My Boo Boo: A Celebration of Life Garden Party:

Happy Monday & Happy Fresh Start to the Week! 

{Something much needed over in my parts}

For those who do not know, my Grandmother {Father's Mom} Boo Boo, passed away very unexpectedly last week. It was something that put us all in a state of shock, something none of us were ready for, and something each one of us in my family has been and still are coping with. The run of emotions I have been feeling is unexplainable and I have just been trying to be there for my parents during this extremely hard time. 

Boo Boo genuinely had the kindest soul and was the sweetest most loving person anyone ever met. Her and I had a very special relationship and it is something I will cherish forever. I was the baby of all of her grandchildren and boy did she favor that! ;) It probably didn't help that it was her baby's {my dad was her youngest} baby! We lived basically around the corner from her so I grew up going over there all the time, my Grandparents coming over to our house, and even more special was when they would surprise my brother and I and pick us up from school! As I got older her and I shared a true love for design/decor & crafting. It is something {even up until a couple of days before she passed} that her and I would talk hours about. We would talk about home decor/holiday decor or she would ask me what my next idea was for a craft or party and how much she loved it all. So many memories with her that I could literally right a book. What I am most grateful for is that as I became an adult, got married, moved away because of the military, and had children, that my relationship with Boo Boo never ever changed. She always stayed a priority in my life! She loved my husband and our babies so much and they loved her! Charli & Crew had a very close relationship with their Great Grandmother and that will always be something I will hold close to my heart and cherish forever. 

Something that has been hard with my Grandmother's passing has been Charli. Charli loved her Boo Boo so much and we saw her a few times a week so I knew it would be extra hard for her to understand. "My heart is so bwoken mommy" Charli exclaims. She has asked some really tough questions that I have not answered and have changed the subject because those are things she does not need to know... 

"HOW did Boo Boo die mommy?"

"WHY did Boo Boo die mommy?"

"Who take-did {took} Boo Boo away from us?"

I have had to comfort her in the middle of the night a couple of times because she said she had a bad dream about Boo Boo. It has broken my heart even more because she just doesn't understand.

It's been really tough. 

Through the pain and the tears though, we celebrated! 

We celebrated her life, because that is what she wanted! 

She did not want a stuffy funeral, she wanted a party and she wanted it at one of her favorite places to be, my parents backyard. So we honored and respected her wishes and a party we had! I helped my mom throw everything together in 2 days and it turned out absolutely perfect! Boo Boo loved everything Flower & Garden related so that is exactly what we did, A Garden Party just for her. She was also all about little details and I commented a couple of times on how she would have loved every little detail that went into her celebration! She loved lace and actually two of the lace table cloths were her mother's that were given to my mom, one of her absolute favorite flowers were snap dragons along with hydrangeas {really she loved so many flowers} so my mom and I created the most beautiful flower arrangements with those pieces in them, and her favorite color was blue/aqua so we had elements of blue scattered throughout!  

{This ended up being the only picture of family I got because I never have my phone on me and my camera was up for almost the entire party until I realized I hadn't taken any. But I was spending time with my family and that was more important. But this is the most important picture to me anyways. Boo Boo's 3 remaining children- my aunt, my uncle, and my dad}

Now something that is truly symbolic that happened while everyone was at the house celebrating the life of this wonderful woman. A butterfly emerged from it's Chrysalis! 

Charli found this Chrysalis last week hanging from the underneath part of the arm of the chair that Boo Boo ALWAYS sat in on the back patio at my parents. Then it emerges during her celebration of life! It was as if she was letting us all know she was ok and will always be watching over us!

"Boo Boo Butterfly Angel" Charli named her.

We love you and will always miss you but know you are with us wherever we go!