Sorry for the delay in posting (the letter of notification was delayed due to my move from Sunnyvale to San Jose).

My favorite memories of Kay are her awesome black and white cookies, that she liked chocolate sprinkles (hard to find), playing Hand & Foot – of course! (introduced to the entire Higgins family by Kay) and probably most importantly for the importance of being “adorable” when it’s the last thing you want to do. Kay was a special lady and I am glad to have known her. 

Condolances from Nancy and the Higgins "kids" to the Howell "kids."

Jane 

There are probably only handful of people in this world who get to say, "My grandmother owned a cookie store."  And yes, it was as awesome as you'd imagine being a kid in a cookie store.  Some of my fondest memories of Grandma Kay were spending summers in Seattle hanging out with her in the back of Kay's Cookie Kitchen in the U District soaking in the aroma of fresh snickerdoodles.  Of course, I got to be the offical taste tester of anything on the menu...

I remember Kay driving me all over Seattle in that old blue Datsun with that really annoying buzzer that went off every time you got in it.  (random memory)

That last time I got to see Kay was a couple of years ago when I flew down to California with Kellen so she could meet her first great grandson.  I remember telling my mom at the time, "She's not going anywhere for a while," noting her sharp wit and sarcasm.  Well Kay, you didn't disappoint!

Grandma, you will be missed and I love you.

Matt 

I believe that your mom and I were cousins by marriage many years ago.  Stuart and Leslie were my cousins. When I was about seven years old, Gramma Leslie died and we lost track of the Howell side of the famiy due to a falling out with aunty Francis and Grampa Leslie .I Just wanted to express my sympthy on the loss of your mom.

Carmelita (Halsey) Kotta 

One of my funny memories with Mom is of our holiday weekend trip to Vancouver, B.C. in the 1980's. The two of us stayed at a lovely hotel in the city and went searching for a traditional turkey dinner on Thanksgiving night. We struck out at four restaurants before we realized Canadian Thanksgiving is in October.

There were many memorable dances during my years at Mother Butler Memorial High School for Girls. Don't remember many of the boys who escorted me, but I do remember being sewn into several dresses 15 minutes prior to being picked up by my date, because Mom was still making the dress she started just a few days before.  The dresses were lovely, but a little stressful! Love you, Mom!

I don't know the whole story and maybe one of my siblings can fill in the blanks.  Linda already mentioned the bleach and ammonia.  Mom was going nuts over the gophers that were ransacking her lovely backyard in Saratoga. She tried drowning them out and using the aforementioned bleach and ammonia, carefully directing other living people to clear out.  But none of that worked.  So she borrowed a neighbor's gun to shoot them!  Don't remember if she every got a shot off, but her reputation in the neighborhood changed forever that day!!

Early memory of riding in the front seat of the car and mom was driving along the El Camino Real in San Mateo, California. I was a little kid, not more that 5 or 6. Suddenly there were flashing red lights and a siren...we were being pulled over. Mom turned to us kids and said very urgently "You kids...Look sad and maybe I won't get a ticket!" Not a great strategy!  The officer was very friendly to us kids and we smiled back as he wrote some things down in his notebook. As we drove off, Mom seemed a little more grouchy and not pleased with her children!

Gasworks Park in Seattle has a hill where you fly kites. The family went there one windy Sunday and our kite kept getting snagged in the towers of the old gas factory. Kay holds Matt.

During a visit to our house, Joan and I both remember your Mother, Aunt Katherine, as we called her, doing the Twist. 
All the neighborhood kids were on the front steps listening to records (that's how long ago it was) and  we looked through the storm door and your Mother was dancing the Twist.  Everyone was astonished because our mothers didn't do that.
Funny how some things stick in your memory.  
A great memory of a wonderful lady! 

Memories:

Scathingly brilliant ideas

“Let’s ride across the country on motorcycles”

A sledgehammer and load bearing walls

A paper dress in Christmas colors

Tom & Jerry’s

Using the “good china” and silver

“Who took the good scissors?!”

“Jesus once said…”  but not really

“I’ve never had a ticket!”   uhhh yeah you did

“Suffer to be beautiful!”

Killing gophers:  ammonia and bleach – not working?  Try a .45!

Coffee klatching at the kitchen table

“Where are my car keys?”

Assembly line lunches, color-coded Christmas presents