Memorial Service

Less than 1 week after our boys were born we were planning their Memorial Service. I spent most of the next week trying to get the program and pictures just right. My sweet sister in law; Kim came in from Austin to help with Allie and also gave me a great blueprint on how to do the programs. She also went to numerous stores looking for frames for the pictures. We decided that the boys' actual footprints needed to be on the front and they are almost exactly the same size (about 1cm smaller on the program). I don't think we could have accomplished this had she not come in to help!

Front and Back:

Inside:

The service had to be both honoring to God and to our boys; and I think it was. We are so thankful for everyone who came and especially those who helped make the day special for us.

The hospital gave us these certificates of life for our boys. However, they were not born silently as it says! And these are actually the second ones they had to make because the nurse messed up the first set with the wrong date and wrong time! So they had to go back the next day and redo the footprints and hand prints! The nurse the night that we delivered didn't fill in the information so we didn't even know who was who the first time and then to have to redo the prints on them was not a good memory for me. We also had to wait to have these sent to us because the doctor was not back at the hospital for the entire week! When there is not many memories that you have of your children, every single one is huge and important!

This is the display table that we did.

The two teddy bears were given to us by the hospital and at first I didn't want them, but decided right before leaving to take them. The blue and white striped blanket that the bears are sitting on was one exactly like we wrapped the boys in. There is also their two life certificates and a picture of each boy separately (Michael on the right and Jake on the left), one together, and a collage of pictures. The little booties that matched their hats are on the table, although they are hard to see because they are so small. They made footprint molds of their feet, but the nurse did a horrible job doing them so you can barely see them and she didn't label those either! There is also a picture of a heart that has the words to the Kerrie Roberts song that my sister in law, Robyn painted for us.

We received so many beautiful flowers and plants for our house and at the service and here is a picture of most of them. We had to take a huge wreath apart and put it into 6 different vases! They made the house look nice and it was very appreciated.

My mother in law, also put two white roses in a small vase for the boys and believe it or not; they are still alive! They are the ONLY ones still alive 1 1/2 weeks later and they have not wilted or dropped any petals! Notice the leaves are all dried up, but not the flowers!

And finally, here is the church bulletin from the Sunday of the service. They are listed on both New Arrivals and In Christian Sympathy. However, the date is WRONG for when they were born! It was not Sept. 8- it was Sept. 7! Again, another thing that was messed up in our few memories of our boys! If that would have happened with Allie's, we would have laughed it off, but it really made me sad because there is not much that we have to remember them by.

I know that I need to keep the right perspective that these are only temporary things and our boys are alive in heaven, but it is still all we have until we see them again one day. And I know that the details don't really matter in the grand scheme of things- but for me, right now they do matter and it is part of my grieving process.