I'm pretty sure I have the cutest and sweetest grandpa EVER! I love my grandpa so much. He's a retired farmer and about the nicest person you could meet. He has 6 grandchildren and now 2 great-grandchildren. For fifteen years, my sisters and I were the only grandchildren until my three boy cousins came along. You can imagine we were fairly spoiled being the only grandkids for that long. We would spend the night at grandpa and grandma's house all the time (they lived just 7 minutes away). Grandpa and grandma came to all our school activities. They were so proud of us - you could just tell.
Grandpa just LOVES being a great-grandpa. He shows off the girls' pictures all the time. I send him new pictures each month and he keeps one right where he can see it every day. If he has to be in town for an appointment, Grandpa makes sure to stop and see the girls. On one such visit, I captured these photos of my grandpa holding Lily. I just love the way he is looking at her with complete adoration. I named little miss Lily (her middle name) for my Grandma Kathryn.
Today is a bittersweet day for me because it marks one year since my grandma passed away. We found out days before grandma died that we were chosen to adopt the girls. In fact, as soon as we heard the news we drove an hour home to tell my family and especially grandma. Grandma was in hospice care at the time and when we told her she was going to be a great-grandma, she was so excited. She told everyone who stopped by her room the good news. The day before our meeting with the birth mom I had been visiting with grandma and she kept asking me about the meeting and wanted to be sure that I would make it instead of being there with her. In fact, I think it was during the night that grandma at one point said, "There's going to be two babies." Some foreshadowing, perhaps?! :)
Grandma died early on Monday morning, the 16th. I had been to visit her for the last time on Saturday. I just knew that was probably the last time I would ever see her and so I spent some time alone with her holding her hand. I will never, ever forget her opening her eyes, looking right at me, and saying "You're beautiful" to me. The night before she died I called my mom and asked her not to call me until after our first ultrasound appointment with the birth mother. Today is bittersweet because I was able to see my daughters for the very first time on the ultrasound - the same day that grandma passed away.
I miss my grandma so much. There are days after the twins came that I just sat by myself and bawled because they would never get to meet her. She was such a special lady and could laugh like no other. I could talk to my grandma about absolutely nothing on the phone for hours. I have many fond memories of laying on grandma's bed with my aunt, grandma and sisters (all piled on there) just talking and laughing. Grandma taught me to cook and bake. She was famous for her cinnamon rolls. She sold them at one of my garage sales and the next year a neighbor was back looking for them. Every time someone visited grandma and grandpa's house, you were invited to sit at the kitchen table for something to eat. Grandma always had something baked. The first Christmas without grandma was difficult because grandma loved the holidays. She always asked the grandchildren to sing and I played my flute when I was younger. I know that the relationship I had with my grandma was unique and for that, I will treasure it forever. My grandparents have always been special to me and I know that is unusual in this day and age. I want my children to have that same relationship with their grandparents.
I used a combination of Homespun Chic and Artsy Urban by GCD Studios for this layout. The buttons are by Rusty Pickle, pearls by Melissa Frances and thickers by American Crafts.
Here's a quick card I put together using some scraps from the above layout. I used my Cricut to cut the heart shapes and machine stitched down the center of each of them.
More from me tomorrow.... :)
