On Friday I spent the entire day getting packed and everything ready to go. I went to Sara's school at 3:15 to take birthday treats for her class (donuts). The little boys and I stayed till the end of school at 3:45, and then got the older three kids and headed to Aberdeen straight from school. The kids were really good on the drive. We stopped at a rest stop near Bliss to eat sack lunches that I had packed. We were stopped for about half an hour, but that was our only stop. We got to Aberdeen around 8:30.
Saturday morning, we got up early to get ready for the funeral. Just before we left, we took a few minutes and let Sara open her presents.
She got a new blanket (which she had been begging for), an "I am a Child of God" necklace, a CTR bracelet, a headband, nail polish, and lip gloss. She wore it all to Great Grandma's funeral.
We got to Pocatello to the funeral home around 10:30. The viewing was from 10:30-12:00. Just before noon, they shut the doors to have a family prayer before closing the casket. Right about that time, Aaron decided he didn't want to be there anymore (and who can blame him, everybody is standing around crying, expecting him to sit still and be good--that's hard for a 5 year old). My aunt and uncle on my Mom's side of the family had come (not because they knew my grandmother so much, but just to be a support to my parents). My aunt went to Aaron and suggested he go out with her to get a drink of water. He dug in his heals, refusing to go. I helped her drag him out (with Owen in my arms), then she sent me back in to listen to the prayer. After the prayer, we moved into the room where the funeral was, and I looked for my aunt and Aaron. I didn't see them anywhere. I went ahead and sat down for the funeral. Owen got fussy, so my brother-in-law took him out and paced the halls till Owen fell asleep. So, I was left with just Nate, and I was able to really listen and enjoy the funeral.
It was a really nice funeral. My oldest sister Heather gave the life sketch. My Grandma wrote it years ago and told Heather she wanted her to read it at her funeral. I was reminded of things about my grandma that I had forgotten, like the fact that her father died just a few days after my grandma's 5th birthday. Her mother had to go to work, and my grandma was the youngest child and not in school yet, so she was sent to live with her grandparents. That must have been so hard. No wonder my grandmother was such a strong woman, she had to start so young.
After the funeral, I discovered that Aaron had spent the entire time outside sitting in my aunt Deborah's car with her. He didn't want to be in the funeral, and she didn't make him. Instead, they sat in her car and read a book about dinosaurs on her phone. He loved it. The rest of the day, he kept talking about how nice Aunt Deborah was and how much he loved the dinosaur book they read. I was so thankful to her for helping me out with him. He can really be a handful when he wants to be.
As I drove in the processional to the cemetery, I suddenly got flooded with emotions. I hadn't cried up till that point, but as we were driving to the cemetery, it all got to me. I tried to call Scott, but he didn't answer. And so I drove silently with the kids and cried.
I did better once we got to the cemetery, because I was having to juggle the 6 kids again, and didn't have time to be sad. My dad dedicated the grave, and all the great-grand-kids picked a flower out of the bouquet on her casket to take home. Then we went to a nearby church for a luncheon. It was a great chance to visit with family. Every single one of grandma's children, grandchildren, and great-grand-children were at the funeral. She left behind a great legacy.
After the lunch, we drove back to Aberdeen. My sister Linda came with her kids to my mom's to help celebrate Sara's birthday. I had made and cake at home and brought it with us, but I'd forgotten candles, and my mom didn't have any. So Sara had to have her birthday cake without candles.
Poor Sara, it wasn't much of a birthday, but I promised to make it up to her later (she doesn't know, but I'm throwing her a surprise party this Friday).
The drive home on Sunday morning went really well. We had to make several stops for kids to use the bathroom, and we had to stop once for gas, but the kids behaved great for me. Once we got home, I let Scott take over (he had gotten home a few hours before us), and I crashed on the couch. I slept the rest of the afternoon. A couple of hours after we got home, I started running a fever, and I was so glad it had waited till we got home. I'm still feeling horrible. I've had a massive headache for about 5 days straight now, and I'm wondering when I'm finally going to get better.
Sunday night, we took what was left of Sara's birthday cake and put candles in it for her to blow out. This time Scott was there to sing happy birthday to her too.
Scott had a great time in Sun Valley. He won "Longest Drive" and took 3rd place overall in individuals. He won't admit it, but he's a really good golfer. I'm glad he had a good time, but I'm sad I didn't get to be there with him, and that he wasn't able to be at the funeral to help me.
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