A Surprise for the Kid.....

A few months ago I planned on surprising the kids with a trip to Michigan, to see the family. It was so hard for me not to tell Ashton & Cadence, Tucker & Ana went as well but they wouldn't really understand if I told them. Ashton talks to Aunt Debbie about every other day and would talk about seeing her in the summer, little did he know when he talked with her on Tuesday, we would be leaving Wednesday to go see her. They were so excited when we told them, ecstatic. Made my heart so happy. We arrived on Thursday after driving all but about an hour away but due to the fog, I had to pull over. It was so heavy I couldn't see at all and didn't want to take any chances since I had precious cargo with me. When we arrived we took the kids to Meijer's (like our Wal-Mart) where Aunt works at and told them we were looking for sleds because in Michigan they were calling for snow. So down to the sled aisle we go and we are looking at them, then this lady walks up and says "Can I help you?", Ashton said "AUNT DEBBIE" so loud and excited. They were so happy to see her. Ashton said  "What are you doing here your suppose to be in Michigan."  with the biggest smile on his face, Cadence just stood and smiled like in amazement.. it was so precious. I will never forget it... We had a birthday party planned for Ashton since his birthday was close. We did a Play-Doh party, he is so into that right now and will play with it for hours. Stephanie (Uncle's girlfriend) made his cake, she done a great job.

Want to know something about Ashton? His favorite cake is white cake/white icing-vanilla (that is how he says it as well). I learned that means white on white, no color, no nothing. White cake/white icing. We even let him color some all by himself so he realized it was white we just put like paint in it to make it green and orange and he had and wanted no part of the adorable cake above..Not one lick, Not one bite. SO for his real birthday cake guess what, white cake/white icing, haha. He is so precious. They also surprised me with a cake since my birthday was just 2 days before, so thoughtful of them.

Then it was off to see Great-Grandpa, this was Tucker's 1st time meeting him. I am so glad Tucker got to go with us this time and I know it made my Mama so happy that her dad got to meet him. This is a 4 generation picture minus by brother, but now Pa has met all of his great-grandchildren.

Pa was in a Rehab at a local nursing home and we had so much fun visiting with the residents. They were the sweetest people and they loved the kids. The home is small with less than 50 residents so we visited pretty much all of them. Pa would take turns sitting Tucker and Ana on his lap while Ashton & Cadence pushed him.  It was so sweet.

We had such a good visit with Pa, he even taught Tucker the "How to take part of your finger off" trick. He always done this for us when we were younger and we were amazed by hoe he done it. I don't know how to do it but after he showed us the first time, Tucker tried to do it himself, it was a precious memory. After Pa showed us the first time he tried to do it again, he couldn't, he said " I forgot" , I was so sad, I just started crying trying not to let it show to him or his roommate, but shortly after he thought about it and he done it before we left. Just made me realize Pa is getting older and we have been so blessed that we have had him for as long as we have (due to his heart conditions/breathing problems), he has dementia and is just about ready to be a long-term nursing home resident. Nobody wants that for a loved one but sometimes that has to happen. So please remember my Mom and her sister's for when the decision has to be made. He liked the place where he was and if it were not for his doggy he may of wanted to stay. His dog has been all he has had since his wife passed a few years back and he loves that dog and the dog would be lost without him. They have a special bond, that dog is everything to him. My Aunt in the picture below is the one who takes care of him. 

Uncle just celebrated his birthday not to long ago, so we surprised him with his favorite a cheesecake. He also plays hockey and we got to go to his hockey game. It was awesome, the kids loved the fact Uncle punched somebody. He is not violent but took 3 elbows before he stood up for himself, Ashton just thought he was the "STUFF". Okay picture this saying, major COUNTRY SLANG... Uncle got in a FIGHT. Hilarious, to say the least. His team lost only by 1 point, we were all into the game, on edge, such a good game. Can't wait to see another.

Ashton met up with his little buddy and they played hockey, he had never played before and he loved it. Too bad we don't have hockey in TN or he would be signed up.

Michigan Part 2, coming soon!