Goodbye, Grandpa.

Just chillin. How cute are they?

Jack, the baby whisperer.

Twins I tell ya!

I can't say I blame her. I'd do the same thing in that tub.

Carly taking a dip.

Checking on his non stinging caterpillars.

Sky loved that couch. Paili loves her.

Monday morning was a little hectic at my Grandparents with all the hustle and bustle of a new day going on and my Uncle letting the world know how he was feeling about the whole situation. Love you Uncle Phillip! My Aunt Jill took me and my girls over to her house to play. I got to see my cousin, Joe for the first time since being there. What a great kid he is. When i say kid i really mean mid 20's. While we were hanging out my Aunt Jill got the call that my cousin Ryan had gone by the hospital on his way to work to check on Grandpa and that the Dr's wanted to have a meeting with the family asap. When Ryan had asked the nurse that was with my Grandpa what was actually going on, she said that our family had gotten very wrong information from the Dr that had been on duty over the weekend. The Dr that had been there was only looking at his lungs, not his entire body. She showed Ryan how his skin was breaking down and some other things that were going in his body. She said, it truly was just a matter of time and she was so very sorry for the way that weekend Dr had belittled my family and sorry that he gave us false hope. Aunt Jill left in a hurry to go pick up the other siblings and go to the hospital for the meeting. We got a call a little while later that we needed to head up to the hospital to say our goodbye's. Jack stayed with all of the kids while Carly and I left for the hospital. (Thank you again Jack!) He's an EMT and loves kids so I was completely confidant in his ability to keep them alive. When we got to the hospital my Mom, Dad, Aunt Ellen, Uncle Phillip, Aunt Jill, Uncle Gene, Aunt Joy, Uncle George, Holley, Whittney, Zach, and Joe were already there. They were trying to arrange transportation for my Grandma because she had recently been admitted into a facility for Alzheimer care. Carly and I walked into the room hand in hand. I am so thankful for such a loving family. There was a lot of love in that room. My precious family kept walking around Grandpa, touching his arm, talking to him, whispering into his ear, and brushing his hair back. We stood back and studied him. We hugged one another and tried to think of comforting things to say. There was a whole lot of craziness regarding my Grandma's arrival as to when she would arrive, which door she would be taken to, etc. She finally arrived and stepped into the room filled with family. She asked for a moment alone with her husband of nearly 60 years. It was very emotional to see a little bit of that scene. Carly and I left to go to Wal Mart to get groceries to feed the masses. We tried hard to forget what was happening at the hospital. We masked our sadness with making each other laugh. I finally got the text from my Mom that at 6 something Grandpa had passed. Jack, bless his heart, called Carly because Aunt Jill called him first to let her know. I was glad to be there, in that moment, in the frozen section at Wal-Mart to get the news with Carly. We stopped and grabbed some pizzas to feed our hungry crew. When we got back to the house we didn't talk to the kids about what had just taken place it seemed easier right then to not try and explain it. We failed to inform the next arriving crew and poor Aunt Ellen made the call to my cousins Ashley and Devon to let them know while we were sitting around the table. Sweet, sensitive Oliver burst into tears and ran to gain comfort from his Momma. Aunt Ellen felt terrible for letting the cat out of the bag but really it wasn't the end of the world. Skylar started freaking out all of a sudden after dinner and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what in the world her problem was. Paili was going to the bathroom and I thought that Sky was just angry to be locked out of the room. She kept trying to take her pants off and would get so mad when I'd pull them back up. Pai came out of the bathroom finally and Sky ran in there and exclaimed, "BA!!!". Duh, obviously my brain wasn't fully functioning or I would have figured that out much sooner. Oliver and Sky enjoyed a nice, long bath. Oliver is quite a gentleman by the way and pee's in a cup so as not to dirty the water. I'm certain that Skylar is not such a charming little lady and pee'd frequently in their bath. The joke was on me the first time it happened and I didn't see him pee in the cup. I thought Carly was being silly and I nearly drank it. She thought I knew and didn't try to stop me at all. Oh the silliness that happens when we are together. I had forgotten just how much I enjoy her.

