Eye Surgery

 Kate had eye surgery on the 26th, to remove a cataract from her eye. Kate was brave with everything except eye drops. Those are the bane of our existence right now. Grandma Jensen sent Kate this tiger all dressed up and ready for surgery, and the nurses and doctor were super sweet--putting the tiger to sleep before Kate and giving him his own mask and hair net. When she woke up she was groggy, but pretty good. She only wanted mom to hold her though.

 The poor girl slept most of the way home and had a hard time not scratching her operated on eye.

Then the next morning we went back to the doctor and he took off the bandage and said everything looked great. Now we have to keep her still and put eye drops in her eyes every 2 hours. It is a full time job, and a huge headache, but hopefully it all works out well in the end!

Last free weekend before surgery

 Our last weekend before Kate's big eye surgery we had fun enjoying the simple things, like jumping, running, and playing outside. Dad bought the girls a tire swing for the swing set, which was a big hit.

 Kate also tried to teach Abby how to climb the ladder up to the playhouse and slide. It was entertaining to watch, but also mildly unsafe. But Abby managed to only fall once! Her big sister is a good teacher.

New Floors!

 Dad discovered he could just borrow hair from his girls as his continues to leave his head!

This Saturday Jon and I replaced our carpet in the living, dining and hallway with laminate. We were planning to rip down the elevated dining area and make it all one level, until at 11 pm Fri night Jon and I discovered the elevated portion was solid concrete. Saturday morning came, and a jackhammer, and a few hours of concrete dust later Jon decided that breaking down the landing was way over our heads. So we just decided to leave it and cover it all in matching flooring. I love it!! It looks so great! Now the mission to find a perfect rug commences. But I must say, I love watching my man work. He is such a hard worker!

Grocery Shopping

 Kate has a promising career in grocery bagging. Every time we go to the store now she loves to help bag all the food. Both my girls also thrive on other shoppers stopping to talk to them. Oh and don't forget their stickers, because they sure will not, and will let you and everyone else nearby just how angry they are!

And on a completely unrelated note, I wanted to share a project that I worked on forever ago and then put away, but actually took back out and finished! Its a throw blanket for my bed. It took me so long to do since it is King sized (and I'm slow at crocheting)

Blast from the past

 While I was helping look through old pictures at my Grandma's house, I came across these pictures from a family trip my Mom, brother and I took with my Grandparents to see where Grandpa grew up in the hills of West Virginia. Truly one of my favorite places to see, I think it is beautiful! Thanks to that trip, and a few others, I have had the goal on my bucket list to stay at the Greenbriar Hotel. I will go someday, I promise (just like Paris, and Rome, and Venice, etc, etc). But I digress. I loved seeing these pictures where Grandpa was so obviously proud of his home. This waterfall is just right off the highway, it is beautiful to just pull over and explore.

 Look at my sweet brother-- helping me map out where to step.

 With Mom and Grandpa looking on. One of my favorite things of all time to do is walk in streams/creeks. I think the sensation is calming and soothing in a way that nothing else is.

 Part of the trip we went to Grandpa's family graveyard on the top of a mountain (like literally the drive is STRAIGHT up.) I loved seeing the old weathered tombstones. Old cemeteries are so cool.

 And because this was on the same roll of film as the other pictures and it was too priceless to do without, I present to you, a shot of my brother picking on my Mom. He used to make her hair all poofy and make fun of the effects. They both love this picture I'm sure, but not as much as me!

I just love walking down memory lane. I think that is why I love scrapbooking and blogging so much. Even though I will never be considered famous or interesting to other people, my own history and memories interest me and make me happy.

The rest of the trip

 It was fun to get together with my family even if it was for a sad occasion. We got to spend some more time with Arielle and he new husband Nathan (they have been married one year...not that she traded in her old husband for a new one!). Grandma always has the best facial expressions in pictures.

 But she loves me anyway so she will forgive me for posting some of her funny faces! I cherish all the times I get to spend with this amazing lady.

 We were also all together for Bailey's birthday. It was fun to get to see it, since I normally would have missed it. Loving far away from family can really stink sometimes.

Grandpa's Funeral

 I loved this quote my Grandma found for my Grandpa's funeral. First time I read it I couldn't help but cry. It is so true, the middle is the point to living. And my Grandpa lived a great life. I loved getting to help Grandma, Mom and Aunt Val look through old pictures to get together Grandpa's photo tables. I've been a picture/scrapbooking/blogging nerd most all my life, and seeing all those old pictures made me giddy! This is just the older pictures from the first table. My grandparents were so cute!!

  



My Grandpa's funeral was simple and beautiful. Lots of people came to honor the awesome man. I loved that as a group we laughed as much as we cried. We will always miss him, but we are glad he isn't suffering anymore. At the grave, soldiers were there to fold up his flag and played Taps. That ripped my heart out! And before we left him there, we got to put one last flower on his casket. It was harder than I thought it would be to walk away and just leave him there. The only help was knowing he wasn't actually in the casket, he is in a much better place. After the service some women from Grandma's church had a pretty lunch waiting for us. It was such a sweet experience. I'm so glad I was able to attend and honor the man who has meant so much to me. Here Zach and I are after, as you can tell I'd been crying!