The good times...

Libby and Baby Wray playing with Joshua! LOVE that bump Lib!

I apologize for being missing for the past several days. Our already busy weekend took a turn into the whirlwind speed category. Things are just beginning to settle a bit. Here's how the last few days have gone.

Friday was a preparation day for the Key Club trainer at Camp Victory. I spent the day getting food and getting the house cleaned for the weekend. Libby came to meet Jason and spend the evening with Joshua while we went to Camp Victory to meet the 40+ Key Club folk from across the state who were converging there. Libby was a trooper- running out of school, jumping in the car and then having to be on her game the rest of the evening while Hurricane Joshua went to work. She fed him a great supper, got him tubbed and right to dream land until we got back around 10:30.

Saturday morning we were off and running early. Mom had just arrived to help Libby and give her a little bit of backup. 24 straight hours with our little ball of energy is a lot to take- and with Libby 17 weeks pregnant with my little niece or nephew, we wanted her to have all the rest she needed. Not long after we had arrived at Camp, we got the call that my Gram had passed away, so Mom took off for home and Libby stayed at the house with Joshua.

Gram had been suffering with the end stages of dementia for the past several weeks, and we all knew that her time on this earth was coming to an end, but no one (including the hospice care workers that had been organized for help on Friday afternoon) thought that it would happen so soon. Even though we knew that it was coming, it certainly didn't make it any easier to lose someone who had played such a huge part in my life. She had been in the nursing home since the day following our wedding (April 9th, 2005), but had even had memory trouble before then. I'll never forget the day that we stood in her kitchen cooking a holiday meal and she couldn't remember where things were in her own kitchen. We lost Gram slowly over the past several years, but the finality of it all hit me like a ton of bricks (and continues to). The minister at her services said it best that no one wants Gram back to live in the same condition she was, but we were all uplifted by sharing the happy memories that we had of her. I said to my mom and Libby that I'm pretty sure that Gram is now in Heaven baking lemon meringue pies for everyone there. I'd bet my right arm that they were all THRILLED to see her! And I'm so happy that she's in a place where she can remember again.

Libby, Joshua and I headed for home on Sunday morning. Libby was such a trooper watching (probably in disbelief) as I worked to get everything loaded up for our few days at home. Jason was a trooper and took care of our responsibilities with the Key Club group that was still assembled at Camp Victory and then headed for Lewistown on Monday afternoon. The services for Gram were on Tuesday, and it meant so much to be there with my Mom and my Pap and all of our family from Massachusetts who had arrived. Of course, we all wish that we hadn't gathered for such an occasion, but I think we made the best of our time together. The pictures are of Tuesday afternoon and evening that we all spent at Mom and Dad's house following the services. Joshua had a chance to meet his cousins Kyle (9) and Brodie (9 months) and had a great time. We took them on a wagon ride where Joshua insisted on wearing Pap's hunting hat. The neighbors got quite a chuckle out of that as we passed. And we had some great play time with the boys. It was wonderful to have them together. And, sadly, it'll probably be quite a while until we're all together again, so we enjoyed every minute that we had together. Jason tended bar with my older cousins and did a spectacular job entertaining in Club Bob.

We headed home yesterday and did some resting and recuperating at home. Joshua has been missing everyone a lot and keeps asking for "Ap" and "Ig", "Nan" and "Pap". He really enjoyed the time that we had with everyone and that meant the world to me.

And, last but not least, it was wonderful to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary with Jason. We had a very fancy dinner in honor of our anniversary---- chicken fingers. Yep, you read that right! Neither of us had any energy yesterday to make a big fuss, but that doesn't mean we didn't both do some reminiscing about our wedding day. It was one of the happiest days of my life, Jason...and I wouldn't change a thing about our life together. Jason's support during our period of grieving for Gram meant the world to me. He occupied Joshua so that we had some uninterrupted time at the services. It was the best support he could have been to me and I'm more thankful than I can say. I'm blessed.

Let's hope for some happier, lighter posts in the coming days. This is two heavy ones in a row for me...I'll work on breaking the streak, I promise. Hopefully some of the silly pictures below help. I'm a big fan of the one in Pap's hunting hat...