Wow! What a whirlwind the last little while has been. Tough business planning a funeral for someone you love. It made me realize that one of the most caring things that we can do for the ones we love is to plan our own funeral. From the songs, to the obituary, life story, etc. Although I must say that it IS somewhat therapeutic to sit down and write an obituary or life story for a loved one. It helps us remember them in their prime, their happier and younger days. It also helps bring some of those held in tears to the surface where they rightly belong.
It was so wonderful to be able to visit with the Dixon clan. I'm grateful to be able to call them my family. Thank you for making a difficult occasion into a joyous reunion. I just wish we could have spent more time together!
Thank you to our wonderful friends and family who expressed their love and condolences either verbally, with a card, with a gift of food, time, service or sharing your talents with us. You helped to lighten our burden and we are grateful for your thoughtfulness. Especially thank you to my four sweet daughters. Speaking for Darvin and I, you are the light of our lives girls and a wonderful blessing to us. We have been and always will be proud of you, but I am especially grateful for your loving service in honoring your grandma at her funeral yesterday. Thank you for being willing to squelch your anguish in order to serve her one more time with your beautiful music and sharing her life with those in attendance!
Thank you to my dear husband who helps me see things in a different (at times much healthier) way! First was the upset feeling when we arrived at the church for the viewing and the funeral home didn't have the room set up. Uh, grandma was late for her own funeral!?! Then my blood pressure rose further as we were following the hearse obviously wandering around the wrong part of the cemetery not even close to Grandma's gravesite. Uh, no, grandma never served in the military, so all those VFW Post men standing around that gravesite probably weren't waiting for grandma! How in the world could the funeral home get the gravesite mixed up? They have to coordinate with the cemetery after all. And of course the funeral escort ditched us as soon as we pulled into the cemetery, so when we had to wander around, get back onto the main road and then turn back into the right part of the cemetery, I was fuming. When we finally arrived at the correct gravesite, Darvin put it all into perspective when he said, "Yeah, Grandma was probably happy for the detour so she could explore the lay of the land. She was probably thinking 'I was wondering what this part of the cemetery looked like'." Yep, grandma, one last 'road trip'!
Until we meet again dear Grandma, Mom, Sister, Aunt, Friend!!
Grandma's life story as told by Lindsey Clement Giles:
Vona Dixon was born on November 9th 1926 in Bryce, Arizona to George William and Nellie Mae Fuller Dixon.
Vona's musical talent became apparent at a very young age. She always loved music and quickly learned the words to songs she heard. At about 3 years of age Vona's mother taught her to play guitar using a steel bar, hawaiian style. She loved to sing as she played. She and her mother learned to sing together a song called "Little Sweetheart of the Mountain" and would take turns singing the alto part. When people in the community found out, there were many invitations to sing at church socials. Vona learned to play the piano and organ by ear and would delight family and friends with private 'concerts' playing songs and singing along-complements of Vona.
Vona became a doting big sister at the age of 3 when her brother Dwight was born. Vona was blessed again as a big sister when her sister Doris was born in 1933 and then again at the age of 14 when her brother Ron was born in 1941.
Vona graduated from Bryce primary school in 1940. For their 8th grade graduation the girls (with their mothers' help) sewed look alike dresses made of beautiful silky white organdy material with puffed sleeves and full flared skirt, a wide white satin ribbon belt tied in a bow in front and they each wore a small artificial bouquet of their favorite color of flowers at the neck line. Her cousin Lulu's Aunt, a professional hairdresser, was visiting from out of town and gave Vona her first professional hairdo.
During her school years the entire Bryce school would let out to go up on the hill north of town and make a big "B". Everybody gathered rocks and placed them to make the letter, then it was whitewashed so it would show up from the valley below.
At the age of 19 Vona married the love of her life, Lee Clement, the same day the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, August 6, 1945.
Throughout their marriage Lee & Vona loved to hop in the car or truck & explore the back country. Their many road trips were documented with pictures and frequently accompanied in a photo book with a beautiful poem written by Vona.
Vona always had a generous heart. One of her nieces Joann told that when she graduated high school Vona sent a package of fabric of white dotted Swiss with double black flocked dots on it which Joann used to make a dress. The fabric was quite an extravagant gift back in those days.
Vona worked as a secretary & bookkeeper. In the 1950's she worked at the University of Arizona Mesa Experiment Farm. Vona was a beautiful woman so she was frequently used as the 'model' for newspaper photos about the Experiment Farm. Vona started working in the office of Four Corners Pipe Line Company in Flagstaff in 1957. She had many responsibilities including operating the switchboard and utilizing her short-hand skills as a stenographer.
Vona experienced many female problems beginning at a very young age, so she was beside herself with joy when in 1962 at age 35 she & Lee were able to adopt their little baby Darvin. Darvin was the light of her life and became the center of her universe and his regular shenanigans kept her constantly on her toes.
Camping continued to be an enjoyable family pastime even with a busy little boy. In fact in the summer of 1965 Vona and Lee took a summer job with the Forest Service on two days notice, manning a fire lookout tower on Bear Mountain in the Apache National Forest. They were brave enough to take 3 year old Darvin on a 3 hour horse ride, packing in 6 weeks of supplies on mules to man the 60 foot lookout tower accessed by steel ladder. They used an outdoor toilet, and water was supplied by bucket attached to a rope lowered into a cistern near the cabin supplied by rain or melted snow. Their refrigerator was a screen-wire cage set out among the trees. Their first day Darvin managed to get to the 2nd landing before he was spotted and promptly returned to ground level! Vona became proficient at cooking on the old wood burning range, even learning to bake yeast bread, biscuits, cookies, pies, etc without consulting a recipe, though she never did get comfortable climbing that 60 foot ladder when it was her turn to serve as a lookout! The joy of camping continued throughout her life and was later enjoyed with Darvin's family as he grew up, got married and brought his own family on the camping trips.
