My Grandaddy

On January 20th, I got a call in the middle of the night from my aunt, that my grandaddy was in the hospital with pneumonia, and they didn't know if he was going to survive. I was shocked and immediately knew I needed to get to Weatherford. In the worst timing, Matt was out of town for work. I called him to problem solve how to handle the kids. We decided that I could take the kids to Weatherford and drop them off at his parents' house while I was at the hospital.

We arrived around 11:00 that morning and I spent all day and night at the hospital. Grandaddy had stabilized, and we were able to visit and give him a hug. That afternoon, the kids got to come up and see him too, and that was the biggest blessing. Seeing Grandaddy's smile when my kids walked into that hospital room is a precious, precious memory for me. He lit up whenever he spent time with his great grandkids.  Shortly after the kids left, Grandaddy started to decline. We stayed at the hospital all night, and my cousins from New Mexico arrived. Danny stayed up with Grandaddy all night, while Granny and I slept some. 

The next morning, the tests showed that his pneumonia had worsened, and we had to make the decision to remove oxygen and allow him to pass naturally. All the grandkids except my brother were in the room, along with Aunt Sydney, Aunt Kay and Uncle Wesley, and my cousin Aaron when he transitioned to heaven. It was a tearful day, but along with the tears of grief, I was just so grateful for the legacy Grandaddy left for his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. What a gift to have had my Grandaddy as an active part of my life for almost 41 years. I'll never take it for granted. 

I spent the next couple of days in Weatherford helping Granny plan the funeral and make arrangements. My brother arrived Thursday night to relieve me and stayed with Granny through the weekend when the snowstorm arrived. I left town Friday morning to get back home to my family. I had been worried about the kids since I was away from them, but Matt and all our friends cared for them so sweetly while I was away.

The following Wednesday, we all loaded up to drive back to Weatherford for the funeral. We had a sweet time of fellowship with family. My kids were thrilled to see their cousins. We reminisced and gathered together to care for Granny. When we found out she had the original house plans that Granny had designed we had to find them. They built such a unique, functional house for the needs. It was cool to see the original design. 

Thursday morning we prepared to celebrate the life of an incredible man. My sweet kids were so mature throughout the whole time we were in Weatherford. I'm very proud of them. 

The church provided a lunch for our family before the funeral. After all the funeral meals my grandma had prepared, this was a sweet reminder of the way she served her church family. 

We don't get to see our cousins from New Mexico very often, and my girls sure loved playing with their littlest cousin Stetson during the few days he was in town. 

All the great grandkids- what a legacy!

The funeral was beautiful- my brother spoke along with my cousin Aaron and my cousin Danny. They spoke of Grandaddy's love for the Lord, love for his family, his willingness to always serve without recognition, his determination and hard work, and his 73 year marriage and devotion to my Granny. Danny said once that Grandaddy raised kids who loved the Lord who raised their kids to love the Lord, who are now raising their kids to love the Lord. There's nothing more we could have asked for in the grandparents the Lord gave us. Such a gift. 

Matt and I made a photo slideshow that we played during the service. These are a few of my favorites. Grandaddy leaves a hole in our lives for sure, but the memories and lessons he instilled in us will live on in those he loved. 

20th Anniversary Mexican Vacation, Part 2

 After spending Tuesday afternoon shopping, of course we stopped for a milkshake. It's hard work window shopping. 

We caught a beautiful sunset sky as we were getting ready for dinner. 

The nighttime entertainment was a little lacking for our tastes, but they did offer bingo, and we decided to hop in on the game. None of us won, but I did manage to get my name on the leaderboard for a minute!

Instead of enjoying the subpar entertainment in the evenings, we got into a routine of grabbing a drink and playing games. It's one of our favorite ways to spend an evening!

Wednesday morning we booked an excursion for the day for a catamaran ride over to the Isla de Mujeres. Everyone told us it was a beautiful island. In hind sight, we learned that our resort is pretty beautiful and probably not worth leaving, but we still made some good memories and found some souvenirs. 

Breakfast by the ocean every morning was a treat. 

We had a bit of time before we left to sit and enjoy this view. It really is the most gorgeous ocean view. Not sure if I've mentioned that yet, ha!

On the catamaran ride over to the island, we stopped for some snorkeling. 

We were a little underwhelmed with the experience. We've definitely had better snorkeling experiences- the best being in Roatan on our couples cruise a couple of years ago. 

We saw a few fish and a couple of pieces of coral, but overall it was chaotic and short. 

We were served lunch at the beach club at the island, and that's when we realized that our resort offered a much better experience for lunch and a beach, but we were determined to enjoy our time.

We had a few hours after lunch before our return boat ride, so we set out to explore the town. It was neat to walk through an authentic (touristy) Mexican market. We all found some cute souvenirs and practiced our negotiating skills. 

We also laughed a few times at the Spanish spelling of translations. 

That evening we rode the catamaran back to our resort. We were hoping to see a sunset, but there was a thick cloud cover, so we couldn't see much. We did get to know a neat couple from Canada and visited with them throughout the day. 

We made it back to our resort late on Wednesday evening. We were hungry and tired and stopped at the Mexican restaurant for a late dinner before heading up to bed. 

I snapped a few pictures of the beauty of our resort. I really loved the size. It wasn't huge but had everything we needed. 

We also really enjoyed the crowd level. We never felt overrun with people, never had to wait long in a line, and never had problems finding chairs by the beach or pool. We also had amazing service. We were so spoiled with drink and umbrella service at the beach and pool. So nice! I remember thinking that I'd probably just get one or two drinks a day with dinner, but it's hard to resist a bartender offering pina coladas on the beach all day. What a treat!

Matt and I treated ourselves to a massage on the beach on Thursday afternoon. We saved money by not booking through the hotel spa, and while it wasn't the best massage, it was definitely worth what we paid, ha!

Thursday night we dined at the steakhouse again and played games and had drinks at the lounge bar that evening. I really loved our evening routines. Vacationing with friends is the best!

We took a few pictures after dinner. 

On the catamaran, the photographer asked us to pose in some unique ways, so we recreated some of them, ha!

The sunrises were amazing. Matt got up early and watched in on Friday while I slept in. 

Friday was a repeat of earlier in the week. I couldn't believe it was already our last day, and I was also surprised how fast time went doing nothing. I read 2.5 books during our trip and thoroughly enjoyed all of them. Reading for fun with no other obligations is such a treat especially with the sun shining and an ocean breeze. It was heavenly!

Matt and I got a little more time in the ocean on Friday but spent more time floating in the pool. The waves were a little too rough for me in the ocean. We bobbed from the pool, to our chairs, to food and ice cream, back and forth all day long. Incredible!

Friday night we repeated the Mexican restaurant because we enjoyed it and soaked up our last night playing games together. Corey encouraged us to try some new cocktails. It was fun to experiment without having to pay.

Since Saturday was our last morning, I woke up early to watch the sunrise.

We enjoyed one last breakfast and reading by the ocean before packing up to head home. I was genuinely so sad to leave. I don't remember being as sad for any other vacations to end. This trip was so enjoyable and relaxing. Matt and I are in a demanding season with his job, and our kids in so many time-consuming activities. Our quality time together is limited these days, so having a full six days together with no stress, obligations, or appointments was such a gift. Throw in some of our best friends, the sun, ocean, and delicious food, and this trip was one of the best weeks of our lives. I'll remember fondly the memories we made, and they'll carry us into the next decade of our marriage.