catching up

we headed back to wisconsin on thursday morning.

basically i feel as though i ate my way through the day thursday
on all of the delicious bars that people brought over

THEN ...
friday brought our time to say goodbye.
i won't lie.
it wasn't easy.
(but ... is any funeral??)

it was well put together
and ended up being a really nice tribute to my grandma.

my mom asked me to read my blog post.
i was a bit nervous about getting through it,
but i would say overall it went well.
just got a little rough at the end.

OH ... and then there was the fact that as i walked away from the pulpit the tears started flowing,
my vision got blurry, and i had to manuever down the stairs in my heels ;)
not an easy task.

drew also got to take part in the service.
my mom asked him to read Psalms 121.
and he did EXCELLENT.
he walked right up there and did his thing -
without thinking twice
and then came back and sat next to me, where he sat for the entire service.
near the end, stacey had to get up to escort the casket out.
instantly, drew put his arm around me and it stayed put.
he held me the entire way out of the church.
he didn't need to say a word -
he just knew that stacey was gone -
and i needed someone -
so he stepped up to the plate.
seriously ... i'm not sure what made me cry harder - my grandma's casket leaving the church -
or knowing that my 8 year old knew enough to be there for me when i really needed it.
and as i sit here now -
i think ...
every now and then i need days like this to give me a little perspective.
here i have this almost 3rd grader.
some days i wonder if anything i say ever really sinks in.
then a day like friday comes along -and i am reminded.
he may get crazy.
he may never really ever stop talking.
BUT ... he is an amazing kid.
i know i'm a LITTLE biased - but give me my moment ;)
and i'm pretty sure that what happened on friday is one of those moments i won't ever forget.

----------------------------------
on a side note -

since it isn't often that we are all in one place at one time ...
we took this opportunity to capture a few pictures of all of us together.
i've come to the conclusion
although i'm sure many of my family members disagree and probably get annoyed with me
that you can't take too many pictures.
i am SO thankful that on the day of my grandma's birthday party
i took as many pictures as i did -
because look where we are now.

SO ...
with that in mind.
enjoy :)
(and if you want to see them bigger ... just click)

friday was a nice day.
it was hard.
but it was perfect.

i'm thankful that we were able to come together,
comfort each other,
show my mom and my aunt that my grandma was an amazing lady
who will be missed by many,
and ultimately celebrate the fact that she is in heaven.


thanks for the prayers
and for your support throughout the past week.