April

Weston had a preschool field trip to the zoo! These ducks (??) came to greet us before we went in. :)

It was quite a big group of kids and parents so really we just did our own thing most of the day.

By the time we got back in the car 3 hours later, I was bushed. It was hot and I felt like I had just survived a day at Sea World or something. I'm pretty sure I phoned in the rest of that day.

I guess Mesa High is known for their plays, so my mom was pretty vocal about us needing to see their latest, Peter Pan. The only night we could squeeze it in was a Thursday, so I got a sitter since Trav had softball and I took Collin on a date. First, we had to go to his new school's orientation night then we grabbed dinner at Red Robin. 

We waited an hour in line, but it paid off with great seats on the 5th row! Collin loved it and I have to say, I was pretty entertained too. Those kids are talented! And they had it set up so that Peter Pan and some of the characters could "fly" across the stage on ropes. It wasn't an easy night to arrange, but Collin is always begging me for more alone time so I'm glad I did it. We had some needed conversations. I love this rascal. 

Some reps in the area have been hounding Travis to come to these weekend conferences where they try to sell him a machine for his office. When I realized that they were going to put us up in the Scottsdale Fairmont Princess for the weekend I told him to sign us up! ;) I've been to this resort once before and it really is to die for. We invited Shelley to come swim with us there on Friday but the weather was a bit chilly. I was so nervous Saturday would be the same way, but it was blue skies and sunny! Yayyy! I felt really bad that Travis was in meetings all day, but Marcie came out with Scarlett and Rusty and enjoyed the paradise with us! It was a "pinch me" sort of day. The kids were good. It wasn't crowded at all. I got to kick back with a People magazine and pina colada. The sun was warm and my fish tacos were da bomb. I taught Olive to pee in the pool so we weren't making 50 trips to the bathroom (don't stress... she pees trickles.) The only downside was she would yell from the steps, "Mom!! I pee in the pool??!" (She thought she needed to ask permission each time.) Once I shushed her up it was smooth sailing, haha. 

It really was perfect and I felt a little guilty for enjoying such a posh life.. even if it was just for a day. This is the epitome of heaven to me.

Trevor and Gretchen were super nice and came out to watch the kids for us so we could go to the dinner that night. I got all gussied up with my red heels and lipstick and we didn't even take a picture! I decided to just go home that night so we could sleep in our own beds since Travis just had another day of meetings and we wouldn't be taking advantage of the pool on a Sunday. I wish there were more dental machines that needed selling. I wouldn't mind repeating this weekend. ;)

After a long morning of running errands and driving all over Timbuktu, Olive and I had an impromptu lunch at Cafe Rio. With Deseret Book in the background and Mormons all over the place I felt like we were in Utah. But then, I guess Gilbert basically is. 

It was kind of fun having ourselves a little girl lunch date. 

Anjane and I got away one night for a second hit of YoWaffle. (Have you been?! Ah-mazzing. Just make sure and get your waffle fresh!)

After it closed, we retreated to my car to continue our convo and I stupidly turned the car halfway on just to put the windows down, then didn't turn it off. Biggest idiot award right here. After an hour or so I noticed my battery light on my dash. Nooooooooo. It was after 11pm and Trav was asleep in bed. After brainstorming for a minute, Anjane remembered she did have jumper cables in her trunk. So Lincoln Facetimed us to walk us through the procedure. We were a little nervous!! Especially when one of the cables sparked. Yikes! But we did it!!! *Happy dance all around!!* I felt like such a Renaissance Woman, bahahaha. The things your father teaches you to do that you don't pay attention to, then need it 15 years later. Booya.

My Father in law had a birthday so we got some balloons and donuts and surprised him that morning! Party City was super happy to have us on their doorstep when they unlocked their doors that day. ;) Wayne is such a good Grandpa. We love him a lot!! 

Marcie brought Scarlett and Lane to one of Collin's baseball games and she just happened to pick the windiest day of the year! Ahhh! It was cold and basically miserable. We rewarded ourselves with Mugsy Dogs for dinner!

I forget their names but we tried one with coleslaw, one with mac 'n cheese and one deep fried with bacon. Oh and a waffle dog dipped in syrup. Uh huh. It was gooood. They don't skimp on their fry sauce either. But don't go with too big a group... that place is tiny!

