Friday
Friday night, right before the memorial service on Saturday, Hannah tripped on an unlit fire pit. She fell and her nose hit the metal side of the pit. Not only did she scrape up her nose, but her eyes were a bit swollen too. Poor little kid. This had to have hurt SO badly.
Saturday
Saturday was the memorial service for my grandfather. It was held about 45 minutes from our campground back in the area I know much better -- South Holland, Illinois. It was a wonderful service. I spoke, along with a few other people, and presented my Grandmother with a picture that my friend Megan made for her. It is so wonderful how it turned out:
It is hard to fathom being married to someone for 62 years and then not having them anymore. My father closed the service by praying for my grandmother. She isn't done yet! She still has life to live! I pray she can enjoy her remaining years without my grandfather there with her.
I got to see many cousins and old friends of the family that I hadn't seen in years. And, my grandmother got to see all four of my children. (She had never met my girls.) I WISH I would have gotten a picture of that, but there were other, more important things going on.
The kiddos did, successfully, sit through the entire memorial service, which was pretty impressive. Poor JB did most of the dirty work, and he was exhausted by days' end.
And Isaac was thrilled after the service to slip back into the sanctuary to play the baby grand piano they had.
Back at the campground, we made our favorite: pizza calzones with my parents. The kiddos continued to play a ton of the game HOTELS.
Sunday
On Sunday, we got up, packed up our camper, and took it to my Aunt Connie's house. We got it all set up there, and then headed out, with my parents, to a Huisman family picnic. This was my Dad's whole side of the family.
My dad with all of his siblings. From left: Scott, Linda, John, George (my dad), Bob, and Jeff. Now let me tell you that my father is 6'8". We are a VERY tall family! Four of the siblings live in the Illinois and Indiana area. My Dad lives in Florida. And my Uncle Scott recently moved to Texas. When he heard that five of the siblings were going to be meeting up at a park, he got on a flight the next day to join them. How fun is THAT?!
Here is a picture of the siblings with their spouses. That's my mom in the center front.
My cousin Justin (left) and my cousin Matt (right). That is Matt's oldest son in the middle. Matt is the oldest grandchild and his son the oldest grandchild. I believe that 11 of the 17 cousins were at the picnic.
It was really chilly for a May day -- I look like an old woman in this picture. But I was warm!
A picture of all of us hanging out together.
My wonderful Aunt Sue talking to my cousin Justin.
My Dad may have been born and raised in the midwest, but he is a south Floridian to the bone. He borrowed this hat and jacket from his 6'10" brother. The fact that he managed to sit through the entire picnic is really saying something!
My Dad (right) with Uncle Scott!
My dad's only sister with one of only 3 girls cousins including me: Madeline. These ladies look so gorgeous! They are just the sweetest spirits, and I am blessed they are in my family. I was actually a junior bridesmaid in my Aunt Linda's wedding when I was around 9!
There were a TON of great grand-children there. As a child and as an adult, I always spent the most time with my Uncle Bob's three boys. The little girl on the far left is Lacey (Jason's daughter), then there is Hannah, and then Summer (Justin's daughter), and then my Abigail. I can really see the resemblance between Lacey and Abigail. Justin and I stood by each other during some dark times in both of our lives. I love that we have daughters nearly the same age after all that!
After the picnic, we headed back to Aunt Connie's house to begin our two days there. I will do that in my last and closing post. So stay tuned. How WONDERFUL it was to spend time with her. Much more to come.
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