RIP Great Papa

Sadly Great Papa passed away with morning. We will all miss him very much, we find peace knowing he is with the love of his life, may we all have the love for our spouses as they shared, he wanted nothing more than to be with Grandma, he waited to see all of his family (who were able to come) before taking his last breathe.

Saying Goodbye to Family

Have I said yet how much fun we had on our trip? We had a great time in Georgia - despite the circumstances surrounding our trip. I have to say how grateful and thankful I am that we went to Georgia. Sakura is SO lucky to have the family we have, everyone was SO excited to finally meet her, I can't name any one person who was the most excited, as I believe they were all estatic to finally meet the youngest family member. I am truly blessed to have my family who I cherish very much.

Today Auntie Linda and Uncle Jeffy came up for one last visit - we had kind of a lazy day hanging out, but it was SO nice to get to just sit and visit. They brought Molly their dog with them, so Sakura took good care of her :)

Auntie Linda and Uncle Jeffy with Sakura

Playing ball with Papa

Time for a little reading

Always time for our 4 legged family - Molly in this case.

Sakura loved Molly!

Treats for Molly

Then some brushing

Visiting with Uncle Joey

These two were deep in conversation of some sort - LOL.

Sakura was SO SO SO tired, I can't even say how tired she was - pure exhaustion, but we wanted to take one last trip down to the creek - so Sakura, Daddy and I headed down.

A little zombie here .... she was SO tired!

Every visit to the creek Sakura would "wash" the rocks - she always did it, and today was no exception...here she is washing her rock - we brought this rock home with us as a souvineer of our time in Georgia.

Sakura with her rock above and below ...

Time for our final goodbye's with Auntie Linda and Uncle Jeffy - Sakura was out in about 1 minute of Auntie Linda getting her, so they stayed a bit longer so Auntie could cuddle with Sakura. SOOOOO sweet!

GoodBye Uncle Jeffy and Auntie Linda

And Bye for today Uncle Joey.

We headed back up to say our final goodbye's the next morning - before heading back to Atlanta for our plane ride home. These last posts have been really hard for me, it's been a month since we came home, and just today I can finally look back at these pictures.

8/7/11

Daddy, Sakura and Uncle Joey

Goodbye Uncle Joey

Sakura and Papa

The next picture is the whole reason for our trip ... with tears in my eyes as I type this, this is the final picture of our trip - Sakura and Great Papa (or Big Papa as she calls him) saying their final GoodBye's .... we were SO blessed that he was there to see us, and meet his last Great Grandchild before he passed away. We ♥ You Big Papa - GoodNight ....

Until we meet again ..... We ♥ You Great Papa (aka: Big Papa)

Many faces of Sakura

Well last night wasn't the easiest, I was awoken in the middle of the night to a loud thump followed by crying....someone fell out of bed (again!), thankfully she was okay and only bit her tongue (you'll see the spot in some pictures below), so needless to say, I didn't sleep well the rest of the night - nor did Dean. We had kind of a lazy day, we went to Blue Ridge to do a little shopping, then out for our daily visit with everyone.

Sakura's signature sunglass look (upside down).

Or maybe in your mouth?

Hanging out is always fun when you're watching TV! Ugh!!! She is her father's daughter!

More fun when Daddy teaches you to "POP" your finger out the side of your mouth though - hehe!

She actually got pretty good at it, she could definitely make some sound.

Taking a ride

is always good for some smiles and laughs!

LOVE this little face :)

"MORE Daddy"

Creek time! Today we were "setting up" for some duck races, we thought that we would get to see Cousin Crystal and family one more time (unfortunately they weren't able to come up), so we were setting it up so the ducks didn't get stuck on the rocks.

And they all fall down - hehe! Sakura didn't mind getting wet though!

A couple of woodland animals came for a visit tonight - we were SO excited!

Below are some of Sakura's "faces".

Serious face

Just a grin

Silly face

Playing with Uncle Joey

Blue Ridge Scenic Railway

What fun, today we went on the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway. Sakura loves trains and is always saying "All Aboard" so Papa and Gramma Janie decided that we needed to take a train ride. It was a BEAUTIFUL and definitely scenic train ride. We all really enjoyed it, we stopped in a neighboring town for lunch and an hour or so of shopping. The lunch left a WHOLE lot to be desired (Patrick's Pub - ICK!!!), but the scenery going and coming was worth the train ride. The pictures are pretty self explanatory, just scenery.

Sakura was ready to go!

I'm not quite sure what got her going, but she was cracking herself and all of us up! Little clown!

Too much laughing got someone sleepy.... it was probably the sleepiness that got her laughing! She gets delirious just before she crashes usually.

Watching all of the trees...Sakura kept commenting on the trees.

Playing with Papa and Daddy

A fishing "trap" - something about the fish getting stuck in this V? Strange.

I spotted a teeny little merry-go-round, just what Sakura loves, merry-go-rounds in any size or shape!

She felt pretty confident on this one!

As you can see by the sweat beads .... it was VERY hot and humid!

Papa and Gramma Janie bought Sakura this tiny little train she played with at the store ... she loves it!

Surprise train Daddy got her in Blue Ridge, and the tiny train from Papa and Gramma Janie. Sakura lined them up.

Back in Blue Ridge - "wait Daddy" ... Daddy is always about 200 feet in front of me and Sakura, he walks FAST!

SO tired .... back to our room for a much needed nap. Then we will head to see Great Papa for a visit, and have dinner with Papa, Gramma Janie and Uncle Joey.

A trip to see everyone wouldn't be complete without a trip to the creek too! Papa made a squirt gun out of a mustard container - Sakura got a big kick out of it.