I have this friend in my ward. Her name is Camilla. And she has the energy and happiness of 10 people! I love her for it! She organized a group of us girls to go party one night. We started with dinner at the Chop Shop in Scottsdale (yum), then walked over to Escape the Room. If you haven't heard of these, it's a game where you get locked in a room for one hour and have to find clues and solve puzzles to get yourselves out. We were in the archaeological room (sounds like a snooze, but think Indian Jones) and it was super fun! We were told that they have a 20% success rate... so one in five groups actually escapes in time. And we did it!! We thought we were pretty hot stuff, haha.

Afterward, Camilla suggested we get some gelato at a popular place up the street. (She knew downtown Scottsdale like the back of her hand.) Apparently, it is referred to as the G spot. Oh my!

 It was delish and our conversation for the next two hours was just as good. This was my first gno in our new place and it felt really great to finally get to know some of these girls better. In fact, after talking to one of the girls, we realized we had kissed the same guy way back when. Ha! We had a good laugh over that one. Gotta love Mesa!

Guess who got a new church calling?!! Yup. Back in Cubscouts as the Bear leader. And since my banana uniform is ultra sexy, Olive and I are doing our pouty lips. 

The boys went on the Father's and Sons camp out! Olive was none too happy to be left out when she woke up from her nap and realized she'd been ditched. I tried to not be offended. ;) 

They had a great time and camped on private property by Christopher Creek. Travis said when they pulled up the boys literally yelped for joy and fist pumped the air. There was a zip line and bounce house and hot dog stand!! In fact, the hot dog stand had hot dogs and shrimp dogs. What?! The sweetest story to come from the outing goes to Collin. Travis said that around 9pm the boys started saying they were tired and ready for bed. Then Collin said, "Dad, since it's too dark to read our scriptures, can I tell a scripture story and then bear my testimony?" Um, excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the floor. My heart melted when Travis told me!! This was a needed #parentwin after some rough experiences with him. So I guess that's exactly what they did. He told the parable of the 10 lepers and bore his testimony. Then asked Travis if he would tell a parable. :) They had red velvet pancakes in the morning with buttermilk syrup, fresh hash browns and eggs. I'm thinking the Allen Ranch ward has this camping thing figured out. 

While the boys were away, us girls had dinner with my family at Gecko Grill. Had to soak up as much Christopher, Jael and Lucy time as possible!! Then we went back to my parent's house to play card games. I cannot get enough of this girl!! Her chubbers just beg to be munched on!! 

The next morning, I went over to watch her while they went to the temple. We started off with a jog around the neighborhood. 

Her smile is MY FAVORITE!!!!! Can't get enough!!! She is the most easy going, chill baby. I wished I could have watched her the entire day!

The boys got home that afternoon and we got to have Everett over for a few hours while Tania was in the temple. Then it was back to Grandma's house for their ward's Spring Fling! I guess when Grandpa is the bishop we don't feel too bad leeching on. ;) The horse rides and petting zoo were wins. I just felt genuinely bad for those chicks and ducks!! Oi! It would be a miracle if they lived through the night after so much squeezing and manhandling. Their sacrifice made some kids verrry happy though!

 Notice the look on Grandpa's face and where that stream of milk is being directed. Haha. Trav got a surprise shower.

I substituted as Collin's primary teacher one Sunday and for singing time they had Minute to Win it games. Only 8 kids total were picked to play and it just so happened that Weston and Collin were picked for the same game! They had to make a paper clip chain. And Weston won!! Hahaha, ohhh Collin came back and buried his head in my side crying. Doesn't feel very good to be beat by your little brother in front of everyone. Poor guy.

Now it was Grandma and Grandpa's turn to come see Collin play! They watched him get a home run and strike out. Such is baseball. It was another windy one too! Season is almost over!

Weston's cries for a pet puppy have not ceased. In fact, I think they are getting louder. I finally broke down and told him I'd look into some animal shelters and see if we could volunteer to walk the dogs or something. Well that was a bust. You have to be a certain age and commit to extra responsibilities and a minimum amount of time each month. No thank you! So then I thought to ask our friends in our ward if they wouldn't mind us taking their dog on walks occasionally. They were super nice about it and more than OK to let us do that! Score!! Here's to hoping this appeases the dog lover in Weston awhile longer!! Pippy is a Pomeranian and actually really cute... says this non-dog lover. She wasn't super easy to walk because she just wanted to go home, but hopefully she gets used to us soon. How about that dress?! Oh Weston, you have no idea how much you're changing your mother.

