USA Visit-Day 7 (Part One)

Before leaving Battle Creek on Monday, a small group of us went to the burial site for a personal ceremony. 

                                     

The kids threw in some coins for the slot machines…grandma loved the casino! 

After the cemetery, we headed back to the house for lunch (& a few pictures) before heading to Kalamazoo.

                                     

Brian went into Stryker for the rest of the day and I headed to my good friends, Amanda’s house for the afternoon. The girls had so much fun playing with Emily & Caroline and it was an extra special treat that Jason was not working this day and could take us out for a boat ride.  The girls had a blast on the tube and swimming with their friends.

                                     

                                     

                                    

                                    

                                     

USA Visit-Day 6

We woke up after a fun night of games to go to our old church in Brighton.  Afterwards, we headed back to the Mainka’s house for lunch before heading out and grabbed a few pictures along the way.

  This was the best group kid shot we could muster…then we got some great shots of the 5 older kids.

                                            

                                    

From here, we headed west to Battle Creek for my grandma’s memorial.  She past away back in December, but since she was being cremated, they did a small ceremony in Arizona (where she lived half of the year) and waited until we were back in the States for her Michigan memorial (at my Aunt & Uncle’s lake house), which were so blessed by. It was a truly beautiful afternoon and the right mix of casual and classy and I’m sure my granny was pleased.

The beautiful setting for the ceremony, that Pastor Boillat officiated.

Brothers Jim and John doing a little sharing

                                     

Even though I was not sure about sharing, I’m glad I did….and Amanda sang 2 beautiful songs during the ceremony.

                                       

It was definitely emotional watching my grandpa tear up as we all remember.

Great food set up, picture boards and a video slideshow to celebrate her life.

Aunt Julie reminiscing

My dad with his cousin

Change rom chairs to to tables & chairs for meal time

Grandpa with his 2 sisters and their spouses

There was a nice, fun area set up for the kiddos, complete with bounce house and roller coaster

The kids had fun going for golf cart rides around the neighborhood and my cousin, Kimmy and I happen to be wearing very similar outfits

                                     

Hallie was obsessed with going in this little fountain-she loved it, though I was afraid she would go potty in it!

                                     

Grandpa with his sisters

Grandpa with his Michigan grandchildren

Grandpa with all of his great-grandchildren

                                     

                                     

Grandpa with his children

Hallie loves dogs and was happy to see my grandpa’s dog, Candy.

We did not have a proper bed for Hallie, so we tried to make one out of couch cushions, but the freedom to get out was too much for Hallie.  We had a bit of a rough night with her, but she eventually crashed like this in the middle of the room.