Grandpa's Farewell

I've been neglecting the blog lately, but with good reason. We've had a lot going on and I'm still trying to catch up! On September 14th, my Grandpa passed away in St. Louis. He was very old and not in good health, so we were praying for him to get his wings.

When the time came, he went in peace, but the finality of his life was harder than I expected.  Maybe because I was so far away from my Dad and sister.  But, we celebrated the end of his pain and focused on the good memories and funny stories we all have.

The services for my Grandpa were in Somerset, Kentucky last Friday. So me and my road warriors hit the highway again! It was 805 miles, which took us about 13 hours getting up there and 12 hours coming home. Jackson did amazing the whole trip, again I have to thank Buzz Lightyear & Woody, and Sarah from the Land Before Time {do you remember that movie?}.

Since we were traveling such a long way, my dad decided to make it a whole weekend farewell to Grandpa. Dad rented a beautiful lake house on Cumberland Lake, so we could all stay together in one house. I can't tell you how much better this worked out, as opposed to staying in different hotel rooms.

We never spent much time in Somerset growing up, probably because there's not much to do there unless you farm cattle or corn. No offense to anyone who lives there! Seriously, there were cows in the front yard of the lake house, which was located at the end of a 3 mile road with corn fields on both sides.

The land was absolutely gorgeous and we soaked in as much of it's beauty as possible.  It's amazing how connected you feel to both the land and those around you when your cell phone has no signal and you can't pick up a wireless internet signal to save your life.  It was pretty awesome, expect for not being able to watch Grey's Anatomy with my sister.  We can't say we didn't try though, for an hour or more:)

After the funeral service, and Jackson's visit with Grandpa's angel {true story}, we spent the next couple of days sightseeing and visiting with family.  My dad's mom was born and raised in Somerset, so there were old farmhouses and land to explore were they once resided.

We also spent an afternoon at the Haney's Apple Farm, which is owned by cousins of ours.  Jackson got a special new airplane to remember the farewell weekend with and picked about 100 apples!

And of course, the trip wouldn't be complete if we came all that way and didn't go to the Cumberland Falls! Again, a beautiful sight that I had a lot of appreciation for now that I'm older.

I'd say that Grandpa's farewell was one that we'll all remember and one that Grandpa was certainly watching over.  Even the Preacher was a little taken back by Jackson's connection with "Harry".  I think I'll save that story for another post!

Did I mention that I got to love on my little diva for 3 days, and I was in heaven.  How could you not just eat this little girl to pieces?!?

Even Jackson simply adores her, or maybe it's just her pink bunny and little dolly that he loves so much...I guess time will tell;)