Wow, have we been busy! So much has happened in the past couple of months. Between lots of birthdays, a funeral, the 4th of July, and family visiting... I am going to break the updates into a few posts so it is not so long... so there will be a couple more in the next few days.
I will post where we left off last:
*For those of you who do not like to read long posts, I am sorry, well not that sorry;).
This is my journal... so this is where I record my feelings. And this will definitely be a LONG post :)
May 31st was my birthday. And I thought that I would be spending it alone. Scott was scheduled to work on that day and my family lives about 4 1/2 hours away. So needless to say I didn't think that I would be having a very eventful birthday this year. To my surprise, I was in the kitchen making some hot cocoa mix when there was a knock at our front door. I went to answer it and there was someone standing there with a bouquet of Happy Birthday balloons. It was my niece Madison!!! I couldn't believe it, I was so excited! I asked her how she got there and then my parents came around the corner, she had ridden down from Blackfoot with them. I wasn't going to celebrate my birthday alone after all! And it was wonderful to see my family. Scott needed to go to work at 2pm so we were discussing where we would be able to go to lunch so that we could get home in time for him to leave. Then he informed me that he had switched shifts with someone so that he could surprise me. SURPRISE!!! So we decided since we didn't have to be back at any certain time we could go to Tuscanos... Mmm... have I mentioned how much I love that place ;) Anyway, after we ate we came home and Scott had another surprise for me. He had purchased a cake and we had a little party! It was great. Unfortunately, my parents had to go home early that evening so that they could get back home. But it was a wonderful surprise! I had a great birthday! Thanks everybody for making it such a great one!!!!
The following weekend, June 11th-12th, my Dad drove back up to Boise because his brother, Rusty, had a truck show that he was involved in. It was nice to spend time with just me and my Dad while he was here. Scott was working most of the time, so my Dad and I and Paige went to see the trucks and we rented a movie to watch. My mother was planning on coming up but she had called me a few days before and wasn't sure whether she would be coming or not because her mom wasn't doing very well. She decided to stay home so that she could spend time with my grandmother and be there in case she passed away. I was going to drive back with my Dad but decided to stay in Boise. Later I regretted not going. I would have liked to have spent some time with my Mother and seen my Grandma. I kept calling my Mom all week to find out how my Grandma was doing. She called me on Wednesday morning, June 16th, telling me that my Grandma Longmore had passed away early that morning. She said that the funeral would be on Saturday, June 19th. I have included her obituary at the end of this post.
It was definitely a relief for her and our family. My Grandma Longmore hadn't been doing well for quite some time. For about the past 10 or so years my mother and her sisters had taken turns caring for her and for the past couple of years my cousin, RaeLyn, had been taking care of her. They just couldn't bear to put her in a nursing home. My Grandma Longmore is one of the sweetest, kind and most Christ-like people I have ever known. She just radiated with the spirit. She was about as close to perfect as a person can get. She loved her family with all her being. I always knew how much she loved me! There was never any question in my mind about that. She always treated each of her grandchildren like they were the most important thing to her. And they all were! Nothing was more important.
During the process of the funeral and viewing it was mentioned multiple times about how happy Grandma probably was that her family was just loving being with each other and the kids were just running around having fun.
Before my Grandma's health got to the point where she needed to be cared for, one of my sweetest memories of her was a time when she was babysitting for my parents. She taught me how to make a milkshake by hand without a blender, I will always remember that moment. And every time I make a milkshake by hand I think of her. :) I remember many trips to go visit Grandma, She loved chocolate and she always loved to share! Every year at Christmas Grandma always made sure that she gave each of her children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren a gift. I remember the socks that she so painstakingly chose for each and everyone of her many grandchildren. Oh, how I looked forward to those socks every year. I loved to open them Christmas Eve, they were my Christmas socks and I always wore them to bed and woke with brand new socks to wear for Christmas morning. I even remember one year in particular that she gave all of the girls a baby doll, the kind that have soft bodies and the eyes that open and close. As her health deteriorated she was unable to continue this wonderful tradition, but I know that she would have loved to continue if she had been able. She gave so much more than just socks and presents... She taught us all what it means to be Christ-like. Through her example she taught my mother who in turn taught me how important the gospel is and how important family is. Next to my mother she is the greatest example of the woman that I hope I can become someday. We will miss you Grandma and WE LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH!
Here's a pic of Grandma with Paige... this was the very first time that they meet, shortly after Paige was born. The 4 generation Picture. Love this one!!!!!
