• Family Matters

    Grandpa’s Memorial Service

    celebration of life

    Grandpa’s memorial service was pretty amazing. I wish I would have taken more photos but of course my mind wasn’t on taking photos. So many of his friends showed up. It was a full house which was really neat. Everybody loved my grandpa.

    cousins girls

    It was really nice to see so many people I haven’t seen in a long time. After the service everybody hung out for a pot luck dinner and visiting. Several old friends gave me life advice that sort of blew me away. I know we where there to remember my grandfather but it was so much more than that for me. I felt loved and seeing the outpouring of love for my grandpa reminded me of what a great man he really was. It made me want to be like him.

    meeting room

    We had a little slideshow going on during the dinner. It was fun to put together and watch.

    Grandpa Coyle20110528_0198

    How funny is my dad when he was a teenager? I love old pictures.

    Grandpa Coyle20110528_0234

    This is how I remember my grandpa most. Not carrying trash but just being helpful and busy. He was very spry up until the very end.

    Grandpa Coyle20110528_0210

    I miss him but I’m so happy he’s up in heaven where he wanted to be for so long. He was a real born-againer, preaching the gospel all the time, often to my embarrassment I’m ashamed to admit.

    Grandpa Coyle20110528_0207

    The memorial service was heart-felt by many, in fact it was so heart-felt that it went on for four hours! People just didn’t want to leave. But that’s a good thing. I know it would have made him smile.

    Grandpa Coyle20110528_0194

    I will always have a clear picture in my mind of my grandpa smiling.

    Grandpa Coyle20110528_0230

  • domesticity,  Family Matters

    Pizza Night

    dinner

    Lest you worry that we are all doom and gloom around here, I wanted to let you know that there are happy times too. We know my Grandfather is in a better place and we had a lot of time to mentally prepare for his leaving. He was really sick in the end and now he has no pain, which is so much better. Of course we miss him. Sometimes I get so bummed out that we all can’t live forever. I want my grandma back, my Aunt Lois, the lady at the laundromat and all those pets I’ve lost… but this is life. The sooner I wrap my mind around the fact that it’s fleeting, the better.

    There are still many many reasons to keep on loving and smiling and having the best time that we can while we are here.

    So before a whole slew of relatives showed up for the funeral this Saturday, I decided to have my grandmother and aunt over for a pizza night. Of course they’ll be invited when all the relatives are here too but they appreciated a quiet night with just us. Especially since my aunt is just out of her cast and wobbling her way through physical therapy and my Grandma is well, getting old. She gets tired easy. But not too tired to come over and I love that she still does.

    grandma watches

    I made the dough. It’s really easy, it’s just a matter of remembering to do it an hour beforehand. Have I posted the recipe before? If I did, I can’t find it so here it is again:

    PIZZA DOUGH

    Ingredients:

    1 cup warm water (105ºF —which as Bethany says is hot but not too hot, sort of like kid’s hot chocolate at Starbucks)
    3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
    2 tbs olive oil
    2 tsp honey (I accidentally put tablespoons and it tasted just fine, maybe better in fact)
    1 tsp yeast

    Instructions:

    1. Add salt and honey to warm water in a bowl. Mix and then add the yeast. Let sit 10 minutes.

    2. Gradually add flour and olive oild and start mixing (hello, kitchen aid dough hook)

    3. When mixture gets too heavy to mix, start kneading (my wrists love you, kitchen aid dough hook).

    4. Knead until smooth (ish), make a ball, coat with olive oil.

    5. Place in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise 1 hour at room temperature.

    6. Punch down and let rise another hour (or not. I always skip that extra rising.)

    7. Shape, punch with holes with a fork and add toppings.

    8. Bake at 400-450º F 20-25 minutes until crust is light brown.

    toppings galore

    This pizza was for me, Bug and my dad. I’ve been loving having my dad all to myself this week.

    Keren's garlicy overtopped pizza

    And this pizza was for my aunt and grandma with all kinds of icky things on it like onions, mushrooms and garlic! Ew! But that’s why I love pizza night, everyone can bring their own toppings and make what they like.

    all topped and ready to bake!

    Then we popped them in the oven.

    baking

    Bug likes pepperoni

    And it was delish!!! So don’t worry too much about us. We’re doing fine.

    p.s. Don’t forget to stop by my review blog for chances to win a mop (which you’ll need if you have a pizza night) and some mulah before May 31st! While you’re there, check out the spin spin spinbrush post too if you haven’t already. Thank you! :)