Butterflies

For Christmas Andersons gave mom a butterfly container. It started out with caterpillars and over a few weeks they hatched into butterflies. We probably had them inside longer than what the instructions said... but our weather was too chilly to let them out. Even when we did release them, they might not have survived the night time temps. The first pics were from the day that we released them. The other pics are a couple of decorative pictures. One I gave mom a few years ago... the "Practice Courage" one. The other one, "Let the Miracle Happen", I purchased for the display table at the memorial service. Audrey also took a picture of the stained glass window at the church... it also has a butterfly at the top. For mom's last birthday party, the theme was "Time Flies"... also butterflies. Other pics, Audrey and I took outside. At least Audrey and I will always think of mom when we see butterflies. I especially like the idea of "Let the Miracle Happen". I feel like the miracle really will happen for mom, now that she is on the other side of the veil.

Primary Items

Here are a couple of things that I did for primary for this year. An ancient temple to color and birthday gifts for the teachers. Oh... and my bulletin board.

Catching UP

I am going through my photos and getting caught up here for January, February, March, and April. By the time I looked at what was sitting on my camera there were over 400 photos. some of those I already posted...like the memorial service at Saint Christopher's. At least my camera dates the photos by month. Here are a few animal pics from January. I have been playing around with some enhancements and effects on them. In a couple of months I will be setting up an Etsy shop to see if I can sell some of these. Remember...my new LLC is called the "Brown Baby Bird" now, instead of "The Silver Hanger".

Beautiful Flowers

My friends from church brought these flowers to the memorial service for mom. I love them. Now.. if I can keep them away from the deer and the raccoons...I will be doing good! :)

Memorial Service at St. Christopher's

Here are a few pics. from the service yesterday at St. Christopher's. It was a beautiful day. The flowers didn't turn out exactly like what I wanted. The display table turned out nice. We appreciated three ladies from that church setting up a small reception following the service. Out of about 39 guests... 28 of those were Mormon ;)... at an Episcopal church. I hope it was what mom wanted.

Life Upside Down

When mom went back to the nursing home, everything she knew as normal was gone. We put alot of prayer and thought into the choice to move her there. After three weeks of taking care of her in the bed, we realized that we couldn't do enough for her here at home. The pace was more than we could handle. I couldn't leave home, hardly ever, and when a Home Instead lady wasn't here...Ron was the one helping me. So it was a sad day when she went back to the nursing home and that was compounded by a few other things. She no longer had her chair, her TV, her radio, and my cooking... but they also took away the Hospice nurse that we liked and her priest at Saint Christopher's retired.  On top of those things she had some dementia that was rapidly progressing, so she was not very happy there at the nursing home. I went there everyday for at least a couple hours and we hired Kelly (one of the former Home Instead ladies) to also go there for two hours everyday. She not only helped mom, but she was extra eyes and ears for me, to know what was going on at the nursing home. The Hospice aids still went to bathe her...but even that was a struggle. Of course, Andersons went to see her every Sunday, before coming to our house for dinner.
This week, I have been finishing up details for the memorial service here at Saint Christopher's. I ordered some photos to be mounted on foam core board, ordered some flowers, and have been putting together some other photos and items to display on a table. I called her long term insurance trying to get reimbursement for the nursing home bill. I called her life insurance to get that claim started. I called to start making plans for Denver...at the cemetery and a memorial service there. I still have other items to finish and I don't have the death certificates yet. I have been sorting through her old photos and family history info. and I need to clean out her room... mostly just clothing to donate.

It's Been a Long Year

It's  the first of March and the first couple of months for 2018, have been a long year!
On New Years Eve, Jim Simms passed away. He is a bit younger than Alex and his death was a big surprise. Annie and Alex and the kids were on vacation and tried to get back to Durham as quick as possible, then Alex came to Dallas for the memorial service. We went too, which meant mom had to go to the Bandera nursing home for respite care. When we got back, she was in bad shape (like normally happens with respite care... she stayed in the bed for the entire 5 days.) and she had an upper respiratory infection. So for the entire month of January she was bed ridden. We did what we could here at home until  the end of the month, and then we realized that we couldn't keep trying to take care of her in the bed. (I have known for quite awhile that situation would be very difficult.) On January 26, we moved her back to the nursing home. In the next four weeks, she stayed bed ridden, refusing to sit up, many times refusing to eat or drink, and having severe progress on dementia.  She got weaker and weaker... eating less... and not drinking very much water either. On February 18th, Sam and Audrey went to see her and they could tell that she probably wouldn't last much longer. She was telling them good bye. Mike and Carrie and the boys decided to come on Feb.23 and go see her on Saturday, the 24th. At that point she couldn't talk or open her eyes... not really responding to anything. (and her breathing was pretty bad.) On Sunday morning, the 25th, the nursing home called me and said that her vital signs were getting pretty rough, and I should come there right away. I stayed at church long enough to get everything situated for primary. I got to the nursing home about 12:15. Dan Harkness was coming into town right behind me. (He was originally planning to come on either the 22nd or 23rd, but they had a bad ice storm in Abilene, so he had postponed until the 26. When I saw how bad she was on Saturday, I called him and said he better come on Sunday.) As it turned out he was the one sitting there at the nursing home with me when she stopped breathing. (Ron was still in Boerne on a high council assignment and Audrey and the boys came back out, but just went to the house.) She seemed to pass away peacefully... not in any pain... just stopped breathing. The hospice nurse was there when I arrived, then he had to go to Boerne to see another patient, then he came back mid afternoon. She was pronounced dead at 2:15. We waited for someone from Grimes Funeral Home to come, then we packed up her personal items. Dan headed back to Abilene and Ron and I went home to have dinner with Audrey and the boys. It was great to have Mike and Carrie and then Sam and Audrey visit her on Saturday afternoon. Especially Mike and Carrie's visit. They talked to her, Mike sang to her and read scriptures. It was perfect. I am not a "talker"... I should have told her a few more things, but pretty much, the only thing I could say on Sunday was, "I am here and Dan is right behind me. There are lots of people waiting for you on the other side." I am glad that Dan was there, she really loved him and I assume it meant alot to her, to have him there. (Even though she was not responding to anything, we have to assume that she could hear us and knew that we were there.) The past week has been crazy with making arrangements for the cremation and memorial services. Some of mom's close friends have, or will be a great help. Memorial service planned at Saint Christopher's Episcopal church, on March 12 at 1 pm. Father Alan is doing most of the planning and work for that. Then there will be another service in Denver, on May 5 and interment at the Arvada cemetery. (Lots of details to still plan for that.) In many ways... taking care of everything has been easier than what most people have to do. I already knew mom's wishes and she has very little property or other items to take care of. Also she has two life insurance policies that should cover all of the costs. Sad thing that Doug and Gary did not get here to see her. I thought that was going happen about the 7th of February... but nope. We have had great support from our friends at church. (It will be interesting to see the Episcopal church full of Mormons ;) All of our kids are planning to meet in Denver... in May. And of course Doug and Gary, mom's Denver friends, and Berthoud family and friends.