Grandma Rasband--Funeral

It seemed like a long week but there are good things about a funeral.  #1 Elise was able to bring Beverly and come for a short visit, and #2  We had a wonderful reunion with our family--our immediate family, and also Nan's and Al's families.  We are able to see Nan's family occasionally, but Elise commented that it had been 20 years since she'd seen some of Alan's kids.
During the week I spent time practicing the violin for one of the musical numbers for the funeral, and handled more water aerobics classes than usual.
On Thursday, we headed down to Provo for the viewing.  All of my grand kids were there except Mav and Max who stayed in Texas, and Ori and Effie who stayed with her Pederson grandparents for the viewing, but were present at the funeral.  It was a party for them because they not only had their cousins, but quite a few 2nd cousins to get acquainted with.  It didn't take long for them to make friends and begin playing.  Although they are little, they seemed to have some idea of what was going on and they all made efforts to comfort their great grandpa by climbing on his lap and giving him numerous hugs.
Doyeon was adamant she not look at grandma, but curiosity soon got the better of her and I saw her peering into the casket.  She made several return trips after that.
The funeral started with Caitlyn and I playing the violin with Adrienne accompanying.  We played, "Be Still My Soul."
Nan spoke first.  She shared tender feelings and memories about her mother.  We had a 2nd musical number with all the grandchildren and great grandchildren singing a primary medley.  I worried a little bit about this number as it was my idea and there was no way to practice beforehand, but it worked out.  Alan was the 2nd speaker.  He also shared a few memories.  Tyler Theobald sang "Going Home" and Roy was the concluding speaker (other than the bishop).  He kept his talk brief, sharing a couple of memories and touching on the Plan of Salvation.

After the funeral we had a nice luncheon that the Relief Society of the Grandview Hill ward had provided, and then we went to Midway for the interment.  We were blessed to have had the snow storm the previous day (and blessed that it wasn't as bad as expected), and blessed to have quite a beautiful drive.  The only bad thing that happened was that Ruby really wanted to go with me and Roy, and who am I to turn down such a request.  Unfortunately, no one thought to remember that Ruby gets car sick and she got sick in the canyon.  Oh well, I've handled a lot worse before.

Following the interment, most everyone went over to Becky Theobald's home in Heber for hot chocolate and more socializing.  It was a beautiful way to end the activities of the day.

I love watching the love the cousins have for each other. 
Above:  Effie, Ori, Ruby and Yuna. 

Roy in the hall with family watching memories
of grandma that Tara and Becky put together.

Lots of Beverly time for all.

Just one of the many hugs given to grandpa Rasband
Ollie, in this case.

 At the cemetery:

Hyeji and Ori

Jennie with Effie and Grandpa R.  It was cold, but we were prepared and
there were a few blankets available.  We stayed  just long enough for the dedication
of the grave and for Tara to take pictures of the families. 

More loves at Becky's house

Crista and Beverly

Hyeji

Ruby, Greta and Finn

We get to keep Elise and Beverly here until Wednesday and we have been taking advantage of spending time with them.

Bev and Caitlyn all ready for church

 Comfy with grandpa

Sisters: Elise, Jennie, and Caitlyn (and baby Bev)

Roy was given another mentor pin from Kai Agamez, 2nd from left
on Sunday night

Fern Casper Rasband Aug. 24 1932-Jan.18, 2018

Fern Casper Rasband passed away on January 18, 2018.  She took a bad fall on Wednesday of this past week, which probably expedited her departure from this world.  When I walked in the room, just a few minutes after she'd passed away, I noted the bruises on her face.  She looked pretty rough.  Happily, though, I'd been to visit her on Tuesday with Roy and she'd looked and acted happy.  She was glad to see us and we visited with her for quite a while.  The nurse came in while we visited and talked to her and we could see she was in good hands.
Grandpa, of course, will miss her.  He said that it was "so final."  Death really feels that way to us, but as I note how fast the last 20 or 30 years have gone, I realize that this life is but a blink compared to eternity.  At 88, I don't suppose grandpa will have to wait too many years to reunite with Fern and other loved ones.  Her funeral will be Friday, January 26.

Roy, Yuna and Grandma

Grandma with Max

Fern Casper Rasband

Elise with Mav and Grandma

 I got the above pictures off Facebook.  Elise posted these.  Their Theobald cousins are much bigger Facebook users and have posted lots of pictures.

