Visiting Iowa

I am back from Iowa. It was a very long trip but a good one. I had lots of good family time. The first week was mostly spent at the hospital with my brother or hanging out at my parents waiting to see if we could go to the hospital to see my brother. He was in a lot of pain after the surgery so we tried to give him some space while he worked through the pain. He was released and sent home with a neck brace and oral pain meds. His two little girls were so excited to get to go home, they hadn't been there since the accident. After he got settled at home we went out to Newton to see him. This was my first opportunity to take a picture. My dad's mom flew into town for a few weeks and this was her first time seeing Noah after the accident. My mom had me get pictures of grandma and her four great grand children and then her four grandchildren. We made sure the visit was short so we didn't stay long. Noah has along road of recovery. Later in the week we were able to go to the zoo, Chuck E Cheese and toured the state capitol. In all the years of living in Iowa I had never been so we thought it would be fun. I can't believe how beautiful it was. We saw the Senate, House of Reps and the Law library. The architecture and paintings were amazing. The kids enjoyed the open space:) Side note: I put up a picture of Iowa's Supreme Court. These are the "wise" men and women who decided to make gay marriage legal! I think it should have been put to a vote by the people but who am I to say. Anyway, later we went to an I-Cubs game. My grandma had never been to a pro or semi pro baseball game before so it was really exciting for her. I love going to baseball games, and the kids seemed to really enjoy it too. Of course we still had to leave a few innings early but it was a great time. The kids were extremely tired and so was I. The rest of the week went by so fast. I tried to fit in as much as possible. I even tried to go golfing with my sister and her husband Joshua but we got rained out:( I was sad to say goodbye to my family but happy to get the kids home to see their daddy. Don't think we will be going on any extended vacations for a while.
Scott's parents were able to come down from Dows to see us. We went to the farmer's market and ate lunch at my sister Lisa's bar. After that Grisham, Heather, Cali, Gavin, Papa Jay and Grandma Betty went to a park to play. Genevieve and I went to my parents house for a much needed nap. Later that day we went to their hotel to go swimming. The water was freezing so Grisham did not want to swim. The other kids did not have a problem with it. At this time in the week my camera was not working so I will have to get the pictures from my father in law. It was a fun filled day and sad to see it end. Jay, Betty and Heather were able to come back to see us off at the airport. It was so nice to have some more time with them.
My mom's dad was also moved that week from the nursing home to a hospice just down the road from where mom and dad live. He was starting to fail and they expected him to pass at any time. He hung in there for over a week but past earlier today. I am so glad that I did get to go home to say my goodbyes. Grisham and Genevieve got the chance to see him and ride on his walker. They are still way to young to understand what was going on so at least they has fun while visiting great grandpa.
So much has happened over the last few weeks and it may take me a while to process it. I just wanted to say thanks to all those who remembered my family in your prayers.