Getting back to "normal"

I am sad to say,

but my trip back to Illinois was the last one to visit my grandpa.

He passed away on the morning of April 1.

I am so glad that I was there for a few short days before, that I was there when he went, and that I was able to stay and be there for the funeral.

He is the only grandpa I've had, so it's going to be strange now.

Unfortunately, dementia/Alzheimer's is a terrible disease that makes someone into a new, unrecognizable being of that person.

My grandpa wasn't in much physical pain until the very end, but he was not the same person as who his family knows him as being.

It was hard to say goodbye for the last time. We've all been saying goodbye for 3 years.

But now it's final. 

But, we know we will see him again. My hope is in heaven. I know my grandpa and brother are livin' it up together...fishing, camping, singing.

I believe these things are in heaven, and that we know who our loved ones are.

I know it's not the same as earth, but I also know that my God will allow me to see my loved ones again and know who they are.

So...I'm finally getting back to "normal"...whatever that means.  :)

I'll be posting Hillary's 13 week photos either today or tomorrow. And then once I figure out how to get pictures off of my phone, I'll be posting my 2nd week of my photo-a-day challenge. Which, being in Illinois, it was a challenge! But I managed, using my phone and ipod at times, to fit in a photo!

I have some kind of random odd jobs that I have/will be doing, so I'll post some from those too when I have them.

.over and out.

Away

Hey peoples...

I am away in Illinois right now. My Grandpa has had dementia for a few years now and just recently he's taken a downward turn. The home health nurse says he has 3-7 more days at this point. I wanted to be here with him and my grandma before he goes Home. A lot of my family is here too; last night when I got into town, my mom, uncle, and one of my cousins were here. A little bit later my other two aunts came as well. It is so nice to have everyone around. 

Anyway...I don't want to write too much...

I just want everyone to know that I will be taking a little break from posting photos on here. I want to be spending time with my family. I have Hillary's 13 week photos that I'll post once I'm back in CO. I will probably miss out on taking week 14 pictures. 

I'm still taking my photo a day, but also won't be posting till I'm back in Colorado and settled down.

Any prayers for my family would be appreciated. My grandma says she's ok, but I know she is very sad and that it is hard to say good-bye even though it's the best thing for grandpa at this point, and we all knew it was coming eventually. Also prayers for my grandpa's children (my mom, an uncle, and 2 aunts). Once again, they know it's time, but it's still hard.

Thanks

. Jackie .

Hillary Week 12

I'm so excited to be documenting Hillary's pregnancy! What I want to get out of this series is just capturing what's going on in Jake and Hillary's life at the time. We started at week 12, so it'll still be a couple weeks before she's really showing.

Hillary and her husband Jake have been shopping for strollers and started thinking about the nursery. She got a little care package in the mail from her dad with some baby stuff so we highlighted some of those items, including the super cute bear slippers her dad picked out.

Jasper and Sirius decided this little lamb would be a perfect dog toy!

Jake & Hillary

Website

My website should be launching very soon! I'm so excited to finally have a professional looking site that I'll be proud to show people. And then I can have business cards! Sweet! Haha

Zach, my web guy, is pretty much done with everything; he's just waiting on me at this point. :( I'm so slow about getting things done! I'm motivated to get this up and running though. It could be launched at this point, but I don't want it live until it's as good as it can get, and it's not there yet. My goal is to have it launched in 2 weeks!

Abby & Me at the Farm

Abbey's Senior Pictures

I got to take some senior pictures for Abbey today. Abbey is Zach's sister...the guy whose wedding was in Montana. It was a short, sweet session and I got some great shots. Here's some of my favorites. PS, I'm a big fan of all the ones in the grass!

Zach & Jenn

I'm so glad I got to be a part of Zach and Jenn's wedding. The weather held off the whole wedding (and only for that long!..It started storming literally 10 seconds after they left). Since they are my good friends, I was able to document the day from the very beginning which was a lot of fun, but I ended up with tons of pictures! Here are some shots from the day. I keep adding pictures so come back later if you want to see more! (Click a photo to view it larger)

.getting ready.


.details.

.bride.

.groom.

.friends.

.family.