Grandmother

I don't know where to start. This will be a hard one to write. 

My grandmother had been living with my aunt for the past year. Her health was up and down, but mostly OK, besides the oxygen tank that followed her around. When I got the message that she was in the hospital with pneumonia, none of us knew how it would end. Luckily, Travis and I were able to visit her the next day for a good hour. We stopped to get flowers first and I fussed over deciding which ones for way too long. But it occurred to me.. this might be the last thing I buy my Grandmother, and I wanted them to be beautiful. When we got there, she was cognizant and breathing fairly well. Having just read the memoir about her life, I brought up old stories and we laughed and commented on memories and times past. My Aunt Marcia was there and she'd add her two cents as she happily crocheted by the window. I got to sit next to Grandmother and hold her hand and have a real conversation with her. A couple of times she would make a point of looking at me in the eyes with such love and sincerity, telling me how special I was or how she loved me. Thinking back on it now, I can't believe that in her last normal hours, she still sought to offer someone else love, validity and care. In fact I can't think of it without crying. But that's Grandmother.

A part of me wanted to pour out my heart. To tell her how much I loved her. How much she had meant to me all my life. That I looked up to her and admired the strength and determination she'd exhibited from childhood to old age. I wanted to tell her that I wanted her to visit me still. To come and lift me on my hard days. To be with me on the happy ones. That I still needed her. Even after she was gone.

But I didn't say it. I felt strange uttering "last words" when I didn't know but that she'd bounce back and be around another year or more!

I was mad at myself later, but now it's OK. Some things probably don't have to be said out loud. She knew.

Right before we left, I asked Travis to take our picture. When I looked at it, I was initially bummed that she wasn't looking at the camera. Then my senses came to me and I fell in love with it. I couldn't have asked for a better, last picture with her. The way she is looking at me is the epitome of how she feels not just about me, but all her children and grandchildren. I don't know how she managed to convey, with solidarity, her whole heart to all 39 of us grandkids, but she did. We were her world. She always spoke with such loving kindness to us. Not like she never held her tongue on her opinions, but no mater what, I knew she loved us. Fiercely. Her life was about serving her family. We were priceless treasures to her and we felt it. 

And I think that's why the next day was so hard. When you know someone is taken from the earth that was always in your corner. Loved you unconditionally. Was your cheerleader on all fronts. 

That hurts. 

She had gone from the caregiver to the dependent, but even in that state she held her title. She was at the top of the Lindblom totem pole. Grandmother. Her love was still there and never wavered. And that being taken leaves a tangible void. 

Just a few hours after we left, Shelley and Casey went to visit her and I guess the scene we had left had changed dramatically. Her oxygen levels had sunk and her brain went into fight or flight mode. She had to be given a sedative and they didn't even get to visit with her. My dad was at Father's and Son's campout and came back immediately when he heard. From what I understand, she was unresponsive from that point on. The next morning, at Weston's t-ball game, we got the text to come immediately if you wanted to say goodbye. Her respiratory system was failing. Marcie and I hurried as fast as we could and walked in on a somber scene. The room was filled with aunts, uncles and cousins. Everyone had wet eyes and tissues. Grandmother didn't have the oxygen mask on anymore and she breathing laboriously, eyes closed. I held my phone to her ear so David, who was in California, could say goodbye. I whispered a last "Thank you" and "I love you" in her ear as well and kissed her on the cheek. Over the next hour or so, more cousins filtered in to say goodbye. My dad had driven back up to Father's and Sons early that morning and was speeding back. We all felt so relieved when he walked through the door. We all took turns holding her hand and speaking to each other in hushed tones. Her breaths started to have more space between them. My dad and his siblings gathered around her. It seemed like we were all holding our breath, waiting for her last one. Her pulse slowed then stopped. Almost imperceptibly.... she passed. I felt as though I was living someone else's life. This scene just did not fit in my projected life events. Somehow, I'm still learning what it means to age. As if everything should still be the same as though I am 15. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I didn't even know what to make of what had just happened. I had never seen someone die before. Processing it all was much harder than I anticipated. As her coloring started to fade we sang "Families Can Be Together Forever". Uncle Jim offered a prayer. And that was it. We slowly filtered from the room and tried to continue our day. I knew that I should be happy for her, but I felt too sad to be happy yet. 

