A beautiful time..

We got back into town yesterday.  Our trip to Olean was the best we’ve ever had I believe, barring, or course, the reason that we were there. 

When we got into town on Monday, we stopped quickly at Dave’s mother’s (Suzanne’s) house to change and freshen up after the ride.  When we were ready we went directly to the funeral home around 1:10pm or so.  Dave’s father wanted to have a moment alone with the family before everyone began arriving at 2.  So, the girls and I stayed in the playroom and played while they had their time.  I actually just kept them in there basically the whole time.  However, although the wake was from 2 to 4, it was too long for the kids, since we had gotten there at 1.  So Dave came back and we took the girls out to this little pond outside and talked to a few people out there and actually ended up leaving around 3.  It was just too long for the kids and David didn’t mind leaving then, actually he suggested it.

We stopped at wal mart and drove around a bit since it was so early, then went to David’s Dad’s house.  Everyone showed up there in between the sessions, and brought their kids too.  There were a ton of little girls there!  All of them related to my kids, mostly cousins and such, that we hardly ever see.  So it was actually a really nice time.

Right before the 2nd session of the wake we took the girls to Frank and Amy’s (Dave’s friends) house.  They have two little girls that are 4 and 8. They also have a pool, swingset, and sandbox, so my kids were allllll set for the evening!

Then Dave and I got to spend the 2nd session of the wake with his family, which was very nice.  Well, as nice as it can be under those circumstances.  Afterwords, we got the girls, and went back to Suzanne’s to sleep.

In the morning we were up bright and early getting all of us ready for the funeral.  We were at the funeral home at 9:15 and basically we just said some prayers over Situ and then headed to the church for the funeral.

The girls tried to be good at the funeral but  I ended up leaving and playing outside with them during it.  First Maya had to use the bathroom.  She said it quietly to me (she was trying so hard to be a good girl, awww), but I told her to hold on a minute, and the Paige says, loudly, "Mommy, Maya has to go potty!"  So out to the potty we went, lol.  It was funny because a few people said they appreciated that, they got a nice chuckle out of it at a hard time.  So when we got back we sat and listened for a minute but then Paige was getting tired and wanted her binky.. no problem.. and her puppy (stuffed animal she carries EVERYWHERE)… oops! it was in the car since she told me she didn’t need it.. that’s what I get for listening to a 2 year old.   So, since she was about to freak out,  out the door we went to get puppy.. Our car was all the way down the block so I took the opportunity to keep the girls outside for a while.  At one point I wanted to go back in,  Maya did too, but it looked like the pallbearers were getting up, so I thought that they were going to be coming out and kept the girls outside.  However it was about another 20 minutes, so we could have gone back in.. oh well.. I’m really sorry that I missed the service, but I was happy that Dave was up front with his family, since he was a pallbearer and went in first, and could enjoy ( not sur if that is the right word) the service and not have to worry about the girls.

After the funeral we had brunch at this great restaurant in Olean, The Old Library, and decided to stay over another night.  We ended up visiting Dave’s other grandmother for awhile, and then spending the afternoon/evening at dave’s dad’s house.  It was really nice.. I loved hearing stories about dave’s family and just enjoying time with them.  We really don’t see my FIL and his wife or his extended family enough.  We plan on changing that..

Overall, besides the fact that we had to say goodbye to Situ, we had a very nice time.  Our girls were excellent.  We couldn’t have asked for more. 

Just a few interesting things I learned about Dave’s grandma.. some i’d never really known before..

• She was widowed around the age of 40.  Her husband died after his 3rd heart attack at the age of 42.  Her 3 children were only 12, 9 and 5.
• She raised all 3 kids by herself, she never remarried.
• She was a life force to be reckoned with. =)
• She never complained.  She just figured this was the way it was supposed to be in God’s plan, and made the best of things. (I love this one, I think we can all learn from it!)
• Both of her sons served and were injured in Vietnam.
• She was a very Godly woman, and was close friends with her priest.
• He said that she made sure she was spiritually ready in every sense to go… and she was.  She is in a better place now..
• She was certainly an amazing woman that we all can learn from!

Oh and another thing.. Dave received a blanket that she used to use in the nursing home all the time.. and an angel she had in her room.. it’s a christmas ornament, but  i’ll probably leave it up all year round, there’s nothing Christmassy about it.  We also have another one of her Christmas ornaments.  That’s so nice!  I love Christmas! and have tons of ornaments that I’ve had for years, so we will definitely have this one forever!

I have a ton of great pics I will post soon.. either here or in a new entry..

In other news.. we are moving on Sunday still.  Things will get done.. I refuse to be overly stressed anymore.  I was also PMS-ing earlier in the week, so that did not help the situation.

Ok i’m off for now.. I haven’t been home so I’ve been having od-withdrawal.. so i’ll be back i’m sure.. at least to post some pics..