Granner

I've been meaning to post this for a while, but I've gotten behind.
This is a post about Granner, my grandma. She passed away a few weeks ago on 11/27.
She was 81 and lived a wonderful life full of family, friends, singing, big earrings, homemade pizza, and cheerfulness. She was always so happy to see each one of us, asked about our lives, and made us each feel special. My mom said that when they saw her over Thanksgiving (in the hospital) she commented about 5 times about how cute Lucy was in her Strawberry costume for halloween. She really treasured all her children, grandkids, and great grandkids.
Here's Granner with Lucy last summer at her 80th birthday party:
4 generations - my mom Cindy, me, Lucy, and Granner (last summer):One thing I'll always remember her for is that she taught me how to sew. When I was 10 she taught me and my sister Camille how to use a sewing machine. She took brown paper bags, drew straight lines on them, and had us sew back and forth as straight as we could. This has led to years of sewing projects, clothes, baby items, and even scrunchies (haah). Sewing is a skill I will always cherish and appreciate the talents she shared with me.

Granner had a great sense of humor and often laughed at herself. A couple years ago the men in the family had a beard-growing contest. When it came for them to model off the beards for judging, Granner came out in her own beard and joined the festivities. Funny lady:
It's sad to think that Granner won't be at my parent's house this Christmas and that there won't be any more "happy birthday" songs over the phone from her. Her health had been up and down for a few years. And when the end came, it was a little sudden. So we were sad to see her go, but we know she is in such a happy place now and so happy to be with my Grandpa again. He died young of a heart attack at 58. So she's spent many many years alone. How fun to be reunited with your sweetheart!

It's a little crazy that over the past month our weekends have been - Funeral, Funeral, and birth of our little boy. We really ignored doctors orders with all of our traveling. But I'm so glad we were able to be there for both funerals, to celebrate the lives of our grandparents.
For this service, both my parents and Aunt Karen gave wonderful talks sharing stories about Granner. Aunt Terry, her husband Eric, and daughter Debbie sang. And all the grand/great grandkids sang as well. It was a beautiful service.
Here we are with most of the siblings at the viewing:
Ava looked adorable in her little black and white dress. And I finally got a picture of Makenna! She takes the best close-up shots:
All of the Grandsons were pallbearers, except for Colin who's serving a mission right now in Belize:

Some impromtu singing at the gravesite:
My sister Camille and me:
The entire Suman family were together for the first time since Mark got married. So we got a family photo. I can't believe how big just the immediate family is getting!
And here are my favorite photos of the weekend.
Lucy and Casey at the cemetary:
Little Ava. Jazz hands! Sprockets? Spirit fingers? She's totally pro:
Gram (my mom) with Ava. I love this picture. It looks old-fashioned.
And finally, a shot of the three littlest Grandgirls. Makenna, Lucy, and Ava. The all had on blue:
It was an emotional, but beautiful weekend.
Bye Bye Granner. We'll love you forever!
(photo from my wedding day)