Good things out of bad....

A bight point to my trip. Seeing the little ones.

Grandpa's workshop

My Grandpa Vern was an amazing woodcrafter. He built baby cradles, rocking horses and highchairs. ( just to name a few things) He also made beautiful grandfather clocks. He had an amazing talent.. and he crafted all this magic in his basement. His workshop he called it. I remember being little and going down and watching him work. Marveling at his masterpieces. It used to just smell like sawdust. But My Grandpa probably hadn't been down there in several years so now it is a bit more storage space.. a little less workshop. When I ventured downstairs the old basement smelled of sawdust and musty air. and you know what? I still loved the smell. I think I'm more sentimental then i realized. While I was in New York, I got out my camera and took pictures of his special spot. Here are a few pictures i particularly love.

This is above the staircase and you go downstairs...



old notes ..



his nails organized...

The funeral.

My family flew me in for my wonderful grandpa's funeral. It was a sad day. I read something that I had written for him~ but I revised it to make it a goodbye as well. This is what I read~

My grandpa, Vernon Saunders was an amazing man and although his life was long, all of us grieve his death. It's not that it has come on suddenly, or that his time has come to soon. He was 95 in December and lived to see a whole world unfold around him. The roaring 20s and the invention cars. He saw the great depression and despite living through it remained a positive, loving man. He married his college sweetheart and bought a little farmhouse with her big enough to raise a family in. He lived through world war 1, world war 2 and the 50's. Fathered 4 boys and survived their teenage years. He witnessed the 60's and 70's unfold and his boys turn to adults. The end of the Vietnam war, the 80's, and beautiful grandchildren... the 90's and grandchildren growing up. A whole new millennium, two great grandbabies and 70 years of marriage. My grandpa Vern had a wonderful life. But somehow that doesn't make it any easier when we are left behind and lose a part of ourselves with his death. For me, my grandpa is surrounded by and symbolizes all the things I love.. all the memories of my childhood and innocence... summers past and lazy days on the lake. I am losing my grandpa and all my memories of childhood will be just that from now on ~ memories. My Grandma Gert loses her husband. The love of her life and her friend. My dad and his 3 brothers lose their dad. Their hero. And everyone else who knew and loved Vernon Saunders lose a piece of themselves as well. . Although we had 95 years with him, somehow that isn’t enough. But, today, we reluctantly say our goodbyes knowing that he is in to a much better place . Believing in the hope that someday we will see him again and this goodbye, while it is sad, is not forever. Farewell to our mentor, our friend. Goodbye to a beloved husband and father. Goodbye my dear sweet grandpa. You will be missed.
~ALQ




...... And although it may seem odd, I dealt by taking pictures. This is one I particularly love of my daddy. He was watching them close my grandpa's coffin. How do you say goodbye to someone you love so much?





I know in reality there is no "perfect" day for a funeral. But it seemed almost perfect to me. Gray. Dark. Solemn. Cold. My dad said he thought a sunny day would be better for a funeral. I told him no. A dark sky indicates sadness. That God is grieving with you. Sharing in your sorrow.





Goodbye Grandpa Vern. I love you.

Catching up....

So now that I am finally home and actually have a day off I am catching up on lost blogs. I have so much to share! I did a wedding this weekend, found an amazing picture of drew I forgot to blog and traveled from Jackson WY to Idaho ( and then by plane) to Denver To washington DC (layed over overnight because my plane was canceled~ yea for untied. ) to NY to Chicago to Idaho again. Then 24 hours later I got back into the car and drove home. This happened in the matter of a week. To say I was tired, is well, an understatement. However, despite everything that went "wrong" I still managed to have a good time and stay awake so i didn't miss any time with my favorite people. ( Did I mention that in the span of a week I managed to see all the people who matter most to me? My family, Ryan's family and my best friend? All that was missing was my little brother Ty and sister autumn. )

On another note, The reason for all my traveling was my Grandpa Vern died right before we left for WY. So, my family bought me a plane ticket and I flew home to NY for the funeral. ( I will blog about that as well~ right now I am focusing on the positive.) The plane as I mentioned before got canceled and i was stuck overnight in DC. The good news in all of this was I was able to see my best friend Sarah and her new baby Lilli who I hadn't managed to see yet. Sarah's husband Matt got us food at three in the morning and we managed to catch up for a few hours in the hotel before they drove me back to the airport. It was a much needed visit. So maybe the plane being canceled was a godsend?

I took a few pictures of Lilli while we chatted. Isn't she beautiful?

Jackson, WY and three of the quiz kids...

We ( Jason, Karla, Erik, Ry and Me) arrived in Jackson, WY yesterday (after a long 15 hour drive) ( in which we ~ of course ~ stopped at Cracker barrel for breakfast) to spend a late Christmas with the Q family. ( And for everyone who doesn't know~ The Q's are Ryan's family and Ryan is one of 12 kids) So today while the rest of the quiz's flew in and were picked up we ( Andrew, April, Ruth and me) dressed up and did a photo shoot. We traipsed around in the snow and while we intended to only take pictures in front of the barn ( since the snow was knee high) we ended up getting lured in and climbing around. Pretty much, it was awesome. I love exploring new places! And, might I just mention how lucky I am that everyone related to me is beautiful!

Ruth Tiqvah and April Joy ...











Andrew Logan...

when there are no words...

Goodbye my dear, sweet grandpa. You will be missed.