Craig and Jenny. The last and the first grandchildren.

The funeral was planned for Thursday. With as big a family as we have, they told the Relief Society that we'd provide our own luncheon afterward. Self sufficient. Just like Grandmother. ;)

Soft tacos was on the menu with Grandmother's famous fried pies for dessert. Marcie, Shelley and I convened at Aunt Judy's house Tuesday night to learn how to make them.

Then Wednesday morning, Marcie and I whipped up 150 fried apple pies. Shelley made 100! It felt like my whole kitchen was coated in a fine layer of grease. We went through a huge tub of Crisco, Eek. 

The viewing was Wednesday night at Meldrum's mortuary in downtown Mesa. We were walking in at the same time as two strange, grey haired men when I suddenly realized... they were my cousins!!! They had moved to Washington when we were probably 10ish and we really hadn't seen them since. It was so fun to catch up. The whole night actually had a very happy tinge to it, getting to be with so much family. Seeing Grandmother in her casket was probably the least pleasant part. Other people thought she looked nice and I suppose in a way she did, but it wasn't her. It looked like some other lady. Not my Grandmother. Uncle Jim said the family prayer and they closed the casket.

The next morning at 8am we met at the Mesa cemetery to dedicate her grave.

This is obviously a bit backwards from the way people usually do it, but it turned out really nice! Everyone just milled around visiting and taking pictures, then Uncle Jim dedicated the grave and it was time to go!

We had some time before the funeral so Shelley made a Burrito Express stop and we all tailgated in the church parking lot. Muy bueno!

The service was in the church building I grew up going to. Lots of memories! Both of my parents also grew up going there. It's a stone's throw from the Mesa temple and used to be the heart of "Mormonville" in Mesa. Good ol' 9th ward! I loved hearing her life story. I think I had already heard most of the stories, but it was still fun to hear them again. My favorite was that when Grandmother and Granddad were dating, he took her to meet his mom for the first time and told her that his mother didn't like girls who wore red lipstick and blue jeans. So guess what she was wearing when he went to pick her up?! Yup, red lipstick and blue jeans! Ha! I love that so much. A streak of sass I kind of wish I had inherited. My dad's talk was PERFECT. Of course it couldn't have been anything else. He has always put his heart and soul into speaking. He told the story about when Grandmother was pregnant with her 5th child, David. She was 7th months along when she started hemorrhaging in church from placenta previa. (The very condition that took her mother AND Grandmother's lives.) My dad motioned to the pew in which she had been sitting. A man in the ward that was a doctor, knew how serious it was and ran to grab his car and bring it around to the doors. It was a brand new car and very fancy and Grandmother refused to get in it. She knew it would ruin the interior. Using a few bible expletives, he demanded she get in the car and then rushed her to the hospital where she ended up losing her baby two days later. My dad was emotional telling the story and it got me going as well. I think the most character revealing part of that story was that even after such a traumatic experience, she still had one more baby. My dad. Words don't begin to describe how special that woman is to me. 

Another memorable part was the musical number. Colby sang the most beautiful rendition of "I Often Go Walking." The composition was unique and her voice danced. At the very end she tenderly sang, "Dear Grandmother, all flowers, remind me of you." Oh my goodness. My heart!! It was something I'll never forget. 

I just loved seeing how many people came to her funeral. The chapel and cultural hall were completely filled. She affected a lot of lives. The most common adjective people used to describe Grandmother was "classy". It's SO true. She was also stubborn, hard working, independent, an excellent cook, a lover of nature, thrifty, clean (like, she Cloroxed her vegetables) and selfless. But the word she wore best of all... the title that really exemplified her every being, was that of Mother and Grandmother. 

My parents!

I'm on the far right and Marcie is on her lap. Shelley is between Grandmother and our cousin, Kate.

When Shelley and I were in YW, my dad arranged for us to learn how to make fried pies from Grandmother. 

Holding Collin for the first time.

This was one of my absolute FAVORITE pictures on display!! A 5 generation picture of the eldest daughters. 

I don't know if I'll be able to talk about her again without tearing up, but I'm so so grateful for my knowledge of eternal families. To know that she had the most joyful reunion with her husband, mother and son fills my heart to overflowing. She did everything she was asked to do and now she gets to enjoy her reward! Motivation for all of us. :) I'm so excited for the next time I get to see her.

Until then, I love you, Grandmother!!

Peace out. :)