Till We Meet Again

These are all pictures the week after Gram passed away but before the funeral. I'm sure all the pictures are out of order but I don't really care, just going to leave them as is.

Gram passed on a Saturday. Sunday all the local family came over and we just were together. I don't remember much of what we did. Talked, played with the kids, had lunch.

Then Monday most everyone went back to work. Most were saving their days off for around the funeral for when Aunt Katie would be here as well as the Whites and other family members who were coming.

This little guy got me through a lot. Oh how I love him. I tried to take a picture of us together because I never do (I hate pictures of myself but know I need to) and I just couldn't keep a straight face. I was trying to impersonate Davis who was very involved with his bottle. Man I miss bottle days. It was such a nice cuddle time and now it's just go go go go go go go......

There was a little bit of time where I used the big green van which Davis loved to 'drive'. Both our keys for our own van were lost and it would have cost almost $200 to get that situation taken care of so we waited a few days and found them both. For Mothers Day Jason got me the greatest gift in the world, a Tile which attaches to the keys and makes a sound when I lose them. I love them.

With everything that was going on I completely forgot about Max's jog a thon at his school and I felt like a terrible mom. Luckily I had a number of people who were kind enough to contribute so it wasn't just us on his list!

Between all the planning, cleaning house and all that the boys were just being boys. Swinging on swings, reading books. Kids are a good distraction and can make you smile when you need it the most. The boys said many times how they missed Gram and even 7 month later still do at random moments and so we talk about it and how she's with Grampy and Bobby. They seem to understand and have dealt with it fairly well.

I love watching my guys sleep. I just want to wake them up, smother them with kisses and tell them I love them. But Rule #1 DON'T WAKE A SLEEPING BABY.

Jason got a day off to help get the house and everything ready for visitors and it was the same day as the Jog-a-thon so we all went (Levi was in school though).  Davis and his super long shorts. I actually love em. They are comfy and keep him cool but still cover then knees in case he falls.
Max did a great job and ran the whole 20 minute. It was a really good pace and he went around 8 times. He would definitely beat me any day.

The yard. This grassy area looked so good this summer thanks to Jason.

I am sad about this table and not getting everything done before Gram passed away. When she was downstairs most family dinners were very much buffet style where everyone gets there food and eats at various places. Some up stairs some down with Gram. We couldn't all ever sit down there with her We tried a couple of times and it was a tight squeeze so that's just how we did it.

When I got that table and refinished it in the spring I imagined it being right there on the patio where we could all gather around a big round table for dinners like we used to and Gram would be able to join us. But it just didn't happen in time. I think she would have liked it.

Oh my Davis. Always up on tables dumping whatever he can.

I love watching the boys play all together outside. Not my cup of tea most of the time because they play too rough for me but I like to watch and it makes me smile.

Cleaning the van. Is it sad that I think that was the last time we cleaned it? At least on the inside.

Jason did a lot of gardening wanting things to look good when everyone came into town.
Davis has us wrapped around his little finger. We love him so.

The first out of towners to come were the White gang and their dog Molly. The cousins all played and had a lot of fun together. Despite the reason why they came it was good to see them and the kids loved being with each other. Again, kids are a great distraction and can always find a way to make you smile.

I'm not going to lie I stressed out a TON that week in preparing for the funeral. There were a lot of little details that I had to coordinate as well as had to prepare for people coming into town which means making sure the house is clean and ready (which I never feel like it is no matter how hard I try) as well as making sure sleeping arrangements were ok and food was covered. Then lots of little funeral things that I never had to think about before. I tried to do as much as I could so my mom wouldn't have to stress about it especially since she was at work all week.

At the grocery store I got some of the favorites. REAL Cheerios, Lucky Charms and Cinnamon Toast always remind me of Gram and Grampy because pretty much any time we went to their house they had it. We normally only had the generic version which just don't taste the same. Even now we don't buy the boxed stuff but I was feeling nostalgic.

I got a couple of watermelons because the kids love them, one of which I strapped in the car seat to keep from falling. Davis eventually got up on the table and rolled it off. Why do I even try?

I got a big box of Sees because they were Grams favorite. The big box was for everyone to share and the little one with one of Grams favorites was places with her.

I got a number of things printed at Kinkos (Grams favorite quotes, pictures....) for the display table and was stuck for a long time in the parking lot because their was a fire truck behind me. Not fun. But what can you do.

Larry and Richelle took work off and came down for the day. Gram loved them both and pretty much the first thing Larry did whenever he came was go chat with her for a good few hours.

Those boys thought they could take Grandpa down. I'm pretty sure he won despite their best efforts.

I stocked the 'food mart' for the last time with grams favorites. The boys and all the kids loved it. Ok, the adults did too.

Davis has an obsession with bikes.

The day of I didn't get many pictures. It just wasn't the time but these are the very few that I did get. 

It was a good service. People told wonderful stories. Some of her favorite songs were sung.

 My dad even came to it along with Rhonda and took this picture.

 The service was also very sweet and simple. A few words, some hymns sung. All the boys (all 7 of them) were very well behaved. The Threadgills who helped arrange everything were absolutely wonderful and it would have been much harder without them.

Us all together. It's been a while since all of us were found in one spot.

Everyone was in town for a few more days and we all got to spend some time together before people had to return home. Nese got to hang out with her grandkids (those are some happy little people).

It was a very hard few weeks after that adjusting to the new normal, also for me having to go through everything. All the pictures, the memories, the everyday things you don't think of. Like cleaning out her wallet or makeup bag. There are just so many memories attached to everything. Even now it's weird. We don't see everyone nearly as much as we used to. We used to see Jared, Isaac and Scarlett at least once a week and sometimes more and mom 2-3 times for long periods of time and now it's just us for the most part. Now we go 1-2 months without seeing people sometimes. As hard as it was having a house full of people coming in and out of all the time and having to host everything for everyone, we miss people. The boys miss people. But again, that's our new normal and we deal.

We are only just starting to remodel the downstairs area and use that space. It's been nice having a little more wiggle room (these boys just keep growing and growing). But it still feels a little different. It probably always will.