Grandpa Ray's Funeral

My Grandpa Ray, Oakley J Ray, passed away June 12 just shy of being 102 years old. We are so happy he's with grandma again and we'd been really looking forward to celebrating his life and seeing so many cousins, aunts, and uncles! We knew we wouldn't have a gathering like this again in the Ray family. It truly was my favorite weekend of the year. I will treasure so much the time spent with these people I love so dearly.

Thursday, June 23: flew down to Mesa with Richard and Todd. Logan Bingham, Trevor Clifton, and John & Deborah were on our flight too! Dave picked us up from the airport, we stopped by the grocery store for breakfast stuff, and met mom and dad at our Airbnb.

Missing my loves at home!

Friday: We all drove up to Pine for the morning. It was so wonderful to chat and catch up with cousins, and swing on the swings of course!! It brought back many happy memories. We had some amazing pizza for dinner, and then spent our night at the 88 gathering at the church. We chatted for hours, played some trivia games where you could win some of Grandpa's old things, and practiced for the song we would be singing at the funeral. 

The original 7!

The 88 cousins! Missing only 2 or 3, I think.

Saturday: Saturday we met at the cemetery for the graveside service then went to Grandpa's home to walk through one more time. The funeral was so wonderful. I can't describe how special it was to sing with the 88 cousins on stage. Some neighboring stakes provided a luncheon for us all, and then we ended the night at the Soelberg's home for lots of games and lots of laughing....both favorites of mine :)

My age group of cousins! Capri, Kyle, Dacia, Ashlyn, Richard, Kristin, Tiffany, Lisa, Camille, Todd, Steven, Danielle, Paul, Jenica, Katelyn

Beyond happy they're together again!!

Kate Loses a Tooth!

This sweetie pie lost her first tooth last night and looks cute as a button!! She was thrilled to get $2 from the tooth fairy the next morning.

 

Maddie and Daddy in Seattle

Earlier this week, Robbie and Wilson needed to fly out to Seattle for a quick overnighter to have a business meeting (and go to a baseball game!) so they had Madelyn and Gracie tag along, which was so special and fun for those girlies! Madelyn and Gracie got to have a girls' night with Grandma while the men were at the game. They painted nails and snuggled on the couch with a movie. So fun!

Beth trying on the headphones :)

Ready for take off!

 

No More Trainings Wheels for Maddie!

We're the first week into summer and Madelyn decided yesterday that she wanted to try again on her bike without training wheels. She's been practicing off and on for a couple of months. Well, something clicked and she just took off and has been cruising around since. So proud of her!

 

Madelyn's Preschool Graduation

Sweet Maddie Jo had her preschool graduation last week! She had been feeling pretty nervous about it and ended up being in tears for a lot of the program. We admired her bravery for being up there and doing her very best. We're super proud of our favorite 5-year-old in the whole world and forever love Mrs. King!!

I couldn't handle watching her cry alone anymore...