Family Pictures

Patricia Hodge, Catherine and Eugene Kochan

Bob and Francene Thomson with Harmony, Kimble Thomson, Noah, Benjamin and Timothy Stuart, Cheri and Mark Stuart, Lynsie Thomson, Troy and Bambie Thomson

David and Denise Thomson

Jesse, Charlotte and Deborah James

The cousins-Lynsie Thomson, Troy Thomson, Cheri Thomson, Deborah James, Patricia Hodge

Bob Thomson, David Thomson, Jim (this is their cousin who is like a brother)

Charlotte James, Catherine Kochan, Peggy Garrison

The Funeral

My grandmother was buried next to my grandfather, Kenneth Thomson. I never met my grandfather. He died in 1961 in a car accident. He was buried in Salt Lake. That is why my grandmother was buried in Salt Lake even though she died in Pennsylvania. Here are the pall bearers carrying her casket and also a photo of her headstone and some photos of her when she was first married. My grandmother was a beautiful women. I never knew that she was 17 when she got married. My grandfather met her on his mission and fell immediately in love. He brought her home with him and they were married shortly after that. I also learned that my grandmother had a rough life prior to that. Her mom died when she was very young and her dad traveled around a lot for his job. He couldn't take care of his girls, so he put them in the orphanage that was just down the street until he could care for them on his own. We drove by the orphanage when we were driving around Salt Lake.

There was only a grave side service. My cousin Cheri wrote the eulogy and they asked me to deliver it. We sang a song then dedicated the grave. Then, the opened the floor for anyone who wanted to share memories of grandma. My aunt Peggy, aunt Charlotte, my uncle Bob and my mom all stood and shared some memories. My uncle David didn't want to get up, but as we were pulling away, he knelt down my the casket and told his mom good-bye. It brought tears to my eyes.

We got together after the services at my uncle Bob's house in Layton. We had a big family dinner and sat around talking. We got pictures of all the families that were present. I hadn't seen some of these people in 30 years. I met a cousin that I had never met before. I really had a great time.

Blogger is being strange and not letting me move my pictures around, so I will post them in a different post.

Temple Square

I got to go to Utah for my grandmother's funeral. I left Austin early Thursday morning (the 17th). My uncle Bob picked me up at the airport. We went back to his house and picked up my mom and Eugene then went down to Salt Lake to visit Temple Square. Here are some of the photos I took that day. The first 2 photos are the ones I turned in for my photography class.

The weather was absolutely beautiful as we walked around Temple square. The sun was shining and the sky was clear blue. I felt very much at peace. I wish my husband and kids could have been there to share it with me.

My grandma

My grandma Thomson passed away this morning. I am a big mix of emotions right now. She has been battling cancer for several years now. She was doing fairly well for quite a while, but really started having more problem recently. She has been on Hospice for a little over a month now. For the last 2+ weeks, she has needed around the clock care from both my mom and my step dad. She has been in a lot of pain. I am relieved that she is out of pain now but sad that she is gone. I am glad I got to see her in March when we went to Pennsylvania. She sat down with me one afternoon and we went through a bunch of photos from when she was growing up. I scanned a bunch of them while I was there. She also gave me a bracelet that had belonged to her aunt, given to her by her fiance when they got engaged. She got to see my kids. I felt bad though because Jeremy was scared of her and wouldn't go near her. I don't know why he was acting like that. He has never been afraid of anyone. I think it really hurt her feelings. He acted the same way around my grandma Kochan. I'll be flying to Utah for her funeral as soon as my mom figures out when the funeral is going to happen

I started taking a photography class 2 weeks ago. I have already learned so much. We got our first assignment last week. One photo needs to be a photo showing motion. I wanted to do some pictures of Jeremy on the swing, but it has rained every day since my class. I took advantage of a short rain break yesterday and photographed Jeremy riding his scooter. He is totally blurred, so that shows the motion. I would actually rather have him in focus and the back ground blurred. I care more about what he looks like than I do the car and house behind him. I may try it again and see if I can move my camera to follow him so the background blurs and not him. I just don't know if I can move the camera at just the right speed to follow him and keep him in focus. It's worth a try. The next assignment I still need to do is to have a narrow depth of field. With a photo like that, the subject will be in focus while the background and foreground will be blurred. I haven't decided what I am going to do for that one yet. I need to get busy with it though because the pictures are due at the next class Wednesday evening. I am hoping my grandmother's funeral doesn't interfere with my class.