Grandpa's Funeral

Grandma's house has always been a second home to me. I grew up an hour away from my grandparents home and we visited often. We had Sunday dinners and when I got older I drove my friends up to visit and play. Grandma and Grandpa were always happy to have us and showed us a good time. There is something so comforting about pulling up to this house. I haven't been able to go back for 5 1/2 years so this was a little bittersweet for me this trip.

Grandpa Allsop passed away on Monday, Nov. 16th from a massive stroke suffered during Sacrament meeting. It was mentioned several times what a faithful man Grandpa was and how appropriate it was that his last conscious act was partaking the sacrament. He was indeed faithful to the end.

These photos are mostly for me and my family. I didn't want to leave without taking some pictures of Grandma's house for memories sake.

The game room/family room downstairs. I have never seen stairs like these before. They were really fun to slide down when we were little. I never actually played a real game of pool and am really lousy at trying. My sisters and I would just roll the balls around at hit them with one that we held in our hand while trying to not get our fingers smashed in between the moving balls. Simple pleasures...
The ping pong table was the coveted place to sleep during family gatherings. When we had reunions and such we all wanted to sleep under that table. I remember even when I was older (25 and engaged actually) Bri and I slept under there instead of in the beds just for old times sake.
This is the living room that we hardly ever spend much time in unless there were a lot of people, namely adults visiting. Look at all of the flowers sent from people after the funeral. They were amazing. I couldn't believe how many people sent them in support.
Here is the view when you walk in the front door. I remember there were always two dishes sitting on the counter off to the left. Grandma painted them. One was filled with nuts and the other was filled with candy. This was the first time that I went to their house and they weren't there.

I flew up to Pasco on Thursday evening and so did my cousin Kristin. I haven't seen her in a really long time. We are the same age and so it was fun to catch up on the drive to Toppenish where the family was having dinner and the viewing. We didn't make it is time for Grandma's talk that she gave the family before the dinner and I was sad about that, but I was just so happy to be able to be there that I couldn't complain. My sweet husband watched our little ones while I was gone and we found a really great deal on a plane ticket. I booked the first flight ever from the Phoenix-Mesa airport into Pasco and did it for $163 total round trip. It was really a tender mercy that the flight started when it did because it would have cost a whole lot more if I would have had to fly other airlines last minute. The dates were perfect and missing the funeral just wasn't an option. Every one of my cousins (except the 3 on missions) were there. All 41 of us. I couldn't believe every single blood relative was there except the great grandkids. Not very many of our spouses could be there since they were taking care of the kids. I was so excited to see everyone. I have missed a couple of reunions due to babies being due at the time or being too far away and broke so it was so fun for me to play catch up with my cousins and aunts and uncles. I have always been close to my mom's side of the family and I loved this time we had together.
I wanted a generation picture before I left. Me, Mom, and Grandma all together on Sunday before I flew out. I had a hard time leaving, not knowing when I will be able to come back to see her.

This is the first night at the family dinner at the church. My siblings and I were all wandering around visiting with relatives when slowly we all ended up at the same table, every one of us. We sat there and talked and laughed until it was late and then took the party over to the hotel where we were staying. We stayed up and laughed and talked some more with the relatives staying there. The Allsop clan rented a total of 22 rooms there. Laurel, Bri and I shared a room and we had a really good time. I miss my sisters. It is so great to be around them. Growing up it was always the 3 of us together and it was nice to have that time with them. I laugh so much when we are together.
Here is Chad (#1), Keith (#2), and Kirk (Marlayne's husband). Kirk and I have always been buddies. He has been a part of the family for about 16 years.
Here is Kirk, Tanner (#9), and me (#6). I just love this kid, Tanner. He is such a fun guy. I remember when Bri and I went to knock on his room door for something, he gave us the funniest smile and wave ever! I just couldn't stop laughing. He is just so full of fun and when we get together he just seems so happy. I can't get enough of him!
Here is Laurel (#7), Chelsea (#4), Brianne (#8), and Mom. I am sad we didn't get a sisters picture like we usually do when we are together.
Continuing on around the table is Marlayne (#3) with her youngest, Camden, Ben (#10), and Chad again. I think it is so funny how alike Chad and Ben are when they didn't live in the same house for very long. They are both such a riot!
My sisters and I were talking about how much we love to spend time together as a family. Chelsea said that she just savors every second we get together. That is exactly the way I feel. I can't get enough of the time we get together. Family truly is the best gift. My own family and my extended family, as well as my husbands family. I have truly been blessed!
The funeral was on Friday and I had a hard time during it. I think it really hit me then. I did a lot of crying and was grateful to be next to Laurel and Tanner who lended a hug when I needed it. I felt a bit better when I saw my childhood friends Lacey and Kelsey. I haven't seen them in so long and I was so happy to see them. What a great reunion. I love those friends that you will always have and love no matter how long it has been since you have seen them. These girls just know me so well. I loved the time we had together. I was planning on going to the Tri-Cities to see more of my high school friends, but I just really needed the time with Grandma. There were so many people staying at her house that I wasn't ready to leave her yet. By about Sat. afternoon everyone was gone except Mom, Bri, Grandma, and I. I have never been to her house when there were so few of us and it was so quiet. I cherish those moments with her and being able to talk to her and just be with her. It was such a wonderful weekend and yet so hard to say goodbye to Grandpa. I am so happy to be a part of this family and to have him as a role model. He was such an incredible man and example for all of us he left behind.

