Oregon Visit With The Brackett's

While we were in Oregon we were able to go to the Scandinavian Festival in Junction City with Dad.  He bought me a frozen cheesecake on a stick, dipped in chocolate.  Yum! 

 In this picture you can see the plastic white chair next to Madi.  That was her chair.  I sat across from her.  We were eating lunch and all of the sudden Madi disappeared.  I jumped up to see if she is okay.  Sure enough she was.  Thankfully she didn't hit her head on the ground.  We all had a laugh after we knew she was okay.

If I remember correctly, this is the first time Alice (my niece) got up on Dad's shoulders.  This was taken right in front of the farmer's market in Eugene.  My plan was to buy blueberries and/or strawberries.  Instead I bought yellow doll watermelon.  It was sweet and juicy.  After the farmers market, we went to Shotgun Creek for a picnic lunch and a dip in the creek.  

We went to Skinner's Butte Park for a picnic.  The girls had fun playing, especially in the water.

This was at the park.  It is an adorable picture of Dad and Alice.

We also got to go to the coast.  It had been over two years since we've been.  A perfect day at the beach, although it was a stinky day.  We went to Haceta Head (about 20 minutes north of Florence, Oregon).   We dug in the sand, searched for treasures, went on a hike, toured the lighthouse, had a picnic, and to top it off had an ice cream treat from Grandpa.  

The night before Darryl, Anne, and Alice got to Springfield, Rusty got terribly sick.  He got a leg infection.  So Mom and Rusty stayed home all three days of our adventures.  Thankfully they were able to get antibiotics in him right away.  

Oregon Visit with the McKinley's

The girls love to bake with Aunt Debra and Grammy.  They made Rice Krispies treats with Grammy and chocolate chip cookies with Aunt Debra.  

One nice thing about visiting Oregon in August is the [free] fresh blackberries.  We got to pick them with Auntie Anne and Uncle Darryl at Anne's parent's house.  Also in Grammy's back yard (see picture above).

The girls, like always, love to hang with Lance (Aunt Debra's boyfriend).  He gave the girls gecko shirts he designed.  Thanks Lance!

Can't get enough reading time in.  

August 14th, we went to Sahalie Falls and Belknap Spring with Grampy and Grammy.  We did some hiking and picnicking.  It's been around three years since we've gone up the McKenzie Hwy.  It was a beautiful day.

  

Last time we went to the secret garden at Belknap Springs, Grammy took a picture of me around this spot with Madi.  She was still in my tummy.  It was fun to take a picture at the same spot 7 years later.  Also to note, our family picture that is displayed on my blog was taken a few feet from this spot in the secret garden.

Grampy treated us to ice cream after our hike was over.  Yum!

The Fence?

On Monday as I was picking up the girls, I saw Emma's face all red and cut. I said, "What in the world did you do?" She replied, "I was being a 4th grader and ran into the fence. I had my coat on backwards and my hood was covering my face." Interesting. I can't imagine how much deeper this cut would've been if her face was not covered up, but on the other hand she probably wouldn't have ran into the fence. The first pictures was taken 4 hours after she ran into the fence. I should have taken a picture right after we got home; it was easier to see the cut. As the day went on her eye was continuing to swell.

God was protecting our girl as this cut didn't go through to her eye. She is still in a little pain, but is healing well.

Roughly four hours after she ran into the fence....

Four days later....

I didn't capture her eye on Tuesday when  it was the most swollen and bruised.  It's looking pretty good in this picture.   

  

Tucson Visit

Although it was a quick trip to Tucson, it was a good time with family....

Avery (my cousin Michelle's daughter) and Madi posing at the house that some of us stayed at. Thursday night some of the family got together and had pizza. Although we were exhausted from a long day, it was a good time of fellowship.

Aunt Beth, Reese and Jaxon (my cousin Jessie's children), and Jessie hanging on the couch. It was so good to catch up with each other. And no, Aunt Beth and Jessie didn't plan to match (smile).

We had a good visit with Grandma.

Emma with my dad at the house we stayed at. My Aunt and Uncle's friends were out of town and offered us to stay at their beautiful house. There were 13 of us that stayed there. What a huge blessing this was to us. It gave us time together and helped out with cost of the trip. God is so good.

Emma had fun playing with Reese. Reese enjoyed Emma and myself playing Pat-A-Cake and This Little Piggy with her. She would have us do it over and over.

The cousin's with Grandma. From left to right: Jessie, Grandma, Me, and Sarah.

Although our trip was quick we got to see Grandpa Brackett and Aunt Linda a couple of times (on my dad's side); it was good to see them and enjoyed every minute we had with them. Just for note, Emma was excited she was getting close to being as tall as Aunt Linda and plans on being as tall as her the next time we visit.

I was able to show the girls where my Uncle Emro, Grandma Lucille, and Grandma Brackett was buried. Emma remembers Grandma Brackett (the girls were 5yrs. and 2yrs. when she passed). We had a few minutes remembering her at her grave site. Grandpa Cady was buried not too far away from this site.

Grandpa's Funeral

August 3rd, we drove down to Tucson, Arizona for my Grandpa's (my mom's dad) funeral. The service was on Thursday the 5th. It was a very hot day. It was well over 100 degrees that morning, while we were at the grave site. It was good to see family and friends. Here are some pics from that day....

Pictures of Grandpa we used for the memorial.

Madi snuggled up to Grandma right before the memorial started. She stayed right by her the whole service.

You can see Emma and my mom behind them.

Chris officiated both the memorial and the grave site. My dad and Chris sang "What a Day" during the memorial service.

The grandchildren and great grandchildren put white roses on the coffin. When my cousin Jessie (left) went up with Reese (her daughter, on Emma's lap), Reese refused to put her rose down. Of course she didn't understand why everyone was giving away perfectly good roses. It was cute.

Emma putting her rose on. You can see me taking pictures in the background along with Rusty (my brother) and Chris beside Emma.

Madi putting on her rose. Boy, my tears are ready to flow as I am looking at these pictures. These pictures bring me right back to that day.

My cousin Michelle with two of her three children.

First Day Of School

After just getting back from visiting family and friends in Oregon we had one day to gear up for school.

Today Madi started 2nd grade. When I asked Madi what her favorite part of her day was, she said, "making a new friend."

Today Emma started 4th grade. She said her favorite part of today was playing BINGO in class.




Comming soon will be pictures from our trip to Arizona [for my grandpa's funneral] and trip to Oregon.

Yesterday

Yesterday we started making plans to go to Arizona to visit Grandpa Cady who was ill (see post "News" on July 27, 2010). I had called Grandpa Brackett and Aunt Beth making arrangements to visit this Wednesday through Saturday. Tried calling Grandma Cady twenty times to make arrangements with her as well, but it was busy every time.

My phone wasn't working last night (was using our cell phone yesterday), so this morning when I fixed our phone, I noticed that Mom had tried calling last night and this morning. Grandpa died last night. I am mad. Not at anyone, but mad I didn't get to see him. Mad I didn't get to say "I love you one more time." Mad he didn't get to see us and know we were there for him. Mad that it has been two years since Chris and the girls saw him (I saw him in October, see post "Trip to Arizona" November 14th, 2009). We are still traveling down, but not for the reason I wanted. I know God is in control.

About four years ago, Grandma Brackett had days left so we decided to go down and see her. We were going to travel with my parents. The morning we were leaving, Dad walked in and told me she had passed that night. We missed her by two days.

Thank you for your prayers.