Cheers to Grandpa Wally

My grandpa Wally passed away two weeks ago and we spent last weekend celebrating his life. He lived a long, productive life and was only one month shy of turing 100. I was selfishly hoping he would make this milestone as it is within days of our due date and I thought it would be the coolest thing if the birthdays coincided. It turns out, God had different plans, and it was his time. My mom was with him when he passed away. His health had been wavering since my grandmother's passing three years ago and ironically things had been status quo as of late. When my mom was there last Saturday, he simply laid down to go to bed and it was his time. What a peaceful way to leave this world.

He was an honorable man, both in business and in life. He valued The Golden Rule and did the right thing, because that just what you do. He instilled these values in my mom and she strives to pass them along to us. He was a strong influence in her life and in the lives of all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. Maggie had started to compile memories from our extended Scott family about one week before his passing and intended to give them to him in a book for his birthday next month. She was able to use these memories and incorporate them into a memory board for his funeral. It was a really great tribute, and really nice to read each of the memories.

He was a great man and will be missed. He leaves behind a great legacy and a family who was honored to call him their own.

Sully starts preschool!

He did it! Off to school Sully went, and he was so brave. We celebrated with pre-preschool treat at DQ the evening before school started and really talked the morning up. He woke up excited and in a relatively good mood (he is not a morning boy :)), and really excited to show Miss Heather his robot backpack. He only started to get nervous when I parked the car and we started to walk in. As soon as we got through the doors and heard a couple of other kids whimpering, he tightened his grip. We made a swift drop off and he did great. Dave, Greta and I ran a few errands and couldn't believe how fast the 2.5 hours went. Greta really missed Sully, every 20 minutes we heard her sweet voice ask, 'where's Ayah?'. She was so happy to see him at pick up time. By his second day of school on Thursday, he gave me a kiss and ran over to the teacher's lap, just like and old pro.

He goes to school downtown at the Washington Pavilion, which is the old Washington High School, and his program is called The Graham Academy. We are really excited about the curriculum. The school incorporates the Kirby Science Center, the Visual Arts Center, and the Performance Series (when age appropriate productions come to town) into the daily routine as they are all in the same building. While all of these things are really neat, the coolest thing is that Dave went to Washington High School, so they get to share a common school. Lucky guys.

I also had an OB apt this week and was happy to get a good report. I am 33 1/2 weeks along and the baby's hear rate was 138, the baby measured 32-33 weeks. The baby is currently lying transverse, so that is a little bit of a bummer, but there is still time for it to move. I have an ultrasound on Wednesday to follow up with my low lying placenta, so Im optimistic for good news all around.

Sully's preschool orientation. 

Sully's classroom. 

DQ treat the evening before. 

Sully, beaming with pride. 

Greta getting in on the fun. 

Getting ready to walk in,
a slightly nervous smile from all of us, especially Greta  ;).

Finishing up summer.

We were all anticipating Sully's first day of preschool and for the first time, understood what it meant to wrap up summer. We did so with a weekend jam packed with chores, which included 96 hours straight of Heart Hospital call for Dave and emptying a storage garage that we filled back in February. Unfortunately, Dave was relatively busy for a call weekend, he got called in each day for at least a couple of hours. We had to work hard on the storage garage every chance we got, which was interesting with two busy toddlers. Sully also got the stomach flu and Greta had a trip to the ER amongst the business. Needless to say, we were so glad for Tuesday and routine.

While I wish the storage garage returning meant the end of our project, I am sad to say that it doesn't. We are feeling the pressure with the due date just around the corner to finish up some of the things we don't want to do when the baby is here. We basically emptied the garage into our storage space in the house, which will suffice for now, but we will be busy for months to come as we gradually unpack all of that stuff. Yikes.

'Cheese!' at The Falls after a Sioux Falls flood. 

Family photo op. 32 weeks pregnant. 

Shake your booty! 

Apple orchard with Anna. 

Baby prep, they all fit = no need for a new car...yay! 

Morning coffee with daddy
(notice the empty box...progress!).

ER visit for a dislocated elbow. 

Sully showing off his new favorite basketball shirt,
it was actually Dave's when he was a boy. 

The addition gets bricked! (I am standing where the old patio was.)