Funerals, Memories, and The Belly

This weekend was interesting. I had to go to my uncle's funeral in Modesto, CA. It was quite bittersweet. Not just because of his death, but because of Modesto itself. Modesto was a place I spent countless weekends growing up. Both of my great grandmothers lived there. My parents, my brother and I went there all the time, and they were some of the best memories of my life. About 4 years back, my Noni died (one of my great g-mas that was 96 years old when she passed). Then 2 1/2 years ago or so my Gram (the other great g-ma who is now in the neighborhood of 95ish) was moved to Reno so she wasn't living alone. Since then, we hadn't been back to Modesto. It's not the same without staying in the whimsical home of Gram, with all the green trees and grape vines, flowers, wind chimes, pancakes in the mornings, saggy old bed on the porch, hours spent out back by the lemon trees talking... hmm. Well, despite our desire to leave Modesto as a sweet, dear memory, we still have to go back when stuff like this funeral comes up. It just sucks. It's not the same. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express. We drove by my Gram's old house and Noni's old house. They've both been sold and changed. It blows. But whatev. Still good to see family. So, moving on... a few pics to show.

Sarah at 20 weeks! Woot!

Big 'ol belly!!!

Here's the new Catholic church, Saint Stanislaus, that the funeral mass was held at. It was GORGEOUS. Looked just like one of the cathedrals in Italy.

Here are the handsome men I traveled with. On the far left is my little (well, younger) brother TJ, then my dad Tim, then on the right my Uncle Chris. Don't they look sharp? :)

The weekend went down without a hitch for the most part. I was the only female in the group as my brother's girlfriend stayed home, Mom had to work, and my Aunt Jane (Chris' wife) had to stay home with their twin boys (1 1/2 years old). Talk about testosterone city. And my favorite part? Every person within arms reach of me grabbin on the belly and commenting on how big my stomach is and am I sure I'm not having twins and oh my what a big boy this is going to be! I nearly punched 15 people in the face.