On a happier note, we had a couple of birthdays this week.  Maverick turned 2, and Jieun turned ?  It's a mystery :)  I asked Jieun what she wanted for her birthday and she said, "Four hours of babysitting!!!  How can I refuse that?  So I tended her four kids while she and Dan went for dinner and a movie.  I think all of us had a good time.  Crista and Matt came over also because they were down looking at purchasing a 2nd car.  Crista said that the conversation on a 2nd car came about when she was at a work meeting--with her 2 kids, and, even though the meeting was still going on, it was definitely time for her to make her exit.  There was a lot more to it, but the idea of the bus ride home after a somewhat chaotic meeting was not on her list of favorite things to do.
We got to see some cute pictures of Maverick's birthday party:

Roy was in charge of the Klondike Scouting Event for our area.  He had over 200 scouts participate.  He said that a lot of the leaders asked him if he was going to cancel because there was no snow.  He said that there would still be a camp and that he was expecting snow.  Sure enough, if ye prepare, ye shall be blessed.  When he got to camp mid-afternoon on Friday, it was muddy and wet, but by the time the boys started arriving the ground had frozen and the snow had begun to fall.  By the next morning they had close to 12" and were able to do all the planned activities--even the snow activities.  It was the largest Klondike in seven years!

I gave my Relief Society Lesson in church today.  The lesson in Sunday School the hour previous  on the creation was excellent.  I really felt the spirit.  Thankfully, that spirit stayed with me throughout my lesson.  The new format (which has really been the desire of the leaders for a long time) of trying to make each lesson more of a discussion, is inspired.  I also love that the lessons will be taken from General Conference talks.  Today our discussion was on Elder Gary E Stevenson's talk entitled "Spiritual Eclipse."

We ended our Sabbath at a fireside with a Brother Bayliss.  He has sung with Broadway--On Tour in Les Mis and Phantom of the Opera.  His was a singing/talking presentation and we were able to feel his strong testimony.  With all of that theater experience, his profession is as a Seminary Teacher in American Fork.

Last but not least, a screen shot of Finn playing with his sleeping bag made by me (Lucky Finn, I think his bag is one of the best I've made so far). 

Caitlyn's birthday.

As I mentioned in the last letter, we had 2 birthdays this week.  Matt on the 9th, and Caitlyn on the 12th.  Since Caitlyn has gifted Roy and I some endearing, but not necessarily flattering poems, I decided I should do the same to celebrate her eighteenth birthday.

In our marriage came children--Seven.

Then along came Cait

And made it Eight.

Some would say that Cait was late

Because of the age of her parents, to date.

But she has been the pride and joy

of both of us, Catharine and Roy.

The grandkids call her Cait Cait

Others Cait the Bait

To everyone she's Super Cait

And we all know that she can skate.

There are many boys that would love to date

the very eligible and beautiful Cait.

But for now she's content to be

Single and loved by her dad and me.

Caitlyn's good friend Nate made a darling video of Caitlyn to express his friendship.  It was not very flattering, but you could tell it was done with fondness.  

This has been a slow week for news, but full for love.  I was able to spend some time with each of my children and grandchildren throughout the week (except for Elise and family).  However, we did receive a picture of our newest granddaughter.  She is really growing and changing.  We haven't decided who she looks like, yet.  Maybe a good mixture of both Andy and Elise.

Beverly

During the week I played with Ollie and Finn for an hour or so while Adrienne packed and got ready for her trip to Sun Valley.  They put on a show for me (Ollie loves dress-ups!).

Crista and Matt and girls came down Friday night to attend a wedding reception with us, and Nick happened over with his 2 girls.  He stayed a while and they played games with Crista and Matt and Jennie and Landon (a friend).  Caitlyn was downstairs with several of her girl friends celebrating her birthday. 

Saturday Caitlyn and I went on a walk with Jieun and Dojin, then Dan came over with the rest of the clan to pick her up.  And Jennie, Caitlyn and I enjoyed a nice dinner together at Sushi Monster (after seeing "The Greatest Showman).

All of the above are coming for family dinner tonight.  

Also this past week I was able to listen to President Monson's funeral.  It was touching and a good reminder of the wonderful life he led.  We would do well to follow his example and strive to serve those around us, especially when prompted by the spirit.

Lots of January Birthdays

In our family, January is a big month for birthdays!  We already had Ori's this past week.  Happy birthday Orianthi!
Happy birthday to Glenn and Christine also,  on the 2nd. 
Coming up this week we celebrate with Matt on Tuesday and Caitlyn on Friday.  This is a pretty important birthday for Caitlyn--she'll be 18.  I can hardly believe it, the last 18 years have gone by so quickly.
Lest I forget the remaining birthdays later this month, I'll just say happy birthday now to Jieun, (21st) Maverick (21st) and Andy (31st). 
Our family now has every month represented for birthdays except September. 