It was such a beautiful service. It was the best funeral I have ever been to. My Mom gave a talk and some of her brothers also spoke along with a cousin. Every talk that was given was incredible and the spirit was so strong. There were two special musical numbers: one by the grandchildren and the other by the great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren. It was a wonderful moment to stand up there and sing for my Grandmother. And what a neat experience to be sitting in that audience looking up at all of my extended family when the greats and great-greats standing up to sing. They filled the entire stage... Honestly, I had a hard time holding back tears during the entire service but that moment was WOW! What an impact my Grandma had on all of her children and grandchildren. My mom and I put together a map of all the places that her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren have served LDS Missions. She truly has impacted the world through her example!
Since the funeral landed on the same weekend of Father's Day we were able to spend the day with my Dad and Scott was able to celebrate his very first Father's Day. Here's a pic of Daddy and his little girl on Father's Day morning. She is wearing "I love Daddy" jammies by the way, planned it perfectly so that she could wear them on Father's Day :)
Scott had to return to Boise for work on Monday so I decided that I would stay behind and spend some time with my family. We had a lot of fun! Here's a picture that we took while we were there. Paige with her cute piggie tails... she had just woken up from a nap so they are kinda crasy. We just started being able to put these in in the past month. SO CUTE!
We went bowling and just spent some needed family time together. 
Paige has discovered the piano that sits in my parents front room. Here is a picture of her trying to play... so cute :)
Before we left for Blackfoot for the funeral, we had a short visit from Scott's brother, Chad, and his family. They were on their way up to Washington to visit family and stopped by our house and stayed the night to break-up their trip a little bit. It was Cooper's birthday on the day that they arrived so we had a little birthday party for him. It was so fun to see them. Although we were sad to see them go so fast, we knew that we would be seeing them in a few weeks for the 4th of July weekend, so that made it easier to say bye.
Over the past couple of months through the funerals of both of my Grandmothers I have grown a greater testimony of the Gospel and what a blessing it is in my life. I am so grateful for the plan of salvation and the opportunity that each of us have to be with our families forever! I have been truly blessed to have the wonderful family that I have and can't wait to be together with them again someday :)
The following is the obituary that appeared in the Friday, June 18th, 2010 Blackfoot Newspaper:
Estella May Longmore, 99
Estella May Anderson Longmore, 99, of Blackfoot, died at the home of a granddaughter in Pocatello on Wednesday, June 16, 2010, of causes incident to age. She was born Oct. 8, 1910 in Moreland, the only daughter of Ernest and Millie May Neel Anderson. When she was just two years old, her mother died in childbirth. She was raised in Moreland where she attended Moreland High School until 1928, and on her 18th birthday, Oct. 8, 1928, she married Lester George Longmore in Coltman, Idaho. She was sealed to him and their eight children in the Idaho Falls LDS Temople on June 24, 1947. Estella was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout her life, and served faithfully for many years as a teacher in the Sunday School, Primary, the Relief Society, and as a visiting teacher. She also was a long-time member of the choir in her ward. She enjoyed attending the temple. She was a lifelong homemaker, and her greatest love and concern was for her family and friends. Her entire life was spent showing that love to all of us. She was a wonderful mother, grandmother and example to all. For many years, an annual Christmas tradition was for her to purchase, wrap and give gifts and cookies to each of her numerous posterity and their spouses. Following the death of her husband on April 30, 1973, she resided for most of the remainder of her life with her children. As her health began to fail, she was lovingly cared for by them, and for the past year and a half, she has lived in the home of a granddaughter, RaeLyn and her husband, Rdale Price and family in Pocatello. Estella is survived by her children, Mardene Gough, Vonda (John) Fisher, Melba (Donald) Nilsson, Diane (Robert) Parkinson, and Carolyn (Don) Scott, all of Blackfoot; and by Gary (LaRae) Longmore of Pocatello; Dean (Connie) Longmore of Mapelton, Utah, currently serving an LDS church mission in the New Hampshire Manchester Mission; and Ronald (Jean) Longmore of Idaho Falls. Also surviving are 4o grandchildren, 138 great-grandchildren, and 28 great-great grandchildren. She has a total of 273 descendants, including spouses. Besides her husband, parents and stepmother, Iretta Anderson, she was preceded in death by her brothers Lloyd, Raymond, Arthur, Golden, Joseph, and Lawrence Anderson; a sister, Madlyn Lodefink; a son-in-low, Don Gough; a grandson-in-law, Gary DeGiulio; granddaughter-in-law, Winnie Fisher, and a great-grandson, Jeremy Stocking. Funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 19, 2010, at the Blackfoot 4th Ward LDS Chapel, 520 N. Shilling Ave., with Bishop Paul Yancey conducting. The family will meet with friends and relatives from 7-9 p.m. Friday, June 18, 2010, at Hawker Funeral Home, 132 S. Shilling Ave. and from 9:45-10:45 a.m. at the church prior to services. Interment will be in the Riverside-Thomas Cemetery. Condolences may be sent to the family at: condolences@hawkerfuneralhome.com
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