The past weekend

On the weekend, family got together to say goodbye to Grandma Jeske. Kenton's Uncle Gregg and Aunty Debbie were here with their kids, and on Sunday night we all had dinner the day before the funeral.

In December, little Lucca Mateo was welcomed into the world by Dave and Lisa. Lisa is a cousin of Dean's, so Kenton's second cousin.

Here is Gregg and Lucca having a snuggle! I would just like to point out that it is not my fault that people blink when the flash goes off. We might have made fun of Gregg (okay, as in the girls made fun) because I think he blinked in every photo they took of him that night.

And Gregg's daughter, Amber-Lynn also getting a chance to hold the little sweetie. Like the good two month old he is, he barely made a peep as he was passed from person to person.

Wrennie and Nana take a peek at him, because Wrennie just can't figure out why all of the attention isn't on her! This is the Amber and Alyssa's friend, Stephanie.

Wren manages to sit for a mili-second on Debbie's lap to get a quick picture in before Wren takes off to just do...stuff.

Gregg, Amber, Alyssa and Steph hanging out before dinner.

Wren takes a look at everyone from a different perspective.

She finds it fairly funny..

Her and Amber play some peek-a-boo by the stairs.

Jordan, Grant, Brad and Kyle.

A semi-rare family photo. And how amazing, we are all smiling, even Wren!

Wrennie and her Papa...

Lisa and Alyssa.

I would also like to point out that if you are a member of the Jeske family and you are under the age of 30, when a photo is taken and you are looking down, it usually means you are on your cell phone. I won't name any names... :)

I can't forget to mention that Wren was given some golf lessons from Uncle Kyle over the weekend as well. She was a good student.

(Notice the golf channel in the background?)

First you hold it like this...

Then you hit the ball like this...

Let's fix that form. Again, we hold the club like this using both hands...

No thanks Uncle Kyle, I would just like to carry everything around instead!

Grandma J's funeral was on Monday, and it was a really nice service for her. There were tears, a few laughs, and also a great slideshow of pictures from her life.

We have all been touched by her in some way. I wish I could have known her before her Alzheimer's had really set in. But despite the disease, from the first time she met me when Kenton and I were dating, she always made me feel like I was one of the members of the family. Her love for Kenton seemed to pour right over from him to me without hesitation. 

She was always so warm, loving, and had such a good sense of humour.

A favourite story our family knows well is when I was about 8 months pregnant with Wrennie. Grandma, Judy and I were shopping at the mall, and sat down for an ice cream. I had a few bags at my feet to carry, and when we were ready to get up, Grandma looked at my bags and said, "Oh let me help you carry...the...carry the...baby!!" We all laughed, and she laughed at herself knowing that what she said didn't really make sense, but it was okay, we knew what she was trying to say.

I would knit a lot at Dean and Judy's, especially in the winters. If Grandma was there, she would talk to me about knitting, and always tell me her story of knitting a cable-knit sweater. She would recall the hole she made it in by accident, but finished it anyway. She would tell me that story almost every time, forgetting she had told it to me the last time she saw me. 

Towards the end of her time with us, she had a hard time participating in any conversation, forgetting what she was saying in the middle of a sentence. She began to sit quietly a lot at family things, and so her and I would take to looking at old photos of the boys and all of her grandkids. 

She seemed to keep Wren in her memory, even with her failing memory. Sometimes she would refer to her "great-grandson". We thought this was because in her memory she had had so many grandsons in her lifetime!

We were all so happy that Grandma could enjoy Wrennie in the time she had left, even getting a couple of changes to bring her to Grandma's bedside in the hospital.

We will miss her dearly.