What a Week!

We woke up to about 2 inches of snow everywhere on Tuesday morning! We were kind of nervous about getting to my granny's visitation and funeral Tuesday evening and Wednesday, so we decided to go spend the night in order to be sure we wouldn't be stalled by the weather the next day.
The afternoon did not start off well.... about 15 minutes down the road we discovered that we had left the kids' bag at home! It had everything they needed for the next two days...except their clothes for the visitation which were in the garment bag with our dress clothes.
I had spent the past 4 days shopping for clothes that would match shoes we already had so we didn't have to buy new shoes along with everything else...so discovering that we did not even HAVE the shoes was really really REALLY disappointing!
It was snowing and slushy and we were scheduled to hit Atlanta at about 4:30pm. We decided we needed to just keep driving and just buy new shoes when we got to Newnan. It we had driven home to pick up the bag we would have lost about 45 minutes, which would put us in Atlanta right at rush hour, costing us even MORE time and the weather was just really precarious anyway.
*SIGH*
About 30 more minutes down the road, Katie had to use the potty "really bad." So...another pit stop.
We ended up making it down there, but after picking up new shoes, grabbing chick-fil-a drive thru, checking into the hotel, eating, and changing the kids clothes, we were about 20 minutes late to the visitation starting time.
It was a bubbling/loud/friendly time at the funeral home. The funeral home was in an old historic home of the area.....a two story old plantation style home. It was beautiful. We saw friends and family from everywhere. Katie was fascinated by seeing Granny there. She kept wanting to go see her over and over. It was sweet. She said that Granny looked like "Sleeping Beauty."
That night we went over to Pawpaw's house to eat with the whole family. There was plenty of food that had been brought over, so we had a good time visiting all together.
My mother-in-law had come down to the visitation as well. My paw paw and granny had been her pastors when she was a teenager, so she had wanted to come. She spent the night also, since the weather was so bad, and was able to take Katie and Noah home with her on Wednesday morning..the day of the funeral. What a wonderful blessing that was to us! We figured that the kids didn't need to have to sit through a funeral and see everyone sad and upset, and it was easy to be able to just concentrate on us and the family for the day.
On the way back to the hotel, I couldn't find my purse. I assumed I had left it at the hotel. But the next morning when I started getting dressed, I couldn't find it anywhere! Corey looked in the car, I looked through everything in the room, and I called my mom at my pawpaw's house. NO WHERE to be found! UGH! I called Payless (where I had run in to get shoes) and the funeral home. NOTHING.
I went for one last look in the car....and found it in the glovebox! *WHEW!* What a relief!

We headed over to the church at about 11:45. They had another viewing time from noon-1pm when the actual funeral was scheduled.

Corey was a pallbearer, along with the rest of the grandsons and grandson-in-laws. There are eight of them.

The service was simply beautiful! My cousin, Josh, sang a duet of "It Is Well With My Soul," which was incredible. I actually only teared up a couple of times because the pastor was so uplifting in sharing stories about my Granny, and facts about her life lining it up with scripture and testimony. Truly, it was an enjoyable service, ending with a congregational of "I'll Fly Away."

After the short graveside service we came back to enjoy a delicious meal provided by the church.
This is my pawpaw with his brother.....

Here is my brother and Hannah. I was very thankful that Hannah came to be with us. She sat with me during the service. It was nice to have someone to sit with me since Corey and Chris were pallbearers.

After the meal we went back over to Pawpaw's house again for a time of visiting together. This time it was a lot more peaceful and relaxed. Everyone was talking about movies and family memories....just a great time. The funeral home worker brought over all the plants and flowers that weren't suited for the grave site and all the daughters in law and granddaughters were able to pick something out if they wanted. I picked out this orchid:


I don't have very much luck with flowers or plants, so hopefully this one won't suffer too soon. Katie loved it too, so I think between the two of us and some google research we can figure out how to take care of it.

We got home late Wednesday night after picking up Katie and Noah at Karen's. It seemed like it had been four days instead of just two, so I can't imagine for all the rest of the family who had been at the hospital non-stop. My parents haven't been home since Thursday the 25th.

I rescheduled my Esther study for last night, so that I would make sure and get the house straightened up, ha ha. It was nice to get together with that small group of ladies and just share and talk together. Today it is more back to life, with groceries and laundry on the list.

I know it is going to be an odd adjustment over the next few weeks and months, especially for my Pawpaw who will have an absent spot in his life that has been filled with my granny for 62 years. Keep him in your prayers.