We rolled in to Layton on Monday afternoon, reeking of smoke from a weekend of camping. Gramma let us shower and do a load of laundry. She was complaining about her dryer not working very well, but after Chris discovered a bird's nest in the vent tube, we decided that was the problem. We cleaned out the tube and got a new vent cover for the outside, and the dryer works just fine now.
We went down to visit Grampa on Tuesday morning. He was pretty sleepy, but was glad to see us. I'm pretty sure he recognized us - he gave me a big hug and enjoyed watching Elmer putter around his room. Grampa stood by his chair, waggling his finger at Elmer and saying "Hi!" while Elmer wandered in circles around him. I think Elmer wore him out - he fell asleep in his chair after a while, so we left and said we'd be back tomorrow. As we were leaving, we had a bunch of the ladies come up and say hi to Elmer - he was a big hit and enjoyed all the attention.
The rest of the day Tuesday, we just visited with Gramma and sat on the back porch enjoying the weather. Elmer helped Gramma water the lawn - he loves sprinklers and faucets!
We went down to Chancellor again on Wednesday morning and found Grampa sitting in someone else's room. He got up after we called him, though, and came out into the hall. Gramma asked him if he remembered Elmer, and he said "Sure! Just not that name." He was pretty happy to see us, gave another hug, and smiled at Elmer. We took him out to see our new van - he walked between me and Gramma and held our hands. I asked him if he liked the new van, he said "It's all right." He asked what kind it was, and when we told him it was a Dodge Grand Caravan he said that was pretty good. It was fun to walk around a bit outside, and I think he liked holding our hands and feeling the sunshine. His room's AC had been set at 72 degrees, so we turned it up to 77 before we left.
(I like these pictures even though Elmer was trying to slide off my lap, because you can see the Grampa was talking to him and smiling.)
After our walk, he was pretty tired, so we went back to his room and sat down for a few minutes. When he started to nod off, we gave him hugs and kisses, told him we loved him and said we'd see him later. He gave Elmer a kiss goodbye.
It was really great to get up and see the Grandfolks. I'm glad to see Grampa getting such good care at Chancellor - it looks like a nice place. Gramma says she gets lonely still, but is adjusting. She had a good time visiting with us, and she enjoyed playing with Elmer. I wish we weren't so far away, but I'm glad we make it up every year. We'll hope to see more of the family next year!
Thanks for the update, Anali. I know Grandma really enjoyed having you and the fam visiting. She does get lonely, but seems to be handling things better. Glad you got to see Grandpa, and that he was pretty alert.
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