weekend

What a weekend we had.

It started Wednesday with a phone call from my mom. My grandma has been having some health problems and my mom called to tell me she would be having surgery on Friday. I had to go. I needed to be there. I needed to see my grandma before the surgery. It was the easiest and best decision I have made in a looooong time.

I started laundry right away and started packing. Have I ever mentioned that I am a chronic over packer. Ask my husband. I know I have a problem...I will be the first to admit it. I really don't know how to solve this problem. My over packing gets worse when I am a) in a hurry and b) anxious. Which I was both. I easily packed enough for a week. I can't help it.

We picked Ellie up early from school on Thursday, grabbed Aunt Emily and headed East.

My mom was not finished at work. So we went to the Outlet Mall to wait for her. Because well where else do you wait for your mom? Ellie scored big time... We bought her tennis shoes for the year at the Nike Outlet in late July and they had flat out fallen apart...beyond normal wear and tear. She needed a new pair. I wanted to try to return them. When we pulled in to the mall she reminded me...I totally would have forgotten. So to Nike we went and sure enough they exchanged them NO questions asked. Made.my.day. and Ellie's too:)

My mom meet up with us, we loaded in her car and headed to the hospital. Grandma was very happy to see us and enjoyed the poster Ellie and Cece made for her. We hadn't been visiting with her long when my cousin Alan, his wife Sara and their two boys, Tyson and Easton, showed up. It didn't take long for the kiddos to get reaquainted and before we knew it they were rolling around on the floor having a good ol' time. Maybe not the best idea in a hospital room...there was talk of super hot baths and possibly even bleach to kill all the germs picked up off the floor. It was great to have all the little ones together and I know grandma enjoyed the chaos.

Pagliais Pizza is a favorite of my parents. Since there was a Pagliais right next to the hospital there was no question where we were going to stop for dinner. We decided to call Papa and make sure it was ok with him. I called and caught him in the shower. He was fine with us stopping as long as we brought him some pizza home. Just being my ornery self a few minutes later I asked the girls if we should call to see if Papa was finished with his shower. Ellie was all for it. So we called him back...sure enough he was still in the shower, hair covered in soap and quite disgusted with us. He told us he was not answering the phone again. We got him good! This was Ellie's first prank call and she loved it! After we ate she just HAD to call him back and pretend to be Randy (his brother/my uncle) and tell him we drop his pizza in the street. Next she pranked Uncle Scott, Uncle Noah and finally Daddy. Cece even got in on it. They LOVE the prank calls:)

Grandma was supposed to have surgery on Friday. But the surgery was canceled because they thought it was too risky. Since there was no surgery we decided to stay home and relax. We basically did nothing all morning. Then after lunch Emily, Ellie, Cece and I went on a four wheeler ride with Papa to the back timber. We had a great time looking at all the leaves, finding feathers, searching for acorns and hickory nuts, jumping across the creek, and walking the plank. Callie Dog may have the most fun running through the timber and jumping into the water. Emily and I got a little crafty making a sunburst wreath.

Late Friday afternoon we found out Grandma would be able to go home Saturday. Saturday morning mom headed down to the hospital with Grandpa to bring Grandma home. Ellie headed to the field to do some farming with Papa and Uncle Scott. She was out there all morning. She called Tina and I around noon asking for some lunch. Tina, Cece and I packed up quite the feast for the workers and took it out to the field. We came home empty handed....not only did we leave lunch behind we also left Cece behind as well. It was a beautiful day so Tina and I headed out for a 6 mile walk down the country road. Lots of hills and slippery gravel makes for a sore behind!

Late Saturday afternoon I dressed the girls up and headed out with Noah's camera to pretend to be a photographer. I think I did a pretty darn good job! I always dreamed of being a photographer!

Sunday morning the girls and I stopped by my Grandparents house to see Grandma. She seemed very happy to be home. I asked her if she slept good at home and she replied everything is better at home. Isn't that the truth!

The girls and I headed to Altoona to meet up with Tim's family at the Pizza Ranch to celebrate an amazing couple and their 60 years of marriage. One of the cards they got pretty much sums them up....on the front it said "what do you call a couple that has been married for a long time?" on the inside it said "happy." GG got rather teary eyed when she spoke to everyone thanking them for all getting together to celebrate.

After lunch we went back to Dave and Cheryl's house to hang out with his family. Paul, Shanna and the kids were there and Matt, Teresa, Tanner, Kenzie and Briana were back from Colorado. It was so nice to be all together. The kiddos had a blast putting together quite the show for us. They were very serious!

On the way home last night I felt like we were coming home after a holiday. We had been able to spend so much time around the people who matter the most to us. It was a wonderful. That doesn't mean there aren't things we are worrying about, praying for, hoping for....but we were also able to laugh and celebrate and share in the simple joys of life. I am so thankful for this weekend.

What a great weekend.