grandparents & great grandparents.

first & foremost, i definitely have to mention the ginormous news we all heard around eight pm pst last night.  because blogging about something besides the osama bin laden story seems a little disconnected... ya know, since it is the only thing being talked about in any sort of media today.

and because years from now, i'm pretty sure it'll be one of those, "where were you when you found out" kinda things.  so for record keeping's sake - i was at home, & found out via twitter.  thank you social media.

and political beliefs aside, it was amazing to watch all the news coverage for hours last night & learn about the combined efforts of our military intelligence, our troops, & our president & how they worked together strategically to bring down one of the world's most horrible terrorists.

i don't know what this means for our future national security, for next year's presidential elections, or for your personal moral beliefs concerning the celebration of someone's death.  what i do know is that last night our country felt unified & we celebrated & we remembered the lives that were lost on one of the worst days in our country's history... 9/11.  and that those who lost loved ones in those attacks felt a little bit of justice.  and that i got serious goosebumps watching crowds gather at the white house & at ground zero & sing & celebrate & recite the pledge of allegiance.

go team usa.

and that's all i'm gonna say about that.

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last week p-ray & i got to head over to spokane with my parents {who were visiting from utah} to visit my grandparents.  i was a little bit nervous about taking parker to stay with my grandparents for four days & was worrying about how i would entertain him & pass the time.  but as usual, things went great.  he was totally on good behavior & we found plenty of things to do.  we went on walks, we went to target, we visited other family members, & we took naps.

but mostly, we visited.  and we all enjoyed that too.

{my dad, parker, my mom.}

{parker & my dad.}

{parker & my grandma... his great-grandma.  she is 97 years old.  no big deal.  no wait, that is totally a big deal.}

{parker & my grandpa... his great-grandpa.  this is where parker gets his middle name of "ray" after my grandpa ray bates.  they pretty much bonded on this trip.}

{parker & his great-grandparents.  did i mention my grandma is 97?  she's still walking & lives pretty independently.  but my grandpa, who is 90, has to be credited for taking amazing care of her, too.  they are quite the inspirational pair.}

we had such a blast spending quality time with so much family.  and now that we're back at home i can officially begin my family withdrawals.  whaaaa.

every vote helps me feel just a little bit better.