It's a McRae Thing

I just wanted to put some photos up from my Grandma's funeral. I could go on forever talking about the amazing person she was and the example she set, but really I just feel like keeping those thoughts close to my heart.

I will say this much, I have been to funerals for older people and I always felt like it was 'their time' because of their age. This time I was truly heartbroken. The world lost a shinning light when she passed away. I still find myself in tears if I think about her. I'm glad she isn't suffering any more but I so wasn't ready for her to be gone. I am so blessed to have had her in my life and I know she will be waiting for me when it's my turn.

The flag outside my Grandma's house has been at half-mast since she died.

The funeral was in Boise, ID and the burial site was in Wendell, ID. She is buried right next to her parents.

All the grandsons were the pall bearers.

These are the flowers I was able to take home. They survived the 4+ hour car ride home. I have cut a bunch of flowers off and have them in a press so I can have them forever.

Yes, I am aware of the fact that it has been a few weeks since my last post but I have been VERY busy. SO BACK OFF :)

To get you all up to date it's gunna take a while. Most of you know that my grandmother was diagnosed pancreatic cancer around May. She had surgery later that month at the Huntsman Cancer Inst. My grandmother is from Boise so we were lucky enough to have her all to ourselves for a few weeks. I just wish it had been under better circumstances. I was so privelaged to spend time with her while she was in the hospital and I cherish those memories. I love my grandma so much and she has been such an important person in my life.

Well, she was pronounced 'cancer free' and returned home to Boise. The day after she got home she fell down the stairs and broke her neck. Mind you it was only 3 weeks since her major surgery. Unfortunantly she broke her neck. It was either C2 or C3, I don't remember anymore. So now she is in a prison of a neck brace till the beginning of Sept.

On Wednesday, July 21 she went to the E.R. for what everyone thought was dehydration, only to find out that her cancer was back. This time it was in her stomach, liver, and intenstines. This was a HUGE shock to everyone. She was told by her Dr that she would be lucky to make it to Christmas. So Stew and I decided to jump in the car and head up to Idaho. I wanted nothing more for my birthday than to spend time with my grandma.

So, here is just a few of the photos I took while there. No joke, I took close to 300 photos.

This is Friday morning. We made our traditional stop at Einsteins Bagels. A must have for every road trip!

My brother and his wife, Ashley (aka Red), also joined us for the trip.

Are we really related?

This is Kaitlyn's cousin Destiney. It's the only (girl) cousin that Chum has and she lives all the way in Idaho. Well, the only girl cousin her age anyway.

The girls spent a lot of time coloring.

Addy loves 'Baby Audrey'. Although she really isn't a baby anymore.

They also fought over Grandma's wheelchair. Piggy won this time.

After spending a few hours with my grandma on Friday evening we took the kids back to the hotel so they could swim. Destiney spent the night and Rob, Red, Justin and Baby Audrey joined us. With all the extra bodies in the room trying to change the girls got creative. The closet was their own personal changing room.

Since we only had 2 beds for 7 people, Chum and Destiny slept on the floor. Oh to be kids again. Remember when you could sleep on the floor and didn't ache all over the next day??

Addy slept on the chair.

I wish I could say that these two slept in this bed, but Piggy gets nervous when she isn't in her own home, so I got to sleep with Piggy and Stew slept with Splash. It's better than waking up in the middle of the night to Hailey's blood-curdling screaming.

Since our hotel didn't offer a free breakfast of anykind, we decided to barge in Justin & Becky's house. Or as my kids call Becky, Aunt Ducky. We ate while the kids trashed the place.

Becky was out of town so I decided to do Audrey's hair. Didn't do my own kids hair, cuz lets be honest I have to do it all the time and I'm sick of it.

I don't think Audrey is used to the ammount of hairspray I use. But she was a trooper. Can't tell in this photo but there are a bunch of rubberbands in the back.

This is Ashley's foot. She had been complaining of a blister or "owie" on her heel. I didn't know she had been picking at it and it was really infected. It doesn't look like it in this photo but that is because I had to perform major surgery on it the night before. When I noticed it she wasn't putting her full weight on her heel because it was so swollen and red. I was afraid it was turning into a staph infection. But my medical skill paid off. With the help of Red of course!

After breakfast we went to a local pawn shop. I love that place!!! We bought 29 new-to-us DVD's for only $42. Beat that deal!! I wish I would have snapped a few photos of the store but really, don't you think I took enough?

Later that evening we went to my cousins house for dinner and 'play time'. We couldn't spend to much time at my grandma's because it would wear her out so much and she wouldn't want to sleep so she could chat with us. Red and I decided to set things up for a water balloon fight.

As you can tell Rob and Red didn't make it to the bathroom. Honestly people, that is so immature!

We had to get one photo of the great grandkids before they became soaked.

Stew had a good time throwing the water balloons at the kids. Target practice.

Pay back.....

I can't tell who had more fun the adults or the kids???

Once the balloons were all gone, Stew took the bucket and drenched the kiddo's

Perfect timing!!! Just as I snapped this shot Rob popped one last balloon on Stew.

Hence the look on his face.

After everyone was good and wet, we headed back to my grandmas where I was suprised with 2 cakes. If you counted all the candles I turned 66. There were 36 on one cake and the number 30 was on the other.

And yes, I blew them all out in ONE breath!

Me and my Grandma.

As my gift to her I updated the photos on her wall. Well, only my siblings and me. There were REALLY outdated. She still had Melissa and Sean's engagment photo up. Um, yeah, they have been divorced for a while now. See the reason for the update???

The reason they don't get updated often is because one has to risk life and limb to change out the photos. Don't worry Grandma! You are worth the risk.

I had to have help with the photos because once I was in position I was kind-a limited.

After my little par-tay we headed back for more swimming. mind you it was almost 10.

For the record, Kaitlyn wasn't interested in having her photo taken. Weird huh? She made sure to stay far away from me.

Ash wasn't feeling too hot so she came to hang with me. The hot tub was closed (do to the fact that someone puked in it) so I decided to just watch.

This was the hard part, saying good-bye. I wasn't prepared for how emotional it was. Just uploading the photos made me emotional again. It is just so hard to see my Grandma in pain and knowing she isn't going to get better. I hate being so far from her. She has made so many sacrifices for me and my family and I was truly happy we were able to go up and visit. I am truly blessed with a husband who is so supportive.

Rob and Grandma before we take off.