what a week!!

whew! im glad thats over. it started out with what was to be a whirlwind trip to iowa (a 10 hour drive) to meet with some family and a few more official folks in discussing the final placement of my sweet 11 yr old cousin, who has lived with her grandpa since she was 5, but now hes like 75 and cant take care of her. Ken and i were considered a possible placement option, an idea we became very fond of. for the last 6 months her care giver has been a friend's mother, an arrangement that originally was not going to be permanent but she loves the family and they love her, and shes only a short walk from grandpas house (she gets worried about him if she doesnt hear from him every other day or so) so it seems she will stay permanently with her friend's family and have overnights with various members of our extended family often.

as we were packing our car after church last sunday for our trip, my sister called and told us my uncle , who had pancreatic cancer, had passed away. so our 3 day trip turned into a week and although i remembered my funeral clothes, i forgot to pack more stuff for the extra time we would be spending.

my mom cooked and cooked and cooked , me, my sisters, my brother in law, my dad, my step mom, my step dad and the 2 boys ate and ate and ate.  (if you go here its the family photo from august)

and thats why i havent blogged in over a week, i didnt even take my camera!! i know, i regretted it later, it just didnt seem important at packing time.