Friday I spent pretty much all day packing/preparing for our trip. I finished up a little laundry, made the lists and even went to the grocery store. We decided to save time, I would pick Eric and Grace up at 5:00 p.m., let Eric change and hit the road immediately. That way we could stop around 6 or 6:30 and get dinner and feed Grace and then head back out. If Eric picked her up and came home first, we wouldn't have even left the house until almost 6 and then we would have had to figure out dinner, etc. Our original plans were to head to a hotel in my hometown that my parents had reserved a room in. They drove in Friday morning and we were all going to share a room. There was a lot of family in town and Grandma's house would have been too crowded. Add a one year old and me on day 3-4 after chemo and it seemed like a better idea to have our own space. Right before I was ready to leave on Friday my Mom called and said that some of our old friends from church had offered to let us stay at their place. They just built and moved into a new house a month ago and it's beautiful. They have three grown children, so the lower level of this house was like a guest suite. There were two completely furnished bedrooms, a living room area and kitchenette. It was perfect. We got in around 10 p.m. and Grace got up and visited with Grandma and Grandpa for a half hour or so and then we all headed to bed.
Saturday morning we got up just after 7 a.m. Mom (Grandma) helped me out with Grace while I got all of her stuff together and dressed. We left the house around 8 to go to the church and get working on stuff. We had to run by Wal-Mart and the grocery store before meeting all the cousins and aunts that were helping at 9 a.m. I was feeling ok and trying to stay on top of the situation by taking my anti-nausea proactively. However, my appetite has been enormous and food really settles my stomach. Dad and Eric had brought us McDonald's to the church, but it wasn't really enough to fill me up, so mid-morning I had to scrounge up some more to eat to make me feel better. I also needed to request a sit-down job and helped with organizing the napkins. There was too much excitement with all the decorating and people for Grace to take a morning nap, so Eric took Grace and I back to the house around 11 to try to get a nap before the party started at 2 p.m. We grabbed lunch on the way and I got her down by 11:45 a.m. I decided I needed to rest a little too, so I took about a 45 minute nap.
My Grandparents 50th Anniversary Open House started was from 2 to 4 p.m. Fifty years is so amazing. I love that I have such amazing examples to look up to. My grandparents have been together 50 years and my parents have been together 28 years. Between them they have 6 children who were all present with the exception of my Uncle Tom who is deceased. They have 11 grandchildren, who were all present with the exception of my brother who did call in and was on the phone with Grandpa during our photo. They have 13 great-grandchildren who were all present. Add that to the friends and extended family and it was quite a gathering.
This picture is of the Grandchildren. Notice the stick with the head and coat? That's my brother. My Dad put his head on a stick and they put a coat on him, so he could make it into pictures and sit with us at the table. It was actually kind of funny.
After the party, we changed clothes and then went to Grandma and Grandpa's to visit for a while. We only stayed until about 7:30 because Grace was really needing to get to bed. We went back to the house, put her to bed and then visited with my parents and friends until time for bed.
Sunday morning Grace was up at 6 a.m., so we got an early start home. We were home before noon and spent the rest of the day resting or chasing after Grace.
Two more things. First, when Jeremy called in we found out that he'll be leaving for Kuwait on Thanksgiving and then leaving to go to Fort Bragg on the 27th. (That was second-hand info, so I may be a little off). Anyway, he should be back in the states by Dec. 4th and then back in Iowa by the 11th. Yeah!
Secondly, Grace decided she can walk. It's the craziest thing. She's been taking steps for a while now. At night we practice having her walk back and forth between Eric and I. She'd take 2 or 3 or 4 steps and then lunge into us. Now, she thinks she can walk and that's how she's getting around. She'll stand up and then head across the room. I'm talking big distances. If she's near a table or something, she deliberately won't hold on. She'll walk the length of the coffee table right beside it and never touch it. It's really cute because she's totally wobbly, but she is determined that she knows how to walk now. She barely crawled all weekend. She has been trying to stand up without using anything to pull herself up, but hasn't quite mastered that yet. It's the craziest thing I've ever seen. It's like it clicked in her head and that's the only way for her to get around now. I have a feeling the bumps and bruises will be much worse for a little while, because she's not that good at the walking thing yet, but I'm so proud of her!
No comments:
Post a Comment