Grandma Joan's Funeral - {Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday}

Tuesday morning, we loaded up in Jeremy's truck and made the 5 hour drive to Rexburg to be with family for the funeral of Sarah Joan Johnson. The drive over wasn't too bad and we made good time. Our first stop was to visit Grandma Darline before spending the bulk of our week with the Johnson families. Darline is doing well and was happy to visit with us. She didn't know that Melanie's mother had passed away so she was in shock that it had happened. Jeremy made the comment that Joan was finally reunited with her sweetheart, which made Darline somber to the thought and she replied, "I can't wait to be with mine." 

 I felt sad for her. We left shortly after so we could be with the Johnson's before the viewing.

 Everyone was at Grandma's house, cleaning and getting ready for the evening. Since we had some time, I was directed to grandma's room that was full of yarn. I tried not to spend too much time sorting through the yarn, mostly because it makes me uncomfortable doing that, but because it was overwhelming. I can't imagine going through the full house. . . There are decades of stuff throughout.

The viewing was at 6pm and we got there a little before then. Our family went into the room where Grandma was and she was beautiful. She really looked great.... calm and at peace. When she passed, she fell down and hit her head causing some bruising on her forehead but it's not even noticeable. She was beautiful!

The kids were good even though they were hungry and tired. They did their best to be good but eventually their ages were showing.

We gave everyone hugs and left for dinner with Jeremy before heading to Idaho Falls for our hotel.

Of course, our week couldn't start without a hiccup. I went to check into our hotel with Jeremy and they found that Matt had accidentally reserved the hotel for the following week in June. They were over booked and couldn't accommodate us. We found a cheap hotel further into IF. If I wasn't so desperate for a place to put my kids to sleep, I would have ran away screaming. The front attendant was kind and upgraded us to a double queen bed but the place was terrifying. The kids loved it though.
It was a terrible evening trying to get the kids to sleep. Arrowlyn was awful and unconsolable and Zeplin was loud and obnoxious.
Eventually, by 10:30pm, we were all tucked in!

Wednesday morning, we woke up and headed to breakfast after Matt showered. It was a terrible night for both Matt and I sleeping so we could not wait to get out of the hotel!!

We were early to Rexburg so we stopped by Grandma's house before heading to the church. The service was at 11am but we were there an hour early as people trickled into the viewing room. Lots of people were there, including some familiar faces. Arrowlyn was being a pill for me but everyone got a kick out of her craziness.. . Until the service..... We barely made it through the life sketch when she threw the ultimate temper tantrum. As I was carrying her out, she was kicking me, so I put her down. She proceeded to fling herself backwards onto the floor and banged her head so hard that she screamed bloody murder. 

I spent the rest of the service in the foyer with her getting mad at me intermittently. 

The service was wonderful. I learned that before Grandma was even 6 month old, she had chicken pox, scarlet fever, measles, whooping cough and a couple other ailments. Hearing that brought my heart closer to her and how resilient & hard working she was. 

 After the service, Zeplin stayed behind to play with friends while Arrowlyn came with us only to fall asleep in the truck at the cemetery. I missed the cemetery service to stay in the car with her but eventually jumped out to mingle, take pictures and say goodbye one last time.

 The luncheon, back at the church, was great and thoughtfully prepared. We went back to the house afterwards and continued to help clean the house. Grandma Joan was the most organized hoarder you'll ever meet. I love looking through her beautiful art work and creations. She was a very talented woman.

We found old pictures, journals and news clippings. We shared memories of parties and great grandparents.

Thursday morning, we went back to Rexburg to visit Grandma Darline again. We were so happy to see her, as we are every time we do. 

I didn't take a single picture the rest of day because we spent the entire time cleaning and decluttering the house. Matt and I got a lot of stuff to take home and go through including yarn, art supplies and watercolor pictures & supplies.

We were so exhausted after the day that we went back to Nikki's and to bed quick. It was a long 48 hours. We were sad, happy and a little overwhelmed. But sleep was definitely welcome.