The Funeral...




James Boyd, Meghan McDonald, Becky Boyd, Samantha Phillips, and Joseph Boyd.



Aunt Jackie (Mom's sister), Aunt Monica (Dad's sister), Alexandra, Samantha, Meghan.



The luncheon after the Memorial service.Our Aunt Monica, who we had never met before, shared her memories of dad. It was so incredible to hear about his childhood. That was very, very special. We really enjoyed having some laughs while sharing stories and our memories of Dad, I think we all needed it.

 I didn't realize till later that everyone was watching me in the picture. I was sharing stories about my trip to China, back in high school, because Alexandra will be traveling there soon.



Aunt Jackie, Meghan, Samantha



The next day was the burial. It was on the next day because of the travel distance to St. Michael's ( about a two hour drive.) He was buried next to his brother, Edward H. Boyd III.

Mom placing three white roses.

Me placing my white rose.



Joseph placing his white rose.



Brenna placing her white rose.



Meghan placing her white rose.

James placing his white rose.

Two of my Dad's brothers:

George Boyd (with his wife, Janet)  and William "Billy" Boyd.

(Whom we also had never before met!)



Uncle Edward and Uncle Billy Boyd

The burial site.

Being kids again....

My parents' house in Maryland has three levels.... which means lots of stairs. To make it easier on Dad, they installed a gliding chair so he could ride up the stairs.

We thought we'd give it a try, too!!

 I am grateful for the laughs. We were pretty much riding an emotional rollercoaster this week, but when we were up, there were some good laughs. Dad would have wanted that.

Remembering Maryland...

Driving to St. Michael's, to the cemetery where my father would be buried with his older brother, Edward, we were able to visit some of the places my father had been while growing up here. It was a really great experience.

This is the Episcopal Church where my father was baptised as an infant. (He was later converted and joined the LDS church in his thirty's. )

There was something so captivating about Maryland in the wintertime. For such a very sad day, it was refreshing to see such beauty around me.



Oyster shells

 



Waterman's Wharf



This is the "Rollyston" house, the house my dad grew up in. It's a little bit of a drive from off the road, but so beautiful. This is the end of that trail, just before the house.



Rollyston

I have definitely enjoyed the million's of trees here in Maryland.

It was great, and very real to see where my Dad grew up. I am grateful for the opportunity.

Update

For those who do not know, I am currently in Elkridge, Maryland. By a miracle I was able to arrive here in time to share last words with my father. He was only able to open his eyes, and express the occasional smile. I truly feel that my Heavenly Father gave me the strength to be strong enough. I was able to share everything I wanted with my father, and in turn, he was given the strength to squeeze my hand; it was a very tender moment.
 It was such a blessing and a miracle that my siblings are here; that we can endure this trial as a whole. My father passed away, surrounded by those most precious to him, at 9:00pm Tuesday, January 11th, 2011. I am blessed with the sweet knowledge that I will see him again. That he feels no more pain; and has been relieved of all the heavy burdens of this world. I thank all of those who have kept us, and our father, in their thoughts and prayers. We feel so blessed.

Our Heavenly Father has welcomed home another angel

Logan's 1st day of Preschool!

It's official: our baby is now in school!

Tuesday morning, Daniel dropped Logan off for his first day of preschool! ( Dan of course, stayed behind for a few minutes to make sure everything was fine!)

But before they left I had some fun snapping pics of my 2nd big boy!

Logan - I'm sure- praying that his first day not be so scary!

Daddy even took Logan to pick out his first backpack!

Logan's 3rd Birthday Dinner!

Daniel and I had bought a 21 pound turkey when they were super cheap (around thanksgiving) and planned to cook it for Logan's family birthday dinner (we haven't thrown an kiddie party yet* cause he still gets overstimulated) *but we're gonna try next year!

Anyway, couple of days before his birthday dinner, we were really getting nervous about cooking this huge turkey all by ourselves...

But we found a recipe online on Food Network and followed instructions.

Our church time is at 10am, and the birthday dinner was at 5pm, So we put it in the oven (after soaking it in the brine, and stufing it with yummyness!) and then left for church.

As soon as we came home from church, we took it out to baste it!

halfway done, and lookin good!

... done, and super delish!

Logan's cake!

"Hurry up with the card, Mom, I want the present!

This is a very special present, which Logan loves just as much as we thought he would!

In an earlier post, I showed Logan in a red spandex blanket during his Therapy session. Now he has one for himself at home!! It's a huge comfort to him!

.... and of course, Aiden thinks it's a super hero cape!!

Aiden kept sticking his finger in the frosting!!

So,.... it came time to light the candle and sing "Happy Birthday." Well we could not find our matches anywhere! So Julie and Daniel "cooked up" the idea to turn on the stove and place a paper towel on it to make fire!... and it worked!!

Aiden's adventures in his Jeep...

Aiden has a blast in his new "car!" Thank you "Santa!!"

Happy 3rd Birthday, Logan!!!

A peek inside Logan's therapy....

On Tuesday's Logan has Occupational Therapy at Banner Cardon Children's Medical Center in Mesa. Daddy had the day off, so he got to see what we do in therapy; and I got to sit back and take pictures.

Logan loves swinging on the table-swing. This technique helps Logan find his balance.

This activity was introduced to Logan and our last visit, and he LOVES it! It's a blanket made of spandex, and Logan lays in it like a hammock. The we slide him across the mat, back and forth and side to side. It's a comfort to Logan to be in such a snug place.

The blue bin is Logan's absolute favorite, so he does a lot of his "games" while inside the bin.

I am very grateful and thankful that Logan has the opportunity to receive the therapy he needs. We have learned so much, and I know he has, too. We have a lot of fun!