November: Funerals and Birthdays.

I have gone almost an entire month without a blog post. I do have a good excuse though. It had been absolutely crazy this month.

We started off the month with John's aunt Judie passing away after a battle with ovarian cancer. We were very busy with family time, a wake, and trips to Hospice before she passed away. It was sad to see her go, but it's great to think about her being in a better place.

Two days after Judie's funeral, I got a phone call that my grandpa Marlin had fallen in his garage, the paramedics had to do CPR, and that it wasn't good. Grandpa passed away the next day. And just like that, we had another crazy, whirlwind week. Grandpa's death was a complete shock to everyone. He had just finished combining 4 days before he died. The day he fell, he was mowing lawn, changing the oil, and he went and voted earlier in the day. It was fast and unexpected, and it hit all of us pretty hard.

Luckily, I got a nice bereavement leave from work, so we got to head to Minnesota pretty early and we spent a lot of time together with family sharing memories and dealing with our emotions. We spent all 4 days that we were in Minnesota at Grandma and Grandpa's house, together as a family. Many people brought food by for us, and it was just really a nice time together. We had a four hour wake on Sunday, and that was pretty tough. It was hard to see all the familiar faces, while hearing how sad they were that grandpa had died. It was long, but it was nice to talk to a lot of those people.

Veterans' Day was Grandpa's funeral. It was freezing cold, and it was so sad to say a final goodbye to Grandpa. We were very lucky to be blessed with such a great grandpa as long as we had (87 years old!) and he died the exact way he would have wanted to, working in his garage. Grandma handled everything ok. She is now in assisted living, and adjusting to it slowly. Ryan made some really nice memorial things to remember grandpa, including some memorial jars with some of the corn that he combined just 4 days before he died. Everyone seems to be doing ok, and moving on with their lives in a healthy way, while still remembering all the great things about grandpa.

After this crazy, emotional week, things slowed down a little and got back to normal. We have been busy with work, piano lessons, and homework and the weeks seem to just fly by.

Today is Elliott's 5th Birthday. I know I say it every year, but it is just crazy to me that he is 5 already. He will be in Kindergarten next year!

Elliott is such a character. He is a sweetie most of the time, and loves to give hugs and kisses. He also loves to snuggle with blankets and favorite stuffed animals. He still asks a lot of questions, loves to sing-especially Christmas songs, and constantly asks us to play games with him. He adores his sister, until they start fighting. He is starting to test boundaries a little more, but overall is pretty well-behaved. He can't wait to start school, and loves daycare, even though he asks if it's a "no-daycare day tomorrow" every single night. We love him so much, and I will keep snuggling with him as long as he will let me.

Elliott had a fabulous birthday. We started it off with church, where he got to tell everybody it was his birthday. Then we came home, and we let him open his gifts from us. He got a craft bucket, a razor scooter, and a dinosaur smash egg from us. The dinosaur smash egg was the major hit. Emma and Elliott played with that toy the entire afternoon. It came with slime, baby dinosaurs, moon sand, putty, and some other things that kept them busy for a couple hours.

At 4pm we left to go to Chuck E Cheese, per Elliott's request. We let the kids play games for an hour, and they had an absolute blast. I think the adults had fun as well. The kids redeemed their tickets for some crappy toys, and then we were on our way to Pizza Ranch (also Elliott's request). We enjoyed some Pizza, cake, sang Happy Birthday, and then Elliott opened the rest of his gifts.

It was a perfect 5 year old's birthday party. We finally got the kids settled down and put to bed about an hour ago. Monday morning might be interesting. We also have a busy week coming up with Thanksgiving, so it seems the busyness never ends. Here's to another crazy week!! :)

Cousins at the wake 

Elliott and Mom's day of fun 

At Great-Grandma's house 

Elliott's best buddy Kyle 

We decorated our own wreaths this year. 

Christmas cookies!!

Singing in church 

Elliott's birthday!

Playing with the Dinosaur smash egg

Chuck E Cheese 

Pizza Ranch 

Halloween 2019

Whew! Many Halloween activities and four buckets of candy later, Halloween is officially in the books. We maybe overdid the Halloween thing a little this year, but I loved every second of it.

Last weekend, we spent another weekend cramming in some Halloween activities. On Saturday, we spent the morning raking leaves and jumping in leaf pile while John had another family photo shoot. It was pretty chilly out, but the kids loved it.

After lunch, we headed to Hy-Vee to celebrate Halloween there. They do a really good job putting on a fun Halloween celebration. The kids got to decorate sugar cookies and pumpkins, hug a pop machine for a free pop, and then trick or treat throughout the store. It was really fun, and we beat most of the rush, which was really nice.

After Hy-Vee, we went to the Kuehn Community Center, which was also having a Halloween Party. There were games, inflatables, candy, and prizes. Once again, the kids had fun.

After all that, we were ready to head home for a while and recover, until the evening when we met up with Johnny and Kristina, and their kids and did a couple Trunk or Treat events. There were so many people and the weather got pretty chilly. So, by the time we were done with the trunk or treating, we were ready to eat some supper and call it a day!

Sunday was a typical catch-up day. We also went to visit Judie at Ava's House. Judie passed away yesterday- on Halloween. It's sad to see her go, but it's nice to know she's no longer sick or suffering here and she's happy in heaven. Her funeral is going to be on Monday, and there has been a lot of family around, which has been nice.

Yesterday was Halloween. I took the day off, just for the heck of it. So, I enjoyed dropping the kids off at school (I never get to do that!) and then I did a lot of baking. Today is the Fall Festival at church, so I made 2 dozen cupcakes. I also made some soup and pumpkin bread. It was a busy afternoon.

Jim and Barb came by to help hand out candy while we took the kids trick or treating, which we have done for the last 6 years. We all enjoyed some supper, and then John and I took the kids out. It was quite chilly this year, but the kids did really well. They basically ran from house to house, and they each got an entire bucket full of candy. It was crazy. We have so much candy, I have no idea what we will do with it all.

Jill and Peg came to join us later in the evening, and it was really nice to visit with them and see them. The kids were super pumped to see them.

Then, just like that, Halloween was over. We finally got the kids settled down and put to bed, and then that was that. I love Halloween, and I am always a little sad when it's over. But, now it's time to switch the focus to Thanksgiving, and then Christmas! :)

Leaf Jumping 

Trunk or Treating 

Happy Halloween