Easter in Harlingen

Since grandma's funeral was the weekend before Easter and everyone was in town, we decided to celebrate early.  Grandma always loved having all the family together so it was great to be able to celebrate her all weekend long with the fam.  I will just let the gobs of pictures do the rest of the talking.

My parents rented a bounce house for the weekend to keep all the kids entertained.  Addie thought this was the best thing EVER and had an absolute ball in there all weekend.

Because Easter and Christmas aren't Easter and Christmas without Grandma's homemade sugar cookies, Addie and I made these for the family to enjoy Saturday afternoon.

Mom revamped her centerpieces with some Easter bunnies for Saturday afternoon.

The weather was perfect, and the kids (and adults) had a blast playing outdoors.

All of Grandma's great-grandbabies getting ready to hunt Easter eggs.

Britt and Hayes

Jason and Lila

A rare pic of me with my littlest girl.

The kids were divided into teams and had to find the eggs with their team letter.  Each egg had a puzzle piece, and the first team to get their entire puzzle put together won a prize.

Grandpa and Dad

Dad told the Easter story with resurrection eggs in the front yard.  All the kids listened so well.

We then hid over 500 eggs for the littles to find.

Papaw and Ad hunting eggs

Shelby found the golden egg hidden in Grandpa's shirt pocket.

Grandpa with my girls

Mimi and her girls

 

Claudia Farr was kind enough to come over and take a few quick pics of the family since we had everyone in town.  I really love these pics!

The whole crazy clan

The grandkids

 

Sunday morning we woke up, and my mom had Easter baskets for the girls. 

We all headed to church before making the drive back to Houston.

Harvesting a few things from Papaw's garden for mama to take back to Houston.

 

We had a fantastic weekend celebrating the life of one of my very favorite women.  I can't say enough good things about my grandma.  Despite the circumstances, we had a wonderful trip and enjoyed seeing all the family.  

Celebrating Grandma's Life

On my grandma's 90th birthday, we had her funeral, and it truly was a celebration of her life.  Tons of people showed up which was a real testament of how many people she impacted over her life.  My grandma had planned a few things that she wanted included in her funeral.  She picked a poem that was printed on the program, chose a few scriptures to be read and asked my Dad to speak.  Her advice to him was to "keep it light", and he did a fantastic job speaking about his mom.  Uncle Wayne and Aunt Susan did the music, and Uncle Mark put together one of his famous slide shows of her life.  The whole thing was beautiful.

The oldest grandchild from each family spoke at the funeral.  The below is what I said so I will be able to remember one day.

Although I inherited my love for being in the kitchen from my grandma, I definitely got my tears from grandpa so you may have to bear with me as I read this.  I have so many fantastic memories of grandma over the years.  From summers spent at the beach, to holidays at their house on the farm, to seeing her and grandpa in the stands at my basketball games, she was always present in my life.  I will forever cherish seeing her on the front pew at my wedding and introducing her to my daughters.  But it wasn’t just life’s big events, it was the countless games of penny penny we played on her stairs or the fact that she kept the can of marbles to play with in the downstairs closet.  It was the Christmas cards she hung on her door and finding her lost diamond ring under the guest bed at her house.  It was the hermit crab races we had on the balcony, the fishing on the pier and the hours spent playing rummikub at the condo at the beach.  It was the countless meals we ate around her table that always started with the same prayer…..Come Lord Jesus be our guest and let these guests to us be blessed…amen.  I know life will never be the same without her in it, but I am so very proud of the life she lived and the legacy she has left behind.  She was one of the most hard-working people I have ever known and most definitely passed down that attribute to her children.  I know I will never be able to eat a homemade cinnamon roll or Christmas cookie or have a bite of squash casserole or so many other dishes without thinking of her.  She had a way of making an elaborate meal look effortless and make guests feel welcome at her table.  I could honestly go on and on about all the amazing characteristics that grandma possessed or all the things she has taught me, but I want to just keep this short and say that our family loved her more than words, and she will be greatly missed.  Grandma was never one that liked to be fussed over so I will end by saying, she has taught me to work hard, play hard, love hard and to always have a little "hot money".  Happy Birthday Grandma!

After the funeral, we had a reception in the church gym with drinks and cookies.

Addie was in love with the cookie table.

After the reception at the church, all the family gathered at my parents house for dinner.  So many people were so generous giving flowers, food and desserts.  It was a special time with all the extended family despite the circumstances.

Mom had all the tables outside set up so cute

Some of my mom's friends from church came over to serve the food to the family and help my mom clean everything up.  They were such angels, and I so appreciate everything they did for the family that night.  They were true blessings!

Emily snuggling her niece Charlotte

Lila eating dinner

Britt's parents drove down for the funeral and joined us for dinner

Keith and Cohen

Rachel and Evie

Uncle Mark and Aunt Ann.....I love this pic of these two

Tyler, Bailey and Cooper

Grandpa with his kiddos

Kathleen Norma Dodson

On March 20th, exactly one week before her 90th birthday, my wonderful grandma went to be with Jesus.  I want to include her obituary here so I have it to look back on.  We had a beautiful service to celebrate her life and legacy, and she will be so greatly missed.

Kathleen Norma Johnson, 89, went to greet our Lord on Friday, March 20, 2015. Katy, as she was known by her family and friends, was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother.

Katy was born March 27, 1925 in Harlingen, Texas to Howard and Mary Dodson. She grew up in Santa Rosa, Texas where she graduated from high school, and then continued her education with a degree in home economics from Texas A&I University.

Because Katy grew up on a farm during the Depression, she was prepared for both the joys and difficulties of being a farm wife after marrying the love of her life, Alden, her husband of 67 years. After teaching school for a few years at Lyford, she became a stay at home mom.

Katy was always active in the Lyford community. She was active in the Lyford Woman’s Club, the Lyford PTA board, the Lyford Methodist Women association, the Texas A&M Mothers Club, the Cotillion Board and most recently she and Alden were named Don and Dona of the Algodon Club.

Katy’s faith in God was strong and she served in the Lyford Methodist Church for over 60 years. She helped instill Christian values and character in her children and grandchildren who have all accepted Jesus as Lord and are faithfully serving in their local church.

Katy enjoyed traveling, reading, fishing, crossword puzzles, collecting nativity scenes, gardening, cooking and watching the cooking channel. Her family honored her by compiling a recipe book called Fiddlesticks whose copies have been enjoyed by family and friends. Even until her mid 80’s, her husband, sons, son-in-law and any other hungry soul who happened to show up around lunch time were blessed by her wonderful meals.

In retirement, she and Alden made wonderful memories with their children and grandchildren at South Padre Island 6 months out of the year where they also faithfully attended the Chapel by the Sea.

Her greatest legacy was her dedication to serve others and show her children and grandchildren what a Proverbs 31 woman really was all about.

Katy is survived by her husband, Alden, of Sebastian, Texas, her children: Richard (Cheryl) Johnson of Harlingen, Ann Jud (Mark) of Harlingen, Wayne Johnson (Susan) of Austin, Lynn Johnson (Tami) of Harlingen and Sherry Johnson of Katy, Texas She is also survived by one brother Harlan Dodson (June) of Center Point, Texas, 13 grandchildren and 24 great grandchildren.

Special thanks go to Lisa and Kenny Salazar of the Spear Home and their loving caregivers, the Hospice Staff, Mary Cavazos and Cindy De la Rosa.

A celebration of her life will be held Friday, March 27th at 3:00 pm, at Christian Fellowship Church, 901 N. Loop 499 in Harlingen under the direction of Duddlesten Funeral Home in Raymondville