The other Oma post...

WARNING: Tons of pictures ahead!

This is the second post about my Oma. The first post was my tribute to her. This one documents the trip that we took to go to her memorial service. We decided to take Trinity, but leave Teagan at home with Autumn's parents. The idea was that Teagan, being 18 months old and, well, Teagan, would not sit still for the service, and then no one would be happy. It turns out that this was a good choice and he had a great time with his grandparents!

But we did take Trinity, because I think that she will remember the trip, even if it is only little bits and pieces. I have a few scattered memories from when I was that age, so it's important to give her all the experiences that we can. This was her great grandmother after all. Since Trinity already knows Sue as her Oma, we ended up calling my Oma, "Big Oma". We told her that we were going to go say goodbye to Big Oma. She was pretty excited to say goodbye to Big Oma and Big Opa, the latter whom she had never even met. We explained that Big Oma had died and was with Jesus. When Trinity heard that, she then declared that she wanted to go see Jesus too. How do you answer that one? I mean, I hope she does, but selfishly I hope it's not very soon!

So off we went in the van. This is how the trip started off...

Yeah, we've had better starts. But she was asleep about 30 minutes later. And no, she didn't cry the whole time. Thankfully.

Interlude: These pictures are way out of order. But they are also two really great pictures of Trinity on her first ferry ride. Okay, technically she's been on one before, but not when she would really remember.

Very cute. Trinity liked her Aunt Coleen A LOT!

...and now back to the regularly scheduled programming!

Had one of my favorite meals on the way to Seattle, Pho! "Daddy, what's in this bowl that made your stomach make those noises?" Ha! I love this stuff!

Trinity mostly liked using the spoon.

We stayed with my sister Coleen while we were there. It sure was nice to not have to stay in a hotel.

Coleen works for a non-profit in Seattle that feeds and shelters members of Seattle's homeless population. Trinity thought this was pretty cool! We visited the kitchen and the apartments. All the guys there were pretty excited that Trinity was there to visit!

Then it was time to explore Seattle a little. When we pulled into traffic, we stopped at the next light, only to see the view above. Some guy in a little pick up truck was standing in the open door of his rig, making some weird gesture. I am pretty glad to live where I do.

Then it was off to Pike Place Market for some Market Spice Tea, yum! They always have samples...

Those are big fish. Seriously. Big.

My girls at the cheese shop. Behind them is a big vat of almost-cheese. Fun stuff!

We were lucky enough to be at the original Starbucks during the musician shift change. I swear there is a schedule so that everyone gets a turn. It was pretty cool because we were able to listen to two different musician...AND drink coffee!

A little hill work to tire the little girl out...

Whoops, someone just peed.

Then to Tully's? Man, we're hitting the coffee shops hard today! Really we needed to use the restroom...badly. The restroom was for paying patrons only. So Trinity had warm milk and chocolate covered graham crackers.

My dad came over to Seattle to pick up Sue from the airport, but stopped by to have dinner with his kids too! We found a genius restaurant that had a kids play area.

Yep, she likes it. The adults liked it just as much!

  

Vending machines are a rite of passage, I guess. It's amazing how timeless those things are. Wow, there is an industry that only produces millions of useless peices of plastic. Yet, those little machines persist...

Then it was time to go sa goodbye to Oma. Needless to say, the ferry ride over was windy!

Trinity made the rounds, making new friends as usual. Uncle Bill was her favorite, which surprised no one. I love that guy!

Trinity with her Oma...

Me with my Oma.

Jason even looks the part of the hair stylist. Actually, he's a gardener.

Saying goodbye, one last hug for Bill!

The ferry ride back was a bit calmer than in the morning. Nice picture!

And then it was this. The weather report said that a storm was rolling in, so we took off as soon as we could. The speed limit was 35, which I was very happy about. It took longer to get over Snoqualmie, but it never really felt dangerous.

Yup, that's how she rolls. Sleep the boring parts away...

We made a stop fo dinner...

