today

Its's been a year since my Grandma's passing.

Today I remember her and all her charisma and spunk.

I certainly miss her.

grandparents

I love this photo of Naomi and my dad
relaxing together.
Naomi loves her Grandad; I'm so happy I caught this
sweet moment together.


My mom and her Grand-"cuties" nestled together
on a cold Winter night.
I think, if I were to take a wander
down memory lane at all the
past 5 years photos,
I'd find that I have several of these such images,
Everyone cozy together on the black couch.

As you can see from the expressions on
everyone's faces,
we were giggly and happy.

memories

As I look through old photos, hoping for a picture of my grandma,
I run into these jewels.
Grandma's voice comes to mind and I hear her say,

"We want to come see you. We'll only stay an hour. Don't make supper.
We just want to visit with you."

Grandad and Grandma come to visit.
Grandma brings baggies of cookies she's made that day.
Chocolate chip with peanut butter chips.
She has nothing but compliments and encouragement.
She loves those babies.
Marcail, especially, takes a liking to Grandma "Bubbles".
We chat and enjoy each other's company.
Grandad and Grandma banter together lovingly
and we chuckle.
Grandma looks at me and roll her eyes because
Grandad is teasing her.
I laugh.  She giggles.

Grandma loved to cook.

She had us over for dinner on one of our visits.

She knew how much I loved her meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

She made them for me especially.

Grandma was an insanely awesome cook.

Even as she grew more weak and didn't feel good,

she still cooked.  She cooked in love and with passion.

Here, Grandma and I are in her kitchen where she had

just made her yummy meatloaf.  In loving care.

Grandma loved James.

She always talked about how hard a worker he was.

She told me he works hard for his family. 

She just loved his hugs.  She loved his laugh.

James had a good deal of respect and love for my Grandma.

He enjoyed talking with her and thought of her as more than

my Grandma.  He thinks of her as his Grandma.

good bye

Good bye, Grandma.  

I love you.

You were such a huge part of my life 

and I will certainly miss you.

grandma

One of the main reasons it was important for me to be home for Christmas this year was to see my Grandma.
Grandma was diagnosed with Lung Cancer over the summer and has been battling it since. She is a spit-fire of a woman and has fought it hard.
About 2 weeks or so after we got back home Grandma was rushed to the hospital. She'd had a stroke and couldn't talk. Upon further testing it was found that the cancer had spread and she had bleeding in her brain.
This cancer has won and now Grandma is home under hospice care.
My family is taking care of her and keeping her as comfortable as possible as she dies. This all sounds so blunt. I hate that it is so blunt. How else do I word it, though? Dying is dying and it's not pretty and it's not easy.
I didn't fully comprehend that over Christmas, it would be the last time I would see my Grandma. I kept saying to myself that this was probably her last Christmas but I didn't really believe it. My mom keeps reminding me that even though I didn't know it, Grandma said her good-byes to me while I was there.

I am the one who didn't say good-bye as well as I should have and I struggle with that daily as I think of my sweet, frail, weak Grandma lying on her bed in her room being taken care of by my mom, my Grandad(the love of her life), my uncles, her sister and my dad and my sister and I am wishing I could be there too. But, my mom helped me decide that it would be better to wait til she passes to say good-bye. To be able to mourn with my family together.
I love my Grandma. I have multitudes of memories with her. She has always, always been a big part in my life. I couldn't have asked for a better Grandma. I will miss her terribly. It will be hard and I mean hard to go back to Kansas and she won't be there to hug and to laugh with.
I will be going to say good-bye.

These are the last pictures I have of my Grandma. This is the day we left to come back home after our Christmas vacation.
My Grandma, me and my mom. They are not the best photos. Our smiles aren't perfect, they are a bit blurry but I will forever treasure these photos.

After we took these photos at my mom and dad's house, Grandma and Grandad soon left to go back home. Before they left, Grandma hugged me and cried. She sobbed quietly as she said good-bye. I wish I had allowed myself to cry with her but I didn't. I held her tight and I will remember that moment forever.
I do have joy though because I know that I will see her in Paradise and I praise God for that!

I love you, Grandma.

car wreck and thankfulness

 Yesterday, the kids were with my mother-in-law.  They were in our van at a complete stop when they were rear-ended.  It ended up being a 5 car wreck.  THANKFULLY, my babes and Lynn have nothing more to show for it than a few scrapes from seat belts and straps from car seats and some whiplash pain.  I have been sending up thankful whispers of prayer to the Lord all day for keeping my family safe yesterday.  This could have been so much worse!  I have my babies home with me and they sustained no major injuries.

Needless to say, we won't be bringing that van back home ever.  It's gone.  Thankfully, James is no longer going to Ocala so we will have the Camry to get us around for the time being!

I sit at the table and watch my children eat their supper 

and my heart swells with how blessed we are!

from grandma's house

I took these
on my camera from
my phone.
I just downloaded them
onto my computer
and thought I'd share them.

Henry is on his little bike we keep over
at her house.

This is Chattahoochee.

It is all over her back patio.

If you are not careful,

it will bruise your feet

because sometimes the rocks

loosen and

 come out.

Ouch!

This is her little pool.  Its so nice that she has one

because she doesn't live

as close to the ocean as we do.

It gets hotter in her part of

suburbia than it does

for us.

So, that pool is nice to cool off in.

Macail is playing "food toys" on Grandma's

patio.

She keeps all the kid's toys that

she has out on the screened in

patio.

 

at my grandma's house

My Grandma made us her yummy meatloaf, mashed potatoes, veggies, rolls and fruit. She is an amazing cook and I can tell she just enjoys it!

She set a table for the kids and made them their own special fruit bowls.

The girls really enjoyed playing with the dolls.

the grandads

The kids love their grandad's like crazy!

Great-Grandad Dale

Grandpa

Great-Grandad

anchor inn

On the night before we had to take James to the airport we all met my grandparent's at our favorite Mexican food joint of all time, Anchor Inn. Anchor Inn has been around for years and we always make a point to eat there when we visit. Usually once but sometimes twice! Here are some photos of that evening. My Grandma and James.

My parents and the kiddos being outrageously silly!

Henry and Grammy goofin around

Great-Grandad and Marcail

The group of us

random pictures from thursday

Beautiful Pussy Willow in my mom's yard. Budding trees.

Me and my mama.

James-y

James and Nay-Nay

My Grandma

My Grandad, James and my Grandma having a nice conversation.

Grammy and her grandcuties playing in the dirt.

The Centerpiece on the dining table.

Thursday evening my grandparent's came over to have supper at my mom and dad's house. It was such a lovely evening. My sister and her kiddos came over that evening too but I didn't get any pictures taken because it just got crazy with all the cousins playing together. It was so much fun watching them play together.