Shafferland B&B

But first...an update.

I've had a few people message me over the last couple of days asking for an update on Ryan's mom. So let me start out today with that!

As you probably remember, after she got out of the hospital following her surgery (beginning of November) she came here to live with us for a couple of weeks. She went home shortly before Thanksgiving and has been staying there ever since. Her kids and some other family members were put on a rotation to take shifts sitting with her and caring for her while at home.

On our anniversary (so ten days ago now), Ryan's brother took her to the local ER, because she was experiencing a high level headache. She ended up being admitted to the hospital for that and so they could try to regulate various levels for her. She went home last Thursday (I think) and the following day ended up in the ER back in Indianapolis where she had her surgery. There were some issues with her incision that concerned the surgeon, so he wanted to keep an eye on her. She's been in that hospital ever since and is hoping to be dismissed soon. All these hiccups have delayed the start of her treatment, but her attitude remains quite positive and her faith strong. She has such a long road ahead and still counts on an army of prayers. It's not where she hoped she'd be at this point, but she accepts the journey even with all its twists and turns.

And now...on to today's post!

The day we left for our anniversary trip, my sister in Kansas texted to tell me her husband's sister had passed away in the night. His sister had been battling cancer for several months and I knew her death was likely to be soon, but I hadn't quite imagined it to be that soon. (She was only in her early fifties.) So while we were gone, we were keeping in touch with the Kansas family to find out their plans to come back this way for the funeral. I did not imagine that my niece and her husband and daughter would be able to make the trip, but they did! And so it was that the Shafferland B&B opened up to receive another round of guests.

We got home from our getaway on Monday night, and I spent Tuesday trying to prepare the guest room and babyproof the house as much as a non-kid-home at Christmas can be babyproofed! (Caroline isn't walking yet, but she does crawl, so I had to think low and see what might be problematic.)

We got the guest room all ready, and I borrowed a pack n play and baby monitor from one of Ryan's co-workers, so I could set up a makeshift baby room in our office. We are so thankful that this house has the space to offer room in moments like this!

The crew arrived Tuesday evening, and my Aunt B had generously made her famous homemade (AMAZING) lasagna and shared it with Mom and me so we could feed guests. Everyone needs some Aunt B lasagna in their lives. I'm not even kidding you.

This trip marked Caroline's first flight, so she'd had a long day of travel before coming to our house. She was super happy for dinner!
She played for a while before bed, entertaining all of us.

(Sorry some of those were blurry. Sly photography attempts in low light don't always mix.)

Last Wednesday was the funeral, so I took them over to spend the day with their family (about an hour from our house) and then I went to the funeral that night before bringing them home with me. These first few pictures are from the morning, when I was distracting Caroline so her parents could get ready for the day.

 The funeral home had a therapy dog. She and I both loved him. (These two photos are from the therapy dog's Facebook page.)

Dinner always brings a smile!

Thursday was the one day we got to spend together on our side of the family, and our house became the gathering place, since all the baby stuff was here. We ordered pizza for lunch, and the place we chose also makes elephant ears. My sister LOVES elephant ears and can't get them in Kansas, so we ordered one!

They packed up and headed out Friday morning, and I miss them! It was fun to have them here (even if the reason for the trip was a hard one) and we loved having Miss Caroline in the mix!