Grandpa's funeral 3-16-2011

 Grandpa and Grandma served a mission in Spokane Washington.  Grandpa always  had a toothpick- the Marceks made sure we had some.  We displayed memories of Grandpa...

 If I remember right, the sign my Grandpa is holding says "will work for food (may have said will work for Diet Coke though).  Grandpa was a plumber, so here's a tool in his memory.

 Display table...our Grandparents were such great supporters of all of the grandkids- brought some balls in his memory.

 Elise whipped up the "Family is everything" board for the viewing-

 LaDawn and Grandpa's birthdays were on the same day.  We sort of celebrated my Dad's birthday the night of the viewing, it will be a better one next year!

more family pics and flowers. 

 another board of memories

 we displayed some of our grandpa's favorite treats- Diet Coke (almost every picture has him holding one...) he always asked if you wanted a drink when you would go to his house.  M&Ms were also a staple in his diabetic diet.  Werthers were always in his pocket- he was diabetic (the excuse that he had to have candy if his blood sugar was low- we all know he just loved to share his candy!)

Nobody can go to church with Grandpa without getting some smarties.  I LOVE smarties- guess that came from Grandpa!

 Nicole made this for Grandpa from his children.  I'm such a great teacher...just kidding- Nicole is very creative and does a great job with flowers!

 after a little stress in the making, I think that the casket spray turned out beautifully.  I wanted to make sure Grandpa had some beautiful flowers, he always seemed to love the ones that I brought him- so I tried to make it extra special (and huge...)

 Elise helped with the ribbons- I didn't want to use the same old ribbon and stickers that everyone does so Elise made these beautiful stickers for the flowers.

This one's from the Grandchildren for our Grandpa.  I thought it turned out really well, it has hydrangeas, lilies, tulips, freesia, snapdragons, monstera leaves, ti leaves, varigated pit and some calla lilies.  I though it weighed at least 75 pounds but when we took it back to grandmas, we weighed it - only 37 pounds, just a little off-

 Matt Mozingo, the 2nd counselor in the Bishopric with my Dad, was the serviceman to present the flag to Grandma before the playing of taps.

 All of the sons had white rose boutineers, the daughters and Grandma had white long stem roses and the grandsons had a green rose boutineer and the granddaughters had a pink long stemmed rose

 Grandma and the Bishop

 the view looking west from Grandpa's gravesite

the view looking East from Grandpa's gravesite

Grandpa James- we miss you already

The saying on this card that our grandparents gave out a few years ago is definitely how they felt.  To my Grandma and Grandpa, family and friends were really the greatest gifts of all.  Our Father and Grandfather passed away this morning surrounded by his family, those who loved him dearly.  Grandpa James had been so strong for our family.  

Ryan left on his mission and Grandpa became more ill, prompting my mom to tell him that if he didn't hold on until Ryan came home...she'd take matters into her own hands.  Ryan returned from his mission in August and was able to spend a few extra precious months with Grandpa before he passed away.  

My Mom and Dad have always loved taking care of Grandpa and Grandma, even when Grandpa got lost in Disneyland... My parents learned their generous, caring nature from my Grandparents, both the Flaherty Grandparents and the James Grandparents.

Elise took so much time with helping our Grandparents and was able to spend a lot of time lately with Grandpa- she was the "grandpa-sitter" when Grandma went bowling.

Becky's love for Grandpa showed every time she visited him.  "Bec" for short- as Grandma and Grandpa call her.  Her boys were always ready to give him a hug and a kiss!

Nicole will drop anything for Grandma and Grandpa- She loves them with all of her heart.  Grandpa always called Nicole "Nic" and I think that she may have earned the Nickle Pickle name from Grandpa.

Karly was able to have Grandpa at her wedding, she can always cherish the memories of him being there.  Karly...affectionately called "Kar"was always so concerned about how Grandpa was doing and would do anything for him.

"our James Family"

with our Mom and Dad

Grandma and Grandpa James

with the Great grandkids

with the grandkids

We were very fortunate this last fall to have Grandma and Grandpa come with us for our family pictures.  We went up to a park in Left Hand Fork and took these fall family pictures.  How great to have such good memories and have a perfect picture of our Grandparents.

Memories of "Sundays at Grandmas" (Grandpa never minded that their home was affectionately called "Grandmas house") fill all of our minds.  Ever since I can remember, we met every Sunday...tuna sandwiches soon progressed to more favorable meals... 

Grandpa had a love for the Gospel and I remember him, more than once, offering to share the Gospel with anyone he cared about.  Grandpa held many callings throughout his life and touched many lives.

I will always cherish the memories that I have of my Grandpa.  Working at the hospital, and having family frequent the hospital the last few years, whenever Grandpa was in the hospital I always heard how people wanted to take care of him because he was such a cute patient.  Don't worry Grandma...they weren't  going to steal him away, they just wanted him to be their Grandpa too.  I feel very fortunate to have had the time on Earth that I had with my Grandpa and hope that I have made him proud.

We will miss you-  Love you!

Dingle, Ireland The Flaherty Motherland

 This is what I always pictured Ireland to be like......misty, green, cold, lots of cliffs 

 and castles.

The Cliffs of Moher 

 Scary drop offs!

 I told Terri to look for our ancestors, we don't seem to be able to find anything after Hugh Flaherty, but

she didn't have much time for looking, so this was as close as she got, from the car.

 O'Flaherty's pub with the family crest.

The Flaherty clan has a reputation for being ferocious.
Of course, so do most old Irish clans!

 The main body of the O'Flahertys were from further

north than our part of the family in County Kerry.
My favorite story is that hundreds of years ago when the
Viking raiders were still a problem the Flaherty's were in
competition with the clans around Galway. Supposedly,

there was an invocation over the Galway city gates
that went something like, "From the Vikings and the
Ferocious O'Flahertys may God preserve us!"

A sad note. There was a long winter march some
hundreds of years ago that the Kerry O'Flahertys were
forced to make for some reason and most of some

300 or so died on the journey.

The O'Flaherty clan crest shows a red hand and Viking
 longboat and lions. The red hand legend comes from
 a mythic time when two brothers were vying to land first
 on the island. The first to land would, naturally, win

some prize or have more rights to land or something
 grand. Well, one brother saw he was losing the race and
so he drew his sword, chopped off one hand and threw
it on shore so he could be first! All the families that
use the symbol of the red hand claim descent from him.

The O'Sullivan's, our other family name, have a harp
on their crest. Much nicer to think of a clan known for
their love of and skill with music! Especially since the
Dingle area is still known as a center of authentic
Irish music.

Thanks cousin Nancy for the legend!

 Terri went inside and asked if she could take a picture in there because her moms last name is Flaherty, The guy behind the bar told her, "Sure. You better take some matches so you can prove you were here.

  So he gave her some coasters and some matches with the O'Flaherty name on them.  That was pretty fun.

 Terri tried to stay here, but it was full.

Maybe someday I will be  lucky and get to visit there!! Lucky Terri and Nicole are going to Ireland again in May! They are going to Belfast this time. So maybe next year for St. Patricks day I will put some of them on!