My dad's funeral could not have been any nicer, and his burial ended up being the same way.

I brought all the pictures from California that I'd had framed, and we had a table all set up to put them on but the wind kept knocking them over.  So I put them on the ground instead, all around the grave.  I liked it better that way anyways.









There were so many things we needed to bring for our trip.....normal vacation stuff, plus all the funeral stuff.  I must have asked a thousand times, anytime we left somewhere: "do we have my dad.  Is grandpa in the car.  Someone check and make sure Grandpa is back there."  :)


My cousin (my Nana's sister's son) "officiated" the whole thing and dedicated the grave.  My other cousin (my Dad's brother's son) who I haven't seen in probably 15 years or so, he spoke and he was very eloquent and appropriately emotional and it was so nice.  Me and Jesse laughed afterward because during both of my cousins talks, they mentioned Jesse more than me!  What a great man he is, how much my dad loved him and thought so highly of him....etc. 

Anyhoo, then it was my turn, and I really hate speaking in front of people so much I can't explain it, but the feeling of wanting to honor my dad was bigger than the feeling of fear & embarrassment, so once again I spoke. 

Then it was over and we mingled and packed everything up.







I looked high and low for the perfect flower display.  I didn't want to spend a TON of money, but I didn't want to go cheap because that wasn't my dad's style.  I didn't want to WASTE money on flowers that would maybe freeze if it snowed that night or the next day.  I checked the florists but found what, to me, were the perfect flowers at a grocery store.  The hydrangeas there were too pricey and not up to my standards, so I got this real pretty bunch of azealas in a pretty little woven basket type thing:






We took them afterward and I left them at my cousins house that we were staying at, so that they could enjoy them.


I guess how it usually goes is that the grounds people are watching you from afar and as soon as everyone leaves, they descend upon the scene and do the actual burial and clean everything up.  But I wanted to put it in the ground myself.  I thought it would make me feel good.




So the groundskeepers let us do that, and I put the urn in the ground, and then we put the framed pictures of my dad with each of the girls in there too.  And then all the kids, my girls and their cousins, put in red roses too.










And then when we were done, that nice man in the overalls put the gravel on top, put the square of grass back on, and packed it in.








Then we headed back to my cousins' house that we were staying at, and they opened their house & graciously put on a nice lunch get-together for everyone.

Best sandwiches I ever did have.










The girls met some new cousins:










Played with friends:






Perfect weather, perfect day.  Felt so happy with it & hope my dad was pleased.

par-tay!

Happy times.

Last weekend we had the Drill Team Christmas party (at Nana's this year).

The stockings weren't hung, but they were SET by the fireplace, with care:

Jaiden was the star of the party:

How you know it was a special occasion:    cause Jesse ate MEAT.

But it's ok, cause look how happy it made him:

Gift exchange / secret santa...always fun.

I made Jaidy & Emylee little aprons and felt cupcakes.  I put the cupcakes in actual cupcake boxes, which I was happy I found cause I thought it made it cute.

They played with them, took some orders:

Group photo!  In which most are looking at Jaiden, some are doing something else, and only Mariah is looking straight @ the camera and smiling.  That's my girl.

It was a very merry party.

special day

Yesterday was my Nana's birthday!

I wish I could throw her a party like I did last year (read that here), because it was so much fun. 

I guess I better start planning a HUGE bash for her 100th, in case (fingers crossed) we get to celebrate that with her!

But we celebrated her 91st with lots of singing, some gifts, and some CAKE.

Still so much fun.  I love my Nana.  :)

I told her in the card I gave her that I hope to God when I am 91 years old, that I will look & act & feel half as good as she does.  And I totally meant that.

Later that night, me & the girls watched the video we had made her last year (which almost didn't happen, save for the Christmas miracle...and a lot of hard work). 

It makes me happy, as does my Nana.

oktoberfest

I'd been looking forward to Oktoberfest since......the first day that it got really hot in the summer.  Oktoberfest is the un-official beginning of Fall to me.






It wouldn't really be Oktoberfest without our traditional pizza dinner beforehand:









I knew we weren't going to get past the rides (and closer to the CRAFTS) without a fight so we let the girls go on a few.























Arissa was prepared to ride her favorite ride solo, except as soon as she sat down, these two little boys hopped right up next to her.  It was cute.

Then came the Frog Hopper.  Mariah's favorite ride.  All 3 girls got on.













So much fun!


Then the ride started.











And the way each girl felt about the ride can be clearly seen here on their faces:








Mallory is not laughing.  She is screaming/crying hysterically.










But she made it through.  And I bet she'll be on that ride again cause she'll forget how terrified she was.


All 3 girls brought their wallets....hooray!  That meant that all WE had to spring for was the pizza & the ride tix.  The rest was all on the girls themselves, and Jesse was able to save a little somethin for the beer garden!


Here, Mallory's face is saying "can you hurry up and take the picture so I can go spend every last penny in my wallet on stuff I won't play with after 2 hours?"










These girls are lucky I can photo-shop those fingers outta my pics!!







One of the things they wasted spent their hard-earned money on was....sweets.


Highly over-priced sweets.












But watching them do their own transactions is always cute, and always entertaining for the clerk too:










"Please take our hard-earned money that our Mommy & Daddy gave us to teach us how to save for things we really want, and in return please give us some sugar with added sugar and a sprinkle of sugar on top":







Mmmm sugar.  Mariah's came in the form of a Root Beer Float:






Arissa wanted hers in the form of shaved ice:











Then they all ran around in a little sugar-frenzy with their empty wallets until it was time to leave.


I so LOVE Oktoberfest. 

I do not love the smell of bratwurst cooking.

GROSS.