Sunday, October 31, 2010

Summer Road Trip Part 3: Sacramento

This leg of our trip was the main reason for the whole affair.

But let me first start back in Utah.

We dropped Bruce off at the airport so he could get back to work (someone had to pay for this trip!) The next morning, my mom, the kids, and I took off for California. I was pretty excited to get back after so many years away. The drive through Nevada is still just as long and boring.

We arrived in Applegate, CA at my aunt Carolyn's house. The next morning, we went to visit my Grandma Lyman. I hadn't seen her in about 8 years! She just turned 95 in August. I have been thinking a lot about her lately and had a strong desire to go visit her. So the whole trip was based around this one visit.

She had just broken her leg recently and had been in a lot of pain. She couldn't always remember why her leg hurt and her confusion made for some bad days. So we weren't sure what to expect when we got there. She lives in a home with few other elderly residents. It's an actual house in a really nice, quiet neighborhood. The caretakers are wonderful to her.

When we walked into the living room, she took a few seconds to realize who we were, and then she was all smiles. I introduced her to Dylan and Travis, Courtney was the only one who had met her before. We talked and visited for a while, went on a walk to a nearby park, and took lots of pictures. The kids drew her pictures that we hung up in her bedroom. Since she was having such a good day, we called my aunt Carolyn to come pick her up and take her home with us.

Back at Carolyn's house, 4 of my 8 cousins came by for dinner. It was a lot of fun to meet their spouses and kids and visit, all the time having my grandmother next to me.

The next morning, we packed up and made one last stop to see Grandma. It was a teary goodbye, but wonderful being able to see her one last time.

We love you Grandma!

4 Generations



The kids loved spending time with Great Grandma Lyman. They were all loves for her.




mother and daughter

We sneaked some M&M's into her. If you're 95, you deserve to eat your favorite food whenever you want!

We made her cast pretty!

Travis loved her wheel chair. He and Grandma Jo fought over who got to sit there.

2 comments:

Kim said...

Love seeing all the pics from your trip! I wish so much I could have been there to visit with Grandma! She looks so happy to be with you guys!!!

Jayleen said...

Love all the pictures with Grandma Lyman. What a special trip for you to be able to go see her.