Life and Death

We can't escape the cycle of life and death, and this past week was no exception. A wide range of things happened last week, and I'll do my best to fill everyone in.

Lars' cousin's mom passed away a couple of weeks ago, and the memorial service was held last week in Indiana. Because Lars had not seen much of his family in Indiana in quite a number of years, we decided to attend the memorial service. The thinking was it would be a good way to catch up with his family, and introduce Lauren to everyone.

So the three of us left for Indianapolis on Wednesday August 2nd. This was Lauren's third plane trip. Unfortunately for us, she fared no better than she did the first two times, even though we paid for the upgrade to business class to have more room for her. The waiting and the confined space definitely disagreed with her temperment. She spent much of the flight in a fussy mood, and having meltdowns and crying. We were able to get her to sleep for part of the flight, which we felt lucky when ever she did.

In Indiana we stayed out on a farm owned by Lars' cousin Jim and his wife Brenda. It was truly out in the middle of nowhere, as we barely had cell reception, and no internet connection for my laptop computer. The farm was beautiful and idyllic, but the weather was miserably hot and humid. Lucky for us, Jim and Brenda had central air conditioning. Jim and Brenda were incredibly kind and generous hosts. They found time to care for us even though they were planning the service for Jim's mom the day after we arrived.

Jim and Brenda loaned us a car seat and one of their cars, for us to use while we were in Indiana. Thursday was spent in traveling to the service, attending the service for Jim's mom, and then traveling back to Jim and Brenda's (about 2 hours away by car each way from the service). Lars spent the time at the service talking to people for only minutes at a time. It's difficult to have much time to catch up a memorial service, much like a wedding it all goes by in a blur. I spent most of the service trying to keep Lauren amused, as it was hot in the church, and she wasn't too enthused with the idea of keeping quiet at the service. Lucky for us the church had a playroom and someone setup a baby monitor so parents with kids could listen to the service while keeping their children amused.

Although Lars didn't have much time to catch up with everyone at the service, we did have time scheduled on Friday to visit with his relatives to catch up. Betty, the youngest sister of Jim's mom, hosted us for this get together. Lauren got to play with two young girls, Rachel and Sarah, daughters of Lars' cousin Becky and her husband Ed (who is from the Bay Area). Betty helped me keep Lauren amused while Lars visited with lots of his family.

On Saturday, Jim and Brenda took us out to Bloomington, Indiana, the college town where Indiana University is located. We came back to the Bay Area on Sunday morning, on the same flight as it turns out as Ed (Lars' cousin) was on, and we ended up having seats across the aisle from Ed. So Lars' got to catch up some more on the plane, while Lauren was having more of her on-plane meltdowns!

The week we were gone, was also of course Sufen's 40th birthday. Happy birthday to her! Sorry we missed your birthday, we'll definitely celebrate in person when you're in town.

In addition, my cousin Ling and his wife Teresa went for their second ultrasound, and found out that Charlotte is going to have a baby brother this December! Congrats to everyone.

Life and Death, and in the midst of everything, we go on.