Grandma Lu

Jake's grandma, Lucille Malstrom Nelson, passed away on September 17th. She was a wonderful lady, and we all have great memories of family gatherings at her home, camping at the Spruces, Christmas parties and ornament exchanges. She will especially be remembered for her delicious cooking, including "roast-a-beef" and homemade rolls. In all the years I've eaten at Grandma Lu's, I can only think of one thing I didn't enjoy, aspic! But really, does anyone like meat and tomato jello? Kennedy and Macy loved to visit Grandma Lu with Grandpa Brent and Grandma Sue while I was at work. She had such fun toys for them to play with, and it was clear that the great-grandchildren brought so much joy to her life. Even after her stroke, her face would just light up when she was around little children.

Kennedy and Macy had a great time playing with their cousins at the viewing. They got to go with the bigger kids to practice a primary song for the funeral, but in the end, Kennedy decided that she didn't want to stand up on the stage to sing a song she doesn't know. Her favorite part of the evening was playing "Judge" with the older cousins. She was trying to explain it to us on the way home, but it was clear that she really had no idea what was going on. I did my best to explain what I know about court room procedure (mostly from TV and John Grisham novels), but she told me, "No mom, (exasperated sigh) that's NOT how you play it!"

The service on Saturday was very nice, and the girls were on their very best behavior. It was a beautiful tribute to a mom, grandma, and great-grandma that was loved by all.

After the burial, we returned to the church for lunch. While we were eating, someone broke into two of the cars in the parking lot, and several things were stolen. It was such a terrible thing to have happen! We spent the afternoon waiting for the police and then going through some things at Grandma's home, so we could all have something to remember her by. The girls were very excited to take home their favorite toys - a Little People school bus and a toy that talks in both English and Spanish (Kennedy is sure this will help her practice learning the language.)

The next night, we all went to dinner at Rodizio Grill. Jake and I have never been there before, but it was really good - especially if you like meat, meat, and more meat. The waiters bring around big skewers of various kinds of meat, fresh off the grill, to slice right on to your plate. It was a fun night, and the kids loved running around on the upper levels of the near deserted mall.

After dinner it was extremely difficult to convince Kennedy and Macy to leave the Pottery Barn Kids store. They were having a great time playing with all the cute (but out of our price range) stuff there. Kennedy even asked if we can go back there someday so that she can finish baking her muffins in the pink kitchen.