Glass Blocks

Just finished making a glass block.
I have made a number of these for christmas, showers and weddings.
Easy to make and fun to look at.
Hope you enjoy it.

Friday Sept 11:

Clifford got up early and went to the cemetery. having got permission from the funeral director and the groundskeepers he went and made up a box to lay the Ern in. We got the glass case and set things up for the graveside service. The kids were overwhelmed by the amount of people who came to show them love and support.
They had a very sweet and simple service, The Bishop asked me to give the opening prayer, He said a few words, they played the following songs.">and "> Cliff dedicated the grave. Then they all went to the church for a small dinner.
After everyone had left Clifford wrapped a blanket around Jayden ashes and placed him in the grave. This was his final act of service that he felt he needed and wanted to do. His final way of being able to say goodbye.

We got to the church which was set up beautifully, A wonderful meal, by ladies we had never even met... What sweet ladies they were. They wouldn't" even let us help to clean up afterwards. (bless their hearts.)
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The week before he passed away the Hospice called an organization called
NILMDTS (Now I lay me down to sleep) . these are photographers that volunteer their time ,at no charge to take pictures of these special babies , so that the families have something to keep. They came and took some pictures for them...they will come out at another time and take some pictures of Alexis as well.
Here are a few of those special pictures.

Just wanted to say how grateful I am for the faith that I have, for knowing that I have a Father in Heaven who knows me and loves me. I know that he has a plan for us and that there is a reason for being here on this earth ,to gain experience and learn to be like him, that we will live after this life. I know that families are forever and that we can and will be together again. I am so grateful for little Jayden. that he could be with us even if it wasn't as long as we would have liked. He touched so many people in his short time here.
so grateful for the friends and family who have been on this journey with us these past few months,you have helped smooth the way for us in countless way.

Sept 4,
I went to work for a couple of hours until my boss got there. then came home for the rest of the day.Called Dales Bishop to let him know what had happened. I tried to sleep ( had been more than two days without sleep) but the phone kept ringing. I sure the kids never got sleep either. They finally called in the afternoon and asked if they could bring Alexis over for the evening. They just needed to be alone to grieve and try to sleep. My other son and his wife came out and took the rest of the grand kids for the evening to let us get some rest. I went to lay down for an hour , but ended up sleeping until 2am ...My daughter and parents let me sleep. Their R.S. president called while I was asleep and asked what they could do. They brought them in food for the next couple of days.When
My husband started driving back from Nebraska.

Sat. Sept 5,
Will (my sweet 7 yr-old grandson) wanted to help with Alexis. He is so tender hearted and wanted to help ...Dale and Lori came and picked her up a little after noon.
Cliff made it home around 6pm that night. Having driven 1700 miles in two days. Needless to say he was tired too. ( he denies this)

Sunday Sept.6,
We went to church this morning. Dana wanted to keep things as normal for the kids as possible. Also this is her home ward and she needed that comfort as well. I was supposed to play the organ this morning but called someone else to play for me. I knew I wouldn't be able to play well.
Later in the afternoon Cliff helped Dale and Lori finish up a painting project they have at her mothers house. Will went with them, which made him feel quite special. He enjoyed playing with the dogs.

Monday Sept 7:
Cliff worked on Dana;s car put new brakes on for her so she could get home safely. She left with the kids and My parents at noon. They drove to S.L. got there about midnight. Will was so sad, cried for a good hour cause he didn;t want to leave.
I cried too, I didn"t want them to leave either but knew they had to go. We had all made the decision to have them come here before Jayden passed rather then after. I am so glad we did. and that they were able to be here.

my husband looked for songs for and found "Baby Mine" sung by Alison Krause
Dale;s favorite movie growing up was Dumbo , he would play it for hours,so this means alot to him. We sent it to him and they decided to play this at the service.
Tues. Sept 8,

Went with the kids to the Mortuary to help them make arrangements .Lori;s Mom was there as well. They decided to have a graveside service. He was to be cremated .( one of the funeral homes offers this as a free service to new parents who lose a child). Lori's grandfather bought a plot for their family ,to lay him to rest in.
The funeral home director is a family friend and gave us the program at cost and the use of a glass box for the earn for no charge. ( don't even want to know how much it would have cost) We came home that evening and called Their Bishop, He would be presiding. I made a call to my RS president and she called theirs and within a matter of two phone calls and a matter of minutes all the arrangements had been made. They reserved the church, made plans for a dinner for the family afterwards, ect... What a humbling experience. I have helped with these things before but it is different when you are on the receiving end of so much service.