Halloween

I am finally getting around to Halloween. The kids had a fun couple of nights for Halloween. Nana and Papa came over Friday night for the wards trunk-or-treat and to help with the house. The kids won these glasses from some of the games they played. The ward party also included a chili cook off. Anyone that knows Nathaniel well knows that he loves to make his own chili. It is the only thing he makes that he actually approves of. I think he is a fine cook, but chili is his specialty. He won the firecracker award, which was perfect because he usually does make it pretty hot. He doesn't think it is right until you have to eat it with a box a kleenex next to you. Nana and Papa taking the kids around trunk-or-treating in the Campbell ward (our ward was split the Sunday before this party but were still invited).
Here are the kids waiting with Daddy for Nana and Papa. We let them play around the parking lot while Nathaniel helped with the traffic to be sure those that were going to participate in the trunk-or-treat were in the right place. The kids wanted to be out there with him over playing the games. I thought it was so cute. They just really love time with Daddy. They must get that from me!
Nathan loves the girls crowns. He is in need of his brother. Poor kid gets stuck with crowns and wands. I think it is so funny! Daddy doesn't find it quite so humorous.
We also had the annual Law School party. The kids love it because Callie is there. They don't get to see her much since she lives far away. I love how well they play together. The party at the school includes face painting, cookie decorating, a cake walk, fishing, and other games. Here is Kate the fairy princess.
Eliza, Callie, and Kate decorating cookies at the Law School party.
Sleeping Beauty, Tigger, and the Fairy Princess. Nathan was so cute I couldn't stop kissing his chubby cheeks that stuck out of the hood.
Another crown and wand picture. I tell you he loves them.
The girls before the ward party.
And yet again...
The funny thing is that we ended up not having plans for the actual night of Halloween so we got a movie for the kids and one for us. We watch Monsters vs. Aliens and the kids got some other movie that they watched in their room. I am not a huge Halloween fan although it is much more fun now that I have kids and see their excitement. We put Nathan down for bed, turned off our lights and sat around and watched our movies. I actually really enjoyed it.

It's Offical...We Need Therapy

Well, not all of us do, just Nathan. His speech just isn't coming along. He says the d, b, and m sound with a combination of different a sounds (like ma, da, ba...you get it). He doesn't babble or jabber like most kids do. He is over 18 months now and still sounds like a monkey with all of his "ooo, ooo". He will make that sound when he needs something to eat or play with, wants to do something, needs help, and everything in between. He will point or lean along with it so it is a game of charades everyday to figure out what he wants. If any of you know me, I HATE charades. I am getting better at figuring out what his different "ooo"s mean and what he needs. I had a friend suggest I put in a referral and we had someone from the state come and evaluate him. She observed him and asked a million questions for her developmental assessment. She said his test came back normal, but since expressive and receptive language are lumped together in the same catagory in the test it didn't show the huge gap between them. So she still had the speech and language pathologist come to give her evaluation. She agreed that he is doing great with his receptive language skills as well as social skills, but that expressive is lacking a bit. We are going to take him in to have his hearing tested, even though he seems to be hearing and comprehending just about everything we say, just to be sure we don't overlook anything obvious. Then, on Thursday we will have a lady come and make up an Individual Family Plan. We'll see if we can get someone to come to our house to do speech therapy or if we need to take him somewhere to have it done and see how often he needs it. This will be great for him to be able to communicate without getting frustrated (he is starting to throw tantrums). He may just surprise us and start speaking out of the blue, but as for now, this is the best route we can think of. I see him as being so smart because he is so receptive and can understand so much of what I say, the problem is, no one else sees it since he walks around sounding like a monkey. I promise, he is smarter than he sounds!