Today all the stars were aligned (finally!) for Thomas' first visit to my grandma and grandpa's house. My Grandma Mary and Grandpa Bud are my mother's parents. They are such sweet people. They've had a hard year this year. Grandma broke her hip and has always struggled with back and heart problems. Grandpa had a stroke and has just come home after a long stretch of rehab. They moved from the apartment they lived in for many years into an assisted living. Grandma and Grandpa were always so independent, it's been a difficult transition. They had five children (who are helping them when they can) and I have lots of cousins, but they are all spread to the wind. They really love and value their grands and great-grands and it's hard for them to be so far away from all of us. Grandma's had some bad days and we've had colds and such this spring so I didn't want to visit on an "off" day.
Here are some pictures of Thomas' first meeting with his great-grandparents:
In the past year, they've gotten 6, new great-grandchildren! One of my cousins had triplets! I got to see new pictures of the babies while we were visiting. The triplets were born in November but because they were so small at birth, Thomas is the same size as they are right now!
Don't you just love my grandpa's sense of style?! He has an incredible collection of ties, tie pins, shirts, baseball caps, and canes. I love the combinations he comes up with. Word was, that he actually wore sweats at therapy but I've NEVER seen him wear casual clothes! It's not visible in these pictures, but he is sooooo emotional around the kids/babies. He cried when he visited the hospital when Trina was born (his first great-grandchild). I remember remarking to mom about it. I'd never seen him cry but she told me that he had a tender heart and was always like that. I love that.
Near the town that Grandma and Grandpa live, there is an amazingly cool playground/park reserve so we stopped there because the day was so warm and beautiful.
Mari found an awesome pair of sunglasses. Trina found a worm that was alive (unlike the billions that were crunchy and dead on the path under our feet on the way to the playground).
I found out that Gabby (who was with us today because she stayed overnight) is getting super big and grown-up and I hate it.
