Grandma Lydia

First of all...let me thank you for your sweet birthday wishes. I randomly picked a winner for the bread & jelly. Anna. Congrats. Your sweet words warm my heart.

Sunday night we got a call that Donovan's grandma had died. She was 86. It was such a shock to us. Her and Grandpa spend winters in Florida. This is where she was when she went home to Jesus. This sweet woman was a special part of our lives.

Often when we went to Florida we stayed with Grandma & Grandpa. This was a neat time that we got to know them better.

And most years when we went down, Grandma would invite family that lived in Florida over for a meal. Grandma liked to make excuses to celebrate, and have all of us together.

And she sure loved the babies. The last few years she would be pretty unstable to carry them around but would sit and ask that we bring the baby to her. Here she is loving on Karis & Suzy. Loved how much she loved my kids.

And for sure when we had a new baby to meet, she was often our first company to come to our house when we got home from the hospital.

I remember how she loved Suzanna's name. Commenting that she loved her middle name "Faye" given to her for my mom's name. She had a way of making a person feel very special & smart.

I also loved how she was quick to greet us with hugs.

Grandma also loved helping with canning our applesauce EVERY year. She was eager to come, and would often ask when we were getting together for our annual event. This picture was taken back when we lived in Millersburg. About 6 years ago. I think that year we did about 5 bushel. How sad it will be not to have her a part of that this fall.

Another year of helping.

And this was this past fall. Since we were in the middle of building~we had apple day at Donovan's mom's house. It was pretty cool to see how Suzy warmed up to Grandpa and Grandma had fun just talking to her and making her feel special and loved. Loved the connection she had with my kids. I love how much she worked at getting to know them better.

This was a reunion that was about 6 years ago. Not quite all of the family....some live down south. Some were not able to be there. But wow, what a crew!

What a legacy she left for us. What a peace of mind to know she's sitting at the feet of Jesus. To know that she is pain free & with a new body.

Quote of the day:
Yesterday.
Suzy: "I wish Grandma could come down here and see me. I miss her."
Me: "Do you know where she is?"
Suzy: "She's with Jesus and God in Heaven."
Me: "right."
Suzy: "MOM! YOU know who else is in heaven with Grandma, and Jesus, and God? Baby Olive is there too! But Olives mom & dad are not there. And grandpa is not there in Heaven, Grandpa is still in Florida. "