What a special week we had because we got to see all five of our grandparents/great grandparents in the same week! Three live close to us, which is a huge gift, and two live in Rapid City. Wednesday night we had supper with my grandparents at their place 15 minutes from us. Thursday night we visited Kley's grandma who lives just down the street from us. Friday after school we headed to Rapid City and got to see my other grandparents.
These are my grandparents, my dad's parents, who live in the town next to us.
This is Kley's grandma, his dad's mom, who lives very close to us.
We had a quick trip to Rapid City over Labor Day weekend! My grandparents, my mom's parents, live there, and so do my aunt and uncle and their family. My girls loved to see my cousin's daughter, Taylor; they are so sweet together!
We went to
Storybook Island, which is super cute. They have replicas of Disney and classic stories all around, like little play areas. They even had a few people dressed up today and this boy dressed up as Mario looked so young but he was doing his best to talk to the girls in a Mario voice!
They really were having such fun together, despite the faces in the picture.
It was pretty warm, so we took a break from the outdoors to paint some pottery. The girls loved it! Kley even painted a little llama too. :) They love crafts and have painted plenty, but never in a professional place like this before.
We also enjoyed two parks, getting ice cream, visiting Papa and Gigi Van Etten's house, and the arcade at the Pizza Ranch there. We packed a lot into one day!
This picture, below, I will treasure forever. My grandpa hasn't been doing very well and has been in and out of the hospital. I am so glad that we could work it out to make a trip to see them again. The timing wasn't ideal with it being shortly after starting school, but the girls did great and we knew we needed/wanted to come and I am so glad we did. We actually got word while we were in the car driving there that he was admitted to the hospital again. At first he went to the ICU and was critical, but he turned a corner some and was doing better on Saturday. At first we were worried they wouldn't let us into the ICU, but we are thankful he was transferred to a normal room on Saturday. Saturday morning, though, he was pretty confused and not in the best spirits and was switching rooms, so we waited until the afternoon. Then he napped for awhile, so we waited until after that, but he woke up from his nap much better! At first we thought they wouldn't let us all in the room at the same time, so I was prepared to take the girls in briefly individually. I went in by myself first and talked to him for a few minutes, and he seemed okay but confused and asked twice why he was there while I was in the room, but then said he would like to see the girls and the nurses were so generous in saying we could all come in together if we were quiet, but they didn't mind.
We had no idea how this visit would play out, but God answered many prayers and I'm so thankful my grandpa was doing a bit better so we could see him, that he was in good spirits, and that the nurses let us in. I didn't think we would get a picture all together, and it's such a gift that we did. My grandma said the time we were with him was the most lucid he was all day. He talked with us, remembered us, and even asked the girls for a hug. It was such a special moment and I'm SO glad we got to have it and made the trip. I cried when we left, a little out of sadness in I don't know if I will get to see him again on earth, but mostly out of joy and thankfulness for the time we got with him. I thanked the nurses for allowing this special moment to happen and for taking this photo. What a gift this day was, thank you Jesus! We also got special time with my aunt/uncle and cousins too that was a blessing. I'm so glad we could come for this quick trip!
