Brain surgery? Not today!

Valerie and I made it home from Utah and jumped right back into the swing of things.

Literally.

The kids LOVE this playground close to our house, so we met some friends down there to play on the 26th. I was sad I wasn't able to burial for Grandma, but I needed to be home.

That night we were pretty nervous. The next day George was going in for a procedure to basically clot off a blood vessel in his brain.

For the last few months (since before Christmas), he has been able to hear a whooshing sound behind his right ear. It's very loud and distracting. He get it imaged a month or so ago and they discovered he had a venous malformation and he was hearing his blood flowing through the vessels. In order to fix it, they opted to go in and occlude the offending vessels. In the mean time, the doctor showed George a massage he could do to minimize the noise--basically he could occlude the vessels by pressing on them from behind his ear where they passed through the skull and into his brain. For the last several weeks, George did this  and noticed a significant improvement.

George's dad drove down the next morning to wait with me and the girls in the hospital while George went in to have the procedure done.

They imaged his brain again to make sure they were going to the right place (for the procedure they had to stick a catheter into his jugular and thread it up into the vessels), and they discovered the malformation had shrunk and the need for the procedure was gone!

The massages had worked, basically cutting off the blood supply to that vessel so much that it shriveled up. We were so grateful he didn't have to have the procedure done! (We were both very nervous about it.) Hooray! We all took George and Pop Pop out to lunch to celebrate.

Grandma Allred's Funeral (Feb 24-26)

This post will be lengthy--not because a funeral is especially long--but because of the people that were there and the time we spent together.

My Grandma Gay Banner Allred passed away in February of 2019. She had been fading physically but mostly mentally for the past several years and finally decided she had enough of this life. She passed on with her husband Richard at her side. I can only imagine the reception she had as she passed through the veil to be greeted by her three sons, all of whom proceeded her in death. While that reunion was surely joyful to behold, her departure from this life was hard on everyone.

Valerie and I boarded a plane on February 24th to join the Allred family in Utah to celebrate Grandma's life, leaving George to man the house and the five other kids. 

We landed and met up with Aunt Linda, Jason, and my mom. We were able to spend some time together before heading to Logan for Grandma's viewing.

Facetime with Lexi. Poor girl is attached at the hip these days.

We made it to Logan and to the funeral home where we were able to pay our respects to Grandma along with so many of our extended family and many many of Grandma's friends.

Chad flew in from California!

Allred cousins

Benjamin and his family

Nathan and his family with me and Valerie

Mom was amazing. She had been in Utah for a couple weeks helping Grandpa while Grandma was about to pass. She was exhausted, but someone managed to be the pillar of strength for Grandpa. 

Glenn is such a good man. He has always been positive about Dad and has developed a beautiful relationship with Grandpa over the years. They truly love each other.

My beautiful Grandma.

Aunt Dorene with some grandbabies

The next day, we held the funeral at their local church building. Amy, Stephen, Laura and Tyler flew in to be there. It was neat being in that room with Grandma surrounded by her posterity.

We each took our turns talking to Grandma and telling her we love her.

Until we meet again...

One last good-bye

The funeral was a simple and beautiful affair, well attended by the many friends Grandma and Grandpa made while living in Logan. I loved being surrounded by their love and feeling how much Grandma meant to everyone. To be reminded of how funny and sharp she was, so kind and calm. I miss her.

All of Grandma's grandsons were her poll bearers: Chad, Benjamin, Caleb, Nathan, Stephen, Jason, Thomas, and James.

The whole group!

We were treated to a wonderful luncheon by the Relief Society.

It was so good to see all the family. Growing up, we didn't get to see our Allred cousins very much since we lived on opposite sides of the country. I missed them and wish we could have lived closer.

Afterwards, we drove up the canyon with Laura and Tyler to see Bear Lake. Look at all that snow! It was crazy cold and windy.

That evening I soaked in as much time with Grandpa as I possibly could. Valerie and I were flying home very early the next morning and I don't know when I'll see Grandpa again.

Our plane ride home was uneventful.

While Valerie and I were landing in Virginia, the rest of the family was driving to Burley, Idaho to lay Grandma to rest.

Thank you, Grandma, for being such a good example of faith, of love, and of hard work. You and Grandpa gave your lives to help others and to share the Gospel. I hope you are loving being with Kirk, David, and little Stan once again. Grandpa is patiently waiting his turn to be with his family, but we're not ready to give him up yet. Until we meet again, Grandma. I love you.