Sunday's in Indiana are my favorite.

Cousins on the trampoline.

I love this!

These 2 could be twins.

Oh, Jack! I love this guy. He's working on his motorcycle. 

Now he's just showing off. But he did get a little dirt on his finger. No big deal.

Loved seeing them play together.

Precious boys looking for the right pumpkin.

Carly, Holley, and Paili.

Silly girl.

Even Hulk hunts for pumpkins.

Simon was looking for just the right one!

My pretty girl.

2 sweet cousins. 

Talking amongst themselves in the pumpkins.

Part of my family.

Brooke and Ryan.

Ryan and Aubree.

Hubbs family. I am crazy about them.

Cousins! Ryan and myself. He's one of my hero's in real life.

Carly. I love her. Just this picture makes me smile.

Sky was fascinated with this Kleenex holder.

Sky and Aunt Jill

Obviously quite taken with one another.

I hate that this picture is blurry. My Mom talking to Whittney's belly.

The Sharp family. Whittney, Deacon, and Zach.

Sunday we got around and went over to the Kemp household to play. I got to see my Carly and meet her husband (for what they all think was our first meeting) Jack, and her two precious boys Simon and Oliver. Our kids played together like they have all of their lives. My cousin, Holley, came over and we took Paili, Simon and Oliver to the pumpkin patch. My Mom offered to take Sky back to my Grandparents house so that she could get a nap in before the big family gathering that evening. I had so much fun walking around a big field filled with pumpkins with my cousins and the kids. I so loved watching the kids pick the perfect pumpkin. Simon was on the mission of his life to find THE perfect pumpkin. He was very particular.  I loved Oliver getting super distracted by the caterpillar that he found. Carly trying to rescue it and worrying about it being a "stinging" caterpillar. I laughed hysterically at her convinced that it was something my Aunt had told her growing up to keep her from picking up all kinds of treasures while they were trying to get things done. I later found out while we were all together that there really are stinging caterpillars...who knew? My Dad said it, so I know it's true. That poor caterpillar must have flown out of Carly's hands 50 times while we were walking back to the van and every time it happened the two of us trying frantically to find it again. Just thinking about this makes me laugh. We left the pumpkin patch and went to my Grandparents house where I got to see my precious cousin (in law) Tasha and her 4 girls. Those girls are all just gorgeous. My cousin Ryan had been racing so he hadn't joined us yet. I could do a family gathering like this every week. It felt so good to be there. There's something about watching your kids play with your cousins kids that sends you all of these warm fuzzies. Talking with your cousins watching your kids play. I'm telling you. It's priceless. Even when one of the kids comes in frantic while you're having a good conversation with one of your said cousins that your child ate a rock. It was a tiny rock. I wasn't concerned because she wasn't chocking but Tasha (mother of 4) confirmed that I shouldn't  be because...it will come out...eventually! I love that girl! I have so many really great memories with my cousins. And I got to make more memories with a NEW cousin, Jack, that evening dancing in the kitchen. I love him!  Even though I never lived close to them, I always felt so much love when I was with them. A little later my cousin, Whittney showed up with her husband, Zach. What a precious couple. She is pregnant with their first child, Deacon. I feel so sad when I think about all of the kids there that I miss seeing all the time. Who knows when I'll get to see Deacon for the first time. I got to spend some quality time with them watching The Walking Dead and watching a video of the highest free fall. It was crazy! One of the best text's I've ever received in my entire life came from my cousin Ryan after he left. It said, Btw, you look great. So keep it up. I nearly texted back asking Tasha if her phone had died and she had to use Ryans. I knew better but it was so shocking to get an atta girl from him. He's just not a guy who spews forth praise. I knew he meant it and I knew he must really think so to say it. I'm so proud of my family. I love that my girls are finally getting a taste of Indiana.

We made it to Indiana!

Travelling with a poor sick Paili. She had a fever and nasty cough.

