New addition to our home....

After my Grandpa passed, we had to clean out his house of everything he owned. Well in that process we acquired some things and one of those happened to be a riding lawn mower. Yes we do have a 2 car garage but with both our cars in there and everything lawn and tool wise there just wasn't room for it. So, we decided instead of just leaving it out back covered we better get a shed to store it in. We also gained a lot of other things that need to be stored in the garage. Shane started his search for the shed he wanted, we thought we found one but after talking to a lady at Home Depot we decided that shed wasn't the best for us, so she recommended a better one. We started looked at Tuff sheds, yes there were a little more expensive but we talked it over and decided in the long haul this is going to be best for us. We got it ordered and a date set up for them to come install it for us. They came out on November 7th and got it all built and ready for us. We came home that night after work and got the riding mower inside it's new home. Over the weekend we got everything else out of the garage and in the shed that we wanted. We also went and got some hooks so we can hang stuff on the walls instead of having everything on the floor.  We both are happy with the shed and it looks good in our backyard. :)

These pictures were also taken with my new camera!

My dog had to check it all out. She thinks it's her new home. Haha!

Memorial Tattoo for Grandpa

After my Grandpa passed, my little sister and I decided to get a Memorial tattoo for him. She had her tattoo guy draw something up for us based on what we wanted. We scheduled the appointment to go on Oct 26th. I was very pleased with what was drawn up from the tattoo guy and super excited for it! It didn't take long for him to do it and I was very happy with how it looks. I just really love this tattoo and my Grandpa will always be with me.

My sister is the one who came up with this idea of getting a Dove, since it means Peace and having the orange cancer ribbon on it was a great idea. The orange cancer ribbon stands for Kidney Cancer.



Happy Birthday, Grandpa

Today would have been my Grandpa's 82nd Birthday. There isn't a day that goes by where I don't think him. I miss him so much I can't even explain. I wish I could pick up the phone or go see and tell him Happy Birthday and that I love him.

I love you Grandpa and Happy Birthday!!

Memorial For Grandpa

Today is the day of my Grandpa's Memorial. This is going to be hard to say my final good bye to him, but I know he is in a better place and no longer hurting. I miss him so much everyday. I have TONS of memories with my Grandpa and I'm so thankful he was such a big part of my life. I don't know where I would be today without him. 

Before he passed he told me he didn't want an actual Service or anything for him, but I feel like we needed to do a little something. So, today is his memorial, we aren't going to have anyone talk or pray or anything like that (he didn't want that). We are going to have pictures out from over years and just remember what a long and great life he had. This will give us the time to talk to everyone who comes to remember him and say goodbye and hopefully here some wonderful stories of how he touched everyone lives.

Grandpa I love you so much and I'm going to miss you so much. I know one day I will see you again. You mean the world to me and hold a very special place in my heart.

I LOVE YOU, GRANDPA!!

Here are some pictures of from the years.......
This is a picture of me, my Grandma and Grandpa.

 My Grandpa in his younger days, isn't he handsome. :)

 My Grandpa was such a handsome guy, I love him!

 My senior prom, 2002. He came over just to see me all dressed up!

Christmas 2011, this is the only picture of ALL of us I can find. There weren't many and I will cherish this picture forever. 

My Wedding Day! My favorite picture of me and my grandpa. 

This was taken just a couple days before he went in for surgery.  The last picture of him smiling. I will miss that smile so much. 

Old Settlers Days

You know Fall is right around the corner when all the fall events are starting up!

The first weekend in Sept Shane and I went to Old Settlers Days. We haven't been in years and I think I have maybe only been once, so it was time for us to go check it out again. It was little hot the day we went but we sucked up the heat and walked around and looked at everything. It isn't that big so it took us about an hour or so to check out all the shops and grab a little to eat.

I found this one little booth that was rings from heaven, and with my grandpa just passing I thought it would be cool to have a ring made. I love my ring I made and wear it everyday! It says Grandpa with 2 orange cancer ribbons on each side. The Orange stands for Kidney Cancer.

Shane and I have been wanting to try deep fried oreos and we FINALLY got to try them! They were awesome! I'm ready for some more. LOL

R.I.P Grandpa

I'm very sadden that I have to write this blog.....

The evening of Wednesday Sept 4th my grandpa passed away. 

We went over after work that evening to visit him. He slept the whole time so I just sit with him on his bed for a little while and held his hand. It broke my heart to see him like that everyday. About an hour after we left my mom called me and told me he had passed. I was so upset and heart broken. But I am glad he is no longer in pain and is at peace, that is gives me relief. No one should have to go through that and he didn't want to live like that for sure. So, he is now in a better place and watching over all of us. I think of him everyday and still think this is a dream and I will wake up anytime. 

I love you Grandpa and will miss you so much!! 

The memorial has been set for Grandpa (Jack Shields) 
This is just a time for family and friends to come out and talk about the wonderful life and times they have shared with him. 

Wednesday September 18, 2013 @ 1-3pm.
Highland Park Funeral Home
4100 State Ave 
Kansas City KS 66102

In Lieu of flowers we ask for donations to....
Kendallwood Hospice
2908 NW Vivian RD
Riverside MO 64150

His obituary will be in the Sunday paper on Sept 15th.

This was just a few days before he went in for his surgery. My moms pet raccoon just loves him. :)

Grandpa Update

It has been 2 weeks now since my grandpa had his kidney surgery. It has been a rough road but we have been keeping things together as best as possible. 

After waiting for over a week the Dr. finally gave us the test results. This isn't the news that we wanted to hear but we are dealing with what they told us. 

