Headin' Our Separate Ways...

This morning Donna fixed us such a yummy breakfast and we left by 10:15– Katie and I to Provo and the rest went south home! Arrived at Katie’s dorm at 2! Got checked into my hotel room and did some scripture reading and CFM. Now I’m heading over to pick up Brooke and go to dinner with both of them at the Cannon Center. I’m looking forward to a week of helping Katelyn get her mission things and working on what she needs to get done…

After dinner we went to Brooke’s apt and watched a series called Sulphur Springs… fun evening!!

Oh and I got to meet Addison tonight! He came over while we were watching that show. He seems super nice and is pretty cute… cuter in person I think! They left while Katie and I caught up on a few episodes— he walked Brooke to a girl’s get together in her ward with her roommates and then went home. It was pretty chill and I gave him a hug. Brooke was worried it would be awkward but it wasn’t at all. She did want me to meet him though so that was good! 

Oh and I wanted to write about Donna! She is the sweetest person I think I’ve ever met! She just made all of us feel so comfortable in her home and really was sweet-- especially to me! She wanted me to know that she cares about me and was concerned about what I must be going through right now— she truly ministered to me by just simply showing love! What a sweet lady!!

Mom's Graveside Service in St. George

Got up fairly early this morning and dressed warmly… the graveside service was around 30 degrees at 10am!! It was a beautiful service and several people came to share it with us! Tracy and Stuart and Jason and Camille and their 3 kids, Julie and Sherrie Gunnell, Becky and Craig and Bill and Donna Blankenagel… were some that came. Bill talked about sacred places and asked Braden to talk about his experiences going to see Papa at his grave when he was experiencing depression and how that became a sacred place for him. It IS a sacred place where both of them now rest! There was a sweet feeling there although I was also so overcome with the grief of missing mom! I could barely sing the hymn “God Be With You Til We Meet Again”. We lingered for quite a while visiting and taking pictures. John’s grave is just down a bit from mom and dads so we went and looked at that one too. We went to a family dinner after at Magleby’s and it was so good to just visit with everyone! Julie and Sherrie came and we sure had fun catching up and reminiscing!! We can always just pick right up where we left off like no time has passed. We said our goodbyes and then went to see mom's house in Bloomington— Bill knocked on the door and the owners hesitantly let us in and we got to look around!! Wow! So many memories. It has changed a lot and yet hasn’t! It made me a bit sad but also happy to feel close to mom in kind of a weird way??!! It is such a beautiful home! After that we went to Braden and Courteney’s house and visited and Robin and Allison met up with us there. (They were checking on selling some of moms art.) It was fun to visit with them! Then we all went for ice cream at Nielsens frozen custard— dad loved that place! It was good and we had fun visiting and just being together! After we all headed back to Blankenagel’s for an intense and hilarious game of Mafia— seriously one of the funnest I’ve played! What a fun memory!! It was nice to forget about the worries and just have fun!!  Today was so nourishing for me!  I needed to feel what I felt today last week at Mom's funeral and couldn't for whatever reason.  I'm so glad I felt it today and just being with family all day was just what I needed!

Gathering @ Bill & Donna Blankenagel's for Mom's Graveside...

Friday we all switched gears and packed up to travel to St. George. McKenzie, Bill and I got away by 11am. We stopped by at Polley’s in Vegas to pick up Megan who’d spent the last several days there with Luke. (Megan and Todd both went up there after the funeral last Saturday and then just Todd came back for work on Tuesday.) We made it to Bill and Donna Blankenagel’s house around 6pm. They were so good to us and so kind to take us in for the weekend! Katelyn and Brooke got there shortly after we did from Provo—6 adults and a baby for 2 days!  Donna had dinner all ready for us— a pot of yummy soup and garlic bread which was so warm and comforting on an unseasonably cold day! It was so wonderful just to relax on Donna's couch and just be together!  We visited for a while and then all headed to bed sometime around 11pm. 

Our "Sign" Went Up!

Brooke and Katelyn wanted to go by the property today and see the progress on the house. This sign went up which is kind of fun! Katelyn wanted to go down into the basement, so we climbed down the access ramp which is very unstable and we didn't have good shoes on... Katelyn!! It was fun to go down into it though, but I couldn't take pictures because I left my phone in the car. I enjoyed a fun afternoon with the girls before we all went out to dinner as a family at Islands Grill. We headed to the airport afterward and got them on their way back to Provo. (We may see them at the graveside service in St. George next week?) I wish the circumstances for seeing them could've been better, but it was fun to spend from late Thursday night to Monday night with them-- it was a nice long 4 day weekend! We managed to have fun being with family and playing lots of card games-- the most memorable was playing Rook with Uncle Doug and cleaning his clock!! We got him good!!!

 

A Somber Celebration of an AMAZING Mom!

I felt a profound sense of love and gratitude for my mother today! She accomplished and loved so much in this world and beautified everything around her-- she truly was a blessing to me and I'm going to miss her so much! It was a somber day... I expected to feel more comfort today but I had a really hard time! Uncle Doug and McKenzie really bonded at the viewing-- both were having a hard time with it an comforted each other when the other was needing it! It was really sweet to watch that!! It was a beautiful service and Robin did an excellent job eulogizing mom's FULL life-- something she was very concerned about "getting right". Really, how do you sum up a life like mom's in 20 min? You don't-- Robin took quite a bit longer, but that's ok! I enjoyed hearing about all the fun memories and some that I didn't even know about my mom! Georgia and Susie Rogers and many others came to show their love and support, as well. I'm so glad that they did-- it made the day so much more bearable and we were able to laugh together at the luncheon afterward. I am also grateful for Nancy and Nikki that made the effort to come and show love to us and be here in this difficult time. They well understand because they lost dear Aunt Jane about 4 or 5 months ago! (Possibly why Uncle Doug was having such a hard time-- losing your sweet wife and close sister both in such a short period of time.) I love you, Mom!!