Monday, September 27, 2010

Changes



Change. Change. Change. We've had lots of that these 7 weeks. I can pinpoint it all back to the Sunday I decided not to be stressed about getting everyone ready on time. Well, this past month and a half has definitely lead to a shift in perspective for me and Sundays morning are perhaps a bit less stressful.

I actually laughed when I saw that one of my Sunday School lessons was on Job in August - because I sure needed it! We had a week, though definitely not as bad as Jobs, that felt like one thing was going wrong after another.

Remember the meal, where Job is eating with his family and one messenger after another comes telling him about a different hardship that has befallen his family (Job 1)?

... and then there was a water leak that caused hidden mold and lead to the retiling and carpeting of our basement apartment ...

... and then Johnny broke a toe in his bone that requires him to be in a boot with limited activity until Halloween ...

... and then my sister got in a car accident (no injuries) ...

... and then my missionary brother got kidney stones ...

... and then one of the fridges went out ...

... followed by a toilet ...

See where this is going? Literally that kind of a month. But it really made me look at all that I am grateful for. We've had a place to stay while the basement is being renovated, I still have a husband, my sister didn't get injured, my brother received an honorable release to come home and be with us before our grandmother passed away. As my grandmother would say, so many silver linings!

My favorite silver lining was being able to go up to Park City with my grandmother, sister, and mom. My Grandma Kimball fought off cancer for a year and a half, but then was diagnosed with a childhood form of leukemia. I am working on a post about her, but for now I wanted to blog about the fantastic time we had in Park City.

We've been talking of a girl's weekend since January. The timing was dependent on all of our different schedules and, most importantly, how Grandma was feeling. Life happens and suddenly it was the end of July with no girl's weekend in sight. I revisited my notes on places to stay in Park City and we set a flexible date in August. As luck would have it, Grandma was cleared for traveling on the Wednesday before the date we were thinking of. We were excited and booked the hotel room just in time. Because of the last minute nature of the trip, we missed Cami, but Aileen was able to come up for one of the nights.




And what a grand weekend it was! We stayed at the Westgate Resort in a spacious luxury sweet with a granite counter topped kitchen, fire place, jetted tub, and programmable steam shower. We loved it! In fact, I think it will be a new tradition! The best part was just sitting and talking with Grandma Kimball. She is the easiest person to talk to and the best listener. I always feel calmer and happier after talking with her.

We let Grandma Kimball set the pace and pick out our activities. She picked the Olympic Park and we enjoyed a Ski Show that was pretty awesome! We also ate at some yummy restaurants, too.
I feel so blessed for getting this weekend with my grandmother. After we returned from our girl's weekend, she went into the doctor and her leukemia numbers were back up. I feel so blessed that we were given that brief weekend to make one last happy memory with her.


And this is the yummy breakfast that my mom made our last morning there!


So that is a brief reacap of the last 7 weeks. Lots of craziness, but lots of blessings, too. I miss my Grandma Kimball terribly, but I am so grateful for the gospel plan. Hopefully I will have lots more fun posts up soon! Look forward to pictures of our new basement, birthday concerts, family gatherings, and other good stuff!

3 comments:

Michelle said...

I'm so sorry about your Grandma, but am glad you got that wonderful weekend with her. I hope that things start looking up and you are doing okay. Hugs!

Andrea Lee U.R. said...

Oh my goodness!! You have had some crazy things going on over there!! Sorry so many things have gone wrong........but I like how you are looking at it and there are really so many blessings. Very cool!
That is so neat that you were able to spend that time with your grandma before she passed on. How special!!
I am very sorry about your loss though. I hope your family recieves the comfort they need through this hard time.

P.S. Your sister looks JUST like you!! You guys are adorable!!

Hilary said...

SO fun! And gorgeous pictures! I'm especially glad you got to spend some quality time with your sweet grandma. Love you!