Fairies and Football: Grammy's Funeral Weekend

Last month on February 16th, Sean's Grammy passed away.

This coming week would have been her 93rd birthday.

She lived a very long, happy and full life.

We all actually thought she was going to pass away last February

and several times since then but she kept holding on.

I'm sure there was a wonderful reunion with her husband, Gramps and Sean's mom, Pam.

I get teary eyed just thinking about it.

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First I'd like to share some pictures of Grammy.

I wish I had more but I'm grateful for those times that we did get photographed.

This first picture was taken the month Sean got home from his mission.

Both Sean and Grammy look so young.

And this was the first time Grammy met Lexi.

It was taken in September 2008, when Lexi was 2 months old.

And this is in July of 2013 when Grammy met Mr. Eli Bentley,

who is actually named after her husband, Bryce Bentley.

I wish my girls were looking at smiling at the camera but they had no interest in getting their pictures taken they just wanted to continue playing in Grammy's huge backyard.

And I wish I had a picture of Ruby with Grammy,

especially since she's named after her but I don't since they never met.

Grammy's name was Thelma Morgan Orton. So that's where Ruby got her middle name Morgan.

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The last weekend in February was Grammy's funeral.

That Friday night was the Orton family dinner in Provo.

We headed to Provo that afternoon and met up with Jared and Val,

who were just getting in from Vegas. We met at the Provo Temple.

I love these two together! They are best friends for sure.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I just love how much Devin and Eli love each other.

They're always so excited to see each other.

I don't think any of Jared and Val's kids were crazy enough to touch the freezing cold water

but mine were!

All the kids, minus Ruby, who was sleeping in her stroller.

Avery is our free spirited child who does whatever she wants.

Next we went to see the progress on the new Provo City Center Temple.

And across the street is the Provo Historic Courthouse. Val wanted to go inside, so we did.

Val took this next picture and I stole it from her. I just love their fun poses.

Next we were off to the family dinner which was held at the church building by Grammy's house.

Grammy's favorite color was light blue. I don't know if I ever really saw her in any other color.

(Refer back to the pictures of her at the beginning of this post.)

And Grammy loved ice cream so there was an ice cream machine too.

I have no clue how much ice cream my kids ate that weekend.

It was so fun to visit with Sean's extended family. I loved catching up with those I hadn't seen in a long and meeting some family members I'd never met.

The Orton's are an amazing family!

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I made sure to take group pictures while we were all together

since there is a chance we'll never be all together again now that Grammy has passed away.

Here's the group shot.

(Lots of people wore blue in honor of Grammy.)

And here's the Orton grandkids in birth order. There are a total of 27 but not everyone could make it.

These balloons are supposed to represent the cousins who couldn't make it.

I should have probably Photoshopped their names in.

And of the 52 great grandkids these are the ones that made it to the funeral

and made it into the picture. This was no easy task!

Saturday was the funeral.

I took several photos at the viewing.

Gramps taught at BYU. So I'm assuming that's why the university sent flowers.

Grammy was a Marine and she was so proud of her service.

Her father Joseph Morgan was also a veteran and he really encouraged her service.

Grammy was the first female marine in Utah, Colorado and Nevada.

Here is her uniform.

There were several tables laid out with pictures and other memorabilia from her life.

I thought it was a nice idea and it was fun to look at.

Gramps and Grammy met on their mission in Canada and later served multiple missions together,

including service as a mission president.

This is a nice picture of Gramps and Grammy and we received a copy of it

which I'd like to put in our home. Sean really looked up to both his grandparents. They were such faithful people who valued family and education. They are great examples.

And that's why we named two of our children after them!

I thought this card that Gramps gave Grammy was funny.

This scrapbook page is hilarious!

I tried to take pictures of everything so those family members who were there could see.

Right before the funeral started they opened and the casket for a few minutes

for family members to say their goodbyes. I have to say that Grammy looked so good.

The best I've seen her look in years.

She had a little stuffed Pooh Bear in the casket with her. She loved Winnie the Pooh.

When Eli saw her, he kept saying, "Grammy nigh-night. Grammy sleeping. Grammy Pooh Bear."

And since her funeral, whenever he sees and American flag (which was on her casket) or a picture of Grammy, Eli says, "Grammy nigh-night. Grammy laid down. Grammy sleeping. Pooh Bear."

He remembers.

The funeral services were beautifully done.

All of Grammy's kids spoke and they all did a great job.

You could tell that they loved and adored their mother.

Sean's uncle Dave ended up reading a letter that, Pam, Sean's mom wrote for Mother's Day while serving her mission. So she got to speak at her mother's funeral too. It was really touching.

All of the grandkids sang and all of the great-grandkids sang too.

It was a beautiful tribute to an amazing woman!

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There were so many grandsons that there were two sets of Paul bears.