On the evening of Ori's birthday, Roy and I had made plans to go out to dinner with Roy's Aunt Gloria and Uncle Mike Toomey.  We took them to Twigs in Farmington (but they treated).  Before we met them, however, we ran a little gift over to Ori.  I had made her a doll blanket and dolly.   Apparently, she loved it.  When she wouldn't give Roy a hug he picked up the blanket and teasingly said, "Okay then, I guess I'll just take this back."  Ori cried real tears. She can dish out the teasing, but I guess she can't take it 😇.  Later, Nick sent me this picture:  She still sleeps with the sleep mask, too.  Which is fine except that one night it came off and she woke Nick up in the middle of the night and insisted he help her find it.  She also likes Nick to take pictures of her wearing it so she can see what she looks like.

Note the nightgown, blanket, dolly and eye mask.  And Ori's
big smile!

I'm pretty excited about having 11:00 church.  I'm all ready for church and writing this letter.  I've also listened to the Tabernacle Choir and am now semi-listening by an archived talk by President Monson.  It's pretty important to mention in this journal/letter that President Monson passed away last Sunday.  We will miss him.  It's a great blessing for him, of course, that he was able to leave this life and his suffering body.  We'll always remember meeting him at Grandma Ila's funeral viewing.  He was so gracious.  He shook our hands and told us the long genealogy that proved we were related.  He was such a personable, wonderful man who really did care about individuals.  Our lives have been greatly blessed because we have followed him as our prophet.  

The only problem with the new church schedule is that Roy's YSA ward meets at 1:00.  With his morning meetings, it means that we won't see each other until he's done with his meetings at 4:00 pm.  He just told me, however, that he intends to come to Sacrament meeting with me often since he'll be done with his extra meetings by then.  What that means is he'll be in church all day.  I guess that's one way to keep the Sabbath Day holy!  At some point, maybe I'll start going with him exclusively to the YSA ward (after Caitlyn graduates?), but I don't want to give up my calling.  I love being a Relief Society teacher.  

We end a lot of our Sunday evenings with the Young Single Adults at Ward Prayer.  They start with a welcome, then a thought from an individual, and then the person assigned to give the prayer stands and asks who needs our prayers.  People call out names and the prayer writes them on the board.  Then we all kneel and the prayer is offered.  I have tried this once while saying my own prayers.  I took a note card and thought about who and what I needed to pray for.  I need to take the time to do this more often.  It was very beneficial because it made me ponder and meditate first.  

Also, from our first Relief Society Counsel meeting today, I came away wanting to pray more often, and more sincerely, and to depend more on my Heavenly Father.  

I hope to see all of you in the coming week.  I know Adrienne is going to Sun Valley with the Greens, but maybe I'll see them before they leave.  I was able to skate with Ollie on Friday for about 40 minutes.  I've heard that Ori is ready to learn to skate a little bit, too. 

Love you all.

A Wonderful and Tiring Christmas Season

Christmas brought a flurry of activity and activities.  I realize I haven't written for three weeks, but I think it would be impossible at this point to go back and catch up.  I'll just say that our friends Heeyoung and Jun took Roy and Caitlyn and me out to dinner at La Cai noodle house in Salt Lake.  We also invited them to the Christmas program in our ward that was held the week before Christmas Eve (which worked out perfectly since Heeyoung and Jun went to spend the holiday in Hawaii).  Heeyoung came with her little boy, but Jun and their daughter stayed home.

We spent Christmas Eve with all the family except for Elise, Andy, Max, Mav and Beverly.  We missed them greatly.

I was reminded of my wonderful mother as I chose presents for my grandchildren this year.  She used to buy Trico nightgowns from Mormon Handicraft for my girls.  They loved them.  I found out that my granddaughters are no different.  Mormon Handicraft doesn't exist anymore (at least I don't think it does), but now we have Etsy.  I found a cute nightgown on Etsy, but  I didn't realize that with a click of a button I could find smaller sizes, so I only ordered this nightgown for the three oldest granddaughters.  I found two other designs and ordered for the rest of the girls.  When they arrived, I saw that Yuna's nightgown, though a size 4, was smaller than the size 2's I bought for Ruby and Effie.  When I suggested to Caitlyn that we switch them around, she wouldn't let me because she felt the colors I chose for each girl was perfect for their personality.

Greta  has to grow a little to fit in her nightgown

I love the hugging going on between cousins.
Ruby and Doyeon in this case.

Greta and Hyeji

Yuna

Effie also has some growing to do.

