Memorial (Memorable) Weekend

What a weekend! I've had the best time! We headed over to mom and dad's Friday afternoon. Our intention was to spend the whole weekend helping mom and dad finish up their new house but we had company on Saturday. Brian brought the kids over and Steph came too. It was so nice to see them. Since I've been in school and working, I don't get to make it home nearly enough!
This is Lilly Beth. She's 2. She has the most beautiful little face. Her mom and dad say that she's a rascal but I don't believe it for a second! She loved Declan. She kept hugging and kissing him like crazy. Brian said that was OK since they really are only related by marriage. (He is technically a step-cousin but I've never thought of him any differently than any of the other 50 first cousins in our family!)
This is Xander. He is only 3 months old. Really! He smiles all the time. Well, except for when I was taking pictures. I think he'll have Brian's sunny disposition.

This next picture is a little disturbing. My youngest has allergies. Bad. There is something around my mom and dad's house that causes them to flair up badly. We're thinking it's something in the fescue because they have hay fields on three sides of them. Anyway, this time it got so bad that it threw her into an asthma attack. It was pretty scary. She doesn't carry an inhaler because she's only had mild asthma. She took Singulair from the time she was about 3 until we moved up here. Since we moved here she hasn't had any problems. Saturday night after her bath, this is what she looked like...

within about an hour, she was telling me "Mom, it's really hard to breath out and my chest hurts." Remember, we are four hours away from home. I called Diana (who's gotta be one of the best ER nurses ever [she worked in the ER at Charity in New Orleans before moving here]) and got some advice. The kid was wheezing and I thought she was gonna blow a gasket with all the coughing but wasn't cyanotic at all. She had good capillary refill so I knew she was ok. My honey (cue: shining knight on white steed) came to the rescue and took the baby on a drive to get her away from the allergen and 30 minutes later she was on the mend.

Sunday, after church and a quick stop at the local Wally World to get some comfortable clothes because I didn't relish walking around the cemetery in heels and silky shirt, we headed over to Oklahoma, where I was raised, to take flowers to the cemetery. When I was a kid my aunt Pearl and uncle Loyed would always take me over there to "decorate" the graves of our family members who had passed. Imagine my surprise when we got there and Uncle Loyed was there!

I really don't usually like having my picture taken but I was so thankful for my hubby who had the foresight to unobtrusively snap pictures as we were talking. (hmm, you know, the whole white knight thing again)

Uncle Loyed is eighty-eight. I think being so close to him as a kid is what gave me the tenderness and affection that I have for the elderly as a nurse. Aunt Pearl was eighty-eight when she passed away. He still misses her so badly. Standing next to him, looking at her headstone, I was trying to imagine what it must feel like to see your own name and DOB with an empty spot for the date that you would leave this life. Was he scared or was he yearning for that day?
Or was he just thinking about the storm that was coming and was it hailing on his tomato plants? You can never tell with him. Oh, he still mowes the lawn and keeps up a garden.
He was telling me about these "spells" he has sometimes at night. He says that he can't catch his breath and gets scared and thinks that "his time has come." To which, I'm thinking that maybe his lungs aren't working the way they used to, his SPO2 is getting a little low, and he may be getting anxious thereby making the whole situation worse. So I tell him, "Maybe you should go to the doctor and see if you should have some oxygen on at night while you sleep." His response was just, "Naw, I just roll over on my other side." Just as simple as that.
Not long after we got to the cemetery, guess who showed up?! Sheila. All my life I've been competing with Sheila for Uncle Loyed's attention. Just kidding. She'll get that joke. Everyone else will think I sound like a spoiled brat. Well, I am. That's another story though.

So, here we are. Uncle Loyed and his girls. When we were little we were with Aunt Pearl and Uncle Loyed all the time! Everyone knew we were his girls... then Sarah came along. Ha ha. She doesn't have a blog or I would link to her. She graduated high school this year and I'm so proud of her.

After leaving the cemetery and taking the kids back to mom and dad's, Shawn and I went to Debbie and Steve's. We visited and had supper. It was so much fun. Deb isn't just my aunt but also one of my best friends.

I snapped this picture as we were leaving. I was screaming out the window "Wave, Steve. Wave, please..." Can you tell how thrilled he is? That's his typical look.

I didn't take a lot of other pictures this weekend. We got a lot done on mom and dad's house this weekend. Shawn and the kids came home yesterday because they had school today. I stayed and we worked on the house last night. I had such a good time staying up and hanging out with mom, dad, and Mandee while we worked. When they have the house completed and decorated, I'll post some pictures.