The Funeral

I was worried about getting everyone ready in time for the Friday morning funeral, but we were still on east coast time, and I was up and showered by 6am (I even got hot water!).  We made it to the church in plenty of time and let the kids play with their cousins in the nursery room during the viewing. 

Bentley and Samuel practice their origami before we leave for the church

Colton and Eliot

l-r: Samuel, Kendra, Caleb (under the table), Theo, Ryder

Aunt Tracy reading to Camille

Eliot, Theo, and Colton

Some of my kids came to see her, too.  Some of them didn't want to.  And that was fine.  Nicole (Natalie's 2-year-old) just about broke all our hearts by whispering, "Shh!  Gramma's sleeping..."

Family friends came and gave us hugs-- the Hogans, the Cruzats, the Keyes...  People who have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.  We had a brief prayer service, and then followed the casket to the chapel for the actual service.

As is often the case with Mormon funerals, this one felt like more of a celebration of life than a sad occasion.  My parents and my aunt all spoke, and my sisters and I sang "Abide with Me, Tis Eventide."  And then our bishop/funeral director gave the closing remarks where he talked about his last visit with my Grandma and read the story of Christ raising Lazarus from the dead.  As they rolled the coffin out to the hearse and we followed, Ryder slipped in front of me and then began doing a crazy dance and singing to himself, "Oh yeah, I'm in the front of the line!  Oh yeah!"  He was quiet enough that I don't think anyone else noticed, but I suddenly found myself trying very hard to not start laughing.  (And I'm already someone who struggles with laughing at inappropriate times, so we know where Ryder gets it from!)

It was a surprisingly beautiful and sunny day, especially for February in Seattle.  And that was really lovely.  Apparently as we were standing in the parking lot, my aunt noticed an old-fashioned Mustang drive by and that made her smile, since my Grandma drove Mustangs for years. 

The Relief Society had put together a wonderful lunch for us, so we got time to sit and talk with all those family friends who had come.  The food was so good-- especially after a day of traveling and eating only junky snacky foods, eating REAL food tasted amazing.  They'd also given us real plates and silverware to eat with-- such a small thing, but it made the meal so much more enjoyable.  I need to remember that some day when I'm tasked with providing a funeral lunch for someone. 

I got to hold Luke & Kat's baby, Maya, in her beautiful dress

And Craig got to hold Rachael and Ian's baby, Nolan

Eventually we figured we had better move along and let everyone continue with their day.  We thanked everyone, loaded flowers into cars, and headed home.  At home, we made the kids play outside and ate leftovers.  Our neighbors came to say Hi, and their visit wiped out Craig and Ian, who both conked out on the couch.  So of course, I took a picture: 

Sleepy brothers-in-law!

It had been a very long, but very good day.