Papa John

My Uncle Larry called my dad Wed. night & said Papa John wasn't doing very well. When my dad told me Thursday morning when he picked the kids up from my office, I said I wanted to go see him. When I told Ryan he said he wanted to go see him too. (Ry & Papa John have the same b-day Sept. 18th.) This made me very happy that he knew it was important to go. All day Thursday at work I was so emotional. I just couldn't pull it together. I was thinking about how much Jaxon struggled towards the end & just wanted my Grandpa to be comfortable & feel how very much we all love him. As we prepared to go to Butte we were going to stay the night. Hotels were $120 a night which shocked me. In Butte? That is so crazy! We decided we would just go & see what happened. We woke up to so much snow. I had to call and excuse Jakey from school & Marli from dance. We met my parents at Smitty's for breakfast. My dad said he wasn't going to risk taking "his kids" on those roads. We ate our yummy breakfast & didn't say too much about going. My dad had worked night- shift the night before & was tired. At the end of meal Ry told my dad we need to go. What if something happens tomm. you will never have the opportunity to undo not going. We finally persuaded him to put on his big girl panties & go. The kids & I watched "Marley & Me" on the way up. The roads were pretty yucky. I knew we were in safe hands.( My hubby has his class CDL license for heavens sake. He reminds me of that all the time.) He's driven in the worst situations. We made it to Dillon finally & went in the gas station that we always go in. They had some little chick chicks under a heat lamp. All three kids thought that was so cool. We got some snacks and loaded back up. When we pulled in Butte I was bawling I was scared to see my Grandpa who in my mind is so strong so full of life. I didn't want to see him frail and sad.

I hugged him so tight. I was so happy to see him doing so much better than I thought he would be. He is on oxygen & is pretty frail. He has a oxygen machine just like the one Jax had. Ripped my guts out. I brought him several treats from Great Harvest bread. I cut him up a apple crisp bar and he really enjoyed it. That made me smile.



Grandpa John held Marli's hand for a really long time. I could see the smile on both their faces. I remember being little and my Papa John always made me feel like I was the most special little girl. He still does. I love him so very much. He is a good guy. Everyone who knows him loves him & respects him.



I love Jakey in this picture he has his hand on Papa John's heart and is smiling. So Precious!Conor would go over to Papa John's feet & touch them & giggle. He loved playing peek a boo with him. He liked exploring his house. So much to get into.

Ry thought it would be nice to take the kids outside so the adults could visit. Larry's wife Donna came by. We had such a nice visit. I love my Aunt Donna so much. I'm so grateful that she is there taking care of Papa John. Her Dad passed away last Sept. She took care of him during his last few months. We laughed and cried. The kids came and got me they wre so excited to show me something. In Papa John's backyard the kids had made a cute snowman. I'm not sure why Marli was so sad for a minute.



I had to tickle her to get her to smile. I'm so grateful Ry was inspired to do this. Hopefully we will all remember this day forever.Before we left town we stopped by my Uncle Jack's credit union. We got to visit with him and my cousin Scott. It was so nice. We then went to Joe's pasty shop & got a bunch of little pasties & 10 big ones. Yum Yum. Then we got a porkchop sandwich onion rings and shakes. Jakey was so funny he ate a whole sandwich & they are huge! He's really got Montana blood in him. Hahah! We watched the movie hairspray on the way home. That was pretty interesting. All in all it was a great trip. I'm grateful we made it there and home safely.