We weren't at my families Mother's Day parties because we went down to Las Vegas to watch Casey's sister get pinned. Casey's sister had been studying for her RN at the College of Southern Nevada and was graduating and getting pinned in early May.
Here she is after her children 'pinned' her. Unfortunately I missed this part of the ceremony because Wes was having a difficult time sitting still and being quiet so we went out into the lobby of the Cashman Center and I tried to keep him occupied. This didn't work so well so after this, Casey came and relieved me and he let Wes run around. It was great to see all of Casey's sister's hard work come to fruition. I am happy that she has found a career path that she is excited to follow. I know that it's hard to find where you want to be and I am so excited to see where her hard work takes her.
While down that weekend, we also went out to lunch with some of our friends who live in Vegas. It was great to get a chance to catch up with people who were such big parts of our lives while we lived down there. It's so funny to see where everyone has ended up, career-wise, when we met because we all worked together for the movie theatres down in Las Vegas. I'm so glad to see that everyone is happy and healthy and doing well.
On our way home from Vegas we stopped in to visit Casey's grandparents. His grandmother had taken a fall a couple days before and his grandpa had tried to help her up but hurt his back. When we got to the house Casey's mother was taking his grandpa to the doctor as his back wasn't getting any better; we said a quick hello as they headed out and went inside to visit with his grandmother. Considering her fall a couple of days before, I thought she was doing pretty good for 91 years old. I know that old age comes with many ailments, having seen my great-grandma get progressively frailer as she reached her 90's, but Casey's grandmother was so sharp that I was surprised. She talked to us about how she was doing (physically) and about the party that was held for them the previous fall for her and grandpa's combined 90th birthdays and 70th anniversary. Casey was on call and we were unable to attend but she had photos to show us and pointed out people who we didn't know. She knew all the names and had some information to share about everyone there. We said our good-byes with the promise that next time we were down we come by to visit longer and headed home.
Just a few days after we got home from Vegas and Cedar City my mom had her birthday. We drove up to Ogden on her actual birthday to have dinner with both of my parents and one of my sisters. Tony's Pizza in Ogden has the best dressing for their salads and awesome pizza and being about a half hour away I don't get as many chances to eat there as I would like. When we finished our meal we walked around the corner and got ice cream at Farr's Ice Cream, another Ogden institution. It was a nice evening to spend with family and then a few nights later was her birthday party where we got to see a lot more extended family. It was a great weekend.
The following weekend was Memorial Weekend which came with beautiful weather this year. While we stayed home because Casey was on call for the weekend we did have some pretty significant events to attend. My cousin's daughter had just graduated from high school (Go Royals!) and had a graduation barbecue to celebrate on Saturday.
At the same party my youngest sister also publicly announced that she was pregnant! This is great news as this pregnancy did not come easily to her so we are very excited for another baby. She is due in the beginning of January and we cannot wait to see this next little guy/first little girl!
The next day Casey's nephew had e his church blessing. While we didn't make it to the actual blessing (Wes still isn't good at quietly sitting) we made it to the party that Casey's brother and his wife held after and we had a great time there. My sister-in-law's family has always been so nice and welcoming to us that it was good to see them after a few years. My in-laws drove up from Southern Utah and Casey's brother that also lives up here also came (along with his family) so it was great to be together and catch up. It was kind of a hard time for us Eggett's because Casey's parent's dog, Pudge, had just died a few days before. Pudge had been a loved member of the family for eleven, twelve years. It is very different not having him greet you when you get to the house or follow all the kids around.
The following Tuesday morning about 7:30 Casey called me. I am a firm believer in the 8 to 10 rule, in that no phone calls are made before eight in the morning and ten in the evening out of respect for whoever it is you are calling. To me, any phone calls outside of that period are emergency phone calls. So when Casey called me I answered ASAP even though I was still sleeping. He told me that it was a good thing that we stopped to see his grandmother when we did, as she had died the previous night.
As the week progressed, we made plans to head down to Cedar City for the funeral services on Saturday and then the burial services would be held in Bountiful the following Monday. Unfortunately my cousin's wedding on Saturday would have to be missed and I offered to help out the day before, doing whatever it is that they needed me to do, so I called my aunt and let her know what was going on and why we wouldn't be there. I also asked my sister to watch my dogs so that an already full house wouldn't be even more chaotic with Moco and Lula underfoot.
I met Grandma Dunford for the first time at a combined 80th Birthday celebration for both of Casey's maternal grandparents. It was about seven or eight months after we had started dating and it was being held up in Bountiful at his grandparent's church hall. When we first arrived in Bountiful we went to the Dunford house to meet up with his family before heading over to the church. I was introduced to Grandma Dunford and she took me by the hand and began to inquire about me. She then asked if I could help her with her hair and took me into her bedroom to 'brush' her hair. Grandma Dunford had always been so kind and interested in what was going on with us. I know that her frank matter of speaking could (and did) turn some people off but she was never outright callous with her words. She had plenty of advice for us, especially when Casey began pharmacy school. Grandma followed Grandpa Dunford all around the country while he got his medical school education, residency and specialties completed so she new what it was like to support someone in a similar situation.
At the funeral, we dosed Wes with some Benadryl hoping it would calm him down so that he could sit through the services without wanting to run around, make noises or play. He had other ideas and to make sure that we weren't a disruption, Wes and I sat in the church lobby. There was a speaker out there so while I held Wes and made him watch a movie I listened to what everyone had to say. If there was one thing that was evident to all who were there that day it was that Grandma and Grandpa Dunford had a rare love story that has been hard to emulate. Seventy years was how long there marriage lasted and it was a true partnership in every way. It was then, and now, very difficult to see Grandpa suffering for Grandma and I can't imagine the loss that he is feeling right now. Seventy years with the love of your life, your best friend and companion, a fellow adventurer and to have them gone? I don't know if I can imagine that.
Here is hoping that I can catch my breath and relax a bit. I feel like I have been running from one thing to the next and haven't had a chance to just be. I know things will come up and I can usually get a handle pretty quickly but I just need a moment.
