
beautiful Organ and Piano music.
Paul Christensen, mom's long time Home Teacher & friend,
& Bishop Brashear closed the
service with messages of comfort and
the plan of happiness.
Matt Waite & Kyle Davis both gave beautiful
prayers to open and close the service.
The Pallbearers added a sweet dignity to the
service, both at the church and at the cemetery.
We took some time to take lots of pictures
both at the cemetery and then back at the chapel.
At the Cemetery
Pallbearers
An amazing legacy of grandsons!
Beautiful Casket & floral spray
Eric Snow conducted the service at the Cemetery
and Greg offered the dedicatory prayer.
Siblings
Greg #3, Karen Snow #1 , Jim #4,
Linda Waite #2, Pam Davis #5
Karen's Family
Linda's Family
Greg's Family
Jim's Family
Pam's Family
All the 1st Cousins
except Stacy, who died at age seven,
she may be gone, but she is never forgotten!
Sadly, Gail's son, Louis, his wife Maxine and family
were all unable to be with us today.
Everyone left the cemetery and went back
to the chapel where the Relief Society
had prepared . . . .
a delicious Ham dinner
for all 130 members of our very large family.
We are grateful to the Ward members for this unselfish
act of love and service.
Before leaving the church,
We decided to get the "traditional"
Age-Order Cousin picture
(possibly the last time they will all be together)
Then, some more pictures showing their "crazy" side . . . .
This one, together with a few Boomerang video's
(not shown in the blog, but are on the private group fb page.)
Mom was the oldest of just two children.
Her brother, Walter - 90 years old, was unable to attend due
to illness and was very upset that he
couldn't share this day with us, sooo . . . .
His daughter, Ronelle, brought her Portal and we
set it up after the funeral so everyone could
say hi and visit with him.
We love our Uncle Walter and missed seeing him
in person, but loved our Portal Visits !
The rest of the day was spent visiting, reminiscing,
laughing and crying together. We all had
an opportunity to pick a few of mom's things to
help us remember her.
It was a wonderful day and one that we believe
would have made mom happy.
She loved it when we were all together. She loved
listening to us reminisce about old times and
she loved listening to us laugh about
days gone by.
As an example, this summer we were trying
to take a family picture and we all got
the giggles . . . . including mom !
We can still hear her laughing with us.
It has been a very unusual holiday season this year
for our family, but a very memorable one.
We will miss our sweet mother, but are grateful to know
she is now happy with her family, friends & Heavenly Parents
on the other side of the veil.
Mom with Granddaughter Stacy who died at age 7
with a congenital heart defect.
Mom & Dad with their parents
Golda, Lynn, Ruth, Gail, Emma, JR
Now it is time for us to move on and let
the New Year bring on many new and hopefully
wonderful memories.
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