Where in the World was Violet??

I have not blogged lately because Drake & I made a last minute trip back to Nebraska for my maternal Grandmother's funeral. She passed peacefully last week with her children by her side.

Here is her obituary (slightly edited):

Marilyn T. 83, died Tuesday (6/10/08). Born July 25, 1924. She was valedictorian of her high school class at age 16. Marilyn graduated from Wayne State College. She taught elementary school for two years where she met the love of her life, Fred. They were married on Dec. 2, 1947. They spent most of their married life where he was the county sheriff and she was the sheriff's wife, secretary, jail matron, phone receptionist and jail cook. She was a lifelong reader, knitter, crossword puzzle solver, and logic problem solver. Marilyn and Fred remained married for 53 years until he passed away in 2001.
Survivors: daughter & son in law, Dianne & Al; son & daughter in law, Rod & Linda; son in law, Larry & wife, Marlys; six grandchildren, Karen & Chuck; Ken & Missy; David & Jonathan; Jamie & Megan; two great grandsons, Dawson and Drake; sister, JoAnn; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Preceded in death by parents; and daughter, Cheryl.

And now for some pictures from our trip back to NE.

We had the pleasure (lol) of leaving VA at 6 am last Thursday. Which meant that we had to get up at 3:30 am to make it to the airport on time. It was soooo early that Dunkin Donuts wasn't even open yet.

Drake and I in line to check in.

After 2 plane rides (with a quick stop at the St. Paul airport, which, btw is ginormous) we finally arrived in Lincoln.

We stayed at my lovely Aunt DiAnne's home. It was wonderful to see my mom's family again and to catch up with everyone. I had not seen them since my trip back 2 years ago.

Here is Drake investigating some speakers.

Drake intently checking out mommy's phone.

Here is (from left to right) my nephew Dawson, my cousin David and my uncle Rod. David quickly figured out how to play the violin and was showing Dawson how to play the guitar. The funny thing is that my brother (Dawson's dad) used to ask to play the guitar every time we went to visit my grandparents, so it was a treat to watch Dawson doing the same thing.

Auntie DiAnne with Drakey. They had so much fun together.

Drake trying on my cousins shoes. Mostly he wanted to put them in his mouth.

Drake had lots of fun pulling the DVD's off of the shelf and rearranging them :)

DiAnne and I spent Sunday together and went out to lunch and Drake slept through most of it.

Drake playing with the doggies frisbee.

On Monday we went to the zoo with my cousin Jamie and her boyfriend Matt. This was the first time I had visited this zoo and it was a lot nicer than I expected. Now I kinda wish I had visited while I lived there, lol.

Here the boys are watching some animals.