The Longest Post Ever....

Well, we made it home. Not without a few bumps of course. The trip was obviously last minute but thanks to a handful of generous family members and friends, we were able to go without it financially breaking us for life. Thank you so much to all of you....you know who you are :) So, Denver had left Tuesday morning to be there with his family right after Don passed. Me and the kids had to wait until Thursday to go because Ian had an opera that he had to perform at his school on Thursday morning. It was so cute....the kids wrote and composed the opera all by themselves. It was about Africa since that is what they are studying this year and involved aliens landing and disrupting natures balance as well as ruining all their food. Ian was an alien. Too cute. Here is a picture of Ian the alien and the 3 kids outside the school afterward.

So we left a couple of hours after the performance and flew first to Phoenix then to Louisville, Kentucky. I was a bit nervous flying with all 3 kids by myself...but Addie slept the entire flight to Phoenix and the boys were occupied by their games. Then the long half of the flight from Phoenix to Louisville was a nightmare. All 3 kids awake and wired and restless....wow. Still, no major problems until we started the descent into Louisville. It was awful. Bumpy and rolling and dipping and shaking....seriously, I was feeling sick. I noticed that the boys had become really subdued and then fell asleep in the last 5 minutes of the flight so as we were pulling up to the terminal, I woke them up. Addie was already crying that her tummy hurt and then Ian woke up and was really crying that he was sick. I kept thinking please wait til we get off the plane.....well, guess what. They didnt. Ian was the first to start projectile vomiting....all over the seat and Evan, which caused Evan to then join the puke fest. It was the most unbelievable nightmare you have ever had. The whole plane was screaming since no one had even gotten off the plane yet. Then heres the mom, me....with my head turned, laughing nervously and trying to hold back my own vomit. I dont do throw up....I can handle just about anything but throw up. The guy who had sat next to Evan and Ian during the flight was giving them air bags...although it was really too late at this point. I seriously thought I would start crying. He offered to stay and help me clean up....what a guy, I wish I had gotten his name so I could send him an apology/thank you note. He was so kind....I just told him to go before he got sick too! So long story short, we had to walk through the airport covered in puke to get our bags and our rental car. Then it was straight to the bathroom to change. By this time is was after midnight and we still had a 3 hour drive ahead of us. Needless to say we did not go to bed until 4:00 in the morning and then got up at 9:00 to get ready for a funeral. It was an exhausting trip.

The funeral was beautiful. I was blown away by the number of people that loved my Father in law. What a testament to the kind of life that he led. Barry Spurlock hit it on the head when he said something to the effect that although the world might not have considered Don a rich man, this funeral has shown that he was indeed wealthy beyond anything the world could imagine. I missed the viewings on Wed and Thurs but heard that it was standing room only on both nights. Don's niece Kim gave the eulogy Friday and it was so touching. She did an amazing job.....

Don looked peaceful and healthy too and it was comforting to see the care that the funeral home gave to him. We went to the funeral home before they took him to the church. Just me and Denver and the kids with Carlotta so we could have a minute with him alone and Ian struggled with this a little.....he was crying and said "it looks like he is sleeping" and truly that is what it looked like. Im glad that he didnt have to see Don sick....that his memories will only be of Don teasing him and loving him...and sleeping.

The rest of weekend was nice and chaotic. There were so many family members there that had traveled from Michigan. So much food had been provided all week that nobody really had to cook much. Just lots of visiting and playing. The kids enjoyed spending time with their cousins

and just taking it easy.

We went to dinner with 2 of Denvers best friends from high school and their wives....without any kids. What stories I got to listen to.....and some very hilarious video of an infamous basketball game fight.

We left Monday around noon....and that was difficult. My Mother in law has a struggle ahead of her as does everyone else that saw Don everyday. Now that everyone is gone and the house is quiet, its going to be hard. We barely made our flight in Louisville. In fact if it hadnt been delayed by 25 minutes, we would have missed it. Denver flew out of Lexington so we had to drop him off first then drive another hour to Louisville (3hour drive total)....thankfully no throwing up on the way home! Both our flight and Denvers had a layover in Chicago (pic below is of the boys at the Chicago airport)

so we had planned to meet up there and eat something before going separate ways again....Denver called me when he landed (his flight had been delayed an hour so we ended up there before him) and walked to our gate to meet us but we couldnt find each other. Turns out Chicago has 2 different airports, Midway and O'Hare and he was at one and I was at the other. Oops. So my flight left Midway on time, and Denvers left O'Hare 3 hours late. I guess someone was looking out for me because if it had been me with all the kids having to hang around an airport for all those hours of delay I think I would have gone completely mad.

Unfortunately our original arrivals in SLC should have only been 25 minutes apart so we could all go home together but because of the delays me and the kids went on home at 10:30 and had planned to come back at 12:45 A.M. to pick Denver up. Thankfully, when I got home I got on Facebook and ended up chatting with a guy from our church who plays basketball with Denver...he wanted to talk to Denver and so I explained why he wasnt there and that I would have Denver call in the morning. This man graciously insisted on picking Denver up so that I could put the kids to bed and not drag them out at one o'clock in the morning. Thanks Ned for being so kind.

So, thats the trip report. Unfortunate circumstances but still very enjoyable and left me very greatful to be a part of the Shannon Family. Love you all.