Cleaning out the Camera Dropoff

The week before my Mother-in-Law passed away was actually a very busy and fun week that I never got to blog about because my life got turned upside down. Well, now that things have leveled out a bit I will show you a few pictures from that week.

Monday~ My brother Brad and his girlfriend Laurie came to visit us for a few hours so they could ride bikes on the river trail by our house. I am so bummed I didn't get a picture of them on their bikes. I guess they will just have to come back and do it again. Tuesday ~ I took the boys to a park near our house to feed the ducks. I had a hard time taking pictures of Sam because he kept trying to get in the water with the ducks. I finally passed my camera off to some guy that had a fancier camera than I did to take some candid shots and I am actually in them, which doesn't happen very often.

Wednesday~ My best friend from childhood, Betheny, came to visit us from Utah with her family. We haven't seen each other since Ben was less than a year old. We now both have had another kid since then. It was so great to see her and spend the afternoon with her family.
Thursday~ At around 9:00 PM I went to the movies for the opening night of the new Twilight movie Breaking Dawn with a few friends. It's always more fun to see these movies with friends that loved the books. We had a great time but didn't get home until after 2:00.

Friday~ I had a hard time moving the next day after staying up so late. I picked up Ben from school and came home to find a few phone calls from some of Tom's family members. Before I could even process who had called Tom walked in the door and told me his mom had just decided to refuse further medical treatment. She either had a few hours to live or a few weeks - we really had no idea at this point. He jumped on the computer to change our flights that we had booked for a few weeks later, and I jumped on the phone to see if my mom could come over and get the kids for a few days. I remember trying to get the kids lunch and I was crying. They didn't seem to notice that I was upset. Ben was being a turkey and I was trying with every ounce of will power to be calm and collected with him. I put the kids down for a nap and left for the airport soon after that. I sat in the airport crocheting and sobbing quietly. When they announced that our flight was going to be delayed 2 hours I was angry. Part of me knew that I was going to miss her last moments here on earth with us. I was right. We missed her passing by about 2 hours. As soon as our plane landed we got a call from Tom's sister Nancy who let us know she was gone. We held each other and sobbed again in the terminal of the airport.

We went to the hospital for a few hours to be with her. I am so glad I had a chance to say goodbye. Once again I didn't get home and in bed until after 2:00 AM.

Saturday~ The next morning when we woke up it was my father-in-law's birthday :0(. That was one of the hardest days I think I have ever had. I spent most of the day cleaning the house just trying to stay busy. We all wandered through the house numbly looking at all the stuff that reminded us of her and her love for us. She was an amazing crafter. Each time we would see each other we would always make sure we had a craft in mind to do together. Her crafts are everywhere in the house. There isn't a single room in their house that hasn't been touched by her and her talents. None of us talked all that much that day.

Karol's visiting teacher came over that morning to deliver a red velvet cake to Bryan (my father in law) for his birthday. That was Karol's specialty. She made it for everyone's birthday. Her visiting teacher let us know that Karol was very insistent that Bryan got this cake today. She had no idea that Karol had passed away the night before. It was such an amazing reminder at how truly thoughtful Karol was. She was always thinking of others and making sure that their needs were met. I miss her!