...then it was off to bed! Don't worry, she was the only one without pants.

Then there was this...sweet dreams girlie!

All in all, it was a wonderful trip to say goodbye to my Oma. I will miss her, but the memorial was a great remembrance that was attended by her loving family. It was great to see everyone, hopefully we'll do it again soon, minus the somber occasion!

Oh yeah, Teagan is 18 months old!

He went to the doctor, who pronounced him healthy, if a bit small for his age.

That's right, and don't forget it!

Oma



On Friday, February 17th, 2012, my Oma died in the home where she had lived for over 30 years. It seems common these days to say "passed", or "passed away" (or something like that) when someone dies. I refuse to say that about either of my grandparents. The reason is this: they earned the right to die because, for all of the years that I knew them, they truly lived. The more stories I hear about them, I am also convinced that they lived life fully for as long as anyone can remember. Now, I do believe that they are in a better place, but only after making the world around them a better place.

Oma (german for grandma) was a war bride, brought to the United States by my grandfather after World War II. She was raised in Munich, Germany as an only child. They met in an unusual way, which is funnier when you hear both sides of it. The story goes that my Opa (German for grandpa) was hanging around Munich with an army buddy, chasing pretty German girls. They both saw Oma, and it was my grandfather that gave chase, so to speak. He walked after her, hoping to catch a word with her. Rumor has it that she had great legs! The problem was that she could actually walk faster than him. That's funny because he was 6' 2" and she was 5' 4". At some point, Opa realized that he could not catch her using his current method. That's when he pulled his government issue .45 caliber pistol and shouted, "Halt!" Funny how things start sometimes!

The rest of the story comes from my Oma, who recalls thinking that she was about to be mugged and have her watch stolen. Like I said, funny stuff! And there is so many more of these stories that I could tell, and I don't know very many! My dad, aunt and uncle all have so many of these stories that paint a rich picture of a life built together that was both tough and beautiful, that was tragic and hilarious at the same time. Oma and Opa spent over 55 years together, showing future generations what it is to embrace life and those around you. That life together ended in August of 2006 when Opa suffered his second and final heart attack. I can't imagine what that loss did to Oma, but she rarely let it show. At her memorial service this last weekend, my cousin Will stood up and talked about how tough Oma was, and he is right; she weathered a lot of hardship in her life, but she kept on smiling.

I don't recall too many conversations that did not contain at least one or two laughs from Oma. I think that's how she dealt with advsersity, with laughter. I love that about her. I love how she answered the phone. I love how she would get excited about so many things. I love how she was so appreciative of all the people and other good things in her life. She was good at appreciating what she had. I don't really remember her ever complaining about what she didn't have. I think it would have sounded strange coming out of her mouth. It wasn't in her character. She was raised in Nazi Germany. She never wished that away. She lost two pregancies. I have never heard her talk about the fairness of that. She had breast cancer. She suffered the treatment with such a great spirit. I can only hope that I can endure adversity with half the grace that she did.

She gave us all a second home that we could visit any time we wanted, provided that it wasn't before 9 am. She and Opa never were morning people! But there was always a warm smile, a hug and a kiss, sincere hospitality and plenty of good food to fill you up. I will miss having a sausage and potato salad lunch on the back patio, or pork roast (with the crisp fat still sizzling of course, because that's the best part!) and sour kraut for dinner, with dumplings. I will miss having coffee in the front room, where I learned that coffee is best with cream and sugar. I will miss sweating like crazy because the wood stove was always a little hard to regulate. I will miss red geraniums. And most of all, I will miss how Oma loved my wife and children.

The top picture in this post is Autumn's and my wedding in 2005. They drove 8 hours straight to get there. The next picture is of me and Oma just after Opa died. We had lunch before Autumn and I had to make the long drive home. The third picture is of Oma showing Trinity how to roll over. It was our first visit and Oma was very excited to meet Trinity. The fourth picture is when we went back about a year later. would have been about a year and a half, and Autumn was pregnant with Teagan. The fifth picture, just above here, is Oma meeting Teagan in November of 2010. The picture to the right is that same visit. She was always so excited for us and our family. She was that way with all five of us grandchildren. There was never any doubt about how she felt about us, or any of the people in her life for that matter.

