Grandmother's Funeral

This past week I went to NC for my Grandmother's funeral from Tuesday to Friday. Sadly, it was a much quicker trip than I would have liked and it was an extremely sad occasion. However, I was so happy to be able to be there to show my love for my Grandmother and to be with my family, esp. my mother. I was given the great honor, along with my sisters and mother, to be able to speak at the funeral. Normally I am a good off-the-cuff type of speaker, but am I ever glad that I decided to write down my thoughts. After listening to my mother speak and then my two sisters, I was an absolute wreck and could barely make it through my talk. Thankfully, both God and Grandmother were looking down on us and blessing us, because Samantha didn't make a peep even though she was wide awake. As always, Samantha was wonderful! :)

The blessing of a funeral is that it brings together family you haven't seen in awhile. It is sad that it sometimes takes such occasions to do so, but I did get to see a lot of my extended family and share in some great memories of Grandmother. There was a lot of laughter and smiles amongst the tears. I think Grandmother would like that. She lived a grand life and even though we were all sad, we celebrated that as well as mourned it.

Tia came in that week with me as well and brought her 4 year old Maddie - who just turned 4 today by the way -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADDIE!! My other sister lives there near my Mom with her 3 kids - Danielle, Grace and Allyson - so, we got to spend some quality time together and introduce all the children who had yet to meet Samantha. Maddie esp. took to Samantha and before long, was her entertainment committee and her caretaker - constantly, taking care of her "leaking" (as she liked to call it) with the burp cloth.

I got to spend some great time with my Mother and father. I cherish those moments so much. It does make me realize even more though, how much I miss everyone!!! It was definitely hard to leave on Friday!

Nonetheless, we still managed to squeeze in some pictures from my time there -- see below! I might post more later, but here are some glimpses of our time together.

Devon and Andy's Visit

Our friends from college, Devon and Andy, came to visit this weekend. In fact, Andy came with Keith to pick me up from the airport upon arriving from NC (post on that trip to come).

We had a great time catching up with them. It had been a long time since we had seen each other, and this was their first time getting to meet Samantha. Thankfully, it was also a beautiful weekend, so we got a chance to get out and take a walk at Ritchey Woods. The dogs - our Sadie and their Carmen - were so excited to be able to get out with us.

The visit flew by, but after our nice walk Devon and I whipped up some oriental cuisine - Kung Pao Chicken, rice and home-made egg rolls -- yum!! :) We also experimented with some apple and cinnamon filled eggrolls coated with powdered sugar -- yes, as sinfully delicious as they sound! The guys also bonded over X-box -- just like old times at WVU! :)

They even got to attend church with us and before they left today, we got some more pictures. Of course, we had to make the guys pose -- men are so difficult. ;) They just don't understand women's needs for pics.

Devon also got some good cuddle time with Samantha. I shared the bicep workout of holding my Chunky Monkey. I loved this cute picture below.
Thank you Devon and Andy for coming this weekend! We loved seeing you guys! :)

May She Be Dancing in Heaven

Grandma and me at a reunion when I was in high school.

Tara, Grace, Mom, Grandma and Great-grandma LeMaire.

Grandpa, Grandma, Great-grandma, Anita and Gene.

Grandma (left) as a young woman, sitting on her father's lap - Mr. LeMaire, Great-grandma LeMair (right), and her sister Anita (back row).

On Sunday morning my Grandmother, Maezelle Beach, passed away from cancer. By the time it was diagnosed, it had consumed most of her body. From diagnosis, she only lasted a few days. Her death brings a great sadness in our lives, esp. to that of her surviving children - my mother, Mitzi, Theo and Eddie. Tomorrow Samantha and I travel to NC to be by their side for the funeral.

Despite the sadness of this loss, I cannot help but be overwhelmed with the loving memories I had of her. She was a vivacious woman. She epitomized the women in my life - she was made of a tougher fiber - of pure grit. She was not the "typical" grandmother or woman of her time, wrapped in an apron and ever present with a warm plate of cookies, or dressed in linen and pearls. She was hard-working, charismatic, gregarious, and a woman who was never limited by her circumstances or time. Barely at 5 feet tall, she was a woman bigger in presence than her mere stature.

She worked until her mid-seventies, only when her eyesight was too bad. She competed in the Senior Olympics as a dancer, leading and choreographing cheerleading, jazz, and country line dancing teams. We even choreographed dances together when I was home for the summer. She was funny, spirited and a great shopping partner. She loved you, no matter the time or distance that separated the visit. She took care of her ailing husband, my dear Grandfather, when he was dying of cancer. And, if you were at my wedding 5 years ago, you saw her dance her butt off and drop lower to the floor than the girls my age. She was in one word - remarkable.

I am proud to have that type of woman running through my veins. I am so blessed to have had her in my life. And, I just know that heaven is more fun because she is there. I know she is dancing in heaven; having already organized the angels into an all out team.

As she use to say, when she coached the dance teams in her seventies -- "those old ladies couldn't do the moves she could." I will always remember her as the woman who defied her age and was blessed with many talents.

We all miss you Grandma -- Love, Dana

Easter Weekend

Keith got off of work last Friday and this Monday, so we went to WV to celebrate Easter with his family and coincidentally my 29th birthday that fell on the same day! We have a great time. We got family pictures done on Saturday and even got Samantha's picture with the Easter Bunny. Samantha also got to meet the rest of Keith's family and was so excited to have so many people entertaining her that she was showing off -- she was big smiles and was talking (albeit in a foreign language ;) ) nonstop. Below are some pictures from the weekend. Enjoy! :)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Big Girl in the BUMBO

My baby is getting SO big!! sniff, sniff. She is a little over 3 months and she can sit up in the BUMBO Aunt Tara got her. It is amazing how quickly they grow, change and learn. She is giggling, interacting so much, and you can see the gears turning as she takes in the world. And, now she is getting such good head control that I know it won't be long before she is sitting up on her own.

3 Month Portraits

Samantha finally got her 3 month portraits done at JCPenny's last weekend. After a meltdown at the last attempt we were SO nervous, but this session went wonderful and we got some amazing pictures! The ladies working with her did great to get those smiles and perfect looks out of her.

We get in the final pictures here soon and will send them out to our family - so no worries. Here are just 3 teaser photos that I loved via the website! After I sort through pictures to send out, I will email the online site with all of the pictures in case anyone wants to order from the full set, or if you want a certain size.

We were so proud of her and no shock to us, she showed off beautifully in these pictures. She is truly our little angel.