Baseballs, Butterflies, & Blessings: Waco & Adopted Grandparents

Will's hand in Bubby's

Growing up, my little brother & I adopted our two sets of next door neighbors to be our adopted/pretend grandparents since our grandparents lived far away. I remember taking them to grandparents day at school once & we spent a lot of time in each of their homes- we knew exactly where the candy was kept (always butterscotch candy in the Strums'!) Oddly enough in this Bible belt buckle town, they were both Jewish. So, we learned a lot about Jewish culture and history as well which is really interesting & I think important to know as Christians. One set, the Strums, had a huge family & grandchildren of their own. The Gordons only have one son who lives in Japan & comes home very infrequently and have no grandchildren. We have been their family in many ways. Though they are Jewish culturally, the Gordons don't practice their faith personally. They have spent every major holiday with my family - we always include them for Christmas dinner & opening gifts on Christmas Eve, for Thanksgiving & Easter, etc. My parents threw Bubby a huge b-day party when he turned 92. Will sends them cards with his laughter recorded for Mother's Day, Father's Day, & grandparent's day. He loves his Bubby & Gigi & knows the way to their house! He gets so excited to see "My Bubby."

Bubby is now dying & I believe Gigi won't be far behind- she is madly in love with this man. He says he's hanging on for his 71st wedding anniversary which they celebrated yesterday.

Will, R, & I went to see them our first day in Tyler. It was a difficult day. Bubby has always been so healthy. But, at 94, he is tired, has cancer & congestive heart failure & he says he is ready to go. For the first time ever, Bubby looked terrible & told me bye-bye.

He also has said he doesn't choose Jesus which is heartbreaking to hear.

Would you please pray for Bubby & Gigi-

for their peace in these final days, for those who take care of them (like my parents who go nearly every day to their home to check on them & who are helping them with some of their final arrangements), & most importantly, for their salvation.

We really love our Bubby & Gigi & we know Jesus does too. We desperately want to see them choose Him.

Will sang "If You're Happy & You Know It" & "Trust & Obey" for Bubby & Gigi

Though he may not feel good, Bubby couldn't help but smile at Will!

Will & Gigi
Will likes to say "Gigi hold you!" (Meaning, hold me, Gigi!)

Will & Bubby holding hands

(Obviously, I'm hugely behind in my blogging! Hopefully I'll get to 4th of July & Cousin Camp by August! Anyway, sorry but I'm combining lots of random pics & stories into this blog entry in an effort to catch up!)

Waco Trip!
On our way to camp, we stopped in Waco to see old friends & spend the night. Thanks, T's for hosting us!

Will & Mason (6 weeks apart) had a great time together!

Here they are in their matching Laguna Beach t-shirts from our CA trip last fall with Mason's parents

The boys went swimming in Mason's backyard with their friend Aiden. Unfortunately, I didn't get any great group pictures that didn't include some other kid's bottom. I just didn't think it would be appropriate to show their child's bottom on my blog.

So, I show my own:
I just love this jumping picture of Will!

While in Waco, we saw our other set of adopted grandparents, the Harrisons. When we lived there, the Harrisons were our next door neighbors. They were great neighbors & we miss them dearly! They also have no children or grandchildren so we just adopted them into our mix!

We talk fairly often & they write Will wonderful letters, which I always save for his baby book. They've sent him thoughtful gifts & we enjoy sending them Will's laughter recorded in cards for Mother's Day, Father's Day, & Grandparent's Day. Will also sends them his art work ("will's work")

I loved seeing Will's picture framed in their home!

Naturally, he gave lots of high-fives

Will & "JOJO" (he loved yelling her name!)

Our old house - first house we ever owned in fact!

Will & Mason sitting with DEDE

Will & Mason going for a wagon ride in the sweltering TX heat

In Waco, we lived 8 houses down from the T's. It was so great having them nearby - especially during my "widowhood" - those 3 years that R was in law school & almost never home at a decent hour! I can't count how many times I carried my dinner down the street to their house just to eat dinner with other people. Then we would watch tv & do pilates together. (Michael just watched the pilates- he didn't participate!)

We have such a history together- Michael & R met as counselors at Laity Lodge Camp & became instant friends. They were in each others' weddings & were college roommates for a time. Jennifer & I instantly became #5 friends & have spent countless hours exercising/talking/emailing/crying/laughing/& even sleeping on each others' couches. Thanks, friends, for hosting us in the chaos of last week! Love you!

The Road Trip

I know, my pictures are completely out of order in this post but I'm too tired to rearrange them! Sorry!

Will & I left the frontier of TX to head to Waco prior to going to Out on a Limb Camp last week.

Will fell asleep for about 45 minutes on our 6 hr trip.

Right before we left town, I set him on our couch, naked, because I realized I didn't have a single diaper in the house to put him in. So, I ran out to the car to get one only to come back inside & realized he'd peed on our couch & on his cute outfit I had for him to wear to Waco.

Just lovely.

What a great way to begin our road trip.

Finally, a way he can feed himself in the car! Due to Will's hand differences, I spend a great deal of time twisting around in the car to hand him each individual bite. (He requires both hands to hold the bite & feed himself so he can't hold a package with one hand & grab food with the other hand. This is difficult in certain driving conditions & he's not always very understanding of my need to drive & focus.) So, I found a great tray at One Step Ahead which has raised edges & actually stays on his carseat. It made my life so good in the car last week since I was the only adult in the car to feed him! Horray!

Cuddling up