Grammy's Visit

Last week Grammy tackled the long flight and serious jet lag to come to our little tropical island.  It was a short visit, but it came a such a great time.  Len left 2 days before Grammy arrived, and he'll be gone for 6 weeks!  Boo.  We have to get back to that reality of deployment schedules here in paradise.  It's been awhile since the kids have had to deal with that, and honestly its never easy when he's gone. So Grammy coming was just the perfect distraction for us.  I accidentally (at first) forgot to mention to the kids that she was coming, so I turned her arrival into a surprise.  My little sleuths figured it out very quickly when we pulled up to the airport, but I still wouldn't tell them who we were picking up.  They had all guessed Grammy and they were right!

We had a short 5 day visit with Grammy.  We showed her around the island, worked on arts and crafts projects, and enjoyed some relax time with her.  It was great to have an extra pair of hands to wash dishes and corral the youngers.  As usual, Grammy was very encouraging to me too, telling me what a great mother I am and giving me a boost to keep up the good work.  This parenthood job is seriously demanding!  I love it, but it's extra exhausting when Len is gone.  Having Grammy here was just the "umph" I needed to keep trudging on.  We are so thankful for her visit!

Tragedy struck right at the tail end of Grammy's stay.  12 Marines from our base were in a helicopter collision off the coast of Oahu.  It was one of those sobering reminders that life is precious and short and loving on our family is crucial.  (It also helped me to quit my solo-mom complaining and remember how blessed I am.)

Please keep the families of these 12 Marines in your prayers.  Please keep all the search and rescue crews, chaplains, and support staff in your prayers too.  This tragedy is weighing heavy on all our hearts here in Hawaii.