Time keeps on ticking

It has been a while since I've updated the blog. My dad passed away unexpectedly in November. Thankfully I was able to get to Texas before he died. Sadly he was already unresponsive before I arrived.

I was away for 15 days, and when I got home I had to dive headfirst back into schooling Ella and Hank as well as preparing for some semblance of Christmas.

His passing was harder than I expected. The whole process, ICU, Hospice, funeral home, was harder than I imagined it could be. Of course I knew I'd be sad. I just didn't expect to be strolling along and suddenly hear a song or remember something from my childhood and begin bawling.

Days after I returned from Texas, I learned that the receptionist at the kids' dentist office was murdered. We've been a part of the practice almost since the doors opened for business so while we weren't personal friends, it was a terrible blow to hear not only that she had died but how.

Then the Newtown tragedy and the past 6 weeks have been hard to say the least.  I haven't felt like I was ready to just start writing about the mundane happenings of our life.

Things are returning to normal here. We made it through Christmas, though I had to bail on our last service at church because hearing the songs my dad used to sing was too much. I should mention he had an amazing voice and sang quite a bit, especially at Christmas and Easter.

The kids are getting  back on track [sort of] for school. I've been working on clean eating and getting my butt back in gear. So we are in process....one step at a time...

My Nana

This past Sunday my Nana passed away after complications from a broken leg. About seven years ago she  fell and broke her femur (thigh bone, biggest bone in the body). What followed was a cycle of surgeries, complications, and infections. She was bedridden for several years, and my Grandpa worked tirelessly to help her. He hired a home health nurse and converted the main floor of their home to a hospital ward so that Nana could stay home and not go to a nursing home.

Random things about my Nana...
Before she broke her leg, she was quite a live wire and  was very out spoken. She also had a bit of a potty mouth... I can still hear her voice, "Come here you little sh!t and give me a hug." Not in an angry way at all; it was just what she called us. I didn't think it was weird until I realized other grandparents didn't say things like that to their grandkids. It would take the casual observer by surprise because she was a very pretty, well dressed woman.

12 years ago at our wedding

My grandparents have lived in El Paso, TX longer than I've been alive. I grew up in central Texas - about a 600 mile drive, across the blazing desert - so we got to see them just a few times a year. This was hard for my Nana because she adored me and my brother, but it made our visits that much sweeter.

She was an excellent cook. Man, could she make a mean lasagna. She would make and freeze a bunch of pans of lasagna for us to take home - my mom is an awful cook (which she readily admits!) so these were such a treat for us!

I was Nana's 'yea, yea girl.' My dad was away at school for the Army when I was born so my mom lived with my grandparents. I was sick a lot as a baby and cried all the time. Nana would rock me saying 'yea, yea' softly and I would stop crying so she called me her yea, yea girl.

One Sunday morning my mom and grandparents were rushing out the door, late for church (or maybe bowling?). Nana wanted to change me one last time so she layed me on the counter of their all white bathroom. As soon as she took my diaper off, my nether regions exploded covering her and the bathroom with baby poo. And she loved me still.

Party Animals

One of the funniest memories I have of her (because I don't remember pooping all over her) is when she was driving my mom, brother, uncle and I somewhere in El Paso. They had a red station wagon with a flip up trundle seat in the way back. We three kids (my uncle is just 3 years older than I am) were sitting back there goofing off and probably making a bunch of noise.

She would get really flustered when driving and she made a wrong turn down a one way street. My mom is typically cool as a cucumber but even she got a little nervous when there were a bunch of cars heading straight for us.

Nana started telling us to be quiet which made us turn around and see the oncoming cars. We started screaming and yelling "We're going to die! You're going to kill us!" while laughing hysterically which made her even more flustered so she yelled even more for us to be quiet and the cycle continued until we made it to the end of the street - unharmed except for our stomach muscles because we laughed so hard. We were just kids so we didn't appreciate the gravity of the situation, but it ended well so it became one of those stories we loved to tell when reminiscing about 'the good ol' days.'

The kids and I were able to visit my grandparents when they made a trip to the east coast a couple of years ago. It was the first time I had seen them since Hank was a baby and since she had broken her leg. It was so good to see them, and I wish I had taken more pictures.

So now she's gone. No longer in pain. Able to breathe deeply and walk freely.

If you think of it, please pray for my Grandpa. He poured so much of his life into her care and this has been quite difficult for him.

While I'm definitely sad and grieving, I'm grieving with hope because....

He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces

~Isaiah 25:8

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While were were still sinners, Christ died for us. ~Romans 5:7-8