Thursday, June 2, 2011

New Jersey Visit

As I mentioned in my last post, Brent and I took an unplanned visit to the States last week for his grandpa's funeral. It was an emotional and busy five days. Pop would have been 92 years old on June 4. He lived such a full life, loving and enjoying his wife, children, grandkids, and great-grandkids. We know he is completely restored and rejoicing in heaven, but it is still sad to think that we won't get to see his smile till we join him some day. It was especially hard seeing Gram say goodbye to her best friend. The services brought back sad reminders of my own Paw Paw passing away last summer. But throughout the week, there were many old memories shared and new memories created. We celebrated his life with the whole family together, just like Pop would have wanted.

Here are some pictures from our trip to New Jersey. Let me just say, I am blessed with some amazing in-laws.

At the gate - going from Charlotte to LaGuardia


Finally arrived to the hotel at midnight on Monday


I only brought my camera to the family get-together after the funeral. Brent's cousin Matt and his wife Naomi opened their beautiful home to everyone. We all enjoyed hanging out in their beautiful backyard (and I really enjoyed the drastically reduced levels of humidity!).

Pressley just waking up from a nap. Precious.


Sweet Savannah


Aunt Donna and Brent's sister, Joelle


Perfect weather for cornhole!


Kru, our only nephew on this side of the family


Brent's cousin's daughter, Lilly, giving Gram some love


Our youngest niece, Hailey


Brent's mom and sister, Lorren


Brent and I were soaking up the time with our nieces and nephews. We love these kiddos!


Our immediate family with Gram (five kids ages three and under, no thanks to me and Brent!)


We were incredibly thankful that Brent got three bereavement days from work so we could join everyone. Now it's back to home-sweet-home Grand Cayman. A special thank you to Jeremy and Sheena for watching Walter and to Nate for getting us to and from the airport. Have I mentioned we have awesome friends?
Posted by Katie at 8:22 AM

3 comments:

  1. EmilyJune 2, 2011 at 11:30 AM

    Woah, that family of yours sure is growing!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Allison (thirty duo)June 3, 2011 at 11:41 AM

    Katie and Brent, I'm so sorry to hear about your Pop. I'm glad you got to spend this time with family. What beautiful photos!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Caroline and KenJune 3, 2011 at 12:57 PM

    I love the photos with Gram, Katie. Great blog post for a sad but still celebratory time. As Dr. Dobson of Focus on the Family says "A father's mission can be likened to a relay race. According to the Christian values that [should]govern our lives, the most important reason for living is to get the baton, the gospel, safely in the hands of our children." Dad Kruithof did that well. The first time I went to visit Ken's family, Dad K. prayed before we ate. After the meal, he read the Bible and then prayed again. I had never heard the Bible read out loud like that before. I remember, I was sad when the reading was over. I wanted it to continue. Thank you, Katie, for this great post!!! Mom K.

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