Monday, March 12, 2007

Back Home

Well, we got home safely from our quick trip to Maryland late last night – praise God for safe traveling mercies that everyone was blessed with. Most of the families have returned home and those who have not yet will be on their way in the next few days.

It was definitely a bittersweet weekend. Bitter because mourning and grieving the loss of a loved one is one of the hardest things you experience in life. Sweet because we all knew that Grandma Doris Scott was rejoicing with her Savior in heaven and that this farewell would not be permanent – we will all meet again.

We headed out at about 3:30pm on Thursday. Chris was able to leave class a little early, so that was a blessing. It was a long drive and we were both exhausted, but with God’s help, we made it with no problems or issues. I had packed a little bag that had Trivial Pursuit questions, NFL challenge trivia questions, a crossword puzzle book, small flashlight, etc – so that helped us out a lot. Chris’s favorite was the NFL trivia questions, so in turn, I learned a lot I didn’t know about football. =) Luke did awesome – only fussing a few times during the trip and sleeping the rest. We had to stop more often to feed and change him and that kind of stuff, but he’s pretty easy going about long road trips. I know that won’t last long, but we’ll enjoy it while it does!

We got to Mom and Dad Scott's house at about 2:00am and spent some time winding down and visiting with family and letting Luke play and stretch his legs. Riley was loving the fenced in backyard as well! We did bring the cats in addition to all of us and Riley. We don’t really know anyone here, and with their age, I’m afraid to leave them without anyone to check on them. Tiger is 19 yrs old and Little One is 17 yrs old. Anyway, they were happy to be out of the car and roaming around our room. We finally got to bed sometime between 3:00-4:00am.

Friday morning we were finally able to see Grandpa Scott. We also were able to visit with family. It’s always good to see family that you haven’t seen for such a long time – but it’s always sad when it’s under these circumstances. The day was spent running errands, putting out food, putting up food, visiting with family, pulling food back out, putting it back up, visiting with family, and then attending the viewing. It was an emotionally hard day on everyone.

Saturday morning was the funeral. Everyone did a really great job at sharing their memories and the life of Doris May Scott. It was a God-filled service. We were all reminded of the importance of passing on the legacy that has so faithfully been passed on to us. As those before us have shown us the way, so we are to show the way to those who come behind us. Following the funeral, we all went to the graveside service. Dad Scott had brought dirt that had been from Prince Edward Island (where Grandma Scott grew up) and we all threw some on the grave. After the graveside, we went back to the church and had a meal and fellowship. I must pause here and say a HUGE thank you to Pam and Jennifer Thompson who tag-teamed watching Luke through the whole funeral and graveside service. Thank you so much!
Later that evening we went back home to visit and fellowship more with family.

It was a tough day, especially for Grandpa Scott. Please continue to keep him and the family in prayer as the next few weeks and months will be especially hard in dealing with this great loss.

Sunday morning, we packed up and headed out. We got on the road around noon. I continued quizzing Chris on the NFL =) as well as on his school work. He had a test to come home to today (Monday.) Although we would have liked to stay longer – especially to show our continued support, we unfortunately had to come back.

Here are some pictures from the weekend:


This is at the graveside - you can see the specks of Prince Edward Island dust in the air...


Grandpa Scott with his sons and their wives:
John and Marsha, Pete and Amy, Steve and Judy and Alan and Beth


Grandpa Scott with the grandchildren and their spouses that could attend:
Bottom Row - Randy, Grandpa Scott, Jordan
Middle Row - Mindy, Jamie, Steph, Jeff, Ryan and Katelynn
Front Row - Chris, Phillip, Dave and Jeremy


Grandpa Scott and Luke

Our little family


Luke hanging out on the dining room floor...


Grammy and Grandpa Scott


Bath Time!


Here are some pictures of Grandma Scott. I could have just kept putting more and more on, but I thought I better stop so I could post the blog:
















6 comments:

Amber said...

Thanks for sharing! I am glad you got home safe. Goodness...2 in the morning! Did Chris have to hit himself to keep awake ;) I love the hair Min. Is it darker. Super cute. Can't wait to see you! I leave in 10 days...ahhh! Love you guys.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update! I have been wondering about you...and all of the pets! So glad you are back OK! Mindy, your two men sure looked snazzy in uniform and Luke in his tie! I would like to see a close up of your new hair style.... Grandma Jan

Mike & Carolyn said...

Glad you guys had a safe trip. Nice to see pictures of Chris' family whom I haven't seen since my days at ENC. I finally got my plans made for my visit so I'll be seeing you guys on the 30th probably around 4-5. I'll be in touch to coordinate things with you.

Teniah Ashlyn said...

I'm so glad you made it safely back. We will continue to keep you all in our prayers. I love the picture of you and Chris' mom and Grandma Scott and whoever the other girl is....That would be a really cute one to frame - good memories keep us happy and well!! Love you so much....

Anonymous said...

Chris,
Didn't know you could wear sevice strips on your class A's as an officer...unless you made General!!! Sir! We miss you guys a lot! Started a life group(Bible study) @ house last week and talked about our old group we used to hang out with and how much fun we had during Bible study. Anyway...take care and we will talk to ya soon, Todd(and Patty too)

chris said...

They're combat stripes... service stripes are for enlisted left arms. You would know that if you were a general like me.

We miss bible study too... now we have to hold Luke all the time. Plus, you proved your clairvoiancy by calling the birth during one. Try to top that now.