Teina called last week to let me know that aunt Darlene had passed away. 

She has been in pretty bad shape for quite a long time.   She has had several heart attacks, the first one while her and Ken were on a mission in Hawaii.

I was happy for her that she was able to go.  She has been suffering a lot.

I went up early Saturday morning and stopped at Brenda's to ride up the rest of the way with her.  Teina and Lynn were in California with Brad's family for a well deserved vacation.

We pulled into the church right behind  Leslie so we all went in together. It's strange to go back and see people from the old ward and relatives I haven't seen for many years. There's not a lot of mum and daddy's friends left, which is kind of sad, but then I have to remind myself...mum would be 93 if she were still here.   It was good to talk to some of the good old folks though.  So sweet that they would remember me after all these years.

Anyway, I think the most shocking thing was seeing Ken 's kids. They were old....even the ones that were younger than me looked old.  It's probably been 35 years since I've seen some of them..how sad is that?  They were our closest cousins as we were growing up....only lived a few blocks away.

They had two girls out of their eight kids...Lana and Jan.  Lana was Teina's age and Jan was close to Leslie.  Those two haven't changed much at all over the years.

We stood in the line  across the room from the boys and tried to put names with  their faces.   We got the younger ones all wrong.

Aunt Darlene looked so small. Not at all like I remembered her.  Her face was very drawn, but Uncle Ken said she looked very at peace compared to how she looked before she died.   He said she had gotten down to 80 pounds. 

The funeral was really good.  Lana and Jan told about her life, then  Lyle and Kim shared a lot of funny stories about their mom.  It reminded me of  what Kelley's mom went through raising her six boys.  I can't even imagine!  You'd have to be one tough lady!

Then Thayne spoke.  He is one I would have never recognized.  He has lived a wild life and it shows. He looks about 20 years older than he is.   He  said his mother had asked him before she died to talk at her funeral about  the plan of salvation.  Wow, that was powerful.

 I was overcome with a flood of memories as i sat in this chapel.  This was the church I went to all of my growing up years.  This was the picture I looked at every Sunday as I sat in sacrament meeting..  It's really a neat picture....kind of a history of the church all in one painting.

They have changed a lot of things in the building... carpet, color of choir chairs, drapes, even added on, but this picture is still hanging there.  That kind of made me feel at home.

We were going to go out to the cemetery, but saw our cousin Danny and his wife.  We got to talking to them and they invited us to ride out to the cemetery with them.. It was nice to talk about old times and get to know him and his wife.  The only other cousin there was Jennifer.  She is a favorite cousin...always friendly, fun and out going.   Donna was at the funeral but didn't come to the cemetery. 

We got to visit with Buzz and Lovena after Kim dedicated the grave.  It kind of takes me back when I see Buzz.  He doesn't look as much like daddy as some of the other brothers, but his mannerisms are so much like daddy's. He is kind, and quiet, quick to smile, and down to earth.

All that  is left now of the Braegger family is Ken, Buzz and Lovena.

We were going to pass on the luncheon at the church, (they have so much family..36 grand kids and 67 great grand kids...that's not even including all the kids and spouses! ) but Jennifer wanted us to come so she would have someone to sit with.   I was glad we stayed...It's really true how you only see extended family like this at either weddings or funerals. The time goes by so quickly...you never know if this may be the last chance you have to visit with them in this life.  We decided that since almost all of them have passed on, they must be having a grand reunion on the other side of the Vail.   I can picture it now...

 After Liv's birthday party, we had Sara take a picture of our family ...turned out nice!

 The rest of the day flew by, just playing with the kids.

It was sure nice to have Katie with us for the weekend. 

She loves Liv and Sam so much...best Auntie ever

 

 We went out to dinner at La Frontera...good stuff

 Liv and I showing off our pretty nails...thanks to her new polish!

Woke up to this Sunday morning....cutest little guy!  He was watching cartoons and laughing right  out loud at them.  A sight I wish I could put in a box and be able to pull it out when I am missing them so much.  It broke my heart to have send them on their way home to Arizona.  I had them drop me off at church on their way.  Had a small melt down in the parking lot.  Not cool.

Olivia's birthday party...

 I was so excited that Liv would be spending her birthday at our house, so we started planning  a little party for her.  Having an October birthday, we always think...Halloween party!  But Olivia had her mind made up  months ahead that she wanted a puppy party!  Ha!  She really loves dogs!  So we went on the hunt to find fun puppy ideas. KC and I found this puppy pinata at Zurchers.  it was pretty cute and the kids seemed to have fun  with it.

 KC was so cute with the kids and made the pinata fun!

 The day was kind of cool, so we planned to have the birthday party inside, but the kids started jumping on the trampoline and running around outside, so we ended up doing everything but eating their hot dogs outside.  Fine by me!  I was having so many hot flashes, it felt good to be out in the cold!  Candice's cute friends came over .  Liv loves Ryder and they get along really well. 

 It was fun to have Stacey and Kalli at the party too

Kellen's brother Ryley and his wife Trisha brought their cute family too. 

 After everyone got a turn hitting the pinata, Liv knocked it's head off....Still didn't spill the candy so she whacked it a few more times, then there was a dog pile...(ha ha)  Kate made these darling doggie bags for the kids to put all their treats in. 

 Holly is such a sweet friend.  She brought Jeffery and Hannah and Grayson over for the party.  Holly's got her hands full with three very busy little ones. Kelley took Grayson off her hands for a bit. Grayson was quite content.  Seems like little kids always like Kelley.

 Candice is so thoughtful...found two books that were special to her when she was a little girl  ( Sammy the seal and Frog and Toad's great adventures ) and got them for her.  Olivia loves books!

 Cute little leotard I found for Liv...she came home from her gymnastic class a while ago and told Camille that she wished she had an outfit with sparkles like the other girls in her class.  Hello Kitty AND  pink sparkles?  A bit over the top, but she loved it!

 HA!  I love her face  when she opened a cute little make up bag filled with nail polish and lip gloss!

We made cupcakes that were decorated like a puppy paw. Simple but cute.  

Liv blowing out the candles...she is such a little sweet heart...so grateful for everything you do, it makes it a joy to do things like this for her. 

Camille found cute little stuffed puppies at the dollar store for each of the kids.  Candice was in charge of helping the kids adopt, name and put a collar on their puppy.

Can haardly believe Olivia is six years old.  It feels like yesterday that she was born.  She has brought so much love and joy to this family.  It's impossible to understand how grandkids can wrap theirselves around your heart and just how much you will love them until they are actually yours.  So grateful that I get to be grandma to these two special kids.... 

Thursday was one of those nice warm days you get before a storm comes in. 

It was so nice we decided to make a fire and cook hot dogs.

 Smores with giant marshmallows...almost more than Liv could handle...but she gobbled it up.

 Wish my camera would take a picture of what I saw laying on the trampoline gazing into the sky....a few bright stars peeking in and out of the clouds as they scooted by.  Sam was laying next to me just  staring up into the sky.  ( we had been playing steam roller just before...Camille had taught him how earlier, so he just came and plopped himself right down on me and said "ROLL!")   As we lay there, I felt very much at peace and thought just for that moment,  that all was right with the world.

Had a perfectly beautiful day fishing on Wednesday. 

Mark, Pat, Grampa and Kevin were up there too so we fished with them for a while.

Kelley's dad catches more fish than all of us put together!  I'm glad it's him though...he really enjoys fishing and it's one of the few things he is able to get out and do anymore. 

Pretty sure this is about as close to heaven as you can get.

 Sam got tuckered out after a while.  Glad there's a place for them to nap.