The Summer of Are you Kidding Me

We have had a summer of crazy this year.  The last week of school, my grandfather got sick and passed away.  It was unexpected and very difficult for everyone.  The girls and I went to see him on Friday evening after school at the hospital.  We thought he was having blood clot issues again.  Sunday, Clinton and I were at the hospital all day (without the girls) along with all of the other family members because he was not doing well.  I went to school on Monday morning to give EOGs.  My assistant principal came to get me out of testing so I could go to the hospital.  We were all there to say goodbye, thankfully.  He was definitely a great man, and loved all of us greatly.  It has been difficult getting through this loss, but even more so with everything else that has happened this summer.  The day after he died, we were eating dinner at Ruby Tuesdays with dad and Brian, Lauren, and Shannon.  Lauren, Shannon and I went to the mall to get dresses for the funeral.  While there, I got a distressed call from Clinton.  He had the girls with him going home.  His foot slipped off the break and hit the gas...his brand new car hit the house...literally.  There was a lot of damage tot he car, the garage doors, and even my car (which was in the garage).  Luckily, no one was hurt during the accident.  I am very thankful for that because it could have been so much worse.  Problem is, when Lauren, Shannon and I got there, Shannon was going to tell the neighbors that everyone was ok, and she stepped in a dip in our yard and SNAPPED her ankle.  She broke 3 bones badly.  We had to call the ambulance to come and get her, while my uncle and cousin were trying to brace up our house so it wouldn't collapse.  She was on bed rest for a month, and had surgery.  We spent the rest of the week working on insurance mess trying to get all of it taken care of. 

 On the plus side, at least I will get to use some awesome xrays for school!

 During the funeral, we used one of the wagons to put all grandkids favorite toys in.  Since I was born (since I am the oldest grandchild), the first Christmas present from our grandparents was a radio flyer wagon.  We all have one, even the great grandkids.  So we thought it would be nice to put our favorite toy in there to show our love of him.  It was a great tribute.

 Happy picture...Lauren and I ran a few errands while Clinton's car was in the shop, and all three kids were fast asleep in the back seat.

So after all this house mess started to get cleaned up, my other grandmother (dad's mom) had a heart attack.  She is home now but is slow moving.  On July 3rd, our house got hit by lightning.  We had to replace outlets in the kitchen, kitchen lights, flood lights, printers, routers, modems, air conditioning units, and a few other things.  It was a great big mess!  At this point in the summer, we are just shaking our head saying "are you kidding me?" 

At the end of July, we learned some terrible news about our beloved dog, Mac.  He had cancer.  He has been the best dog in our house.  He was known as "Nana Mac" since Daphne was born.  He would check on the girls every time they would make a peep, and would always be a great companion during those late night feedings.  He would stay awake late when I had school work to do, and could tell when the girls were sick, usually before they had a fever.  He was protective of all of us.  A great dog, even when he would run off to play in the pastures for hours.  Clinton referred to him as "Marley" because of the way he was such a great dog but also loved running off.  He will be greatly missed.  He passed away on Tuesday, while we were at ballet class with Daphne.  In a way I am glad he knew to pass away while we weren't at home, but I hate I wasn't there to say goodbye.  We had been worried while we were at the beach if he would make it the week, but he hang on until we got back so I could love on him a few more times.