My Grandpa does have cancer and it has spread to his lymph nodes. The Dr. said they aren't going to do any kind of treatment because he is currently so weak that it would make his worse. Which really sucks but I don't want to see him get any worse then he is now, it just breaks my heart to hear this kind of news. Along with that bad news that Dr. also said he gives him 3-6 months to live, now this is really something I wasn't excepting and it just tore me up. I can't even image that someday my Grandpa won't be here. He has done so much for me in my life that I just cherish him so much. To think one day I can't call him or go over and visit is just heart breaking. I do hope that the Dr is wrong and we have much more time with him, but only time will tell. 

We decided that since there was nothing else the hospital could do for him we wanted to bring him home where he would be more comfortable and happy. My mom got the hospice people to come out and got everything set up for his arrival home. I just can't believe we are having to even think about this and go through this, it's so hard but I'm trying to stay strong. My grandpa got to come home Wednesday and my mom and her husband have decided to stay down here and take care of him. I'm so thankful that he can be home and my mom is able to stay and take care of him. 

We are going to make the best of the time we have left with my Grandpa. 

I love you Grandpa. Stay strong and show this cancer who's boss! 

Update on My Grandpa

Sorry I have update yet but I have been busy and kinda wore out, so I haven't posted an update.

Anyways here is the update since Thursday....

Thursday he went into surgery at 9am and it last about 3hrs. Surgery went good and he stayed strong. :) He was in recovery for about 2hrs then they moved him to ICU to keep a good eye on him.

Friday during the day I called and checked to see how his night went and the nurse said everything was good. Well...now let's move to Friday night. I got a phone call around 9pm from the ICU, the nurse said that he woke up confused and didn't know where he was at. He wouldn't believe the nurse or the cop that came up to talk to him. So, Shane and I got dressed and headed up there to see if we could calm him down. We got there and he was a little calm, but he still didn't know where he was. We talked him down and finally got him to understand he was still at the hospital he had surgery out. We stayed there till he fall back to sleep which wasn't too long then we headed back home. They nurse said it could have been the morphine that he is taking so they completely stopped that. No more calls after that....

Now we are onto Saturday morning around 8am I got another call from the ICU that he woke up and was confused again and was pulling his IV out and trying to get out of bed to leave. He also kept thinking they were trying to kill him. He again didn't want to believe the nurses and he wanted to me there. Shane and I got ready and headed up there bright and early to talk him down again. Once we arrived the nurse said they have to give him something to calm him down because he started trying to hit them. He also was taking his bandage off where they took his kidney and mess with that. So, they gave him something to calm him down and they had to put mits and restrain his arms so he wouldn't try to hit or pull stuff out again. We waited around for about 2hrs before he finally woke up so we could talk to him. When he woke I asked him if he knew where he was and he said the hospital and that he made a mistake getting out of control. LOL.  He had family visit throughout the day on Saturday and I called to check on him. Nothing really changed throughout the day he was still confused but he wasn't being mean to the nurse or anything anymore. The nurse also said today his Sodium was low so that could also affect him and might be why he was like this.  

Sunday we headed out the farmer's market to get some veggies and seasonings then we headed up to the hospital to see how he was doing. When we got there he was awake for about a 1 min then he was out. We talked to the nurse again she said they have to keep his mits on b/c he keeps trying to pull everything out of him. Saturday night they also had to give him more meds to calm him down. They were going to have a Nuerologist come in to see what he thought was going on just to rule out anything possble. That evening I called and checked him. The nurse said the Nuero Dr came in and doesn't think they need to do a cat scan or that he had a stroke. He said with him being 81, going through a major surgery and being on pain meds could cause this and it will take sometime to get back to normal. So, no worries there for now. The physical therapist came in yesterday and they got him out of bed and stood at the end of the bed and took a couple steps. He is weak but he was able to do that, so that's good.

As of today nothing has changed. He is still confused. They are taking about moving him to a regular room today, but we will see if that happens.

I hate seeing my Grandpa like this but hopefully he will start coming around and realizing where he is at. We have been at the hospital everyday since Thursday and it's wearing me out, but I'm happy to be there with him if that's what he needs. I have been calling as well and checking on him at least twice a day if we don't make it up there.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and continue with them as he is on the slow road to recovery.

My Grandpa

I wasn't going to post about my G-pa's surgery but I thought having prays from family and friends would be best for him today

I would like to ask everyone to please say a pray for my Grandpa. He is undergoing Kidney surgery this morning and lots of prays would be much appreciated. 

Here's the story of how this surgery came about.....

On Friday August 1st he went to the ER due to having blood in his urine. It wasn't too bad for them to admit him so they sent him home and told him he needed to make an appointment with an oncologist, but if it got worse to come back. Well, unfortunately Saturday evening it did get worse so he had to go back. This time they did a cat scan and found a tumor on his kidney, so they admitted him to the hospital that night. 

He seen the Dr. finally on Monday and they said they wanted to run some test to make sure he could make it through surgery. My g-pa is 81 yrs old and his heart isn't the strongest, so they needed to some some heart & stress test to determine what the next step would be.By Thursday they decided that they think he can make it through surgery, so they scheduled it and sent him home for a few days till surgery.  

Today is the day for surgery and it's scheduled for 8:00 am. I took the day off so I will be there before he goes in and I will stay till it's over. It's going to be a long day but being there is what I need to do. My mom, sister, brother and Shane will all be there as well.

My grandpa means everything to me and I love him with all my heart. I'm really nervous about the surgery but I'm keeping positive thoughts. 

Please keep him and our family in your thoughts as he is undergoing his surgery today. 

I will post a follow up later on how it went.

This is us the day of my Wedding!