The Mendenhall Family: September 2008

Friday, September 19, 2008

In Honor of Mildred Hannah Stringham..... My Grandmother

In Loving Memory
Mildred Hannah Hillam Stringham
July 13, 1915 - August 31, 2008

I know a lot of you have already seen this on Jason or Becca's blog. But since my blog is kind of like my journal so I want this for me. A couple of weeks ago my dear Grandma passed away. It was a bittersweet day. I am so happy to know she is not in pain anymore and reunited with my grandfather, but it was sad because we will all miss her so much. My parents and all my brothers and sister went down to the funeral. It was so much fun to spend time iwth them without the little kiddies. It was just like old times. My brother Jason gave a beautiful talk on her behalf, if you want to read it go to his blog. After the funeral we went to the farm and had a lot of fun. It wasn't till I was driving away and realized that I may never be going back that I got really emotional. Going to Idaho to see my grandparents will always be such a wonderful memory to me. I will miss my Grandmother so much and can't wait to see her again.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the funeral services:

Her beautiful casket and headstone.

My dad paying his last respects to his mother.

The pallbearers- my brothers and the other grandsons look so serious. Each of them carried a special place in there heart for grandma.

After the funeral services we went to her farm house in Ashton Idaho. Like I said in my previous blog, we have so many memories at this place. We had a lot of fun running around the farm and getting pics of our favorite memories. These are my favorite pics. It is nice when Becca is around to be the family photographer. As you can tell these were not taken from my camera.

My dad in the fields where he grew up.

A picture of me and my brother and sisters on the farm. It was so much fun to spend time with all of my brothers and sister. We had a blast.

Here I am 8 months pregnant, I know I look like I am 10 months pregnant!!

The old farm equipment. Becca made us take a bi zillion pictures. But it was fun and we got some good ones.

A pic of me in front of the canal. This was one of my favorite memories, playing in the canal at grandma's farm.

First Day of School

Okay, I know I am late, but it is better late than never. Here are some pics of Tommy's first day of school. He was so excited. He knew he got to go all day and that he would get to have 3 recesses and lunch. (You know, all the important stuff) He was also excited to see all his new friends.

He has been adjusting really well, and seems to like his class and his teacher. I can't believe how much I have seen his reading and writing improve just in the last month. It is crazy.

"The Boys"- Camelot is an all-walking school. Everyone that goes to this school lives within walking distance.There are no buses. It is really nice because I have gotten to know a lot of the kids and mom's this way. On Tommy's first day of school we ran into 3 of his good buddies. They were so excited to see each other and had fun walking to school together. (Tommy, Haakan, Dade and Jared)

Tommy all dressed up for the first day. Isn't he so handsome.

Tommy and our neighbor Desirae. They walk to school every morning together. This was actually on the way home though.

Blake wanted to be in a first day of school picture too!!

This is them running home from school. Lots of playing to do before the sunshine and daylight goes away. Blake was so happy to have them home. He misses them so much and around lunch time everyday asks when we can go get Tommy.