Illinois

On Christmas day Don's mom, Sharon sent an email letting us know that Don's Grandma Ev was not doing well. She had a stroke. She died on the 26th at 1245, she was 101. She was playing solitaire and doing activities up to the 23rd of December so she did really well up until the end.
We flew out to Illinois on Saturday the 27th. We left early and got there late. Weather was bad so we ended up taking a train for the last part of our trip. The train had issues to and we spent 5 hours waiting for a 2 hour trip. I've never ridden on a train before. I would much rather be stuck on a train then on a plane. The train you can get up and walk around. We had Sean with us so walking around was important. How did we have Sean with us you ask? I went over to his Uncle's house where his dad was drinking. "It's and adult party" he said. I asked if we could take Sean to Illinois. He kept saying he didn't like to fly. I told him he didn't have to come. In the end he flipped a coin and said Sean could come with us. Isn't that how we all make big decisions?

We really enjoyed spending time with Don's family. His Grandma had kept tons of journals containing the mundane and the outrageous. We had lots of fun reading them. She was a wild young woman, making beer in a bath tub that then blew up and made a mess!

Don's cousins Brock and Stason came from Colorado and California so all of Grandma Ev's grandchildren were there. All the books you see people reading were Grandma Ev's journals.

Dava and Alexis came. It was strange without October and Ashtin but they moved to California. Dava has three foster children but she left them in Indiana with her husband.

Addie had a great time playing with Sean. Sean really liked the attention. He did great with the exception of having a night terror his second night there. It really scared me and Don. He was screaming and arching his back like he was in terrible pain but his eyes were open. Don kept rubbing Sean's hand on his beard but you could tell he couldn't see us. We undressed him and he just kept screaming. Then I remembered Carter doing the same thing when he was little. It was because Sean was so tired from all the traveling.

Don and his Dad just look more and more alike. Dave grew a beard to celebrate that he quit smoking. Don told him to try Chantix and he did with excellent results. Yeah, now Don and his Dad are both non-smokers. We went to dinner with Don's father's side of the family we saw everybody but Don's brother Dan.


And that's a wrap. The plane ride home was very pleasant. Sean fell asleep in my arms before the plane took off. We had the bulk head seat so we had extra space it was fantastic. I don't know if the Bendaryl I gave Sean had anything to do with his sleeping or not.