after the powwow, joel and i went to water vliet, michigan, where his grandfather is in a retirement facility. his children and his one grandchild had gone with us, and joel wanted to be sure that they got to see their great-grandpa before is passes away. just as we left the powwow on our way up there, jols dad let us know that hospice has been called in as his organs are shutting down.
grandpa nichols really enjoyed meeting the grandkids, especially the great-great granddaughter, who will be 1 in a few weeks. the joy and love on his face as her held her was so precious. we visited for about an hour-hour & 1/2, and i think he hated to see us leave. we had such a wonderful visit. i have pictures of tht as well, but they are on my camera too, so again, i will have to wait and use my husbands camera.
that afternoon, joel and i took the boys to lake michigan. we went to silver beach in st. joseph and were right at the North Pier Lighthouse. it was so much fun-the boys had the biggest time.
the girls didn't go-i don't think they understood that lake michigan was a beach. we told them that but teenagers that think they are grown also think they know everything. the oldest is 18 so they were able to stay at the motel. also, the grandbaby needed to rest so i guess it was just as well. i did take some pictures and videos on my phone to send to the boys mother, and sent them to my email too so i could share them here. it was absolutely wonderful going there-the girls behaved absolutely awful during the entire trip. the only time they weren't showing themselves we during the actual wedding ceremony itself, and the visit with grandpa nichols.
joels dad and stepmom had rented a motel room for the girls while we were in ohio-i told them that it was the Lord that laid it on their hearts to do that, because we were able to use that time away from them to get our minds cleared from the poison they were spewing. if we'd had to be around them the entire time, our trip would have definately been ruined. i had never seen them behave like this so i was just in shock but by the time we had started home i had regained some of my senses. both girls have been at my apartment in sevierville, but since joel and i are just being able to combine our houses and live under on roof, i haven't had to deal with any behavioral issues until now. having had 2 ex-husbands that also had cildren from previous marriages, i knew that first time having to address things would be awkward, esp since joels girls are 18 and 16. i did tell them both that if they could "put up with us long enough for us to get you home, you won't ever have to worry about going anywhere else with us again". i know that sounds mild-i really wanted to tell them what asses they were being. joel wanted to put the oldest one on a bus and make her ride it back to south carolina, and told her the last leg of the trip home that if she gave him one more bit of lip that's what he would do. he had also gotten her a cell phone on our family plan since she had been living with him up until 2 months ago trying to get straightened out and get her GED. she evidently didn't think joel would disconnect it. she was really surprised.
then he told the youngest one that he would call the police and let them deal with her. that's the one with the baby. their mother has had trouble like this for a couple of years, so i think it will take the Lord to get them back because at this stage in their life, their hearts are too hardened to be receptive to anything their mom and dad needs to say or do. as much as i had looked forward to taking them on our trip with us, i was glad to drop them back off at their mom's.
anyway, here is a video of the beach at lake michigan. yes, that's my husband you hear talking about selling some "jen-u-wine" driftwood he had found on ebay. he's so silly