In Loving Memory

Do you ever have one of those weeks in which you have so many things planned and are so excited for the week to come and then have it be a complete mess? Well that is what happened to me last week. It was spring break here and I was really looking forward to it. My parents, sister and Aunt were going to be down visiting from WI. The boys were so excited they could hardly contain themselves during the last hours of school on Friday. We all thought it was going to be a week filled with fun, Fun, FUN! We were mistaken!

My family arrived on Friday afternoon just like planned. Everything was going great. It was so good to see them. They drove 24 hours straight through and couldn't wait to see the boys. They were amazed at how much the boys both had grown over the past year since they had seen them. I guess I really didn't think much of their size since I see them every day. DJ is now taller than my mom and almost the same height as my dad. Nathan is almost as tall as my mom and thought that was soooooooo funny.

The week was off to a good start, until we hit a hiccup on Saturday morning. We all piled into their van to go to the Flea Market. The van started to have some problems with some of the sensors and the electrical components. After driving it a bit it started making a terrible noise and stalling while driving down the road. We pulled into a car dealership to have them look at it. Of course it was about 11:30am on a Saturday and the repair department closes at 1:00pm. They were going tot try to get it in to be looked at but there were no guarantees. Turns out they started to look at the problem but it was going to take them longer to narrow it down and actually fix it. We had to leave the van there for repairs and rent another vehicle since my parents were going to Disney on Sunday for a few days. What a pain in the neck!

Okay, so hiccup diverted and everyone is happy again- for awhile. While on their way to Disney on Sunday they get a phone call that my grandfather (my mom's dad) was being rushed to the ER by ambulance. We knew he had been ill- he had been diagnosed with cancer. Of course my mom & aunt were frustrated since they were 1500 miles away and really didn't know what was going on. Later on word came that he had pneumonia and an infection in his blood, they had him stabilized.

A few days pass and they return back to our house (Tuesday afternoon). Everyone is planning out how we will spend the rest of the week. We were planning on taking the boys to Downtown Disney since they LOVE to pin trade, taking them to Busch Gardens, going fishing and a few other fun things the boys wanted to do with Grandma & Grandpa. Well I guess it was too much of a good thing. The next morning as we were headed out the door they got another call telling them that the doctor had only given my grandpa about 48 hours to live. Now came the dilema- do they stay and hope he gets better or head on home? It was a tough decision for them. We ended up taking the boys to Downtown Disney for a few hours and spending the day pin trading and being with family. Later on that evening they packed up the van and headed on home. Unfortunately they did not make it in time to see my grandpa before he passed. He died Thursday afternoon.

Now you can all see why I have not done any posting for over a week. Things have been so crazy here. One minute things are going great and the next the carpet has been pulled out from under you. Since I was not able to make it back to WI for the funeral I needed to make sure I made some sympathy cards to mail out to family members so they knew we were there in spirit. These are the designs I came up with.

I saw this new technique using the Cuttlebug embossing folders over at SCS. I though it would be a perfect solution for me trying to come up with sympathy cards. They turned out just how I envisioned them. I was able to whip these out in no time. It's a great way to make some simple, elegant cards.

So today's post is in memory of Richard Krutza. May the angels watch over him and give him peace.

Happy Stamping~

Stamp set: Close as a Memory

Ink: Basic Gray

Card stock: Whisper White, Basic Gray

Other: Cuttlebug, Embossing folders, Gray taffeta ribbon