But what some might expect to have been a somber weekend was quite the opposite. We celebrated Omi's life with friends, family, food, fun, and laughter. Any time someone expressed their condolences (which was always appreciated!), I let them know that Omi's lived a long, wonderful life and it was hard to be sad when we all knew she was so happy. And I think that translated nicely in the weekend we had.
My brothers and their families, as well as my parents, all got into town Thursday night. All of us traveled to Union City Friday morning to meet my two sisters, a few friends from our home ward, and my aunt and uncle from Washington D.C. for Omi's service. All of the cousins and siblings gathered in the Primary room (it's not as big as I remember it being 19 years ago!) to practice our musical numbers.
We got to meet our brand new niece (grandbaby #19!) who just joined our family a month ago. The sweet little thing didn't make one peep in the four days they were here. Talk about perfect!
The service was filled with music and memories, lots of tears and laughter. I'm sure it's exactly what Omi would have wanted. She had beautiful purple flowers that rested upon her casket and she was buried with photos of those she loved. She and her husband are now laid to rest together on earth, but are reunited on the other side.
After the casket was lowered, we all threw flowers into the plot as we said our last goodbyes. Surprisingly, there were no tears from anyone (at least that I saw). Seriously, this ended up being such a happy, peaceful day.
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| My mom and her brother |
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| Hayley and the line of great-grandchildren |
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| Sweet Ethan had to throw his a couple times - it just didn't want to go in |
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| Doodlebug and LaVor |
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| My brother |
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| Last was my dad - Love my mom and Sister Grow hugging in the upper left hand corner |
Before everyone left the grave site, we had to take some pictures together. The first one with a dear family friend, Marlis Grow. She has touched so many lives, including every person in my family, and it was extremely special to have her at the church for the service and then the cemetery for the burial.
Our entire family has not been together in seven and a half years. What an amazing legacy Omi helped create!
My parents kindly and generously offered to take everyone out to lunch. It was a wonderful opportunity for everyone to visit and enjoy the moment. I only wish I took a picture of all the food they brought out. We had no clue what to order for 30 people so the waitress said, "Don't worry!" We trusted her and ended up with enough food to feed about 100 people. It was nuts.
From there, everyone went their separate ways. We didn't want to sit in Labor Day/Friday night traffic so we spent a few hours at my sister's where The Lime played and played and played with his cousins and the adults talked like old times. We finished the night off with a treat at the Ice Creamery before making it home by 11:00 that night.
Saturday morning, we woke up and got ready to meet my brothers and parents at IHOP for what we were planning to be brunch. We had to wait so long for our food that it ended up being more like lunch. I don't think they were ready for 22 people, 14 of which were children 11 and under.
As if we hadn't eaten enough that weekend, we had everyone over for dinner Saturday night. The kids ran wild with imagination and the adults talked. I loved having everyone here and LaVor did a fantastic job with dinner.
Sunday was our last day together and it just so happened that my cousin's wife was in town from Canada, with their brand new baby, and we were invited to their open house to meet sweet Lucy. I didn't take any pictures there (mainly because I just wanted to visit) but it was a nice ending to an even nicer weekend.
It was a special time to look back and reminisce about our Omi and bask in the delight she brought to our lives. We will miss her but are so happy that she's back home.
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