Visitors From The West...

Tuesday, March 8th, Bonnie, Claude's mom, and Shannon, his niece, arrived at Cincinnati Airport. The purpose of their visit was to drive Bonnie up to Michigan to see her first great great grandchild. She also wanted to see all of her grandkids and great grandkids that live in Kentucky and Michigan. We filled up their trip just about as full as it could be done.

After a late night arrival in Sadieville, everyone was enjoying the opportunity to sleep in on Wednesday morning. I left at 1:oopm to get my brakes fixed. I would be gone the rest of the day. Claude would load Bonnie and Shannon in the Jeep and bring them to Georgetown to have dinner with me at Panera. Then Shannon stayed with me to attend Institute that night. 

Thursday we left the house at a reasonable hour and went to Louisville. It rained on us all day long. We first took Shannon to see Churchill Downs. Then we went to Mega Caverns. This is an amazing cavern system formed when limestone was quarried from under ground. It is literally under the Louisville Zoo and the Watterson Expressway. They drive you through on a tram. We had a really fun guide. They have added several things since we were there before. Still want to go back at Christmas and see it full of lights.

We went to LaGrange to be with the Marx family for the rest of the day.  In these three pictures are Shannon, Bonnie, Bailey, Andie and Hayden. Bailey is creating a game with dominoes which will eventually be moved to the table. Hayden is introducing Pip to everyone. And the final is the Mini's enjoying their great Gramma Bonnie.

In the evening we went to see Bailey in the play at the Oldham County School Arts Center. I'll blog that separately. It was a late night returning home to Sadieville...in the rain.

Friday I went into Georgetown to be sure Papa had milk and bananas to get him through until Tuesday. I also took him for his INR. More about Papa in another Blog entry. Then I filled the car with gas and headed home. We loaded the red Buick and pointed it north. 

We taught Shannon about Butter Jesus. In Monroe, Ohio the Solid Rock Church has a pond in front of the building. Coming out of this pond was a statue of Jesus. The coloring of the statue made it look like he was carved out of butter, hence the name 'Butter Jesus'. There is a song written about him and everything. The statue was made to look like Jesus was coming out of the water with his hands up in the air like a touchdown call in football. I am not trying to disrespectful. This was a landmark and it was called this by lots of people traveling from Michigan to the southern states. June 15, 2010 lightening struck this styrofoam statute and it went down in flames. The Solid Rock Church has built a new statue that is white in color and is a full body standing at the edge of the water with his arms outstretched. It is definitely a kinder, gentler Jesus. There is a song written about the statue before the fire ever happened.  The version of the song I played for Bonnie and Shannon can be found on YouTube titled "Big Butter Jesus" and performed by Heywood Banks. It is definitely worth a listen. It is important to be sure the relatives are educated on local culture and get the best bang for their travel buck.

Our goal Friday was to meet Jake at his apartment at 5:30pm. We were there and he put his stuff in the truck and now we were five headed to Muskegon with a dinner stop on the way and another stop in Grand Haven for the obligatory two dozen Krispy Kreme donuts. They were making donuts so Shannon got to see this process for the first time. Thank you Krispy Kreme.

We arrived at the Tyler home where Jake would stay for the weekend. Drew and Katelyn made sure Nissa had Raelyn so Bonnie could get her first hugs of this precious bundle. Then we headed for our hotel rooms and a nice night's rest after a long day. 

Saturday we started our day at about 9am. Katelyn and Drew brought Raelyn to our hotel room. Bonnie and Shannon joined us there. Then I left to go to the Tyler home to pick up Jake and Aubrey Anne. Then we went to pick up Paul at his apartment. Whew!! The four of us stopped at the grocery store for some bottles of water to keep everyone going until lunch time. 

We joined everyone else at the hotel room and just visited until time for lunch. Where do Claude and I always eat lunch once when in Muskegon. If you read this Blog you should be able to answer that question...The Pita Place!! It was great. Love having a really good falafel.

Back to the hotel we headed for the rest of the afternoon. This time we located by the pool. Lots of room to spread out. Bonnie gave Katelyn, Shannon, Aubrey and Paul some money to go buy an Apples to Apples game. They walked to Walmart and brought back a game and we spent the afternoon playing Apples to Apples.

Soon it was time to take Paul home so he could get ready for work. The rest of us went to the Tyler home for the evening. Nissa, Claude and I drove to Lee's Chicken to pick up something for dinner. In the meantime, Raelyn was not doing well. She was a little warm and Katelyn called the 24 hour nurse to talk with her. The nurse suggested they take her to the ER. Concern...Turns out she had a little bit of a cold and lots of air bubbles. Meds were given and our little Lady perked right up. Growing up can be very hard for a little one.

Sunday was the big day. We all dressed in our Sunday-go-to-meetin' clothes and headed to Grand Haven. Claude was going to give his first great grandchild a name and blessing during Sacrament meeting. Tender moment for this great Grampa. Well, for all of us. 

