A sunflower day....

Jade--2

There is a big field of sunflowers near us so we took all my nieces to get some pics.

How funny is this pic?!  Those two girls.........

Emma--4

Maria--22 Months

Kasey--5

Kristina--9

Isabel--7

Visiting the Grandparents!

I was trying to get a pic of my grandma and her daughters, when my uncle Jim's dog, Bailey, decided she should be in the pic, which in turn created much laughter all around.

Uncle Paul and me.  Sweet, sweet uncle Paul.

My wonderful Gram!

Aunt Nomie, Mom, and Gram

My Gramps and I on top of Whiteface.

A bear paw mark on a tree on bear den mountain...yes it made me a bit nervous.....

This view is just off my Aunt's road.  

Hiking with Dad and Gramps!

Love him!  

It rained A LOT the whole time I was there.  So finally we just decided to go on a hike anyway.  It stopped raining and when we got to the top, we were treated with a beautiful rainbow!

I was able to go and visit my Grandparents in upstate, NY, this last week. First, I have to say, it is such a beautiful place up there! So peaceful and beautiful you can feel it! :-) I have gone on vacation there my entire life. My mom's whole family lives there, so as you can imagine that was the chosen vacation spot. As I have gotten older, I have not been able to visit as often and that means that I hardly ever get to see my grandparents. A while back, my Gramps was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and in April this year my Grandma found out she has cancer. I have to tell you, up til now, my grandparents have been the picture of health. My grandma worked full time into her seventies and actually retired one week before she found out she had cancer. So, we don't really know what the future holds for either of my grandparents and I knew that I wanted to get up there to see them as soon as possible. I had such a good time. I love those two people. There really is just no one like them in the world. My Grandpa took me on some long hikes and taught me more than I could possibly remember about every little plant, tree and flower that we saw. Its pretty incredible to be taken up a mountain by a seventy something year old man. (I know, I should know exactly how old they are...but I don't! I have been told countless times, but me and numbers just don't get along!) He was in his element. He kept apologizing for slowing me down to which I laughed at! He is amazing. There is a certain amount of fear I have, knowing he goes in those woods every other day by himself, (what will happen to him if he has a heart attack in there?) and then I realize that even if he died by himself on a trail on a mountain, he will have died in his own earthly heaven. I definitely would not want to deny him what he loves so much.

My Grandma had a chemo session on Friday and she was pretty good until Monday. Then she wasn't feeling very well, which makes me so sad. My Gram is a busy lady and it was definitely not normal for her to sit in one place all day long. Cancer is so evil and the drugs you have to take are evil in their own way. The last night I as there, she was pretty much back to feeling normal so that was nice. We had a good time just sitting in the living room watching O'Reilly and Hannity and discussing our country's issues. My Gram had a pretty tough go of it when my mom was young and she has triumphed in ways that are unexplainable. There isn't a doubt in my mind that she is ready--come what may! I am so thankful I was able to go on this trip. Hopefully my fears are ungrounded and my Gramps will keep on going on like he is for years to come, and hopefully my Grams cancer can be licked...but either way, I am so thankful for Grandparents who love God and who set a great example of how life should be lived. I also want to emphasize...at the end of your life...family is what really matters.