Rich just put the children to bed and baby Sarah is swinging in her swing. We have four sick children. I should have known they would get sick after the week we had last week…VBS every night and then a hotel stay in NY as we visited our family. It’s some kind of virus with a bad sore throat, low grade fever, strange headache, and general feelings of tiredness. Grace had it first, and now Jacob, Ethan, and Davy have it.
The good news is that Rich was able (with the help of the kind Norton people on the phone) to clean our computer and it is now over it’s terrible infections. I’m so thankful we were able to get it fixed. The children are in bed and Rich is working on his Sunday School lesson that he is teaching tomorrow, so I am free to sit and blog about our visit with Grandma.
This was a significant visit, because we found out last year that Rich’s dear Grandma had bone cancer. We went to visit her last September, shortly after we heard the news, and a couple of weeks after our visit, we discovered that I was pregnant. Grandma had been so close to our hearts as we prayed for her that it seemed right and fitting that we name our baby daughter (born May 30) Sarah, after Grandma. As soon as we settled on the name, I was praying that we could go with our baby, to see Grandma, and that Grandma wouldn’t be too sick to enjoy her. And God was pleased to answer those prayers.
Grandma Sarah Lillian, holds our Sarah Joy.
Miss Grace Lillian, and Grandma Sarah Lillian. (Even though her first name is Sarah, everyone has always called her Lillian)…….
(Pay no attention to the Star Wars light sabor next to Grace! I wish I could remove it somehow, but part of me also realizes it’s just the way it is with boys in my life….may as well smile and be thankful….)
Grandma spent some time talking carefully with Grace. In this next picture, she is going through a little booklet that she put together with pictures and captions of our family history. Grandma told her about each person, and how Grace was related to them. She had Grace write in some extra information in the book. I could hear her say things like, “Yes, that’s right. Good job, Grace. You write so nicely!” “Now, let me see, this would be your…..Great….great….great….grandfather.” And, “Oh, we should stop. I don’t know if you are interested in this. You can put this booklet away and someday, when you want to know, you could get it back out again and look at it.” Grace would say, “I’m interested!” And Grandma would start talking again where they left off.
Oh how I wished I had it all secretly tape recorded. Grandma’s voice and Grace’s voice, discussing family.
She also gave Grace a copy of a poem. Her mother had recited a poem to her when she was a child and she could remember the beginning of it so clearly. Recently, her daughter (Aunt Phyllis) found the whole poem for her online and copied it off for her. It’s called Minuet. There are also some poems in the same folder that were written by one of Grace’s early ancestors, whose name was Elizabeth Young.
Grace carried the folders around with her all weekend. It’s a wonderful keepsake.
This quilt was made by Grandma’s Granddaughter, Charlene. She put pictures of all the family in the quilt.
This is wonderful Aunt Phyllis. She has always been so friendly and warm to me, and she is so good with the children and loves them.
We spent some time outside. Seth was a busy boy, as you can see here. I am so used to this behavior that I took a picture before I went to rescue him. By the time I got there, he had already gone back up on the porch again.
To the right of him you can see Grandma’s green tomatoes in a pot. Two of them were picked while we were visiting and I felt so bad. She said that they could still be used. One of them had little teeth marks ALL over it.
This is Grandma’s garden. Rich’s Dad (her son) made her this big platform container so that she could work on a garden easily. She has all sorts of things growing in here and told me proudly that she had just picked her first ripe zucchini that morning.
Caleb and David:
Seth and Caleb. That’s bee balm in the background.
I’ll never forget Grandma’s happy face as she watched Rich and I kiss for this photo. She thought it was great.
Grandma sent me a handwritten letter this week and she wrote about her nice memories from the visit. She wrote that she could “still see Seth getting into the tomatoes, and still feel soft Sarah in her arms. . . .”
She also wrote that she could still see this memory clearly in her mind, as well:
This was taken right before we left.
Wasn’t it wonderful of the Lord to give us such a nice visit? We spent about four hours together and we valued every moment. We plan on getting together again in September, for a family reunion.
Thanks for praying for Grandma. I know that God has done so much for her and we thank Him for His love and care.
Good to be Home 
This is suck a lovely, lovely post. I really enjoyed reading it. I love the family history… the memories… the way you have honored Grandma Sarah not by having your children carry on her name, but in just having a visit and spending lovely time with her. What a blessing.
