More Funeral Pictures

After my Grandma's funeral we went back to her house.  I don't get to see my cousins very much any more and it was so much fun to visit with them.  I was lucky to spend a few hours with them. 

My Aunt and Mom went through some of my Grandma's jewelry.  I was able to take home a pearl necklace and earrings.  In fact all of the granddaughters were able to take home some of my Grandma's jewelry.  I am so glad to have a little something to remember my Grandma by.

Ever since we were little all of the cousins would do a line up picture.  Over the years we have taken many line up pictures.  In the beginning, the oldest cousins were the tallest.  Now the tallest cousin is second to the youngest.  I need to find some lineup pictures from the past, but for now here is what will probably be the last line up cousin picture.  

We took this picture in the backyard at my Grandma's house.  

Brandon, (Susan), Becky, Allen, Eric, (Tammy), Daniel, Me, Amy,
(Trace), Erin, Kirsten, Roger, Blair

 My cousin, Eric, had a baby girl about a year ago.  They named her Sarah Lucille also after my Grandma.  We decided to take a picture of the two namesakes.

The Funeral

My Grandma's funeral was held on Friday, September 6th at the Hunstville, UT cemetery.  My Grandma was never one to enjoy the spotlight.  She also was a no nonsense woman.  My family decided to just have a graveside service for her.  I think she would have been happy with the short and sweet service.

On Thursday, a few close family members who were endowed met at the morgue to dress my Grandma in her temple clothes.  I was able to help put on some of my Grandma's temple clothes. It meant a lot to me to help dress my Grandma in her beautiful temple clothes.   

 On Friday, we all met at the cemetery for the actual service.  Her Bishop said a few words of comfort and then my cousin Allen dedicated the grave.  We passed out flowers and anyone who wanted to could lay a flower on her casket.  

We held a luncheon afterwards at the church.  After lunch we set up a microphone and anyone who wanted to could share a few short memories of Grandma.  It was so wonderful! We laughed and cried over all the memories we shared.  She was such a wonderful person!  Some other words people used to describe her included: sassy, tease, classy, fun, loving, kind, forgiving, caring, sweet, honest, and faithful.

Grandma Toombs

My sweet Grandma has not been doing well for a few months.  She had a really bad fall right before Celeste was born.  She didn't want to participate in therapy and wasn't getting better.  My Grandma wasn't safe to be left alone and she wasn't able  to take care of herself either.  My mom and Aunt Carol took turns all summer having my Grandma live with them.  It was a full time job!

My Grandma would have good days and than bad days.  We are 99% sure she was having little strokes, but we didn't bother having her diagnosed.  Her overall health was just not good.  By the end of July she was no longer able to carry a conversation and had difficulty recalling family members' names.

By the end of August she was in so much pain and not herself.  We didn't want to say good-bye, but we knew it was her time to go.  Some of our family are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and didn't understand why we were at peace with her passing.  They were upset and wanted us to do more to keep her alive. I am so grateful for my testimony of the Gospel because I know that I will see my Grandma again.  I also know she will no longer be in pain.  I hope she had a wonderful reunion with her first husband who passed away more than 40 years ago.  I also hope she had a joyful reunion with her son who passed away from cancer 10 years ago.  I hope she can convert him to the Gospel because he was a wonderful man.

My Grandma had 14 grandchildren (I was number 8) and 15 great-grandchildren.  (Grant was number 6 and Celeste number 15) She loved every single one of us!  I could go on for hours about all the wonderful memories I have of my Grandma.  Here are a few bullet points:

• My Grandma would have my cousin Amy and me over for sleepovers when we were younger.
• At age 13 and older she would take us shopping for our birthdays.  All of us Grandchildren loved these little shopping sprees!
• My Grandma, my mom, and I went to Europe together after I graduated from high school.
• Helping my Grandma clean carpets during the summer.  I would help haul hoses while Bernell would clean carpets.

Here are a few My Grandma taught me:

• How to properly wrap a present and make it look really nice.  
• She helped teach me my multiplication facts.
• I have a few yummy recipes from her. She was a great cook!
• She would always tell me to be a safe driver and to "watch for rocks and deer."
• My Grandma was classy and always told me it was important to dress nice and have fresh breath.

I may have to share more details on another post.  For now here are a few pictures I found.

My Grandma with 3 great grandchildren. December 2012.

My Grandma with her sister Donna. January 2010

Grand and Evelyn. Thanksgiving 2008.

Grandma, Erin, and I at Grandma's 80th birthday party.  February 2007.

Grandma with Grant and Evelyn. February 28, 2008.

My Birthday!

I totally failed to take any other pictures on my birthday except for this one.  

My birthday started out like any other day.  I got the kids up and ready for the day.  We ate breakfast and played for a while.  I took Grant to school in the afternoon.  Celeste had another physical therapy appointment in the afternoon.  She is making progress and we are almost done with therapy.

I spend the rest of the afternoon holding my sweet baby.  After Grant got home from school I made BBQ sandwiches and broccoli salad for dinner.  I love broccoli salad with vinaigrette dressing.  I am also a sucker for BBQ.  

I hardly got two bites before Auna, my friend and neighbor, came to pick me up.  We went shopping for a few hours with her daughter Emme.  I got a few new shirts, a new skirt, and a new dress.   I had a great time and was so grateful to my friend Auna for taking me, however, it was a little sad knowing I will never go birthday shopping with my Grandma.  Since my 13th birthday I have gone shopping every year with my Grandma.  We always went out to lunch and to a number of different stores.  Sometimes the mall and sometimes other stores.  It was sad to think those days are over!