In 1968 Vona, Lee & Darvin moved to a house on 7th Street in Safford, Arizona which Vona and Lee called home for almost 38 years until they moved to Yakima to be near Darvin and his family.
Vona was an amazing cook. She loved to make and share fudge and divinity each Christmas. No family celebration was complete without Vona's fruit salad! An accomplished seamstress, over the years she made many dresses & skirts for herself, suits and many a costume for Darvin and even completed Darvin's high school 'bachelor education' class bathrobe so he wouldn't fail the sewing project portion of the class!
Over her lifetime Vona honorably fulfilled all her church callings including YWMIA (Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association) Secretary, Assistant Ward Clerk, scribe to the Stake Patriarch, and Ward Relief Society President among many others. As Work Director she organized and oversaw the annual Relief Society bazaar. Vona was a great historian, both for the church and her family. She made many wonderful journals and photo albums for the whole family.
In Vona's mind, the only thing better than becoming a mother, was becoming a grandmother! There was no better, more loving, doting, spoiling Grandma than Vona! She would hold and rock and sing to her grandbabies for hours on end. Every time she and Lee would travel to Mesa she would return home with beautiful 'princess' dresses for her granddaughters. She loved to spend time playing piano and singing to them, watching old movies, playing with and spoiling them! Grandma had a candy drawer and it was never off limits and there were always plenty of cookies and sugar cereal in the house as well! Grandma had a ton of old dress up clothes and she always enjoyed watching her granddaughters' and their friends' fashion shows! When the grandkids moved far away, she and Grandpa would 'host' two at a time during the summer. They always looked forward to their turn as they had so much fun when Grandma would take them to the local swimming pool, shopping for new clothes, etc. Her love carried into the next generation and some sparkle was brought back into her life when two of her great grandsons moved to Yakima 6 months ago. Grandma made sure there were trucks and trains and ducks to play with at her house. Alex and Emmett loved going to visit Grandma, and Grandma loved having them!
Vona aspirated at home on January 5th and although she put up a strong fight, she was not able to recover. She passed away at Yakima Regional Medical Center on January 18th 2012.
Vona was a loving, honest, compassionate woman who loved her husband, children, grandchildren and anyone who crossed her path. She was ever present in the moment making sure all who entered her home felt welcome, comfortable and were well fed. Vona loved the Lord and was grateful for every blessing.
Some random memories of my grandma that I want to keep remembering: Indian jewelry that she would buy from the stands set up on the Indian reservations in Arizona on our trips to Safford, lemon drops, vienna sausages, the bag of movies she brought with her each time she came and visited us in Idaho, boxes in the mail with decorations for different holidays, and my trip to the Grand Canyon, Zion's National Park and Pipe Springs with just her, myself, and my grandpa when I was eleven years old.
It was hard hearing about and seeing Grandma as she struggled and aged, but I will think of her as she was and as she now is in heaven. Happy and vibrant. My hope is to carry on the legacy of my grandma who was one of those people who thought so much of you that it inspired you to be the kind of person that in her mind you were! There is no doubt in my mind how much my grandma loved me and all of her 4 granddaughters. May I be as gracious, loving, and beautiful inside and out as my Grandma Clement.
Alex clowning around with Nana!
We got to see penguins and elephants and gorillas and chimpanzees and exotic birds and all kinds of fun animals. 
Alex and Jackson enjoyed the petting zoo.
Actually Alex enjoyed kicking up dirt and straw at the petting zoo more than the joy of petting the animals (pure boy for sure!).
A highlight of the trip was when we were at the giraffe enclosure. You can buy lettuce for $5 and then feed it to the giraffes. They're training the giraffes to come over to the 'feeding station' to eat. So one of the zookeepers was at the feeding station calling the giraffes by name trying to get them over to the station. I was holding Alex up where he could be on eye level with the giraffes and we were standing right by the zookeeper as he was feeding the giraffes and when he had one last piece of lettuce he handed it to Alex to feed the giraffe that was about ready to mosey away.
Imagine Alex's delight when that giraffe stuck out his long tongue and wrapped it around the lettuce that Alex was holding! I just wish I could have done a 'freeze frame' so that we could have gotten a picture. When we were done with our visit and loading the kids up in the car, Alex's response when asked about his favorite part of the zoo, "Giraffe!"
The boys were absolute troopers on the trip. They had a difficult time with take offs and landings. Emmett especially had a hard time on the flight from Seattle to Los Angeles, the sucker didn't help! 
When they finally turned off the fasten seatbelt sign and Briana was able to get up with him he settled down with her as she held him in the back of the plane. Alex's ears were really bothering him so he was quite fussy at take off and landing. Fortunately about 10 minutes before we landed in Los Angeles he fell asleep, so he had a little bit of relief. 
While we were waiting for our connecting flight in Los Angeles an older gentleman befriended Alex showing an interest in his monster trucks and giving Alex a tool 'catalog' to read. He was on our flight to Dallas and made it a point to find Alex on the flight to tease him a little bit! Mommy and the boys getting ready to fly.
