Emerging

I feel like maybe we are finally emerging from the chaos and sickness of the past few weeks. Just days after my last post, my dear Gran passed away at age 90. I posted this on face.book in her honor:

I treasure so many memories from summers spent in Fordyce that she would call, "H-O-T-T hot!" When she rode with me as I drove the golf cart, she would laugh and call me Mario Andretti. I can still taste the cornbread & black-eyed peas. I can hear her singing "When the Roll is Called Up Yonder" on the porch swing, and I can hear her call me "Darlin'." Thankful today for the life and love of my wonderful Gran.

The first time Ruthie met Gran!

With all her great-grandkids (at the time...now there are more!)

Of course I drove to be with my family for her funeral. When I left, Ruthie had a stomach bug. A day after arriving at my parents' house, Greg informed me that he had gotten sick. I felt sick too, but I tried to convince myself it was all in my head. That lasted a few hours, but then it became abundantly clear to all that I was not going to make it to visitation. (As a possibly-related aside, why is it that whenever I throw up, there always tends to be an audience?? Cedar Point trip, college football game...argh.) Anyway, then I find out that the boys are also sick. Poor Greg was home alone, sick, and cleaning up after three sick children. Fortunately, I was able to attend Gran's funeral the next day. It was a wonderful service and celebration of her life. I will always be thankful for what an amazing example my grandparents were in how to love each other and their family well.

We were all well enough to have a good spring break trip to Michigan. The kids just love to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa! We also got to see a lot of my family. We met my niece Natalie for the first time!

We were also thrilled to spend some time with her parents, of course :) We saw my Aunt Charlotte and my Grammy and Grandpa (who will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary this summer -- amazing!!).

Ruthie celebrated her 3rd birthday while we were there!

The kids also thoroughly enjoyed sledding. I know what you're thinking..."Um, did she just say sledding?" Yes, sledding during spring break! It has been a long, snowy winter in Michigan. I stayed warm inside and forgot to get pictures of the sledding, but here are some pictures from our outing to the museum:

Not so sure about the dinosaurs!

All made out of Legos

Greg and I went to our high school senior banquet at this museum, so of course we asked the carousel operator if we could re-create that picture!

And fourteen years later...

After arriving home, Greg, Peter, and Ruthie have all been sick again. Let's hope this is the end of it! Leah is the only one of us that has not been sick at all. This was a particular blessing, because I was worried we might have to reschedule her surgery if she got sick. Leah had tubes in her ears and her adenoids taken out on Monday. The surgery went great, and she has recovered astoundingly well. She was not happy most of the day after the surgery, but she has been back to her old self since that day. She's amazing! She will have a follow-up appointment with the ENT next week, and I'm hoping we can get an idea then if it helped her hearing at all.

Whew! I think that catches us up. Let me know if I'm missing anything :)