She was a beautiful woman! Venna Merrell 1924-2009

Mike's mother passed away October 15, 2009, just two months shy of her 85th birthday.

She was such a beautiful woman and she had a special way of making me feel beautiful whenever I was with her.

 These are some of the last pictures we have with her.

Mike flew to Salt Lake on Friday and he, Markal and Shara Dawn worked on funeral plans.  Mike's dream was that the funeral services  be done by the family.  With only a few exceptions, that is what happened.  Although I would not recommend that all families do this, for our family, it was perfect.

After flying home to St. George Friday night, Mike and I drove to Salt Lake on Saturday .  Shara Dawn painted her mother's nails and then Mark,  Shara Dawn, Mike and I put her in the casket.  That was a very sacred experience  for us all. We then transported her to Vernal, stopping first in Roosevelt to pick up the vault.  It made for an interesting drive...Mike and I in our pick-up with a casket in the back, followed by Mark and Shara Dawn, with the vault!  We arrived at Randy and Lou-Ann's that evening.  They kept the casket in Randy's shop until time for the viewing Sunday night at the Maeser 3rd ward chapel. 

Sasha got to do her Grandma's hair. She asked her good friend Jana Zufelt to help her.

The flowers on the casket were beautiful.

Bishop Jones conducted the funeral.  He made a joke about Bruce that made everyone laugh.  Everyone else on the program was a family member.

Mike Durrant let us use his car for the funeral coach. 

The Merrell men set lowered the casket into the grave.

I am pretty sure that Ivan and Venna were smiling down on us when this was all taking place!

They all helped.

And took pictures...

visited...

This is a great picture of Justin and Mitch Batty!

I posted a lot more pictures on facebook, but there is one more thing I want to record about my grand daughter, Kylie.

She was very emotional at the viewing the evening before. She cried a lot.  On, the day of the funeral, she was much more composed, but still very much interested in what was happening.  When it got time to do the final preparations before closing the casket, she was right by Mike's  side, watching intently as he tucked everything in its place and closed the casket. Two times I attempted to get her to come back with me, but both times (once by Randy and once by Shara Dawn) I was gently told to let her be.  I appreciated that.  I hope Kylie has good memories of this day.