Road Trip

I have always been really close with my Granny (my dad's mom). We even lived with her as a family for a while when I was a freshman in high school, and then I lived with her for a year as I finished out high school, as my parents had moved away and I didn't want to change schools for my senior year. She has lived alone in the house she bought when my dad was in junior high since I was a little girl. In October 2004 she moved to Arkansas with my aunt, and I have missed her like crazy ever since. She has not been in good health for a while, but last Thanksgiving she came down here and was in intense pain. She has been in and out of the hospital since, and she has slow moving pancreatic cancer. Finally, after a year, of extreme pain she is somewhat comfortable. She has signed up for hospice, since they have a lot more pain options available than regular doctors, and she is living in a private home now. She weighs in at a whopping 99 pounds, but that is a lot better than the 87 pounds she was in May. She had not met Brennan before since she was already in extreme pain by the time he was born and just not up for company. So when she said she felt like she could handle a short visit, my sister and I jumped at the chance and made a last minute trip to Arkansas for her to meet our babies. Yep, we went over 800 miles with a 3 week old and 8 month old. It was a wild ride, but honestly it went very well considering. Going we stretched a 7 hour drive into a 10 hour trip, but coming home we shortened it to 8 1/2 hours. Thankfully, Dustin kept all the older boys here, since it would have been overwhelming to her, plus we only had 3 days total including driving time since we didn't leave until Dec. 28th, and I did not want to be on the road on New Year's Eve.
This is a picture of us from last Thanksgiving when she was here. I was pregnant with Brennan and feeling pretty yucky, I was still having some major problems with my back and not looking so hot. lol

This is me and Granny as we were leaving to head home. This is her room at my aunt's house. She was able to come for our visit the 2nd day before she went back to rest.

Granny meeting Brennan for the 1st time. This is at her private home, it is run by a husband and wife and she is a RN. It is just the husband's mom and my granny there, so it is really nice.

Brennan is way too heavy for her to hold, but he kept leaning in for her to kiss him. It was very cute and he kept leaning in to her for about 5 minutes of more lovin'.

Bridgett was the perfect size for her. She is still so tiny and slept most of the time so she was still and Granny LOVED holding her. She would just hold her and stare at her. Granny is almost completely blind, but can see some color in the right lighting. You could tell when she finally made out what she looked like, because she kept saying how beautiful she was.

Me and my sis, Kat, as we get ready to make the crazy trip back

I love this picture of him. He is a master at army crawling and can get anywhere he wants. He is not on all 4s yet, but he is close.

I LOVE his eyes in the picture. How come the boys always get the longest lashes? When he is just sitting and relaxing, his eyelashes actually touch his eyebrows.

I am so thankful we made this trip, and I will treasure the memories we made in my heart. Hopefully, she will continue to do well as her 80th birthday is in May and I would love to make another trip with all the boys.