Molly's First Swim

We thought we would see if Molly could swim like most dogs, just on instinct, and wouldn't ya know she could. However, we won't be doing that very often. She didnt' seem to like it, and it appears she gulps water as she goes. It was fun for us to watch, and now you get to watch it too.

Another sad post

I've heard many times that when one elderly spouse passes away, that the other one soon follows. Most often I think it is from a broken heart and they just miss their loved one so much.

I really didn't expect my grandpa to live 'till 100 or anything, but when my Mom called to tell me that he had just died (only 6 weeks or so after my grandma) I was very shocked. Even more so when she told me he died in a car accident. Apparently, he was driving and drifted across lanes and hit a tree. It sounds like perhaps he fell asleep at the wheel.

It's pretty impressive that he could still obtain a driver's license at the age of 90, but you have to wonder if he really should have had one.

In any event, I felt so sad about the way he died. I felt more sad than when my grandma died. I think because she had cancer and we knew she was going to die, but with my grandpa it just seemed too tragic and sudden.

I thought it would be appropriate to post a picture of them both when they were young. I love these pictures of them and I imagine this is closer to what they look like in heaven than what they looked like when they passed on.

Grandma's Funeral

My Grandmother passed away recently. She was 86 years old. That is a long life. My sister and I flew to California for the funeral and some of my other siblings drove. This picture is at the viewing. My Grandpa is 90 years old. He said he and grandma had been married for 69 years come September. That is a long time. I know he will really miss his sweetheart.
It was a beautiful day. Very sunny and warm. During the funeral services, my Aunt Susan talked about how my grandma didn't like the water and did not want to be buried in a low spot because she didn't want any water to be able to run to her. So, of course, she is on a slight hill. It was fun to hear Susan and my Uncle Ron talk about my grandma being their mom. My dad also gave a very good talk during the services about life after death. It was a very good talk and makes me grateful that I believe in life after death.

The flowers on my grandma's casket were so pretty!
Below is a photo of my grandpa and my aunts and uncles. From Left to Right: Aunt Susan, Aunt Julie, Uncle Ron, Grandpa, and my dad (Donal). My Uncle Blaine is missing because he passed away a while back.
I hadn't seen some of my relatives for over a decade or more (that's just crazy), so it was really good to see all of them even though it was at a funeral.

Kelsey's Birthday

Kelsey had a great 10th birthday this year. Mostly because she had been asking for MarioKart for the Wii for a couple of months and she got it. It wasn't easy though. We looked all over for it and couldn't find it in any stores or even on line. We told her it didn't look like there was anyway she would get it. But, finally, the week before her birthday we found it. So, she was pretty happy and excited when she opened her present and saw that's what it was. Katie got her a pottery wheel. Katie is such a great sister. She is so thoughtful and wanted to get Kelsey something she would really like. Kelsey has already made a vase with it.
Okay. And now the cake. Kelsey had a specific cake in mind that she wanted. She wanted layers and layers of different flavors with stripes and circles. I think the drawing she gave me had 5 layers. Wow. I talked her into 3 because I just don't have the skill to do what she wanted, but I think what we ended up with was pretty darn cool. It was delicious too!