Granny

My sister's family and our family followed each other on the drive up, as my dad & stepmom went a day earlier than we did. We broke up the drive on the way going there and stayed the night in Davenport, IA. To drive straight through would take between 10-12 hours depending on traffic, construction, path, and of course stops along the way. We were happy to arrive on Friday afternoon and check into our hotel and grab some lunch. Once that was all underway, we drove to my Uncle Wayne's house and met my dad there. Uncle Wayne & Aunt Sharon live on a farm, what used to be a pig farm. They have no children of their own, but I remember having so much fun at their house during the summers as a child. My sister and I would ride in the combines during harvest while the hay was getting bailed and my dad would walk the field moving the bails, until one day he found a snake cut up in one. That was the last time we wanted to do that. It was great to show Cooper, Campbell, Bailey, & Ryland around the farm. We then loaded up to drive out to Granny's house.

My dad is #3 in a family of 7 kids. Granny's house is the only house I've ever known Granny to live in. Papa passed away 8 years ago, so she has been very lonely since then. The other kids that live there take care of her and look after her at home. Granny's house is on 6 acres of land and as long as I can remember my dad's oldest sister lived on that land with her family as well. Which meant anytime we came to visit Granny & Papa, we could play with our cousins. Of course when your a kid and your cousins are older and all boys, they tend to want to run in the fields, play in the dirt, jump out of the barn, and climb on the roof. All things my mom would NEVER let us do, but when dad took us for a visit, he would let us play and have fun. All good memories. It wasn't quite the same feeling of excitement driving up to Granny's house this trip. Time has taken a toll on every material thing there and on all of us people. It was sad to see, but good to be there sharing that with the kids.

Granny looked very good. She was watching tv and carrying on conversations. And despite having had a stroke about 6 months ago, she knows what is going on but the words just won't flow as quickly as she would like them to. All the kids were great about sitting and talking and being kind to Granny. My Uncle Jeff was there and his wife takes care of Granny. We sat and visited for a while telling stories of past times and enjoying each others company.

After our visit we headed back to Uncle Wayne's house to eat dinner with Aunt Carol and Uncle Jimmy and their spouses. It was delicious food and tons of it. Uncle Wayne hooked up the Wii for the kids to play while us adults just chatted the evening away.



Me, Granny, and my sister visiting Granny at her house in Michigan.


Chad, Cooper, Granny, Campbell, and me. It was so nice to see Granny again.

Michigan

Today we started a long overdue journey up North to Michigan. Both my mom & dad are from a tiny (so tiny it is called a Village) place called Berrien Springs, Michigan. My dad's family all still live up there and my grandma' s health hasn't been the greatest. So my sister's family, my family, and my dad & stepmom all signed on for the weekend trip up North to catch up with the Hance side of the family.

His arrival

After a very long week, Chad arrived home tonight. It was exciting to be able to pick him up at the Manhattan airport. We waited as patiently as we could. We had balloons. We had a big sign. We had plenty of excitement. And finally he was here. A week was just TOO long for him to be gone. We missed him like crazy and are very thankful he is home with us again.

Madness in Manhattan

I took the girls to experience the Madness in Manhattan, aka the unveiling of KSU's men's basketball team for the upcoming year. Campbell was a overjoyed to cheer on her favorite player, Jacob Pullen!!!

Asleep

I asked Campbell to clean up her very messy room. Five minutes later when I checked on her progress, this is what I found. Peacefully asleep amongst the mess.

Goodbye Daddy

We took Chad to the Manhattan airport bright and early this morning. He is off to Napa Valley, California for a week's worth of internship with a good friend Grant. This is his once in a lifetime opportunity to do something he has always wanted to do and even though we will miss him dearly, we must let him go.

Our little Pumpkin

How can one little girl be so darn cute? Halloween is just around the corner and her red hair just puts that added color in all our Fall pictures. She is our little pumpkin.