The Funeral

I realize it's a tad morbid, but I showed up to my Grandma's funeral with a camera. Of course, with so much family gathered together, how could I not try to save the moment?

Her pall-bearers were all of her grandsons, including my two brothers (on the right side).

They all placed their boutonnieres on her casket. She would have loved that. She probably would NOT have loved that my cousin Eric cracked a joke about teams for Annie-I-Over while they awaited her casket.

My brother Gary:

My dad with his two sisters Venita and Anna Marilyn:

69 years of marriage? Hard to believe that people really do stay married that long. (Well Diamond, only 54 years more to go!)

The first time my entire family has been all together in close to eight years:


I think my grandma's favorite thing would have been that ALL nineteen of her grandchildren were there to honor her.

Of those 19:
-Seventeen have at least a bachelors degree, with multiple doctors and more master's degrees that you could shake a stick at.

-All grandsons and two granddaughters served faithful missions for the Church.

-All nineteen were married in the temple.

People talk of leaving a legacy - my grandparents did exactly that. I consider myself blessed to have inherited so very much. Pretty darn good Grandma and Grandpa!

Grandma & Grandpa's three children, their spouses and their children.

Throw in the in-laws, the great-grandkids and the great-great-grandkids, and you've got quite the posterity! (And truly, this probably isn't even half.)

Grandma would've loved it. I pretty sure she would've been OK with the camera too.

After the funeral, the luncheon, and a ton of family pictures, we headed back to Grandma's house.

That house had the perfect pitch to throw a ball over, thus the game Annie-I-Over was born.

Ginger and I in the upstairs room where we used to sleep when we would visit. I still think those ceilings are WAY cool - plus the closets were these little cubby-things, perfect to play in!

My grandma moved into this house (and in with her in-laws) when she married my grandpa. My dad lived in this same house his entire childhood, and my grandparents continued to live there until their deaths. My dad in his old room:

One of the highlights of the weekend for me was having a chance to select a piece of jewelry from my great-grandmother's jewelry box. (My father's paternal grandmother, Nina.) While I'm certain it's not 'real', it's likely close to 100 years old, and so very beautiful. I believe I was able to claim her crowned piece.

I've really inherited quite a bit from my grandparents, huh?