Thursday,Sept 10:
Cliff went with Lori to pick up Jayden. They didn't want to go alone .

How do I express all that has happened in the past two weeks. It feels as though we have been on a long arduous journey filled with many ups and downs. But in reality it has only been a few short days.

The last I posted my husband had just left on the trip on a trip with his aging Aunt and Uncle. They have been wanting to go back to Ohio to visit their son , they are concerned about their health and the lack of time they may have left ( She has recently found out that her cancer has returned ) so they wanted to go on this trip while they still can. A few weeks earlier they went to the coast on a trial run . well they decided that they didn't feel comfortable going alone. They really wanted us to go along with them. We have felt really torn. wanting to go but also not wanting to leave here with the situation with the babies. So we decided that he would go, towing our little truck behind the motor home and I would stay home . Cliff left here (Wa.) on Friday August 28.
Our dog has been crying for two days. She has gotten so used to us both being home in the evening that she won't eat dinner until we are both here. (Silly girl).

Sunday: August 30 ,
Church starts here at 9am, I didn't get up in time to go. I am glad I was home, because about an hour later Dale (my son) called and said that they couldn't get Jayden to eat. He had had a seizure on Friday ( they were warned that those may occur) and they couldn't get him to eat much since then. I asked if they wanted me to come over and they said yes. We ended up spending the next few hours in the hospital as they checked him out. The kids did have them give him an IV so he had some fluids, but that was all they would do for them. the hospital considers this a natural progression of his condition. So they sent him home. The kids were having a really hard time with this...they just felt like they needed to be doing something. I discussed with them about their calling the Hospice nurse back in to put the feeding tube back in .( at least they felt like they were doing all they could reasonably do . ) Left them to discuss it together. Dale asked a couple times throughout the day when Dana his sister was going to be here. (not until the 17Th)
Cliff and I talked that night, both our hearts were breaking, wanting to be both places together.

Monday: Aug 31,
Called Dana our daughter in Albuquerque . Told her what was happening and we discussed the options of waiting to fly up on the 17Th as planned or coming now... we both felt she shouldn't wait. I went to work and left her my card #, and said do whatever needs to be done. Her sweet husband told her to go and all would be fine. She pulled the kids out of school, took the kids and started the drive up here on Tuesday. ( Her husband rented a car the rest of the week for himself).
...The hospice nurse came out at 2pm . the kids asked both the grandmothers to be there while she talked with them. This time it was a better experience for them. She put a feeding tube in and showed them what to do. She told them not to be surprised if there isn't much change.

Tuesday: Sept. 1, Dana arrived in Salt Lake.She Stayed with my parents for the night. We had both talked with them earlier and told them to pack a bag if they would like and come up with her.Being spontaneous people they took her up on the offer. Gave her someone to talk to on the way and other hand to help her with her three kids.

Wed. Sept 2,
I worked until Dana came into town around 4pm. She stopped by the store to let me know they were here. My boss let me leave then. Dana went on home with Dad and the kids , I went with Mom and my granddaughter to get Pizza. We were almost to the house when Dale called , I handed to phone to my Mom and she talked to Dale , He got emotional cause he didn;t know they were coming. Asked what was for dinner , and said they would be right out.
Dale and Lori came out with the babies and we were able to visit with them for the rest of the evening. What a special night. Very relaxed . just nice to be together and not have to hurry to be somewhere. Mom and Dad were able to visit as long as they wanted with their great grand babies.

Thursday: Sept 3,
The kids called us in the afternoon and said that Jayden wasn't doing well. If anyone wanted to see him and hold him or see them to meet with them at I-hop banquet room. ( i know that sounds odd, but our other son works there and his boss has offered the room for other occasions. it gave them a place for people to come and go as they please .very sweet of them)
so family and friends were able to hold him and say their goodbyes . A long emotional evening. Afterwards Dale asked if Dana , and I would come over to be with them. ( they didn't want to be alone). We got the kids to bed, left them in my parents capable hands and went over for the rest of the night.

Jayden William Jones went to be with his Heavenly Father at 3:50 am on Friday Sept.4.