What a sweet, special time. God is good! Happy to hear your computer is well again. Praying that your kiddos are well soon, and that no one else gets sick.
That was a wonderful visit. You are blessed!
dear shanda……..i’m so happy you all had that special time together with grandma. and the booklet for grace, simply precious. what blessed memories you’ll all have! hope everyone feels better soon.
What a WONDERFUL post, enjoyed every word and picture! I am in nesting mode full-swing and behind on computer-related tasks, but I’m glad I got to read this tonight. A random thought: when I saw the family pictures, it seemed like Jacob’s, Ethan’s, and Rich’s hair was longer than I have ever seen it before. I thought the longer hair made Rich look younger, and the boys look older!I said it before, and I mean it again: you look really fantastic! I’m so glad you all were able to make those memories with Grandma, and hope you are all well SOON.
So happy that your little Sarah was so privileged to meet your other Sarah, “Grandma Lillian!”Grace was named after her too?! I love that kind of connection between the generations!That quilt is just beautiful and certainly a precious keepsake with all those faces that really are a piece of your heart. Your busy Seth makes me smile. Just chuckled here when I read about the teeth marks on Grandma’s tomatoes!
What wonderful memories you have made!
so wonderful! what a blessing to have that special time with Grandma. I know she enjoyed it very much too. You are looking so great!
I love how God answers prayers for such special moments. Your visit sounds like it was wonderful. Graces keepsake is something she will cheerish for her lifetime! What a blessing to receive such a special treasure.Praying the kids will feel well again!{{{{{hugs}}}}}
Aw! That is so sweet that God allowed Grandma Sarah to meet and enjoy baby Sarah! I love that your sweet little Grace was so interested in what she had to say. 🙂 It seems that a lot of times the younger generation doesn’t want anything to do with the older one. Oh and I don’t think I would have even noticed that light sabor. 😉 Grandma seems like such a sweet lady! And you look FABULOUS. 🙂
I so enjoyed reading this post. What a wonderful family you have all around. 🙂 What an awesome Grandma! I can see the strong family resemblance between her and Rich. Many prayers headed her way.
These will become very precious memories. I love that Grace and her great-grandma had the opportunity to share family stories. Perhaps this will ignite in Grace an interest in genealogy and she will become the keeper of the family history. Someone must be, in every family, if it is to be passed on to the next and the next. P.S. You look marvelous, so trim and nice! Can’t tell you had a baby so recently!
Sounds like such a wonderful visit, full of good memories.
What a beautiful visit, one you all will treasure for a long, long time!
aww! how special and so very wonderful that your little sweet baby met her namesake. you have such a precious family! you look so nice Shanda, hardly like someone who just had a baby!happy start to your week!
God has been so very good to you and I love the way you recognize that. You and your family are just smashing… and the pictures with grandma Sara are treasures for sure.
What sweet pictures:)
I’m so glad you had such a nice visit with Lillian. She is looking wonderful! I hope we can find some time to visit next time you are in the area. Love You!
Thinking of you with sick ones at home (Is Rich still traveling this week?)Thanks for sharing the photos of your time with Rich’s grandmotherlove and hugs to you all . . .
Such a lovely time. How special! I love the second to the last picture of Seth in one part of the tree, big brother hanging in another with his little pants falling down, too cute! As for the light sabor….whether a family chooses to watch the movies or not, that particular toy ends up in every home with boys I suppose! We have a variety of colors, and sizes. Lol. =) Have a great Monday.
It’s so good to see other families who appreciate their elderly family members. If Grace is like me, she’ll treasure those family history stories and pics. I LOVE mine and don’t know who I will pass them down to! Praying all of your family members feel well soon, love ya!
This made me cry Shanda. What precious and wonderful memories. She sounds a lot like my Grandma Thelma Crooks…on the 16th of this month will be the second anniversary of her Going Home after having Pancreatic Cancer…I miss her each day but the memories of her are still alive in all our hearts and minds…Thank you so much for sharing. It is just precious.
Such a wonderful visit. Grandma looks so sweet, I love how she shared with Grace. Thank you Lord! I loved seeing all the family pictures, and the life that goes on with the little ones. Sarah looks like she is growing fast!
What a precious post. I’m so glad you had this time to spend with her and it brought tears to my eyes–the whole experience!
this post made me cry. There is so much love in your family…care for one another. And our oldest boys are getting so big!!! How fast time passes by….You do ucha good job at savoring each moment. I can learn form that for sure!