Gerda Pratt Haynie

This past weekend we traveled to Utah to go to Carl's grandmother's funeral. (I would have posted earlier but I got some sort of stomach flu on our way home on Tuesday and have been sick up until yesterday.) Any who, we were able to attend her funeral this Monday. I feel so blessed to have attended it. I did not personally know Gerda Haynie. When I married into the Haynie family, she was already in the late stages of Alzheimer's Disease. To give you a better idea about the tone of the funeral, Gerda had been bed-ridden since last October, and was fed through a syringe for almost a year. So, her passing was quite a blessing. It was something the family had been praying for for quite some time. Hence, her funeral was not so much a mourning but a celebration of her life...and what a life she lived!

She lived a life of service to everyone that she met. She was the mother of 7 children (At one point she had 4 children two and under. Carl was 2, Becky was 1, and the then, she had twin boys. Talk about crazy). She was the grandmother to 42 grandchildren (40 of which were at the funeral. They flew from all over the country to pay tribute to such a wonderful lady. All 40 of them sang "Abide with Me tis Even Tide" at her funeral, and it was so beautiful.) Gerda also was the great-grandmother to 20 grandchildren. It was so inspiring to hear people talk about her life! What a Christ-like lady! She touched so many people. Thank you Gerda Haynie for raising such a righteous family. You inspire me!

Anyway, here are some pictures from our trip. I wish I had a picture of her when she was younger to post, but I don't. Sorry.

Gerda's Kids from R to L Eva, Lucy, Carl, Becky, Joe, Glen and Harold. What an amazing group! She was obviously a wonderful mother because she raised some amazing children.

This is Carl Stephen Haynie I with Carl Stephen Haynie IV. What a tender moment. Grandpa was being so cute with him.

The four Carl Stephen Haynie's. What a group of men! Those one for the picture frame.

Our little family.

Carl's ever-so wise and beautiful older sisters.

Carl's younger sister Cara with Emma Jane. Cara is officially taller than me, and she is twelve. :(

Emma Jane had her first breakdown. It was at the lunch after the funeral. She had had no naps all day, so that was the cause of the exhaustion. She fell, and after she fell, she just laid down, and just started crying. It was so sad. So, Carl's uncle laid down beside her to cheer her up, and she just cried harder because he wasn't her mom.