Lately

The last month has been exceptionally crazy busy. I figured out that in the past 28 days my grandpa passed away; we took a trip to Disney World; spent time in Houston to bury my grandpa; took a weekend girl's trip to Memphis; hung out with my mom while she visited us in Searcy last week; and drove to Norman, OK, with Jim to see a U2 concert. In between all of that, classes have to be prepared and oh yeah I've got a family too who likes to have clean clothes and a warm dinner!!

Disney World was awesome!! Laura LOVED every single moment (except the Snow White and Pirate ride) and we just had a ball with her. One of the highlights was eating dinner with Cinderella in her castle. I thought I was gonna cry when Laura met her for the first time. Big moment! Meeting and getting autographs from the many characters was Laura's favorite part. Another highlight was trick or treating in the Magic Kingdom after the park had closed. It was a "special event" so there weren't as many people and there were more characters roaming around. We enjoyed all the parks from the rides, parades to firework shows. It was as they say "magical".

We spent the next few days after Disney in Houston with my family. While it was a sad time for us to lose Papa, we also are at peace with his passing. He'll be missed greatly.

Once I returned to Searcy, I had a couple of days to recover and get ready for my college girl weekend trip in Memphis. I love my friends, Andrea, Maria and Cara. It amazes me how time passes, but our friendship is still solid. Of course now instead of talking about our "guy prospects" as we did in college, we talk about our babies, our gray hairs, the medicines that we take and droopy body parts. We had a wonderful weekend of shopping, eating, pampering ourselves and talking.

My mom visited us last week. I did not take ONE single picture, but we did have fun having a shopping trip to LR and having a "girls" day with Laura. I think we wore my mom out pretty good!

This past weekend, Jim and I drove to the U2 concert in Norman, OK. We have a fabulous babysitter who watched Laura and Grant over night. They did great and we had a fun time enjoying Bono. Jim is a HUGE U2 fan and therefore I enjoy his music as well. The concert was amazing and it was good to get away even for a short period of time to talk and just have fun.

I am enjoying so much watching Grant start to talk. His verbal skills have really picked up the last couple of weeks and I just love hearing his little voice! We took him to the allergist a couple weeks ago where he had no reaction to 18 different allergens. It didn't really help explain his rashes, but he is on a daily antihistamine which has seemed to help in the constant runny nose department.

And the Disney pictures....

Remembering Papa

On Saturday, September 19th, Heaven welcomed a wonderful man. My grandpa, "Papa", who was 93, went to meet his Savior. Papa had gone into the hospital the first weekend of September after he fell in the shower. He wasn't really hurt, but they did find out that his cough was really pneumonia. He was in ICU for a week on a ventilator, but seemed to be getting better each day. The recovery was going to be long for him, but we remained confident that he could pull through. So we were all surprised when he gave his final breath. But, my heart swells with joy to think of his reunion with his wife, Betsy as he entered the gates of Heaven. He joined so many other loved ones including many of their dogs! (Yes, I believe dogs go to Heaven.) As I am sad that he is no longer here and will no longer call me "sweetheart" or kiss my cheek with his bristly mustache, I know with confidence that he is so much happier.

As I've been thinking about his life the last week, my greatest memories of Papa are his kindness, generosity and wisdom. He was truly a remarkable man.

His graveside service was on Monday and it was really an inspiring day to hear of the wonderful ways in which Papa touched the lives of others. He was extremely giving to so many people. Papa was a "no nonsense" kind of guy. He called it like it was, but he was also a real softy. I could pretty much get what I wanted from him. I am the only granddaughter, so I was often catered to quite a bit. He never made it a secret of how much he loved little girls! When I was younger, we took dates out to dinner and a movie. There have been so many times that he has sent me money just to do something for myself.

He also loved to give advice! He would always ask on each visit on how Jim and I were doing financially and he wanted to make sure I knew that Jim should always come before the kids and to make time for each other.

I could go on and on about my special memories of Papa. He will be greatly missed and it is really hard to believe he is gone. A friend of the family sang "I Can Only Imagine" by Mercy Me and it was so neat to picture my Papa with Jesus. Wow!

"I can only imagine what it will be like, when I walk by Your side...
I can only imagine, what my eyes will see, when Your Face is before me!
I can only imagine. I can only imagine.
Surrounded by Your Glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you, Jesus? Or in awe of You, be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing 'Hallelujah!'? Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine! I can only imagine!"

These are two pictures of Papa with Laura when she was a baby and one where he was meeting Grant for the first time.