Another Trip

Since we didn't get back home from Christmas in Oklahoma until Sunday evening (the 28th), I spent all day Monday and Tuesday organizing and cleaning to make room for all the new toys. Clint went back to work on Wednesday so I packed up all the decorations and then Clint loaded the attic and took the lights down on New Years morning. Then about noon we got a phone call that Clint's grandmother had passed away. We were expecting it and had been "on notice" for about a week. So, while Clint was at work on Friday, I finished unpacking our bags from Christmas and then did laundry and re-packed over the weekend. Talk about stressful! We left Monday morning and just got back tonight.

We actually had a really good time, though. My parents kept the kids Monday night while we went to the visitation and then several of us went to eat pancakes at 9:00pm. Then the next day there was a big family dinner at the church. I got to see some of Clint's cousins that I had never met and other family members that I hadn't seen since our wedding. (Almost 9 years ago now) We took Ainsley to the funeral and she did really good. I think it was good for her. She understood that the lady in the casket was just Grandma's body and her heart was in heaven "talking with Jesus and singing with the angels" as she said. At one point, she said that Grandma was in heaven now singing "Glory to God!" She understands so much more than I ever give her credit for. After the lunch, we took the kids back to my parents to nap (Thanks Mom and Dad!) and went over to Clint's grandma's house to look through some things. She was Clint's last living grandparent so it was important that we get some momentos to take back home. We got a table from their farmhouse, some old tools, I got a homemade apron, etc.

When my dad got home from work, Ainsley told him that she had gone to "Grandma's fever". She kept calling it that! I guess the word funeral was not in her vocabulary? The only thing that really confused her about the whole event was the difference between being baptized and death. She has watched some baptisms at church and we've told her that they asked Jesus into their heart so now they're going "under the water" to tell everyone else that they're going to heaven. Well, when we started talking about Grandma going to heaven also, she kept asking if she went down in the water. She does understand a lot, but she's still just a 3 year old. :)

I'm glad to be home and hope we don't have to travel again for a while. Grady has been in bed since 4:00pm and Ainsley went to bed at 6:00pm. They are WORN OUT!