Last week, my Grandma Pearl passed away.
I guess it’s been more than a week now.

August 2012
She was loving and kind and always knew how to spoil her grandkids and great-grandchildren. The Christmas tree was always full, thanks to grandma’s generosity.
She kept busy, working years past retirement (even though she didn’t really need to), visiting family in and out of state, always in the middle of crocheting an afghan for one of us.

August with his blankie crocheted by Great Grandma
My dad loved when she would come over and make pot roast with potatoes and carrots and gravy.
I heard someone say that Grandma Pearl was always on your side, and that’s the truth. I don’t remember her saying a disparaging word about anyone, except maybe a politician once in a while.
I will miss her.
Her last gift to us was a flight for our family to Minnesota for her funeral. And so we booked our tickets and made our way to the airport early on a Thursday morning.
We parked our car at Kyle’s work and took the Gold Line to Union Station and the Flyaway bus to LAX.
Augie enjoyed staring out the window on the bus.

And on the plane.

Adelaide was excited to ride a train, bus, and airplane for the first time (that she can remember).

She’s excited.
This is how Augie drank his apple juice on the plane with the tiny cocktail straw they gave him.

Later he fell asleep coloring.

I took a picture of the clouds. “So artsy of you,” Kyle says.

We met up with family at the Mall of America for dinner. (The mall is right by the airport.)

Aaron and Evie made room for us at their house. Adelaide and 2-year-old Audrey got along well. Audrey and Augie were not as friendly with each other, but they still enjoyed chasing and hitting each other.

Friday night was the wake, and the funeral was on Saturday at noon.
Here’s Adelaide on the morning of the funeral. She learned a lot about death on this trip. At the graveside she cried, “I don’t want to go to heaven! I want to stay on earth!” Heart = broken.

My aunt Laurie asked Kyle and me to sing a couple of songs and lead the congregation in hymns for the funeral. We sang a medley of “I Will Praise Him Still” and “Give Me Jesus,” and a Steven Curtis Chapman song, “My Redeemer is Faithful and True.” And we led the congregation in “Old Rugged Cross,” “In the Garden,” “Because He Lives,” and “I’ll Fly Away.”
I don’t think anyone was in the mood for “I’ll Fly Away,” but I still enjoyed it.
That night, we found ourselves locked out of the house. Kyle and Aaron worked on the door for a good 30 minutes until Kyle finally had success using a credit card on the latch.

On Sunday, we went to my dad’s church, and Adelaide finally got to play in the snow.
Adelaide was so excited about the snow. She kept asking, “When can I play in the snow? I can’t wait!”

After playing for about five minutes, she decided she didn’t like the snow. “When will the snow melt? I want to play in the grass. The snow makes my fingers hurt.” We explained that you really need boots and gloves and snow pants to enjoy playing in the snow.

On the last day, we went back to the mall for dinner on our way to the airport.

Megan looking like a mannequin, and no one wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day.
Adelaide got to ride on the big swings, but her ride got cut short when some older kids started goofing off.

You can’t tell, but he’s watching Adelaide on the swings.
I spotted a St. Baldrick’s shavee and snapped a pic to take back to work.

The kids did well on the plane.
We got home and took a taxi back to Pasadena because I booked the tickets too late in the day to take the train back. Oops.
It was a quick trip, but I’m glad we got to go.
Thanks, Grandma.
In closing, here’s a photo of Kyle pretending he has ham lips.
