Liliane Derden was flying from Amsterdam to Perth via Kuala Lumpur for a two-week visit to her daughter Cassandra Gibson and granddaughter, Ella, 2\xC2&#189;, who were in the process of moving into their first home.
"She was so excited to help me move in," Ms Gibson said. "We were planning on decorating by painting and furnishing my new place. She wanted to make the house a warm, inviting home for Ella and I." 
Ms Derden, of Canberra, was on Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 flying over a contested area of the Ukraine on   July 17, 2014, when it was shot out of the sky by a ballistic missile. All 298 passengers and crew were killed. The airline has been accused of trying to save fuel by flying over a known war zone.
With the two-year anniversary of the attack this Sunday, Ms Gibson emerges as the lead applicant for eight Australian families who have just filed a class action for compensation from Malaysia Airlines in the Federal Court of Australia. The papers were submitted on   July 5, only 10 days before the two-year deadline for compensation claims.
Ms Gibson, who has a sister, Chelsea, in Canberra, said that the family had been left with no other choice but to take legal action, which had brought unwanted stress and anxiety to the family.
"It's upsetting that it has had to come to this," she said.
"When you are trying to grieve for your loved one who has been wrongly taken away from you, then have to fight another battle to prove their life's worth, it really tests all your emotions.
"I'm shocked by the way Malaysia Airlines has reacted to this horrible incident. I don't understand how they could ignore such important risk management procedures just to save on fuel costs. It's scary to know they still carry people's lives in their hands."
Asked how Ella was coping without her grandma, she said: "It's hard to tell right now. She has such a bubbly, positive personality, just like her 'Omi'. She says her name some days but then is confused as to why she isn't around.
"I feel that this tragedy, and the lengthy quest for answers, has kept everything raw. We just need to make sure we continue to hold onto all the good memories we made with mum and her positive outlook on life."
She said she would spend the second anniversary with her "little" sister Chelsea and stepfather CJ to travel to some places her mother would have loved to see.
Lawyer Michael Hyland of Sydney-based LHD Lawyers, who act for Cassandra Gibson, said the two-tier claim was brought under the terms of the Montreal Convention 1999.
"Under the first tier the claimant does not need to establish negligence against Malaysia Airlines but must establish both that their relative was killed and that they were, to some extent, financially dependant upon them," he said. Maximum compensation per passenger is about $220,000.
Damages under the second tier, where negligence of the carrier is a critical issue, are open ended and could result in a much larger payout by respondent Malaysia Airlines, he said.
The eight-page claim states that on   July 17, 2014, flight "MH17 followed its planned chosen route, airway L980 across Ukraine". On or about the same date "MH17 was shot down in the airspace over the war zone. The in-flight disintegration of MH17 was the result of the detonation of a warhead".
In an additional claim, families of the Australian victims involved in the class action are also seeking compensation of $10 million per passenger in what could result in one of the largest aviation disaster payouts in history.
The claim, also served by LHD Lawyers, was submitted in   May to the European Court of Human Rights.
It lays the blame squarely at the door of the Russians. Proposed respondents to the claim are the Russian Federation and President Vladimir Putin.
It argues that Russia recognises an attack on a passenger plane is an egregious act, having offered "a $50 million reward in connection with the terrorist downing of an Egyptian Airline that killed a large number of Russian citizens".