It broke my heart when I got the phone call on October 4th, that my sweet grandmother passed away. We knew it was coming, it was only a matter of time, but it still hurt & I will miss her always.
My entire life, my Mamoo was there. I have SO many wonderful childhood memories of her. We used to camp all summer long with her & my Papa. Every weekend was sleepovers at her house. Mamoo made Christmas magical. She even lived with us & with my mom & dad for 20+ years after grandpa passed away. It will seem odd to not always have her there.
But she is at peace. She is no longer in pain. And best of all, she's with Papa again. What a reunion that must have been.
But as long as I live, I shall remember my sweet Mamoo as this beautiful lady right here. Always happy, always smiling, always waiting for her next adventure.
I love you Mamoo.
As soon as I heard the news, I got on the next plane to UT to be with my mom. I knew it would hit her the hardest. I spent a couple of days in UT with her & got to know her new little puppy Bella. What a cutie right?
Then I drove down with both my mom & my dad to Eagar, AZ where I grew up. When we arrived, we drove around my old hometown & visited all the places that I had memories of growing up.
Our first house . . . . it was SO small.
Our 2nd house, which was quite a bit bigger.
The old canal down the street from our house . . . Justin & I would play from dawn until dusk in this canal (which was always full of water.) We'd catch crawdads all day long & ride our bikes . . .
in the old bike trails. Our bike trails are now all grown over with greenery. Man, we spent hours upon hours here.
And then of course, we visited Mamoo & Papa's old house. It brought back memories of Christmas decorating, a big blue slide, Cabbage Patch Birthday Parties, & chasing grasshoppers.
We settled into the one hotel there, & mom & I got to work doing what we needed to do for the funeral. Mom & I got the opportunity to dress grandma for her casket. We were there when they did her hair & make-up as well. She looked beautiful & SO at peace. I'm glad I got those few moments with her.
The family all met up (for the first time in over 20 years) & ate lunch/dinner at the one restaurant in town. (Eagar is tiny, guys. TINY.) It was SO nice seeing cousins I haven't seen since I was 12 or 13 years old.
My mom's 2 brothers were there as well & I sure don't get to see them often enough either. It was really great being all together again.
Friday was all funeral prep. We got everything organized at the church & I put together the video slideshow (with Trek's help over the internet). I had to download it which took close to 3 hours (really bad internet reception in Eagar. . . seriously. . . talk about SMALL TOWN.)
While I was waiting at the church, I saw my mom & dad pull into the parking lot with a cop car following them with his lights on. I was laughing thinking my dad got pulled over, when out popped my cousin Zach (who is a cop) from UT. Then my Uncle Ryan (my dad's youngest brother who lived with us when I was a kid) popped out of the car. They drove all the way from UT to come to Grandma's funeral.
Then
SURPRISE!!!!
All of my dad's sister's showed up with their husbands as well. We had no idea they were coming. It was a LONG drive & it meant SO much to my dad to have their support. They all loved my Mamoo too.
We all went out to dinner together & had a blast laughing & talking. I haven't seen them in a couple of years so I was in heaven.
And the food. There's just something about Hatch green chili. Eagar makes the BEST green chili burritos. Yum.
Saturday morning was Grandma's funeral. We set up everything the night before so we could focus on family the day of. Everything was beautiful.
I haven't seen my cousin Kevin for over 20 years. It's rare for him & his sister Kerri to even be together. I love my cousins SO much even though I never see them. It was SO great catching up on life with them.
It's rare to have all three of Mamoo's kids together at the same time. My mom barely ever gets to see her brothers so this was WONDERFUL for them to be together.
And as always, I love being with my brother & his family.
We had SO MANY extended family members come to the funeral. Distant relatives that I remember from my early childhood years. It was really nice seeing everyone.
My Uncle Brent's family. This was the first time I had ever met his step-daughter Katie & her 4 kids. And it was nice seeing my cousins Kerri & Kevin again.
It was also my first time seeing some of my cousins from my Uncle Kevin's side of the family. I had never met a lot of my cousin's kids. The last time I saw my cousin Michael, he was about 4 years old. Now he's a Senior in High School.
And the cute little guy is my cousin Levi's son Eli. What a cutie.
My cousins Taylor & Ashley are sweethearts. I do keep up with them pretty well, but we haven't actually seen each other in ages.
It was nice having all of my Uncle Kevin's 5 kids together.
And it was the first time in over 20 years the "original cousins" had been together. There were Mamoo & Papa's grandkids. I loved seeing everyone.
After the funeral we had a luncheon at the church. Brinley handcuffed Zac to the table.
Though it was stressful & very sad at times, it was great seeing family & friends.
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