Omaha for Rita

Jarod's aunt Rita Murphy passed away after a long battle with ovarian cancer on Jan. 6.  We knew that we wanted to be there so we headed to Omaha for the funeral.  It was a sad occasion but it had been way too long since we had seen any of the Jostes' and Jace hadn't met Estelle yet. 

The wake was really special.  Mike and Rita do a lot with Native Americans and they had one come and do a song over Rita.  It was extremely emotional for every one. 

While we were there we celebrated Jace's birthday by going to the Omaha zoo.

His favorite part was the huge aquarium inside the zoo.

We also really enjoyed the jungle. 

But mostly we spent a lot of time with family.  I am so incredibly lucky to have married into the Jostes side.  They are some of the neatest people I have ever had the privilege of knowing. 

They are all about family and are so close.  I wish we lived closer to them or at least got to see them more often.  We are going to make a huge effort to do so. 

We stayed with Matt and Kim and had such a good time catching up with them.  We got to meet the girls for the first time and Jace had fun playing with them.

We talked and talked.  Jarod commented that if we lived there Kim and I could be trouble.  I would have to agree.  She is awesome and I always really enjoy her company and Matt's as well. 

They even planned a little party for Jace right before we left.
It was an emotional trip but I am so glad we went.  Rita was a very special woman.  She was Jarod's god mother and he has such fond memories of her.   She was one of the nicest people I have ever met.  Every one at the funeral and wake commented that she was the most selfless person they knew.  How incredible to be known as that.  We are all better people for having her in our lives and until we meet again Rita we will miss you!
A few things I wanted to remember about this trip.
Mike wasn't sure where they were going to bury Rita and it was really expensive and he wasn't sure how they were going to pay for it.  He called the cemetery where Cleo and George Jostes, Rita's parents, were buried and was told that Cleo and George had purchased two additional plots when the originally purchased theirs when Rita was a baby.  Rita was the fourth child but for some reason they had purchased four plots all those many years ago.  Rita was able to be buried next to her Mom and Mike will be able to be there too.  It was such a gift from the other side and left all of us in tears.
I was given the earrings that Rita wore to her own funeral.  She loved jewelry and after the funeral we all went to her house and sat around telling stories and memories of Rita.  It was an incredible experience.  Mike wanted everyone to have something of hers and that is what I was given.  Every time I wear them I will think of her, her strength and what a lasting impact she made on every one who knew her.
This was the first experience with death for Jacoby.  Jarod and I had to explain death to him and it was the hardest conversation to this point that I had to have with my boy.  He understood more than I think I realized until later in the week he was coming up with some profound questions.  He was very concerned that I was going to die after the conversation and he grabbed me and told me that if I died he would miss me so much.  I had held it together barely up until that point and then I lost it.  I told him that I would miss him too so much but I wasn't going any where right now. 
The entire time we were in Omaha we kept telling him that Grandpa J was very sad.  He kept telling us that he would make him all better with hugs, kisses and jokes.  He was very concerned about Grandpa J and was always keeping an eye on him and trying to do nice things for him.  It was very sweet.
The whole experience was very somber and made Jarod and I take a hard look at our own lives.  We want to be closer to home and family and I think this pushed us over.  We are hoping that sooner or later we will end up closer to family.  Our families mean everything to us and you never know when it is going to be too late to spend that time with them.