Nana's Memorial Service

Saturday was the Memorial Service for Nana. Lois and her siblings (and their spouses) did such a great job of organizing it all - they thought of everything. It was so beautiful. Lois asked us for our afghans because she had a picture in her mind of how she could set them up at the front. When I walked in, I was instantly in tears seeing this. This is a very small fraction of the number of blankets and afghans she actually knitted over the years. It looked so beautiful and was such a touching tribute to Nana who poured so much time, love and prayers into these (she told me once that she prayed for the person she was knitting for the entire time she knitted their afghan). Quinny's is the pink on the top left (the brightest one in the bunch... you should have seen her face when I requested a bright pink for Quinny when she was born! And we love it, its perfect), mine is the purple on in the middle, and Jon's is the dark green on the far left. Most of the grandkids had their afghans there, and it was so lovely to see them all together. It made my heart hurt that any future baby or babies we have won't be able to call one their own. They are just so special. Good thing my purple one is so big, perfect for sharing. Do you see the royal blue to the right? That one is Tim's newest one, she knitted it a few years ago in that color because he is a Canucks fan. I love that. And it is one of my favourites, such a gorgeous, vibrant blue. Oh Nana. It doesn't really seem real that you are no longer with us

The service was very lovely and I think Nana would have loved it. Luke and Aimee did a great job with the music, and Tim gave a beautiful eulogy, full of facts about her life and full of anecdotes about a woman who was loving and funny and lived for Jesus. Jon's talk is one that will forever be etched on my heart. He gave a message from the Grandkids, and it was funny and eloquent, and full of love. His two oldest cousins came up to him afterwards and hugged him and told thanked him for speaking so well on all their behalf. He choked up a few times and I was very proud of how he was able to continue on. His words were beautiful. Him and Calea also joined their siblings on stage for the last song which was also excellent. And Makenna read a psalm, and she did so well. It was all things that Nana would have loved (she requested a bunch of it, so we know she would have loved it!). The one thing that Tim drew attention to in the eulogy is how Nana said repeatedly in her last days/weeks was that she continuously said "It's fine, I am fine, I am ready". That amazes me. Her faith was so amazing and sure, and she was ready to go to Heaven. I can only hope to live such a beautiful life and meet my end so gracefully. We love you SO much Nana. Thank you for leaving us with such an incredible legacy and example to follow. I am forever thankful that you loved me as you did, and accepted me into the family and made me feel like I was just as important as the rest. I am thankful for the ways you encouraged Jon and poured into him, and for the way you adored Quinny. Your memory lives on in them. We will miss you tremendously.

Lois' siblings came over afterwards and most of their families and it was again just so nice to be together. I think Nana would have been proud of that. We once again had chinese food in remembrance of Nana. We also got to meet sweet little Harper! She is Auntie Hanna's step-son Roger's baby. She was born just a few days after Nana passed away. She is a big girl, at almost 10 pounds, with a gorgeous head of hair! We were so happy to meet her, especially Quinny! She had a hard time putting her down, she just wanted to keep holding her. She touched her gently and sang softly to her, and told her how cute she was (she said "she's so cute!" over and over haha!). My little mother hen. These moments are the ones that get me, and make me so desperately pray for another one. She will make the most incredible big sister, I am certain of that.

I messaged Shannon afterwards and thanked her for letting Quinny hold Harper and for just being with us - they often don't come to family things (they live out in Sooke so its hard, and Roger is in the Navy so he's away a lot), but I am really hoping that we start seeing more of them. I want to be more intentional and make more of an effort with them. Our girls could be great friends as they get bigger! And it is just so fun to see Hanna as a "Nana Hanna" - she is just so cute with her, and so thrilled to be a grandparent. Love it! And Harper really is adorable!

Look at these beautiful faces!!!! Oh how I love them all. Sweet Hazel has just had such a hard time, losing her best friend. I couldn't imagine the hole that must leave. I just pray that she still feels that she is a part of our family, and keeps coming to our family things! We love her dearly.

Seriously. They are so adorable I can barely handle it.

Okay this was awesome. You know that face that I have said Quinny keeps making? Well I was watching the slideshow on Friday night, and I saw Jon pop up in the corner of a picture, making this face!!!! I tracked down the original pic and put it side by side these two of Quinny and oh man I laughed!!! Her mouth on the left, and her eyes on the right totally add up to the face that he's making in the middle. She comes by it honestly! The best part was that Jon's Opie (Nana's husband) was making a similar face in one of the pictures too!! But I couldn't find the digital copy of that one! Too funny. This makes this face much funnier, and makes me appreciate it more haha. Love these silly goofballs.