Goodbye Great Grandma Farnsworth

September 3rd was a bitter sweet day for the whole Farnsworth clan, it was the day Grandma Donna Farnsworth passed from this earth into the arms of her husband. Some knew her as Mom, Grandma, or Great Grandma Farnsworth. She was the most amazing Grandma a grandson could ask for. To tell you the truth Grandma has been trying to cut ties with planet Earth for about 12 years, but there have been some people who told her she could not go yet. So with love and caring she stuck it out and she got to see and be part of some amazing memories. My kiddos got to know her and have memories that I hope will stay with them. She got to see Traci sealed in the Temple and her baby born. Tyler was able to have her there at his mission farewell. Jen was able to have each of her kids get to know her also.

But the day came for her to go be with Grandpa and this is what she had been waiting for for over a decade. The whole family said, "There is a huge family reunion going on in Heaven right now." I got the phone call Sunday morning and mom said she peacefully past while she was sleeping. I was emotionally sad she was gone because we were coming down the next week to visit and I knew we needed to see her one last time, but we didn't make it, but I was excited she was able to be with her family in Heaven and I would see her again.  The picture above is one of the last times we were able to see and visit with Grandma.

These are some fun pictures of Grandma.  Two things she loved were Grandpa and water guns!  Ryan made this funny picture of "The Grandmanator" after a fun day at the park with all of us cousins having a water fight.  Grandma wanted to try out the squirt gun and she was all business once it got in her hands!  She sure was an amazing lady full of laughter, love, caring, compassion, and tons of spirit. I have thousands of memories of Grandpa and Grandma Farnsworth. If I were to write them all down, it would take forever. One thing I will always be eternally grateful for is how they taught me hard work and doing a job right. I have always had a great knack for working outdoors with things that grow. I have my own landscape business and loving doing it because they taught me by cleaning their yard and maintaining it. I started when I was around 6 years old and I did not stop until they sold the house when I was 28 years old.

 The funeral was scheduled for her would-be 91st birthday, September 15th, two weeks after she passed. The whole funeral was amazing. It was not a morn for a lost family member, but a celebration of her life. It was great to take the kids and have them meet my cousins and other family they have not even met. I also got to show them and tell them the stories of what was in Grandma's displays. It was fun looking back on old times and laughing. 

There were cousins there that I had not seen for almost 15 years. It was crazy to see us all grown and being in this part of the generation. I remember going to funerals and I was the young one and my parents were in my shoes. The viewing was very nice and it was good to say goodbye then and for the kiddos to see her also. Funny story. Grandma loves her chocolates, especially her Butterfingers, so Uncle Ron bought a bag and put it in the casket with her. We all laughed because we all knew that would make Grandma happy.

Like I said it was a celebration ceremony. There was family everywhere. We got pictures with a lot of them for memories and just for fun. Below are some more fun pictures of family members we have not seen in a while, probably since Tiffany and I got married:

The top left picture is of the Piggot family. Aunt Dawnette, Uncle Reed, Amy, Lesile, Kaden and Taylor. Top right was  part of the McGlauclin family. Uncle Gill, Allison and Ida. Middle right is Brian's family with Erin and their girls. Bottom left is Ryan's family, Mariona, and his kids. It was amazing how we only missed two grand kids out of the whole family. Everyone was there and having a great time. 

The funeral services were amazing and funny. It wouldn't be a real Farnsworth gathering if there was no laughter and jokes. All of the grand kids had the opportunity to stand and take a few minutes and tell of a fun memory of Grandma. It was cool to hear how everyone had a different special memory of Grandma and how she left an impression on their life. I even got to learn some awesome stories about Grandma I have never heard before. Once the funeral service was over it was time to head to Enterprise where she would be buried.

Grandma has always loved her trucks and really wanted one. Every family member who had a truck, she was jealous. She loved to ride in them. So Grandma made a deal with the uncles and aunts that when she died she would be taken to her burial spot in the back of a new truck. They kept their promise and they were able to rent a brand new 2018 Chevy Duramax for the occasion. It was an amazing truck and Grandma would have been impressed if she could have seen it. It was the grandsons' job to be the casket pallbearers. It was an honor to be part of this. The funeral home would not let us take the casket all the way to Enterprise in the back of the truck and also they could not take the hearse on the dirt road, so we stopped just after the pavement and put Grandma in the back of the truck and took her the rest of the way in. It was a bummer to have missed Tyler and Clayton they were the only two grandsons missing.  The rest of us rode in the back of the truck with Grandma to her spot in the cemetery.

The rest of the funeral was great. More reminiscing and the dedicatory prayer and we said our last goodbyes and see ya laters.

Before the funeral ended we as grand kids had to do one last thing for Grandma to see her off on her new journey and that was a 21 Grand kid squirt gun salute. 

The Farnsworth Family was all about water fights and getting wet. If we were together there was always people getting wet, so we thought this would be a great way to honor and remember Grandma and the fun we had with her. We all stood in a line, oldest to youngest, and squirted water into the air over Grandma's casket.  After the salute, of course a water fight started. I can honestly say this was the first time I have heard of a water fight at a funeral, but hey no one cared.  We loved it and I think Grandma would have approved.

After all was said and done it was time to say our last goodbyes to Grandma and take a picture as a family. The one lady missing was my beautiful wife. We excused her because she had just had her last chemo treatment a few days before and was not feeling well.  We did not want her to get sick and get overwhelmed with everything.

WE LOVE YOU GRANDMA FARNSWORTH AND WE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER YOU!

       Families are forever and we will see you on the other side and have more great memories!

While everyone was together for this special time, we got a picture of all of the new Farnsworth grand kids.  They are growing up fast and they love playing together.  There are now 10 of them!