Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Another Angel in Heaven!

This afternoon Dustin's grandfather went home to be with the Lord. Yes, the grandfather who we just got back from Minneapolis from seeing. We hadn't seen him since Christmas and with the new baby coming we knew we wouldn't be able to see them until next Christmas, so we decided to make the trek. We left on Friday afternoon, and we got a call Monday he wasn't feeling well. Then a call early Tuesday they had taken him to the hospital and he had pneumonia. I just praise God we were just able to spend a wonderful week with them. We were able to take him to do all the things he loved that he hadn't been able to in over 2 years. He had pizza, a hamburger, Applebees, and breakfast at Perkins. The boys had a great time with him, and I am glad he is no longer suffering. I have no idea when the funeral will be, or even if we will be able to make it, since it is cross country and we just went. it is not a cheap trip, and financially I just don't see how it could work. We'll leave this in God's hands and if we are suppose to be there He will provide a way. Dustin even said he was so glad we just spent the week, and would have picked a week with him over the funeral any day. Here are a few pics from our trip. Please keep his wife Dora in your prayers, they had been married well over 60 years, and their 3 children: Yvonne, Karen, and Linda.

Brandt coming in and seeing him the 1st time.

Brayden's turn

Even Bryson wanted in on the action

His grandpa has a huge stash of candy, and he quickly discovered our boys sweet teeth. All week long this is the scene that was replayed over and over again in their living room.

This was Friday, right as we were leaving. This was the last picture taken.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Whew we made it!

Dustin's grandfather is 89 and not in the best of health. So last week we had Fall Break at school so we drove to Minneapolis for a visit with the kids' great-grandparents. It is 17 hours of actual driving time, and that is no easy task with an almost 2 yr old, 3 1/2 yr old, and a 5 yr old. We left Friday around 3, and drove until 3:30 that morning. We tried to stop earlier, but one hotel was full, and we decided to go onto Colleyville, KS. As we were pulling into town I got a sinking feeling in my gut. I was about 95% sure this was the town I saw on the news over the summer that had terrible flooding. Sure enough, every hotel in town was closed as they were rebuilding. You could see water lines almost to the roof on all the homes and businesses they hadn't started rebuilding yet. So we drove on. We finally got to another town that had room at the Super 8, but all they had was the most expensive suite left, but we were just ready for a hotel so we paid over $100 to stay...yikes! It did have a jacuzzi tub in the room that the boys got the biggest kick out of in the morning so it was worth it. We left around 11:30 and drove until we were about 2 1/2 hours outside of Minneapolis and stayed the night. Sunday we got up and met his grandparents after church. We had a little problem getting around where the bridge collapsed, since our directions took us right over that spot which is no longer there, but once we found our way around we were good. We had a nice visit, and they boys really had a great time getting to know their great-grandparents better. We took 1 day and took the boys to the Mall of America and we ate at the Rain Forest cafe, went to the Underground Aquarium, and they let them build their first ever Build-A-Bear. The rest of the time we mostly hung out with his grandparents and went to several Targets, my favorite store (who happens to be headquartered out of Minneapolis). His grandfather doesn't drive anymore and his grandmother never has, so they normally are stuck in their retirement apartment. We were able to take them to McDonalds to get a burger (one of his grandfathers favorites), AppleBees, Chuck E Cheese (his grandmother's idea), out for breakfast, to the grocery store, etc. It was a lot of fun. His grandmother turned 90 on Friday while we were there. It was neat to get to share that with her. She is still so spunky and full of life. Minus a tremor she is almost in perfect health, you would never guess she is 90. While we were there we got a call from a friend letting us know our school's Athletic Director had been killed in a car wreck. Zak was an amazing man, and is terribly missed....please keep praying for the school and his family (he has 4 kids from a Jr in High school to a 23 yr old). So we left Friday around 3 pm and decided to see how far we could go, since Zak's funeral was in College Station Sat at 10 am. We made the 17 hours worth of driving in 18 hours and got home at 9:10, by the time we changed we arrived at church with 1 minute to spare. We were exhausted, but excited to be home. We got a call Tuesday that his grandfather had to be taken to the hospital due to pneumonia, and should be released today. They didn't know if he would go home or to a nursing home. They were also going to set up the step down from hospice for him, not exactly sure what that means. So that makes our trip and time there that much more special.

I'll go through and post pictures later.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

COUPONING CLASS HAS BEEN SCHEDULED!!!

I am going to host a couponing/stockpiling class on Thursday, October 25th at 7:30 PM. It will be in the home of Lauren S., and there will be limited availability. Please let me know if you will be coming so I can email you directions, and get you on the list.

This should be fun!

Monday, October 1, 2007

Freaky!

Last night after Cubbies we went to eat dinner with a friend and his son. We went to the Wendy's that is attached to the gas station at WJB and Hwy 6. After we ate and we were walking back to the car a police officer walked up holding his baton. Brandt said "look a police officer", but the cop didn't respond at all. Most cops are extremely friendly to kids, so I thought that was weird and watched him. He walked in the gas station and locked the door behind him. At this point I was very intrigued about what was going on. The clerk was on the phone, and he had his hand on his hip, but I couldn't tell if it was his gun or not. The cop then got on the phone, and I am really perplexed about what is going on now. We are all in the van, but my window is rolled down and we are talking to our friend. 2 more cops show up, and one comes over to us and checks us out and then ask if we know anything about the robbery that just happened. That explains everything! How freaky is that, the gas station was robbed while we ate 10 feet away. I am just so thankful no one was hurt, and the robber stayed in the gas station, and didn't come into Wendys. Could you imagine the nightmares my kids would have had over that (not to mention myself). Ugh! I hope they find whoever did it!