Kyle bought me some new garments, which I desperately needed!  I had stretched all of mine out when I was pregnant with Celeste.  

Auna has a recipe for an AMAZING peach dessert.  It is so yummy!  I had made the dessert earlier in the day and after I got home we ate some of it.  Yum! I have always loved fresh peaches and I love that my birthday always falls during peach season!  

We started getting ready for bed when I received the message my Grandma had passed away.  We knew it was coming, but I was still sad.  I will miss her so much.

4 Months

Celeste is 4 months old!  We had her check up a week late because of our trip to Utah, but I wasn't too worried about rescheduling it.  I had a feeling she was gaining weight and I was right!  On July 22 Celeste weighed 10 pounds.  On September 10 Celeste weighed 13 pounds and 6 ounces! She is in the 49th percentile for weight!  Unbelievable!  She is 24 3/4 inches tall and in the 65th percentile for height.  Her head is 41 cm and in the 70th percentile.  That is about where we started when she was born.  You would never guess that at 6 weeks old she still hadn't passed her birth weight yet. 

She loves her fingers and loves to blow spit bubbles.  She has to wear a water resistant bib all day and sometimes at night or else she soaks her clothes.  She loves to smile and laugh especially at Daddy.  She isn't the best sleeper and fights naps on most days.  She eats between 4-6 ounces of formula per feeding. 

Celeste is such a joy!  We just love her to pieces!

First Day of School

Grant is in afternoon Kindergarten and loves it so far.  I am so glad we didn't do morning.  He likes his teacher, Ms. Clegg, and has made lots of new friends.  

The most important thing to him is being first in line.  We had a small issue this past week about running to school without me.  I had a discussion about safety on the road and parking lot, but he continued to run away from me.  I finally figured out he just wanted to be the first kindergartener in line.  We now leave a few minutes early so we can be safe and first in line.

Grant was upset the first day because we didn't know he was supposed to bring a water bottle and a snack.  It was on Ms. Clegg's website, but I didn't know I was supposed to read her 10 page document before school started.  I barely found out he had Ms. Clegg on Friday, met her Monday, and school started Tuesday.  I felt bad for not knowing and we sent him with everything he needed on Wednesday.

Here is the first of many first day of school photos.  I realized Grant will be in Fifth grade when Celeste starts Kindergarten.  Holy Smokes! I love the picture of the two of them.  

I walked to school with Grant a few times before school started so I would know how long it would take.  The first day it took longer than I expected.  He barely made it.  I felt bad that I didn't get him there sooner.  He had to run to get into the classroom with the other kids.  Ms. Clegg invited the parents into the classroom to wave goodbye to the kids.  I sure did miss him!

3 Month Comparison

 My mom saved this outfit she made for me more than 30 years ago.  When I was born baby clothes were very expensive.  My mom made this outfit along with many others for me when I was a baby.  

I am almost 2 months old in this picture.  Celeste is 3 months old and about the same size I was. 

Captain America

We found this Captain America costume at Costco.  It was a must have.  I think Grant wants to be Captain America for Halloween!  If not we have a great dress up costume.  He loves it and has even fallen asleep in the costume.

Mother and Daughter

I know I already shared pictures of Celeste's baby blessing, but I wanted to post a picture of me on my blessing day. 

I think it fun to look at Kyle and my baby pictures and compare them to our children.  We have already established how much Grant looks like Kyle.  Celeste looks a little more like me, but she definitely has some Maybury in her too.  

I wish one of my children could have been blessed with a full head of hair.  Neither one of them were bald, but look at those locks!  

Cousin Love

Evelyn loves Celeste and can't wait for Celeste to do big girl things.  When Evy came to visit we found matching shirts for the two girls.  It is actually really hard to find matching things for the girls because they are in different departments/sizes.  We did find these cute dog shirts.  Evelyn insisted we buy them so she could match Celeste.  They were on clearance and so we obliged.  

You really can't see the shirts but I love the pictures because you can just tell Evy loves her cousin.

3 Months

I feel like I do so well posting on my blog, but I am a month behind.  This is Celeste at 3 months old and she is really 4 months old!  

Holy Smokes!  Time is just slipping through my fingers.  I can hardly keep up.

A quick update.  At 3 months old Celeste is smiling and making all kinds of little noises and sounds.  She is no longer enjoying being swaddled as much.  She will be rolling over in the next month or so.  She will turn and twist her body and legs.  She no longer stays in one spot at night.  She is a little wiggle worm.

Eating is still an issue.  She was making great gains and eating more per feeding and less often.  Then we took a wild ride backwards.  We are going back to Pat Babendeur for physical therapy.   I hope we can get this all worked out!

Rainbow Nails

Evy wanted to paint her fingernails and so one night after baths we painted our nails.  Evy was so excited when she opened my box of nail polish because I had so many "beautiful colors."  I really don't have anything special I just think the colors I have are different from what Evy has at home.  I asked her to pick a color and I would paint her toes and another color for her nails.  She wouldn't decide on a color. Then she turns to me and tell me we are going to use ALL the colors.

I then have to paint every toe nail and every fingernail a different color.  Now I don't have 20 colors so we had to make do with some repeats and use my sparkle top coat to mix it up a little bit.

We got her nails all done and then she wants to paint my nails.  She wanted my nails to be rainbow too.  I told her I didn't want 10 different colors, but I would have 5 different colors.  I was thinking I would do each finger the same color on both hands.  I preceded to paint my two thumbs orange.  When Evy saw my thumbs she was livid with me!  She wanted every finger a different color.  I then had to paint the rest of my nails by her direction.  

I didn't think I would like my nails all different colors, but I kind of found it fun.