Celebration of Gramma's Life

This past weekend we celebrated the life of G. It was a hard weekend of good-bye, but we know G is in Heaven with Jesus.Saturday the family said good-bye at her grave site with flowers and songs.

Walking with D.

Two beautiful girls!

On Sunday, friends and families had a chance to give their final good-byes at her Memorial Service. After the service the family released balloons in G's memory.

M, C and I put tattoos on her right arms to honor G and remember her fight against breast cancer.

G's sisters.

What a beautiful family!

Random sock buddies...even in the midst of our mourning we had some humor. All the sisters, daughter-in-laws and granddaughters wore mismatching socks to G's memorial service in honor of her love of themed parties (she threw a mismatched sock party for Aunt J upon finding that Aunt J hated socks that didn't match exactly!). Socks were chosen at random out of a bag and M found that by chance her matches were worn by D's aunt and cousin.

The Leivestad cousins with Granny Marie.

The Lalonde cousins.

Family of boys!

Memories of Gramma

G was loved by all and will be greatly missed. She was a big part of our hearts and lives. I especially loved camping with her and sitting around the campfire!

G and her twin boys sharing a birthday party.

I love you and miss you G!

Below is the link for an amazing video that Uncle B put together for G's memorial service.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMQMlgnD3Hs

Time with Family and Friends

G has been sick for a long time, but at the end of August we knew time with her was short. I always love to go visit and entertain her. The last few times I have helped clean because so many people have come to visit G.

Making sure all the floors are clean and spotless.

G and P on their back porch, which is one of G's favorite spots.

Sometimes the visits would get late into the evening and C or I would start to fall asleep. Here Uncle S is busy talking while B rocks C to sleep.

With lots of family and friends visiting, there was no shortage of good food. C especially loved the chocolate cupcake!
Reading with Cousin A while M&D visit with G in her bedroom.

Labor Day camping

Since we were staying close to home for Labor Day weekend and I was begging to go camping, M decided to let me camp in the backyard. The first thing to do when camping is to get the tent up. But then you have to take all your favorite blankets to it.Ready to spend the night?You bet!I slept really well and had lots of fun. M on the other hand was kept awake by the wind howling Friday night and the coyotes howling the next night. So we slept inside Sunday night and woke up Labor Day in our own beds!

Too funny!

Yesterday on the ride home from Y school, M and I were discussing various things. I asked her a question and her answer was, "I don't know." I corrected her, "You're the Mommy, you know everything!" She just laughed and replied, "Remember that in 10 years."

For some reason she wanted to share that with all of you!

Corn Fest Parade

At the end of August was the annual Corn Fest Parade in Loveland. My cousins and I went to it.

M thought this float was kind of cool. She liked the kids swinging in their harnesses from the crane.

Even D's work had a float! He wasn't on it though--he was content just to watch with us.What parade would be complete without an old-fashioned fire truck!What a fun day!

Turkey, turkey, turkey.....

M has lots of wildlife visit her office. This summer it has been the summer of the birds. The IT Director put out 6 bird feeders to attract all types of birds. The last week or so it has attracted more than we expected.M thinks she found Thanksgiving dinner!!!