A few months ago, I wrote about
enduring to the end. Well, Grandma has done it!! She endured to the end and passed away this morning. A few weeks ago she fell and broke her hip. Wanting her to get better, they were planning on doing surgery and getting her well again, but the doctor assured them that at 96, she would probably never really recover and that they might want to let her last days be a little less intense. I got to go visit her with my dad last week. She looked at me a few times with these intense eyes and I thought she'd start talking to me, but then dozed back into a deep sleep. She always told us to be happy for her when she died, and we are. I've been reading a study guide prepared by our stake presidency about life after death and I'm so grateful for the perspective we have. She is in a much better place, able to function again and that is a happy thought!!
Growing up, we were blessed to live within a half hour of both sets of grandparents. We made frequent visits on Sunday night to visit them. Those are such happy memories. We often ate grilled cheese sandwiches and fritos on the deck, followed by big ice cream cones. Grandma's house was always immaculate (will she be able to see mine now? Yikes!) She scrubbed, vacuumed, ironed and baked. She was such a hard worker, and I can always remember her with a sewing project of some sort to keep her hands busy on her "off hours." Our current bed spread was one made by her for our wedding, quilted with tiny stitches of love.
We always gathered at Grandma's house on Christmas night to play games til the wee hours of the morning. Grandma always came to peek in and say, "Are you still up?" We could always talk her into playing a game or two with us before returning to bed. Grandma's chex mix and cinnamon rolls were always a big hit, as well as her sitfa bread!
Grandma was adventurous. She rode jet skiis with us. She tubed down hills with us (that didn't turn out so well with a broken collar bone!) She even earned her driver's license at the ripe old age of 85 when grandpa could no longer see well enough to drive. When Phil and I were dating, visits to grandma and grandpa's always turned out exciting (grandpa hinting at what was in store for this young couple) and I was proud to have them so close to show off!
While mom and dad were on their mission, we tried to get up and see grandma more often. She was so cute with the boys and one of my favorite memories is having her do "5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" with Micah. The boys really got to know "Grandma Great" and I regret we didn't make as much of an effort to get up there once they returned from France. We missed out on some opportunities.
In the last several months, grandma has had concerns about the family. If my dad showed up to see her without my mom, she wondered what was wrong and why she wasn't with him. She asked me, "Is everything all right with your family?" She even had bad dreams about trouble going on. "Bless her heart" has been a common phrase, but as I think about it, Grandma, the matriarch of the family, must have known the end was drawing near. The deepest desire of heart was for her family to be in good condition when she left. That is just like the righteous woman that she is.
So rest in peace dear grandma, knowing you've lived a wonderful life and blessed your posterity with a great example of how we should do it! We sure love you!
Here's a look at the finished product:
We spent Christmas Eve with Brian and Lynette and their girls. Though we have our differences (male vs. female ratios mainly!) we sure enjoy hanging out with them. We had a nice dinner, nativity and ended the evening at Temple Square. What a great night!
Jacob decided that Santa needed a cheeseburger rather than more cookies this year! (I found out later that this was Calvin inspired!)
Continuing on our lego theme, the boys all received big Lego sets for Christmas this year. Santa picked the right ones too...the boys played legos for 2 hours before even opening any of their presents!! It was awesome - though after sitting on the floor for about 5 hours, Phil and I were feeling pretty old and decrepit!
The legos were the biggest hit, but the two other big successes were a pogo stick (for Ben that Jacob has mastered!) and the soundtrack to A Year with Frog and Toad, a play we went to see in November. They have kept it on all the time and I feel so happy to hear them singing along with the songs. A little culture here and there...it's all I ask. We had a great day and love, love, love these boys!
Sunday night we had our Stevens family party at our house, complete with Christmas dinner, gifts and a little entertainment by the Phil Stevens' Boys, singing and Kate dancing. We also got to welcome sweet little baby Alex into the family (apparently I was too busy holding him to get a picture, but he is unbelievably cute!) We love getting together with family and hope that 2011 brings much more of it!!
(then maybe I can take some decent pictures...this is all I got!!)
