Saying Good-bye to Melba

On Sunday, January 20th, Cody and I received a call from his parents at church. Cody's paternal grandmother, Melba, had had a heart attack during the night and had passed away in her sleep. Cody and I were just about to go to the singles branch to speak to them about standing in holy places. It was hard to continue on after such news but it was actually really healing to speak about home, families and the temple. After some rushed deliberation and many, many phone calls and text messages to family and friends, we decided to leave the kids with friends and head out very early Tuesday morning for Utah. Cody already had a business trip Tuesday morning to LA so we went to the airport together and I headed to Las Vegas and he to SoCal. It was all very sudden and rushed, but luckily our kids seem to have no problem being left with friends. Not a single one cried when we left them or while we were gone, not even Hazel. I'm not sure if that means they are well adjusted or they really, really like our friends (I'm choosing to ignore any other options, heehee) but either way I'm grateful for their easy going personalities because I knew they were totally fine and happy.

Tuesday was a very, very long day of traveling. We left our house at 5:45 am to drop Hazel off on our way to the airport (we had dropped Morgan and Pepper off at their respective friends' houses the night before.) We left Cleveland at 8:30. I flew to Houston and had a two hour layover. Then I flew to Vegas and had two hours before Cris and Robin came in and we could drive to St. George, where we would pick up Robin's sister before heading to Virgin. When we finally got to Cody's parents' house it was about 10:30 Ohio time and I was EXHAUSTED! But it was so wonderful to see his parents and be with his family.

My view of the west.

Trying to capture the essence of flying with no kids.

Lots to think about.

Cody got me this book for Christmas and it was a wonderfully, hysterical read on the plane. I felt bad for the sleeping, older man next to me because my shoulders kept shaking with laughter.

A little snowcapped Rockies.

During my two hour wait in Vegas, Mark Snavely and Josh Virostko and two of Mark's children came to hang out with me. They picked me up, we grabbed some food and headed to an outdoor playground to let Mark's little girl run around. It was so great to see those guys and catch up. I love that with some friends it is so easy to pick right up where you left off. I also love that with blogs, Facebook and Instagram it is so easy to keep track of friend's lives and feel like you are still apart of them.

Mark's little man, Ian. He was a smiley, happy little guy.

Ari and Pepper are very close in age and it was fun to listen to her stories and hear her laugh. She reminded me a lot of Pepper. When Pepper saw this picture the first thing she said was, "I love her shoes!" Love it.

Josh, Mark and Ian.

The older and slightly fuller faced crew.
Love these guys!

This one is slightly out of order but it expresses another part of my trip. For some reason I did not feel that great on this trip, which kind of put a damper on being childless for a few days. By Wednesday night I was barely hanging on so Cody's mom suggested I take a bath in her big, jetted bath tub. I accepted the offer and enjoyed every second of it.

A Lego version of Mont St. Michel. I have been there and loved it so I thought it was fun to see it in the Cleveland aiport.

Mom's new dog, Tootsie. She was tiny and fluffy and 100% adorable.

Wednesday morning, the family held a viewing at a funeral home in St. George. Melba was laid out in a beautiful coffin and there were tons of beautiful flowers. I think she would have been very pleased.
I spent a lot of time sitting and talking with Cody's sister, Katie and sister-in-law, Joanna. It was so great to catch up with Katie and to discuss parenting with these wise ladies.

A family gathering is a great time to capture the moment.

Robin and her siblings, Tyler, Shelbi, and Luke.

I love spending time with this lovely lady, Jessie, Uncle Bob's better half.

The highlight of the trip was getting to have some great conversations with these two.

Uncle Bob (Dad's brother,) his son Joshua's back, Jessie and Joshua's wife.

Luke's face cracks me up in this picture. Can you tell he's a state trooper?

Dad gave a beautiful and poignant eulogy that was just perfect for Melba.
I was thankful for his words and really wished Cody had been there to hear it.

Mom and Dad saying good-bye.

Shelbi, Aunt Linda (Dad's sister) and Robin.

The cousins.

The Adams family.

The Tobol kids.

After the graveside service, we all headed back to Virgin for a wake. The Virgin ward Relief Society helped provide food and some other random people showed up with food, so we were all well fed. Cody did not show up until about 2:30 but he made it in time to eat and spend time with family.

Finally had funeral potatoes at a funeral.
I think this is the second time I've had them in my life. They were okay.

So glad these lovely people were there and that when I go home they are still there (relatively speaking.)

The group spent most of the afternoon digging through old pictures from a chest at Melba's home.
One of the highlights was looking at pictures from Grandpa Lloyd's (Dad's father and Melba's first husband) funeral about 30 years ago. Little Cody was adorable!

He finally made it and Mom was a very happy person!

The cousins again. All of the Tobols and Adams kids.
Robin, Luke, Shelbi, Tyler, Cody, Katie and Khan

The Tobols and Cris.

There's always one in every family!

I made everyone jump and then got a blurry pic. Oops.
Still pretty fun though.

Only Cody and Robin were game to try again.

Cody and Katie's faces crack me up.

As a trip it was way, way too short, but as an experience it was perfect. I was very grateful to be there to support Cody's parents and to meet so much of his family. I was grateful to be able to represent our family and help say good-bye to Great-Grandma Melba. I was able to help lay the veil over her face along with Katie, Robin, Shelbi and Joanna. I was sad that Cody could not be there for most of it but I was so glad that we made the effort for me to be there. I truly love Cody's family and am so thankful that we will all be together forever.
Good-bye, Grandma Melba. I hope you are at peace now and happy. You will be missed and you are loved.