We had beautiful scenery on the way to Indiana!

Trying to get my yahoo's down for the count.

We had planned on leaving Missouri around 8 am but Paili was burning up with a fever so we waited until she was feeling a little more human. My parents rented a car and we got to the car rental place about 12:15...only to find out that they close at 12 on Saturdays. Seriously! My Dad was not in the best of moods to begin with and I was pretty sure he was going to keel over from how stressed he gets. Thankfully, my calm and collected Mom was able to have them open the doors and give us the car. God really knew what He was dong when He put the two of them together. My precious Garmans called when we were maybe 5 minutes out of Joplin and said they meant to give me their iPad to take with us. If  someone had been in better humor, I would have asked him to turn around. The offer of it was enough to make me feel loved. I'll be honest,  I was really dreading Skylar in the car for that long because she is an awful car rider. Sometimes she thinks she isn't going to make it from my house to my parents house, which is all of 7 or 8 minutes. After the first 30 or 45 minutes she really did fantastic. Paili was feeling terrible but of course she did fantastic. I can always count on her to be good. The main thing that made it bearable...the DVD player! We watched so many movies. I am so glad the Blu-Ray movies also have the DVD version in them. We may not have made it without The Lorax. We were stopping for a late lunch at Arbys in Bolivar when my Uncle texted my Dad and said that they were not taking my Grandpa off of the vent. Talk about a roller coaster of emotions! We forged ahead anyways. When we got to my Grandparents house it was really late but there were several cars there. Some of my family wanted to see us so bad that they waited around for us! I was absolutely thrilled to get to hug my cousin Devon, Aunt Jill, Aunt Ellen, Uncle Phillip, Aunt Joy, and Uncle George. Devon has become a father since the last time I had seen him. I loved hearing him talk about his sweet baby boy and watch him interact with my girls. He was smitten and so were they. I was so upset when I realized that I didn't get any pictures of Dev with my girls but I was sure I'd see him Sunday.

Dryer fun!

These two-should have been twins.

Caught in the act. She looks super worried.

Helping with the laundry. HUGE help.

When my parents were on their way home from Indiana they got a text from my Uncle stating that they would be taking my Grandpa off of the ventilator. My Mom let me know and I made arrangements with my boss to take the next week off of work so I could go back with them. I felt sad about the turn of events about my Grandpa but also very excited to see my family in Indiana. I hadn't seen most of them in 5 or 6 years-some longer than that. I have a huge family in Indiana. My Dad having 3 siblings with all of his siblings having 4 children and a lot of their children now have children (that I haven't even seen!!). We made up our minds to leave Sunday morning. Then we got a text that my cousin Devon would be in Friday and leave Sunday so we decided to leave Saturday so we could catch a glimpse of him. Indiana here we come!! I can't wait.

Happy Birthday Taylor!

I have the BEST husband. He is always cooking up something yummy for us to eat.

Sky tackling the HUGE play things.

Going down the slide with sissy.

Happy Birthday Taylor Ray!!

Yummy-who doesn't like cupcakes?

I love these two.

I also love Taylor's Mommy.

How cute is she? Yvette's niece, Aubrey.

My girls and I getting ready to leave.

My girls with the birthday boy!

Paili helping me feed the animals at my parents.

Someone was exhausted from the day and just layed on Uncle Aaron.

Gabby was getting acquainted with Auntie Erin.

Saturday 10/6/12 was Taylor's 6th birthday party at one of the local bounce houses. Skylar had never been to one and she had so much fun. Paili was so excited to play with her little sissy on the inflatables. The girls enjoyed cupcakes with the birthday boy. I got a great workout in climbing all the inflatables with them. Skylar had no nap and passed out on the way home. She slept in the car while Pai and I fed all of the animals at my parents. She snuggled up with Uncle Aaron when we got home-he didn't mind at all. He's pretty fond of her. (to put it mildly) We had a great evening with the Garmans. Justin made some delicious chili. I love my life.