I'm Back!

Just when I thought I would have a lazy week and be able to do some blogging for fun, things got crazy again!  My dear Grandma passed away on May 6th.  It was a hard week knowing it was coming and talking to all the family about it.  A day later our good friends the Blasdels came for a visit from Kansas and we spent nearly every waking moment of the weekend hanging out with them.  Then, I decided on Saturday to drive with my mom and all of my kids to MN for the funeral so we left on Sunday and arrived there Tuesday morning after 2 nights on the road and some scary experiences driving in the rain.  We had about 1.5 days in MN and then turned around and headed back for a 2-day drive home.  5 out of 6 days spent driving, 2,300 miles, more than 20 public restrooms, 11 restaurants, lots and lots of cousins, aunts, and uncles, etc.  I have to say my kids are awesome travelers though!  It was good to be with family and to be there in person to grieve.  There is so much I want to mimic my grandma in.  She was an excellent cook, made money sewing wedding dresses and decorating cakes from home, a diligent worker who turned out an acre-big garden each year to feed her 6 kids, and she loved the Lord.  My dad shared at the funeral that when he was just a little boy of 4 years old, his mom persuaded his dad to start taking the family to church.  Grandpa was a drinker, and not a church-goer but he gave in to her pleading and they drove the many miles into town to church on Sundays.  At first Grandpa dropped them off and went to visit his siblings while they were at church.  But after a few years, Grandpa started going and got saved and his life turned around.  My dad prayed to believe in Jesus at 5 years old at that church with his Sunday School teacher and he shared how the legacy continues with his granddaughter, Ali, becoming a believer last summer.  A legacy his mom left him.

My dad built an incredibly beautiful casket for his mom, just as he did for his dad, grandma, brother, and father-in-law.  It truly was a labor of love and I wish I had a picture.

Lots of pics and posts to come this week!