So as I had said previously my grandmother passed away unexpectedly last Tuesday. My grandfather had passed away in late February. So we loaded up the car Saturday morning, DH was post call but luckily had a no hitter, and headed to my parents. With Adele it takes us about 8-9 hours depending on how much she needs to stop, melts down, etc. We did it in just under 9 and were actually pretty happy with that. We had a nice evening with my parents and then Sunday morning were joined by my Grammy (my mom's mom) and my little sister. We all headed up to Topeka where we were staying and were joined by my older sister and her family. It was good to see everyone and then we headed to St Marys and the funeral home. I don't think it had really hit me until we got there for the viewing that she was gone. She really was the thread that held this family together. Even when there were rifts because of religion or divorce Grandma was there to keep everyone civil. My real concern was that when she and grandpa passed the family would fall apart. Let's hope that this weekend was a sign that won't happen. My youngest Aunt has the biggest home so she hosted a catered dinner for family only after the rosary Sunday night and everyone came except the oldest Aunt who is still having some issues with the past relationships but hopefully she'll come around. The service was very nice and Adele was better behaved then she was at my grandfather's so we were able to stay in the church and participate. Afterwards the burial was also very nice however it was hot as haitis and DH and I were glad to be heading back to MN before their week of triple digit heat. So after a lunch provided by the altar society at the church we headed home. The trip home was long and Adele was really tired of being in her car seat again but we managed and rolled in about 8:45pm. I think after this next weekend we may have to think about not making that trip in such a short time frame until the kids are older, being in the carseat for that long just takes a toll on her.

So I'm hopeful that the family will stay in tact. All of the siblings are meeting at Grandma & Grandpa's home to sort through things on the 15th. I need to think really hard and see if there is anything in particular that I want. I don't think there is. I'd like to have something monogrammed with an M on it if there is anything, my grandmother's maiden name was an M and I thought that would be a nice way to remember her.