Friday January 8

Today was hard, but also good.

It started with running some errands.

After that Brent, Port and I stopped by the sheriff's office for a tour.

Port thought it was pretty cool.

And when walking through the jail part....he was convinced that it was way better to be the good guy than the bad guy :)

I have pictures from that......but I will post them later.

I promise Dussy boy!

Later!

We came back to Gramps house and there were all kinds of family here.

We ate, talked, and got more stuff done for the funeral.

We got a call from Drew and Heather.

They were going to surprise us and come to the funeral.....

But they got as far as Burley and the weather was so bad and they didn't have a good feeling about it, so they turned around.

What great friends we have.

Young family, we sure love you guys.

And we are glad you are safe in your beds tonight.

Well, finally it was time to get ready to go for the viewing.

We left the kids home at Gramps house for tonight.

We went in with Gramps and the rest of the family.

We had our time with Grandma before people started coming.

Andy made an awesome slideshow with so many great pictures of Grandma.

She was such a neat lady.

A lady that touched the lives of so many!

The slideshow brought all sorts of emotion.

So grateful to have known her and that my kids got to spend so much time with her.

But so sad and empty for the loss.

It just doesn't seem real.

There was a steady stream of visitors for 2 hours.

Like I said, she touched the lives of many.

And Grandma, she looked beautiful.

Sometimes I struggle because they don't really look like the person once they have been done up for the viewing.

But they did such a beautiful job with her.

She looked like she did a few years ago before she really started hurting so bad.

Just beautiful.

Gramps was stellar.

It was hard for him and he wanted to just stay close to Grams.

He kept his hand right on the coffin the entire time.

He loves his 'Little bear'.

And he misses her dearly.

But he is being strong.

He says he wouldn't take her back because of how much pain he had to see her in every day.

But he misses her.

We found this poem of Grandmas.

She always wrote poems.

Beautiful poems.

She had a way with words, that's for sure.

We found this poem and we had to get it printed up to put on display with the pictures.

After she had passed away, Nancy and Kayleen found a box Grandma had put together of what her wishes were for her funeral.

In that it had the picture she wanted to use of herself and another one of her poems, that she wanted included in the program.

It reads:

To Those I Love

When I am gone, just release me....let me go.

So I can go to where I'm meant to go.

You must not tie me down with all your tears

Just give thanks that we have had so many happy years.

I gave you all my love, and you can only guess

How much you all gave back to me in happiness.

Thank you for the love you each have shown

But now it's time for me to travel on alone.

So grieve for me a while, and cry some if you must

Let your soul be comforted, in Heavenly Father's trust.

It's only for a little while that we must be apart

So cherish all the memories you hold within your heart.

And when it's time for you to come this way alone

I'll greet you with a smile, and a happy 'Welcome Home'

-Grandma "Ene"