Thankful For It All

November started out a little rough with my grandma coding at the hospital due to a blockage in her esophagus.  That same week, Ryan's grandma, Maralu went into the hospital and discovered she was in the advanced stages of cirrhosis of the liver.  To top it off, Ryan's other grandma, Mary Helen, fell at her nursing home and had a brain bleed that they believed would end her life.  All three grandmas were in the hospital and all three were not expected to live.  It was overwhelming to say the least.  My grandma was sedated for a few days to let her body heal before taking the next steps so a lot of time was spent with family in the waiting room in Anderson. 

 

Even Steve and Bevin came down.

Rick and Doris made a quick trip up the following weekend and brought Sophie.  The kids had a blast playing together and we had gorgeous weather to keep us outside!

Phoebe had a choir performance at school for Veteran's Day.  Isn't she precious!?

Can you find her?

So fun she got to honor Grandpa Newell at the concert.

While I spent a lot of time in Anderson, Ryan got some quality one-on-one time with the kiddos!

Grandma flew home to Heaven on the 15th of November and this is my all-time favorite picture of her with Grandpa.  They loved each other fiercely and made each other happy.  

It's crazy how life keeps going, even in the midst of grief and loss.  Westfield's annual Holiday Craft Fair kept us busy and the kids even got to visit with Santa and NOT wait in line.  This picture - be still my heart - she looks SO big and SO darling.

And yet he still looks absolutely rotten! :)

And Steven and Bevin got engaged.  What better way to celebrate six successful months of chemo?  I'm so excited for them and their journey together!

And Ryan spent a lot of what little daylight hours are left at the end of each work day getting our steps finished!

Our precious little pilgrim!

Since it now gets dark at 6:00, we've resorted to playing with friends inside!  They both had "broken" arms and yes, we have a stripe-addiction in our house. 

Thanksgiving rolled around and the kids were excited to play with the wishbone.

Phoebe won!

Even Grandpa made it to our house for the meal.  We found ourselves with MUCH to be thankful for.

Turkey coma.

The next day, we decorated for Christmas and Steve and Bevin distracted the kids long enough for us to be productive with the tree!

Katie and I took the kids to SkyZone to burn some energy.

Maverick loved the blocks.

Phoebe showed off her gymnast side.

And Maverick ruled the dodgeball court!

This is the only way I survive shopping with the kiddos.

Oy.  At least they're warm showing off the latest fashion trends.

Despite the reason for our gathering, it was absolutely lovely to have all of the Newell side of the family together in one place.  It happens rarely these days so it was a treat to gather and honor Grandma's memory as a complete family.

What a legacy she leaves behind!

The "kids" did well through the viewing and the funeral.

Phoebe got to perform with Singspiration for the holiday show at the high school and her biggest fans were there to cheer her on!

Can you find her here?

Ryan spent all of last Saturday working on the deck railing so we found other ways to occupy our time.  Phoebe had to bring a gingerbread house to decorate at school and Maverick felt like he was missing out so we did one at home, too.

Ta da!

And here we are on the home stretch!  Just have to finish the stairs and the little bump out for the grill and we'll be done!  I'm so proud of all his hard work!  It was certainly a bigger undertaking than we ever imagined! And more expensive, too! :)  Can't wait to use it next summer!

Progress

More often than we'd like to admit, we visit a local pet store to get Phoebe a puppy fix.  Unfortunately, they're upwards of $2,000 which is a bit out of our dog budget.  They sure are cute though!

We wrapped up fall soccer with an audience!

Then we headed to Stoneycreek Farms for some fall fun.

Tangled together!

Dad giving them fishing tips.

Duck racing.

Pumpkin selfie with Auntie!

Fall weather makes this mama happy!

Bouncing makes this guy happy!

Shooting the corn cannon.

And the pumpkin slingshot!

Stoneycreek closed at 5:00 so we headed to Spencer's Farms to pick out our pumpkins and take a lovely hayride.

Picking out the perfect pumpkin is this girl's gift!

Luckily, Daddy was there to haul them in!

Sunday afternoon was Maverick's last game. At his age, they still get trophies no matter how many wins or losses the team has.  Phoebe had to learn that she's got to win to get a trophy and it was not a fun discovery for her.

This is really how we've spent most of our weekends.

But all that hard work is paying off.  We ate on the deck without furniture the first night the base was complete.  So fun to watch it all come together!

Once a year, our church closes its doors and sends the congregation out to serve the community.  We were assigned to an inner-city school and cleaned out and painted their chicken coop.

Phoebe kept a close eye on all the chickies.

Maverick just wanted to dig!

After we were done serving, we headed to Punch Bowl Social for brunch and games.

Maverick has a wicked arm when it comes to skee ball!

We need one of these 8-person foosball sets in our basement!

In preparation for fall break, the kids got to open an early Christmas present.  Yay for Kindles!  They literally saved the trip when our DVD player fizzled out halfway to Virginia!

Auntie got in a little creativity time with Maverick and the minions!

He was SO proud!

We headed east for fall break but made a stop at Ikea first.  The kids were troopers and I'll never again go on a weekend - Monday's at lunchtime are the ideal day to shop!

We stopped in Charleston, West Virginia to get in some pool time and were in Virginia early the next day.  We stopped at the state's visitor center to get some peanuts AND every brochure known to man!

We made it to Granddaddy's in record time!  

Exploring his 29 acres and soaking in the sunshine and heat mid-October.

Maverick wanted to take the tractor for a spin.

Someone explain this to me.  Please.

God did a fabulous work in Virginia - it was absolutely stunning in its natural beauty.

The kids weren't near the water 60 seconds before both of them had soaked feet!

Gorgeous.

And he was in his element.  All he needed was a fishing pole and a cigar and he'd have been fine if we left him there...

We visited the Natural Bridge.

After our hike, we decided to explore the Natural Bridge Caverns.  We did a little "mining" while waiting for our tour to begin.

No vacation is complete without a stop at the Dairy Bar.

Phoebe's ONLY goal of our trip was to spend time with Booters.  Unfortunately, the cat had other plans and they did NOT include Phoebe (he did leave us a little "present" in our suitcase though - to show us how he felt about our visit...)

They spent a lot of time together like this.

We went to the George Washington National Forest to get in some more hiking.

I love waterfalls AND this guy!

AND these kiddos!

They're never happier than when they're getting wet and dirty!

Looking for bats!

We got to meet Granddaddy's girlfriend, Eileen.

She is lovely and the kids adored her instantly.  

The kids loved sucking up bugs with the vacuum!  I obviously need to get rid of the upright so they can help out around home!

We've been busy getting back into a routine, finishing the deck and getting ready to trick or treat!  The kids both wanted to reuse a previous costume so that made Halloween super easy!

We've also been working on responsibility with the kiddos.  Maverick peeled cucumbers and Phoebe made jack-o-lantern stuffed peppers using a knife to core the peppers and make their faces.  They both did awesome!  Now if only they'd make their beds...