Where has summer gone? and Thank You :)

The past three months have been a crazy busy and trying time for our family and I just want to publicly thank everyone that has continued to support us...

It began when David's grandmother fell and broke her hip Memorial Day weekend. The kids and I enjoyed spending time during those weeks with Grandma "Bonnie" throughout her hospitalization and stint in rehab for physical therapy. Ultimately at the ripe young age of 86 (almost 87) she went home to be with her Lord and Savior on June 14th (Flag Day... Those of you that know her realize the significance of this) Then of course began the task of organizing and packing up her apartment... WHEW! that is all I have to say on that subject...

Then came my series of trips to Baton Rouge (some planned, some not so planned)... After initially leaving on July 6th, I finally returned home for good on August 3rd but didn't begin my vacation until August 8th... This might be enough for the average family but not for us... Oh did I mention that David broke his collarbone while I was out of town (ON MY BIRTHDAY)...

So begins our attempt at a vacation this past week... CAMPING with the Greens :) but instead began the cross country journey to Iowa (?!?) We received a phone call on Tuesday morning that David's 91 year old grandfather wasn't doing well and was being hospitalized so I immediately booked him a one way ticket to the Quad Cities. The cross country journey was left up to myself, the kids and thankfully David's cousin Jess who helped out with driving. When all was said and done we left my house at 11pm Tuesday night. We drove all night, got about half a hours sleep each but arrived at the hospital at noon on Wednesday. The prognosis was grim (pneumonia, congestive heart failure & his kidneys had begun to shut down) but atleast we got there!
Thankfully "Big" Pop Pop had two great days on Thursday and Friday and got to enjoy time with two of his great grandkids, amongst the many others that were there :) Despite his dementia, surrounded by his family there were moments when he seemed a bit more sure of himself. They got the pneumonia under control and discharged him on Friday back to the nursing home. Yesterday wasn't such a good day but they are keeping him comfortable until his time comes... and while we are saddened at the thought of losing him we know that he has worked hard for the past 91 years and are comforted by his successes in life... We are thankful for the time spent with family this past week and the many pics that were taken... Memories!!!

So for those of you that don't know David's Pop Pop I would like to share a few Poppy-isms :) To all the family reading my blog please feel free to comment and add as many more as you would like as you all have known him alot longer than me...

*I'd say... "Hey there handsome" and he'd always reply with ... "Well hello there beautiful!"

*How you feeling?.... "I feel with my hands"

*How are you doing?.... "Anyone I can!"

*Then of course began the "negotiating" to eat his lunch... I'll take a bite for a kiss :)

David will be adding more as they come to him...
*If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle em with bullshit!
*The more you learn, the more you earn.


So once again we are home... we left Davenport at 5pm yesterday and arrived in our driveway at 6:05 this morning! So thank you to everyone for your prayers, support and understanding during the past few months. We haven't been as readily available to you as you might have liked but definitely feel that we were where we needed to be doing what we needed to do. Thanks to our friends & family for taking care of the dogs, getting the mail, watching my kids, cutting my grass... for just being you!!!

PS. We think Casey is pregnant..... PUPPIES!?!