Great Grandma Leonard

Our family suffered a great loss last Thursday.

My great grandma passed away.

Although she has lived a great life, and we know

she is in her own paradise, we will miss her greatly.

She was an amazing woman.

Great Grandma Leonard was the first member of our family

on my dad's side to join the church.

I guess you could say she was one of our pioneers.

She served as Primary president for over 25 years.

My Grandma (my dad's mom) told me once

that the Bishop in their ward had told my GG that if he

could have called her to be one of his counselors he would.

And I don't doubt that for one minute.

When I think back, I will always remember GGrandma

for iced oatmeal cookies in the Kitty Cookie jar,

and their cat, "Purr" whom I called "Pearl."

Grandma thought that was hilarious and whenever I was around

would call her "Pearl" too.

Great Grandma was a strong, feisty woman.

She never put up with anything from anyone.

Although I know a lot of my strong opinions come from

my mom, I'd like to think I inherited some of it

from Grandma too.

When my grandma called to tell me that GG wasn't doing well

she said, "Don't you worry. I am sure she'll be up there

bossing people around before you know it."

And it's so true.

I was lucky enough to make it to Iowa for her funeral.

This is one of my most favorite people in the world-

my Great Grandpa Leonard.

Like Grandma, he is an amazing man.

I love to hear all of his stories and the funny things he says.

I know he will miss GG greatly,

but we are still lucky to have him.

Up until last Sunday, I hadn't seen my dad

in over a year.

Mateo was only two weeks old when my dad saw him.

Our family has had some trials this year,

but it was nice to finally see my dad again.

He lives way too far away.

We are looking forward to him finishing his residency

and moving back to the mainland.

Hawaii was just no good.

Mateo and I also got to meet some new cousins

for the first time!

A lot of my mom's family lives in the same town as

my dad's family.

So I had a lot of people to visit in a very short amount of time!

Luckily we were able to see everyone!

This is my cousin's little girl, Mallory.

Isn't she adorable?

I love her chubby cheeks and dimples!
Mateo was not-so-happy about the pictures.

This is my Grandma Pat.

She is my mom's mom.

It's hard to try and keep everyone straight.

Hope you were able to keep up!

Unfortunately, Manuel and Sam weren't

able to come to the funeral.

For some reason, tickets from our city to Des Moines

are pretty pricey.

Hopefully we will all be able to make it there

sometime soon.

It was a quick trip, but a great experience

to honor Great Grandma Leonard.