We got to the part of the meeting for the blessing. I had given Shannon some paper and she and I were going to make bullet points of what was said. Then compare notes later. Drew handed Raelyn dressed in the blessing gown I made and the booties Bonnie brought. Claude went to the front and the bishopric stood with him. He started the blessing and before he finished the first part Raelyn started to wail. Not just a little cry. This tiny bundle has a set of really good lungs and she was using them to their full capacity. Claude gave her a beautiful blessing. Shannon and I took notes. Then Claude proudly turned Raelyn for the congregation to see his much loved great granddaughter before he sat down. He gave her to me and she quieted down a bit but she was just really hungry. Katelyn handed me a little disposable bottle. It only held two ounces and she gulped that right down. Then she wanted more and there was no more. Katelyn left to go to their car to get another bottle. I could tell Raelyn was about to wail again. I turned to Drew and told him I would take her out into the foyer. And, away Raelyn and I went to the foyer. 

Katelyn brought in another bottle and she took most of it. Then she unloaded everything. There was some serious noise and she filled her pants big time. Then she really needed a change. The diaper bag was in the chapel with Drew. Back into the chapel Katelyn went to get the things needed to change her diaper. We found a bathroom and had to disrobe her from the beautiful blessing gown before we could change her. She was a mess. What a routine that was. Once Raelyn was clean and only in her onesie she was a very happy baby. We left her laying on the changing table to kick and play for a bit with us standing close against it. I held up her pacifier and she was trying to focus on it and reach for it. She is very advanced for only being six weeks old at the time.

After the meeting, Katelyn and I went back into the chapel to be with the family we had deserted. The game plan then was to go back to Muskegon and harass Aubrey at Arby's for lunch. We did this very, very well. She was happy the family came to see her at work. Our tummies were filled. It was a win-win for everyone.

The rest of the day was spent at the Tyler home. We spent some time taking family pictures. It is not often one gets a 5-generation picture. We wanted to be sure that one was taken. The first picture is the 5-generation: Nissa, Claude, Bonnie, Katelyn and Raelyn. The second picture is Drew, Claude, Jake, Nissa, Sandi, Katelyn and Raelyn. The last picture is the little family: Drew, Katelyn and Raelyn.

I love this one of Claude with Raelyn and the next one of Katelyn having a chat with her little girl.

We had to put Raelyn back in the blessing gown for the pictures. That is an ordeal. Man was I happy I made the short dress from the pattern instead of the long one. And I even shortened it some. The dress has a little matching bonnet but it just wasn't happening this time. Bonnie brought the cute white shoes. We put the green socks on to help them stay on her feet for these pictures. Raelyn was one stylin' baby I tell you. 

Then it was time to hit the road. We needed to get Jake back to Chelsea Sunday night. We arrived in Chelsea and dropped Jake off. Then we checked into our hotel and met him at Bob's Big Boy for a last meal with him. He did come back to our hotel room and we visited until he had to leave to get a few things done in preparation for going to work on Monday. 

Monday morning we ate at the breakfast buffet in the hotel and then loaded our car for the drive back to LaGrange...in the rain. Well at least part of the way and then off and on the rest of the way. We had tickets to see Gordon Lightfoot at the Brown Theater in Louisville that night. We arrived at the Marx home so Bonnie had time for a nap before the Mini's got home from school. We had kept her going steady for the entire trip and she did get a good little nap. 

Michael brought the Mini's home and we had about an hour and a half before we headed to the theater.  Andie came home from class and we all had soup she made for us. We said our goodbye and took a few more pictures before going to Louisville. 

The first picture is a 4-generation picture: Claude, Bonnie, Andie, Bailey and Hayden. The second picture is Michael, Andie and Shannon. The third picture is Hayden and his Arrow of Light. He had his final Cub Scout Pack meeting on Saturday. We missed it being with Michigan family. At this meeting he received his Arrow of Light. This is a big deal in Cub Scouts. Now Hayden is officially a Boy Scout. Where did that time go???

Bless Shannon's heart. She was a really sport and a trooper tagging around with us 'old people'. Then to get to go to see Gordon Lightfoot!! He is still great but probably not what Shannon would have picked first at her age. She did seem to enjoy it okay. 

The first picture is Shannon reading the Play Bill. The second picture is a really silly attempt on my part to get a picture of all four of us in the theater. If you look at the second column of window panes from the right side of the window and you look at the third from the bottom, you will see a lady in a white sweater vest. That is Bonnie. I am to her right in the window pane. Shannon and then Claude are to her left in the window pane. Really. I promise. The last picture is Shannon outside the Brown Theater. The marquee says 'Gordon Lightfoot' but the lighting was awful for a picture. 

Back to Sadieville by midnight. 

Tuesday they just laid around and rested all day. Bonnie did her laundry. I went to Georgetown to buy Papa's groceries and spend some time with him.  We had talked about going somewhere unique for dinner. Claude had a recipe he wanted to try and we opted for that instead. It was a delicious recipe.

Wednesday was the day for Bonnie and Shannon to fly home. Their plane was to leave about 7:30pm. I received a call from Papa about noon and he thought he might be having a mild heart attack. I grabbed my purse and craft bag in case I was there for a long time. Into Georgetown I went. By the time I got there he was feeling better. His heart was still pounding but he looked fine and felt a lot better. We opted for me to sit with him for a while to be sure before going to the ER. His heart settled down and after several hours he felt well enough for me to leave.

Back to Sadieville. Loaded the car and headed to Florence for dinner at Smokey Bones before dropping Bonnie and Shannon off at the airport. 

It was a very good visit. Lots and lots of miles on the car but we had lots and lots of good family time for Bonnie. And, it was extra special to have Shannon visit us again.