Ori and Doyeon 

Of course, I couldn't leave out the boys.  I took care of Max and Mav's Christmas while I was in Texas, and they didn't need pajamas, but I got Pj's for all the Utah grandsons.

Dojin

Ollie loves to dress up.  He specifically requested Chinese
pajamas.  I found these on Etsy.  The size was "right" but they
were definitely on the small side.  He didn't want me to send them back.  

Gunnar and Caityn got Harry Potter Pj's.  I should
have taken a picture of them together.

Here are most of them in their new jammies.

The kids exchanged cousin gifts (they drew names earlier) before we tried to kick them all downstairs while the adults had a White Elephant gift exchange.  The theme was, "most stealable gift"  Everyone got the memo but Adrienne and AJ, who gifted a squatty potty and a bubble suit.  Jieun was happy with the squatty potty, and I'm sure Caitlyn will have some use for her bubble suit.  Maybe.

I'm jumping the gun a little by starting on Christmas Eve.  I can't leave out that every year Grandpa Roy plans an activity to take all the family to the Train Shoppe in SLC and let them all ride the little train.  We did this on the 23rd.  The kids were in Heaven!

Dojin was running everywhere and he loved
every minute of the activity

So did Effie.

Did I mention Santa was at the Train Shoppe?

Even the big kids can ride the train.

After the Train Shoppe we met for lunch at Apollo Burger.  It was fun and hectic.  Whenever you order for a crowd, they always make mistakes, but all was figured out and everyone was happy.

Christmas morning was quiet.  We were blessed to have Crista, Matt, Ruby and Greta stay overnight with us on Christmas Eve and open presents with us on Christmas morning.

Of course, in all of the flurry, we missed Elise and Andy and were grateful that we had a lot of time with them earlier in the month.

Beverly

I'm sure they enjoyed their quiet (?) Christmas together.

Mav, Max and Andy

The Jackson boys got new bunk beds, a big blow-up dinosaur from Adrienne's family.  And I'm sure plenty of other fun stuff.

















You'd think when Christmas was over things would slow down, but we had a birthday to celebrate, and two weddings, and unfortunately, a funeral for a young lady in our previous ward who had a brain aneurysm.  She left behind a husband and 3 children, including a newborn.  (I ended up tending so Nick, Sara, Roy and Caitlyn could go to the funeral.  Nick and Sara are still in their ward, and Mary Sandall, the young woman who passed away, was a Young Women leader to Caitlyn).

Dojin turned 1, 2 days after Christmas.  We all went over to their house on the 26th to celebrate with the Dan Rasband family.

Kiok, Jieun's mom, spent Christmas with them.  She arrived on Christmas Day, so she was there for Dojin's party.

The first wedding was Jacob Christensen.  He married a girl named Brianna.  I didn't get pics of the cute couple, but I got one with my sisters.  I have to remember not to stand on the end for pictures.  I always hate my pictures though, so it probably doesn't really matter.

Catharine, Nan & Christine

The 2nd wedding was for Jieun's aunt's, sister's son, so they are actually not related at all to Jieun, but she has always considered them cousins.  They considered us family enough to invite us to the temple ceremony.  So, we had the honor of being in the temple and hearing the wonderful words of the temple sealing 2 days in a row.

Doyeon, Kiok, Hyeji, Jieun, Dan and Dojin at the wedding reception for Preston Soh

After we left the above reception, Roy hurried to magnify his calling as a High Counselor for the Young Single Adults Stake.  Every year they have a big party at the Recreation Center.  They rent out nearly the whole facility so the YSAs can skate, swim, and dance.  Caitlyn and I hurried onto the ice for a quick few times around before we were invaded by hundreds of YSAs.  

Yes, it got busier than this.

Below are a few more pictures of our family during the holidays.

Our Christmas Eve tradition includes a dinner with Crab and ribs.
It's delicious, but of course these kids were too excited to eat much.

Cousins gift exchange

I made these funny sleep masks for everyone.  I'm pretty sure Ori is the only one that actually uses it, but it was cute.

Mav

This was my attempt at bringing a little of the true Christmas spirit into
Christmas.  The story is called, "We believe in Christmas." It shows why we celebrate
and what the various symbols mean.  It was hard to get the kids quiet enough to listen,
but I felt it was important to try at least.

Ori

Legal fighting attire

Max did not get new long pants for Christmas.
It looks like he should have :)

I should add some eye holes so he can see through the sleep mask.

Another pic of Ollie in his new jammies on Christmas morning.

The Green boys built a snowman on Christmas day