We just had Thursday at home to get some things done and then it was a whole funeral weekend. Friday we headed down to Pocatello before lunch to see John (Papa) who got into town late Wednesday and hang out with Tyson too while Elaine and Angie got Grandma and things ready for the viewing. We just hung out and then all got to go to a late lunch/early dinner at Texas Roadhouse, the one chance the whole week to have it be just the Wilkers, which was nice. After that we got to go to the funeral home just us so that we could look at things and help the kids understand and see Grandma Chandler. It was nice to have that quiet moment with her. We went back to her house and then it was the viewing that night. We of course stayed longer than we had planned and the kids were all tired so it made for a long night and we got home after 10pm.
Saturday morning started early with Preston's last soccer game at 8am!! We were all exhausted! We headed down to Pocatello about noon (our 4th time in one week, a new record!) for the second viewing and funeral. Grandma Chandler had lived most of her life in Pocatello so there were many there to pay their respects. The family prayer and funeral each got started a half hour late and the funeral was long, about 2 hours. It was beautiful except for Abby having an accident in the nursery and me having to put her in my sweater for a makeshift dress! A little stressful! Elaine had sat down with her mom about a year ago and they had planned out her funeral with all of her wishes, which made it easy to plan and everyone knew this was exactly what she had wanted. One part was that she had all of the grandchildren and their spouses, if they wanted, come up and sing "Where can I turn for peace?" It was absolutely beautiful and of course many of us were choked up the whole time. I managed to hold back the tears until the last line, "Constant He is, and kind, love without end." We repeated that line and I just couldn't get it out.
My other favorite part was that Grandma Chandler had chosen "I Stand All Amazed" as the closing hymn. She had specifically told Elaine that at the last chorus she wanted everyone to sing it out with gusto. Elaine had shared this with everyone during her portion of the funeral so when it came time for the last chorus everyone belted it out and spontaneously stood up. Must've been quite the sight for her! Also, Steve got to be a pall bearer (the oldest son in attendance from each family got to be), which I know was very special to him.
Funerals are sad of course and we are all going to miss her but we know it's not the end. My heart breaks for Elaine who was so very close to her mother, but it was repeated several times and we all know that through the plan of salvation that we can see her and be with her again. It was a beautiful reminder of how wonderful the gospel is and how blessed we all are to have it. Grandma Chandler lived a wonderful life and she really left a legacy of love that will be remembered. I told Steve that I really enjoyed being able to learn more about her life and learn about Grandpa Chandler who none of us had the chance to meet.
We drove with the funeral procession to the cemetery. It was such a weird feeling to know we had just been there a few weeks ago with Grandma Chandler for Memorial Day. She had joked with us that we couldn't put the flowers on her side because she wasn't dead yet! Well, she has lots of flowers now. While there everyone got to sing the song "Chandler is a Good Name," a song that she and her husband had written years ago with verses that were added for a later family reunion. I know she had a huge smile on her face to hear everyone sing that together.
The last thing we got to do was everyone got to release 100 pink and purple balloons. It was a fun sight to see! Abby on the other hand bawled because she had to let go of her balloon, she was so sad!
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| Abby was still mad about her balloon... and that I wouldn't let her dig in the dirt. |
This was just a few weeks ago. Didn't think we'd be back there so soon.
We headed back to the church for the dinner which was delicious and the ward was so sweet and did a great job. We had to go back to Grandma Chandler's house for a bit and then Angie and Tyson came back to Idaho Falls with us. Exhausted was definitely the key word for the week!!
On Sunday, John and Elaine came up to come to church with us and hang out and relax which was really nice. We had to say goodbye to them that night which is always so hard, especially for this pregnant lady! It really is hard to be so far away from family. We ended up keeping Tyson for Sunday night so that the boys could have just one more day to play together on Monday. The kids and I had a fun day of breakfast at Burger King, the zoo, shaved ice, and fun in the water. Steve drove Tyson back to Pocatello on Monday night and Preston was just devastated to say goodbye to his best buddy.
We are all still wiped out from the busy week. Really need to catch up on some sleep and relax but we've got 3 weeks until baby comes!! Between that to do list and summer activities that just don't wait, just going to be tired and deal with it!
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