The circle of life

On December 4, I started my journey to Utah to be with
my daughter Michelle while she waited the much anticipated
delivery of her daughter Macy. On the drive up, I got a
call from Mel telling me that he'd gotten a call from his
sister Linda, and she told him that his Mother Eleanor
wasn't doing very well, and that it could be hours or days.
We have had that scare before, and Eleanor always seemed
to pull out of it. But this was different. I got a call about an
hour later, and he told me that his Mother had passed away.
When I got to my exit, I drove straight to where the family
was gathered, with Eleanor before the mortuary came to
get her. On one hand, I was sad, because she was the best
Mother in law I could ask for. But on the other hand, I knew
that she was ready and hoping to go to the other side.
We let our kids know, and Tyler made plans to get his family
to Utah, and Melissa changed her flight plans, and headed
to Utah to be with the family. It was a very quick trip for
Tyler and family, but we were glad that he could be there
for the funeral. Melissa got to stay until Dec. 18th, then
flew to meet Andy in Colorado, where they were going
to be for Christmas and Andy's sisters wedding.



The trip was so quick for Tyler and family, that we didn't
even get a picture of them. Here is Stella and Sterling at
home before they came out for the funeral.



We were happy to be able to see Melissa and kids, even
though it was for a sad reason. I called it my "bonus"
visit.


With all the craziness, we wondered if Michelle would hold
out to deliver Macy, until after everything was over. We
were quite glad that Michelle could be at her Grandmothers
funeral, before she gave birth. Here she is at around 4:45 am
on her way out the door to deliver her first baby Macy.

I was pleasantly surprised when Michelle told me and
her Mother in Law Valerie, and Melissa, that we could stay
in the room with her during the delivery. That was pretty darn
special to witness the birth of my granddaughter. Clark was
quite the coach, and I got to hold on to one of Michelle's legs
during the delivery.

It was so sweet to witness Michelle welcoming her new
baby Macy shortly after she was born.

Daddy Clark with his new daughter Macy

Grandpa Mel with Macy

Yay, another grandchild.

This was Macy when she first arrived home. All bundled

up. It was very cold outside.

Grandma "Tutu"

Melissa was able to get a few newborn shots of Macy on her second day of life.

Stella was so excited to hold Macy. She said "Can I hold her and sing to her?" It

was so precious. Too bad she could only hold her for about a minute, because she

had a cold. As you can tell, she is thrilled, but Sterling doesn't know what's going on.

Clark, Macy and Michelle on Christmas Day

Macy hanging out with Auntie Julie

Michelle and Clark on their 1 year anniversary. I had to

take this, to contrast what a difference a year can make.

ha ha ha ha ha

Baby Macy having her first bath after her umbilical cord

fell off. She liked the majority of it. Tears happened at

the very end.

All warm and snuggly with Daddy, after the bath.

It's all a part of the circle of life. Someone leaves the earth

through death, and another comes in, through birth. Thank

heavens we have each other for ever!