That was most apparent at her memorial service. You see, any outing was an event for Oma. She spent hours at the commissary and exchange on the navy base, talking to all the employees, whom she knew well. It turns out they knew her well, and the rest of the family too! It appears that everyone there was always up to date with the goings on of Oma's family. On the way up to her memorial, Autumn and I had been wondering how all the folks at the different facilities on the navy base would know that she had died. It turns out that we need not have worried. When the opportunity came for people to stand up and speak of memories about Oma, there were at least four people representing her bank, commissary and navy  exchange that stood up and spoke! They all had fond memories of Oma, her classic wedge haircut, and infectious laugh. It was amazing to see all the people Oma had touched.

The last picture, the one below, is how I will always remember Oma, mostly for selfish reasons. This is the sweet lady that would lay her head on my shoulder at what seemed to be random moments during our recent visits. This is that same sweet lady sharing her favorite lunch spot with me, Autumn and Teagan. This is Oma, treasuring me and pouring all the love that she had into me and my family. Oh how I knew it then, and will carry it with me all of my days. I love you Oma, and I miss you.

Not Very Pinteresting

I promise that this is the last time I will make bad jokes about Pinterest. Probably. Okay, I may just take a break. I did a search for house designs and that yielded some good results, so I am not going to write off Pinterest completely. At least not yet. I think that the problem for me is that it is entirely too much shopping and not enough buying. I can usually get to the information on the web pretty fast and I can filter out the junk pretty quickly. I can't do that yet on Pinterest, so I think that is what bothers me. It's like an unsearch. It gives you answers when you don't have questions. I'm probably over thinking the whole deal.

Teagan sang to me while I was giving him his night time bottle. Autumn made up a short song that she sings to him and he sang it to me, without help, this evening. Good stuff. He had a conversation on the phone with Autumn while he and I were running errands this afternoon. He didn't even have a phone. The kid is way smarter than me already, he just can't prove it yet with his limited vocabulary. But that day is coming soon. I just have to stay more clever...and crazier.

Cute boy in a cute hat. Thanks Coleen!

We replaced the stock rigid swings with after market flexible ones. They work much better for the little kids that don't balance too well yet. And yes, she likes to swing a little bit...

Is he posing? GQ baby!

First successful solo run down the slide. It's the little moments right?

Big(er) slide for the girl that needs a bigger thrill!

He just had to do the same thing that his big sister was doing. No baby swing for this boy! He swings a little bit by himself (I am right behind him, but not holding on) but then he forgets that his grip on the swing is what is holding him on. Plop! Good thing that the swing is low to the ground!

I finally was able to adjust the swing to a good height. A happy customer!

There are two kinds of pictures that I post. Okay, maybe three, but usually only two. I digress. What was I talking about? Oh yeah, two kinds of pictures. One is taken on a phone, one on a real camera. I give equal credit to both because, while cameras have better quality, people are more likely to have their phone handy. This short paragraph is a dividing line between the two.

This is how most days end at our house. I can't imagine it will always be so simple.

Sometimes, on the weekends, this is what lunch looks like at our house. We don't have cable television, but we do have movies. Super Why is very popular around here right now!

This was taken during a walk yesterday while I was working. Something about parfaits. Whenever some one says that word (parfait), I think of that scene in the first Shrek movie. Cracks me up every time!

When I think about providing every opportunity for my children, I never thought of bowling at three years old. Turns out she shot a 123 (with bumper assist). Who knew?

Yes, Rody can go too.

Sleepover with Ava!

A blue monkey for my monkey #1, from a guy who appears to have lost his razor.

Our moment of zen for the day comes from Autumn. This is how important nap time is at our house: we cook in the bathroom!