For those of you who have not heard the news, my Grandma passed away on Friday, July 31st at 1:20am. Although I am sad that she will no longer be with us here on Earth, I am grateful that she is in a much better place and no longer in any kind of pain or suffering. Grandma passed away in her sleep with my mom's arm around her in the comfort of her own beautiful home, just where she insisted on being. She was 96 years old.

Mr. and I headed down to San Diego early Wednesday morning with the kids in tow. We got to spend some quality time with family we don't see often and some we have never even met. It was so strange to be at Grandma's house without her there. I kept waiting for her to come around the corner to make sure we were all taken care of. And my mom made sure to uphold all of Grandma's house rules. Those of you who know my mom are not surprised to hear this.

On Thursday, my mom, Aunt, cousin, my two sisters and I got to get Grandma ready for burial. We dressed her in her temple clothes and made sure her hair and makeup was just the way she would have done it. She looked beautiful. I am so grateful that I got to be a part of that because it was such a special time to share with my mom. It gave me such a wonderful final image of Grandma that I will never forget. (We are not weird, I promise.)

Friday morning was Grandma's memorial service. My Dad did a great job of sharing some of the important parts of her life and dedicating her grave. It was short and sweet...just what Grandma wanted.

At the lunch after the service I got to meet more family for the first time. I think it's such a shame that we did not get together and get to know each other before we lost Grandma. I learned a lot of fun and interesting things about our family dynamics. I hope to stay in touch and build a relationship with my newly met family members.

On a lighter note, A had a blast running around with all her cousins. And lil J has been busy perfecting his new moves....crawling that is. And his little toothy grin makes me melt.

Pictures to follow soon, I promise.