This story took place in the late 1970's.
  

     Carolyn and I went on a weeks elk/deer hunting trip with our good friends Laura and Larry Plummer.  Mom was asked to come out and baby sit so we could all go.
She was delighted with the opportunity to spend time with her grandkids as always.
     It turned out to be a very successful hunt and by Wed. we had 3 elk and 2 deer.
We totaled up the cost of taking everything to the butcher shop and decided that was just too expensive.  So we left camp early for home to butcher ourselves.
     Mom had a pretty good week with the girls.  Every time they would get in an argument she would sing "Love, Love, Love" and the girls would quit arguing and laugh.  Worked for her, but not so much for Carolyn and I.
     We started to "cut meet" on Thursday and mom now had a dual task of watching the kids and wrapping meet.  By Saturday afternoon she just kept saying, "oh my gosh, when will this be over"!  She did help to make this a fun time with singing, joke and story telling as we all worked at this tenious task.
When we finished up on Sunday we asked mom what she wanted for dinner and she responded, anything but red meet and I think we all felt the same way.
     It was a very special time that I will never forget.  Time spent with her working, laughing, and singing.  Will always miss her and think of her when a job gets a little tough.
     Love you mom! 

I am Ann's oldest grandchild.  On behalf of all of Ann's grandchildren, I am so happy to be able to be here with all of you to honor and celebrate this wonderful woman, our Grandmother.

Our Grandma was a classy lady, full of style and grace.  She loved to crochet, play cards, read, do crossword puzzles, attend Nebraska football games, play the piano and spend time with familly and friends.

We were so lucky to have had her in our lives from the time we were born until we have become adults and even have children of our own.  Grandma has always been there to support us, give advice, share her wisdom, discipline when needed and love us.

The thing I remember the most about Grandma is how she would greet us grandchildren, and perhaps some of you as well.  She would be so tickled to see us.  She would place her hands on our shoulders and look lovingly into our eyes, then cradle our face in her hands, sigh, and then giggle with delight before wrapping her arms around us in a loving embrace.  What a joy it was to be on the receiving end of that love!

Anna remembers working with Grandma at Bill's office.  She is grateful that Kaitlyn had the chance to meet her Great-Grandma Welander.  Grandma enjoyed seeing our family's newest and youngest bundle of joy.  

We enjoyed many great times together.  I remember one family gathering at Darrell & Annette's when Grandma climbed up into Grant & Anna's treehouse that Darrell built to join her great-grandchildren who were playing there.  There is a great photo of her up there with them.  Grandma had a great sense of adventure.

My brother Chris remembers that Grandma wouldn't use curse words but instead would say things like "shinamaroo" and "fiddlesticks".  Stephanie shared Grandma's love of music, especially the piano.  One of Steph's favorite songs that she played was Sentimental Journey.  I remember all the times Grandma would come and stay with us.  She even lived with us for a while. She had a  make-shift bedroom behind our family room sofa with a bed, a dresser and a piano.  We loved having her around all the time and shared lots of laughs.  Grandma was always there for us whether it was helping Steph through an embarrasing moment when she forgot to put on pants and rode her bike around in her underwear, to helping us get through difficult times such as our mom's transplant surgery, to being there for life's important events such as graduations and weddings.  We are truly blessed to have had her in our lives. 

Of course we can't talk about Grandma without mentioning Bill, the love of her life.  Even Alzheimer's could not fade the love she felt, as was evident whenever he walked into the room.  Suddenly Grandma would light up and giggle and look at him just like she always did.  Thank you Bill for all the many  years of happiness you have brought to Grandma and our entire family.  We love you!

Grandma - thank you for the love, the laughs and the memories.  Go sing with the choir of angels, I know God is tickled to have you home.