A Season of Change...

This past weekend, we loaded up the kids and headed down to the farm. But this time, it wasn't to visit Maw Maw as every other time before. She has been back in the hospital since the previous Saturday (11/8). She was admitted due to shortness of breath and was discovered to have pneumonia, so she has been on IV antibiotics ever since. In the meantime, she has suffered a series of mini-strokes (and one we feel was actually more significant) which has caused her lots of other setbacks over the past week. It is obvious now that she will be unable to live on her own ever again, as she lacks the strength and cognitive abilities to do so.

So, Brad and I wanted to help out in some way and since Maw Maw's house had not been cleaned/dusted in some time and her refrigerator contained who-knows-what from who-knows-when, we went to the house to spend the night and pitch in with the practical things. I cannot tell you how great it felt to throw away the package of meat from 2006 and the many glass jars of interesting concoctions from unknown past dates! We got the place looking pretty good but I would be lying if I said that I performed my duties without a bit of nostalgia and a certain sense of sadness that things will never be the same again. But I guess that's life, isn't it? Nothing ever stays the same, at least not for too long.

My little cuties on the front porch on a gorgeous Fall day!

These kiddos enjoyed playing with their Papa over the weekend, especially if he was feeding them, which is exactly what's going on in this picture! Papa shared his apple with them and they devoured the first one plus two more and I'm not sure if Dad even got two bites to himself! They were bottomless pits that day!

Tanner enjoyed being outside in the cool weather with plenty of space to roam. Here he is checking out the front yard and crunching on leaves as he walked.

As you can see, he was too mesmerized by the leaves to look up for a picture!


Later that morning, we packed up and headed over to Waco for a brief visit with Maw Maw, followed by lunch with Dad and our drive back to Fort Worth. We stayed at the hospital just long enough to check in on Maw Maw and watch her face light up with a smile when she saw the kids. That was sweet!

Tanner and Tori with Papa at the hospital on Sunday
Papa and his girl!

Update on Maw Maw: As of yesterday (11/17), her chest x-rays came back negative for pneumonia so she was transferred to Groesbeck for Rehabilitation! Hopefully, she will regain enough strength to be able to move on to an assisted living facility in the next month or so. And the best news of all: If she is having a good day and feeling up to it, we will be able to bring her to the farm on Thanksgiving to spend the day with the family in her own home!!! Please be praying for this for our family as it would be such a great gift to have her there!