Happy Birthday Boomie

Boomie seeing Jaiya, Tucker, mom and I. We met Martha and Annabelle as well! I think this may have been the last time I visited her in the nursing home. I am not sure...but I'm glad I snapped a few shots. I think this was the 2nd time she saw Tucker in person.
Jaiya was coaxing Boomie into eating her lunch. Im so glad Boomie is smiling here. She was glad we visited. She was always glad to see us.


Tucker with Boomie. His great-grandma!!


It was Boomies birthday today. I was thinking of her today and really missing her. I have a picture of her and I at my wedding that is framed in our living room. I love having it to look at and remember her smile. I miss her so much. I would love to sit and ask her questions and hold her hand and hug her. I remember how she smelt, a sweet smell that I will never forget. She loved me so much and was always so glad to see me. I wish I could take back the times in my life that I was not as grateful as I should of been that she was such an active part of my life.

The last time I saw her alive, I was not sure what to say to her. It was at the end of Christmas break, Ben had our car loaded up and I was holding her hand telling her goodbye. Sobbing, I kept telling her that I loved her, she was not responsive to me but I was assured by my mom and aunt that she could hear me. What do you say to someone when you are telling them goodbye? When you know you will never see them again on this earth? This was all hitting me as I kept thinking I should have the perfect words. I just looked into her eyes and told her over and over again how much I loved her. How much I loved the stories she used to tell me, that was one memory that was clear to me at the time that I wanted to share with her. I was so glad my mom brought her home to be with us on Christmas. It was such a special time.

The next time I saw her was at the funeral home. The day before her funeral. I was fearful of this because I have always heard of funeral homes being creepy but there was something oddly comforting about seeing her. I could not stop touching her face and hands because I have heard that in dealing with death, the more spend time with the person dying or dead, the easier it is to heal and grieve. I stroked her soft hair, I touched her hand that was no longer puffy from her stroke. My cousin pointed out that her hand finally looked normal. What a great reminder that her body is here but her spirit is in Heaven. It was a night to be with family and allow myself to be sad and miss her. I love it that my family is pretty emotional and its no big deal to shed a tear and that we were all able to get sad.

It was also a great experience to talk with Jaiya about death. I know that sounds weird. But she is an incredibly curious 3 year old and she asks ALOT of questions. She said over and over again that Boomie was sleeping. I was worried that it would quite frankly freak her out to see a dead person but it didn't. I think children respond to things based on how we do. She is always watching me. So when I would go up to Boomie to talk or look at her, Jaiya came with me. She would say sweet things like, "Mommy doesn't Boomie look pretty." I was glad Jaiya was there with me. She always makes me smile. Aside from the fact that she and Tucker were all over the chapel and left a trail of raisins.


So....here a few pictures above that I could find Boomie.

Happy Birthday Boomie. I love you and miss you so much. I dedicate this blog I started to you, because you have always encouraged me to write, journal and get my feelings out.

Love. Your Joy

Time with family and a sad goodbye

My sweet Boomie passed away December 30. We buried her body but her spirit is with Jesus now. She is no longer in pain but in Heaven with God.

It was the first time someone I've know my whole life died and I was a part of it all. My grandpa Baaboo died while we were on our honeymoon and I did not get to be a part of his funeral. I always had a special connection with Boomie. I used to spend countless hours out in the atrium water-coloring or journaling. Or often I was in the kitchen making a mess. But she loved every second of it. She was a friend who taught me to sew, she was fully alive and loved others so well. So many of my memories as a child were at her house. I think that's the benefit of living close to grandparents. I lived close to all of mine. Her burial and funeral were an amazing tribute to her life. It was a great time with family, very sad but I was so thankful we were able to spend it together.

Here are a few fun pictures of time with family.

The one above is Wes and Jef after the funeral. First E. Free made us a lunch of sandwiches and salads. It was yummy after all the crying!



Jeff was being really weird. But I love him and hardly ever get to see him. We were at moms for almost a week together and it was so much fun! We got to help mom with some stuff around the house but I didn't take any pictures of that...Lets just say I got my hands dirty and there was lots of trash involved.
Brently, Aaron Jef, me, Amy. We ordered pizza and were just being silly! We laughed a lot but it was good medicine after crying so much that day at the burial then the funeral.
Jaiya really loved interacting with Aaron, they played and played and Jaiya thought he was a riot.

Christmas with cousins

Carter, Annabelle, Tucker and Jaiya. We tried to get a good picture of all 4 of them but it didnt quite work, this was about as good as it was going to get.
So excited about Strawberry Shortcake!
Playing on the floor before we all ate. I'm sure Jaiya was the bossy one. Since I was the youngest and received the bossiness from my brothers and cousins, I am sensitive about dishing it out.

Santa Baby

Jaiya loves Santa and was enthralled this year with how he drives a sleigh on the tops of houses, and comes down through the chimney.

Pretty excited about the man with the white beard!


I know I am kind of rewinding since its February and all. But I thought these were cute of the kids and Santa...Tucker was not too sure about Santa. Jaiya of course ran to sit in his lap!!

christmas eve 2010

Opening presents with dad Christmas Eve. We usually go over for a really yummy dinner of prime rib, salad, mashed potatoes and strawberry shortcake, but Yvette was in California visiting her grandson Jake.
She brought some goodies for them. Thanks Yvette! So dad brought takeout over to moms and we had Saigon, which Ben and I LOVE. Dad brought the presents over and the kids were so happy! Jaiya really loves the fried rice from Saigon and their freshly wrapped Spring Rolls with cilantro, carrots, cucumbers and shrimp may be my favorite thing to eat in this world.
Jaiya digging into her butterfly wings and tutu.
Jaiya helping Tucker open his helicopter.
Looking at her sticker book with Grampa Jay.

Tucker was so excited about his new Leap Frog scout. He plays music and spells Tuckers name.

It was a fabulous Christmas Eve!

pictures from bens sermon

The danger of getting what you want

Sunday the 13th of February, Ben preached at New Hopes central gathering. It's been really fun to watch God work in his life. I am so proud of him and so enjoyed hearing him speak Sunday. He used Abraham as an example for trusting God. Even though he finally got what he wanted he held it with an open hand and trusted God. Sometimes there are things we want, and we would do anything to get it. But I was reminded Sunday that the things we want in and of themselves are not bad but its so important to include God in what we want. For us to go to God in the midst of what we want.

Feet First

So I'm entering into the blog world. Here I come. I guess you could say that I am jumping in feet first. I really have no idea what I am doing!