Grandpa's Funeral, and Trav's 27th birthday

What a whirlwind! The last week has been pretty much insane.
Last Tuesday I found out that my grandpa had been given 3 days to live by his hospice care givers. My mom and I made plans to go visit him Wednesday, but we were to late. Grandpa Vern Harvey passed away Wednesday morning at 4am. He was 84 years old. He was ready to go. A couple months prior he was admitted to the hospital with double pneumonia. They didn't think he'd make it through that, but he did! He was healed, and his pneumonia was gone! However, the whole ordeal weakened his body and he never really recovered. He was ready to go home, and to see his wife who passed a few years ago. Although it is always sad when someone passes, we know that this is what he wanted. He was miserable down here waiting....spending all day in the hospital. Now he is where he wants to be. Grandpa was great with his hands. He was a carpenter, and a great one! He made my mom several things. A few that stick out in my mind are a house to go over her mailbox, a wood nativity scene, and a car desk for my little brother when he was very young. He lived in Clatskanie while we were growing up, and I remember lots of family trips where we all went to stay at his house. We'd always play croquet and had a great time with the whole family....cousins, aunts, uncles, parents, and grandpa and grandma. I love you Grandpa and you will be missed.
So, we got the news on Wednesday morning, the 15th and the planning began. Our family is all over. Aunt Chrissy and Justine are in Yuma, AZ, Lacee is in Orange, CA, Dylan is in NC, Tony is in CO, Uncle Don is in WA....and more. So coordinating was a little difficult. Lots of phone calls had to be made to make all the decisions, even the small ones. They decided to have the memorial on Monday the 20th, so family started coming in on Friday the 17th.
But I don't want to get ahead of myself. April 16th was a very important day! It was Trav's 27th birthday. I bought him lunch to celebrate, and made him his dinner of choice. He chose Kung Pao Chicken with Miso soup and Fried Rice. I'd never made any of those things, so I was a little nervous, but it's what the man wanted! It actually turned out really good! I'm positive we will have it again! For dessert he wanted Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream. He'd been having it all week though, and I gave him a gift card to DQ, so after dinner we drove to DQ so he could get a blizzard. It was a good night. Trav's big gift from me this year was Emma, so I didn't get him much else. A couple movie passes to Carmike Cinema's, and lunch!!
Friday the17th I had the day off work. Kind of. I told my poor, overly busy, stressed out mom that I would help her in the morning until she had to leave for her meeting. So I got up at normal time and got to work at 9. After work I had lunch with Trav, and then went groc shopping a little early to beat all the family that was coming to stay! Then I rushed to my hair appointment at 3:30. I told her to cut all the bad stuff off....and she did. My hair is very short now. A little to short. It's fine if I straighten it, but if I leave the curls to take over, the bounce up very high! So I think I'm going to spend the extra time to straighten it for a few weeks to let it grow out a little before I go back to curly! Anyway, it's fun having a new hair style. And Trav loves it. So far I think everyone likes it....but they could be lying. :)
After my hair appointment I rushed home to get back in time for Trav's surprise birthday dinner! It was a blast. It was great to see his face when the server showed us to a long table set up for 14 people!! Ryan, Darin, and Shelby were already there when Trav, Air and I arrived. Bob and Gloria came in a few minutes later, and Mike and Lynn a couple minutes after that. Then Luke showed up, and my cousin Tony arrived a few minutes later. Lindsey and Brian, and Robbie and Todd weren't able to make it. And Joel ended up having to work. But Trav was so happy to see everyone that was there. And he got spoiled with some great gifts! Bob and Gloria (who we got Emma from) got him a nice set of wine glasses, and a professional painting of little Emma. It really was professionally painted, but it was kind of a joke because it was pretty bad. Trav loved it though! He also got a bottle of wine, and some good beer and jerky!
We had a great time at dinner, and invited everyone over to our house for the after party. Ryan, Tony, Darin and Shelby, and Air all came over, and my brother showed up as soon as he got off work. We started mixing the drinks. We had fun playing the Wii, playing with Emma, drinking, talking and laughing until 4am. Happy Birthday Trav!!
Saturday I went golfing with Air. And cured my hangover with more drinking. It was such a gorgeous day out, and golfing was a perfect way to spend it! The beer cart kept bringing the Mike's Hard Lemonades, and we kept drinking them. By the end of golf, I should have stopped, but my friend Robbie invited us to a BBQ at her house. We went over and of course she had wine galore. We had wine and sat in the sunshine soaking in the rays. My cousin Lacee text me at about 6 to let me know she was on her way over, so we said goodbye to Robbie and headed home to greet her.
There were a lot of people at the house when we got there. My cousins Lacee, Justine, and Dylan were there, my Aunt Chrissy, cousin Tony, and Trav! I think my mom and brother were there to! It was a very full house. My cousin Lacee is 7 months pregnant and was adorable! She's carrying it all right in her belly! It looks like she shoved a beach ball under her shirt! Very cute. I haven't seen Justine for years so it was great to see her. It was a great time. I loved seeing everyone. Air and I really wanted to dance so we ended up going to Riley's for a couple hours to dance the night away.
The next morning was not friendly. I felt very sick. We had another birthday meal to go to for Trav's birthday! His parents! We had hamburgers and baked beans and potato salad. Yum! After I ate I felt much better. We played with Coraline and after lunch took her for a walk to the park. It was another beautiful day, and us Oregonians take advantage of beautiful days!!! Especially in the spring, after a long cold winter.
That evening we spent with Lacee, Justine, and Tony. We watched movies and hung out.
Monday morning was the Memorial. We all got ready and left the house at 11am. There was lots more family there, and plenty of hugs were passed out to everyone. After the Memorial there was a lunch. Then we headed to Grandpa's house to go over the reading of the will. When we got home we invited Aunt Chrissy, Dylan, and my parents over for games and popcorn. While we waited for them we took Emma for a walk to the park. She had a lot of fun! So much to see!
We had a great time with everyone that night playing games and laughing. When Aunt Chris, Lace, Justine, and Dylan used to live in Lebanon we would get together a ton. Now they are all spread out so it's a rare occurrence and we really enjoyed it.
Tuesday Trav and I went back to work. It was really hard to work knowing there was family at the house!! And with the weather being so beautiful! But we made it and spent one final night with Justine, Lacee, Dylan, and Chrissy before they headed home this morning. I even got to feel Ryder kick! He moved around a lot for me!
Now I'm just trying to get back into the normal swing of things. I think this weekend we will do a lot of relaxing!! And see my dad's play : The Diary of Anne Frank. Ok, back to work!