One of the finest men I'll ever know...

The first week of December was a very hard week for our family.  My mother called me on Wednesday night to tell me that my Grampa wasn't expected to make it much longer.  Friday morning after work I flew into TN, and by Sunday morning Grampa had passed away.  I feel so blessed though to have been there by his side before he lost awareness of what all was going on.  And I feel so blessed to have been by his side the moment that he went to sleep for the last time.  Unfortunately, the boys didn't get to travel down to Tennessee this time, but they sent Grampa a video of them saying that they loved him.  He did get to see that and smile before it was too late.

Just hours before Grampa quit talking and responding, our family sat around him, singing his favorite hymns and Patriotic songs. No surprise to any of us that even though Grampa was down to only spelling words out for us to understand, he tried to mouth every word of God Bless America. After hours of singing, Grampa raised his hand to us and said "Thank you all for this evening. "  Those were the last words he said. 

Here is the announcement we made about his passing...

On Sunday, December 7, 1941 at 07:48 am, America suffered a great loss as Japan attacked our great nation at Pearl Harbor. On this day, a young college man heard the news and through his deep love for our country decided to join the US Airforce. He later became one of the best pilots of his time, contributing his service to several missions that are still widely known today.

On this day, Sunday, December 7, 2014 at 07:48 am, seventy-three years later, America and the Sheldon family suffered another great loss as this incredible man piloted his last flight from this earth. He now flies above the heavens with his new uniform, a robe and a crown.

To his wife of 68 years, he was Frank. To his children, he was Dad. To his five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, he was Grampa. To his numerous nephews and nieces, he was Uncle Frank.

He was a man of honor. He was a man among men, a leader among leaders. He was a gentleman’s gentleman. He was strong, resilient, brave, loving and humble. He was a true patriot. He believed in his country and he prayed for his country daily. He was a loving husband, a loyal friend, a grandfather, a great-grandfather, a brother, an uncle and by far the best father that anyone could have wished for. But most of all, he was a Christian man who loved and served God with all of his heart.

Frank is in heaven now with his loved ones and heavenly Father. And while we will miss him dearly and think of him often, we look forward to the day when we see him again.

“Awaiting the return of the nation’s soul…”

I love you Gramps.

And even though the day traveling back to DC was hard, this next sight made my day!

Remaining VA Randoms

Here are the last random shots of our last few weeks in Virginia.

Saying Goodbye

It was very sad to say goodbye to all of our friends and people who became "family" to us while in Virginia.  From the goodbye party held for me at work, to the week of dinners brought to us by our Sunday School class our final week there, to the team of men who showed up at our apartment the day we needed to load up...we couldn't have asked for a better group of people!

FBC Living Christmas Tree

Our final week in Alexandria, VA was crazy full and jam packed!  Instead of taking the week to relax, pack up the entire apartment, etc.  We spent the week performing in our church's Living Christmas Tree production.  Yeah - joke's on us though.  We thought that there were four performances when we signed up since it was Dec 11-14th.  However, weeks before the performances was when we learned that there were actually seven performances with three on Saturday and two on Sunday!  (that didn't include the dress rehearsal on Wednesday night which was performed in front of over 500 people!)  It was a crazy week, but I'm proud to say that we made it to perform in every one!  It wasn't only me and Nathan though.  Zachary was a part of the children's choir too, so he performed in it and even had a solo part!  The week was great and I believe over 6,000 people attended.  What a great way to say goodbye to a WONDERFUL church family!  Oh, and because there were spotlights on the tree the whole night, everyone wore extra makeup -- including the men!  Yeah, chalk that one up as a first for Nathan.  The boys still rag him about it!  :)

Behind the scenes...this is behind and under the tree.

The standing chart for inside the tree!  It took a lot of people to make this happen!

The boys and one of their favorite people in Northern VA, "Preacher Don!" 

We even got to sign our name on the official program that now hangs at the church! 

Team Barnes Academy...November

School in November is still going strong as we wrap up our time in Norther VA.  We've learned a lot this month and have enjoyed certain things like The Pilgrims, Squanto, The First Thanksgiving, etc.  We made turkey hands, Thanksgiving books and more.  The boys have even adjusted well to moving school to the dining room the last week of November in order to pack up the school room.  They continue to do a great job in school and make Nathan and me very proud!  On a side note, when you see the scab on Tyler's head, that's not from a fall.  He thought it would be funny to rub his forehead on the rug.  Good idea = bad carpet burn.  #boys