Seattle

The girls and I have spent a lot of time in Seattle the last few weeks. On Sunday the first we got a phone call letting us know that my grandfather was in the hospital, and wasn't doing well. On Monday the girls and I went over to say good bye and be there to support my dad. My grandfather died on Thursday morning. That week we spent the mornings visiting with Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, and the afternoons we spent playing in Seattle. We went to IKEA, one of Catherine's favorite places. IKEA is so much fun because they have Catherine's favorite lunch, Meatballs, and they have a ball pit. So much fun for a kid. Then we went to the Science Center, another one of Catherine's favorite places. Catherine loves the section with the human body display. She loves learning about bones, senses, muscles, and such. Wednesday it was the Zoo. Here the hippos are our favorite. We didn't make it all the way around the zoo, we played in the African villiage and pretended we were visiting Africa just like Daddy did. Then Thursday morning Catherine woke up to the news that Grandpa Calkins had died. She was sad, she liked him a lot. She loved to play ball with him and sing to him. Mostly Catherine grieved for her G'pa's loss. She cried because G'pa would miss his daddy. Over all she handled the illness and death well. She told me all about how Grandpa Calkins was with God now, and that we would get to see him again someday. Elizabeth was her happy self. Because she is too young to understand what was going on, she was her normal self. She laughed, played and gave us all hugs and kisses. She brought us all joy in the midst of our greif. Her laughter, and baby talk was just what I needed to remember that Grandpa's legacy continues through the next generation. Although the week was long and emotionally dificult it was great to spend time with my Grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins and dad.