The news you have all been waiting for!

Introducing our first granddaughter, Brooke Perry Rogers!  She was born, September 30, at 6:34 p.m., weighed 8 pounds, 7 ounces, 21 inches long, and some brown hair and pretty blue eyes.  She is absolutely adorable!  Such a sweetheart!  Papa and Grandma are totally in love!

Keith and I departed for Baltimore on Tuesday, September 30, and arrived in Baltimore just after Brooke was born.  We got our train to Union Station at 9:30 p.m. As soon as we arrived, Jessica 's dear friend, Cathy from her work team, greeted us and took us directly to the hospital so we could meet our little Brooke, and check to see how her Momma and Daddy were doing as well.  

Jess had went into the hospital the night before to be induced, as she had gone past her due date of September 24.  As things progressed, the team decided it would be best to do a C-section.  With that being said, this meant that Jess would have a longer stay in the hospital.  Andy and Jess decided it would work nicely for us to just stay at their apartment, since Andy was staying at the hospital with Jess and Brooke.

I just have to mention what a GREAT DAD that Andy is!  He started from the very beginning right out of the gate, so to speak, changing diapers and cleaning up and helping Jess with anything she needs help with.  Feeling very rested the other morning, he even took Brooke out for her very first trip to the grocery store and Starbucks!  He was prepared for a diaper blowout or any other need that had to be met.  Of course, he wasn't gone all day either, but still for a new dad to do that so soon is pretty cool.  In fact, he has probably changed as many, if not more diapers than Jess has.  They are going to be great parents.  He certainly loves that little daughter is his!  Totally smitten!  

Here are some pics we wanted to share with you all.

Keith and I right from the airport.  In fact, we walked into the hospital with our luggage!  LOL!  Keith assured the hospital staff that we weren't there to stay.  

Just hours after she was born....beaming Grandparents! 

Brooke's beautiful Momma and her sweet little Brooke 

Proud Daddy!

First family picture 

Eyes open little cutie!

Momma and Brooke 

Daddy and Brooke having a heart to heart talk.  I'm sure there will be more to come!  :)

All ready to leave the hospital for a new adventure with Daddy and Mommy at home!

HOME AT LAST!

Napping at home on her little lamb mat

Papa and Brooke having a talk

Momma love!

Papa Love!

Yawn!

Some Grandma love

I turned the page and she literally flipped it back to the previous page!  A mind of her own!

Andy's selfie with Brooke at Starbucks!

Grandma getting some loving in before having to leave. :(

We had a very sweet time of being able to be there so close to the time Brooke was born.  It was just such a blessing to be able to share this time together.  We are so very blessed!  God is so good! Our prayer is that Brooke will come to know Jesus at an early age. 

A very special thank you to all who have been praying before, during and now after will continue to pray.  

It's been way too long....

April

The last time I posted we were preparing for Dad's memorial service back in April.  Goodness!  As I look back from that time up until now, so much has taken place.  I think the best way to catch up is to show some pictures of our Spring and Summer highlights.

Mom with us kids after the Dad's memorial service

Baby Brooke's first trip to Lake Michigan Beach!

Jess, Mom, Andy just after the memorial service for Dad

May
Mom came to Grand Rapids as she had an appointment to get hearing aids.  She stayed with us for a couple of weeks before going back home.  She got her first pair of hearing aids, but then they didn't work out very good.  She had a 30-day trial on them so she was able to order a different type.  These work much better for her and she's adjusted to them very well.

June
With Jess and Andy expecting a baby, there were a few baby showers that Mom and I were invited to.  One just happened to be in Saint Davids, Pennsylvania, hosted by Barbara Rogers' dear friend, Karen Helm.  After we received the cute invitation, Mom and I talked about it and decided that we would go and surprise Jess.  We wanted to surprise her at the shower, if at all possible.

  Mom flying for the first time in her life!  There were a few people that couldn't believe she had never flown before.
She was treated like royalty by the crew.  

We made a plan and would fly from Grand Rapids to Baltimore and then take Amtrak to Philadelphia.  We had Ben Rogers pick us up and take us to our hotel. Then Candice, his wife, would take us to the shower where we would surprise Jess.

Ready for the shower and waiting for Candice to pick us up at our hotel.

Karen, our hostess read a special blessing.

The ladies ate at various tables located throughout the house.

Jess was VERY surprised that we were there!  The first thing she asked Mom was how we got there.
 She could not believe that she flew for the first time.  

Jess opening her gifts.  This is an afghan I made for Brooke.

Baby Rogers 1, 2, and 3!  Candice is due in October and Veronica is due in December!
The 3 baby cousins will all be within 3 months of each other! 

 Mom and I had a great trip together. After the shower, we went to the hotel and rested for a bit then went for dinner with the Rogers family at the Cricket Club.  We were seated on a beautiful open porch overlooking the grassy tennis courts.  Jess and Andy took us to the Little House Shop and the Valley Forge Flower Shop.  What a beautiful place!  Sunday we ate lunch at a yummy place called "The Meltdown" where they have various grilled cheese sandwiches.  It was a whirlwind weekend, but we made it without any incidents or health problems, thankfully!  I thank the Lord for this special time I had with Mom.  I will never forget it.

July

Then, in July, Mom, Pat Marquardt and I hosted a shower in the Grand Rapids area for Jess.

Jess and myself at the Grand Rapids shower

September
Summer came and went.  Now the end of September is upon us, and  Jess, at 40 1/2 weeks, is ready to deliver our little Brooke any day now!  Please pray that everything will go smooth for a healthy baby and smooth delivery.

Keith and I are looking forward to doing some loving on our little granddaughter right after she's home from the hospital.  (Oh and seeing the parents, too, of course!  Ha!  We won't leave them out! )

First Photo of our Grand Baby!!!

Everyone thought they were having a boy....!!!  As you can imagine, we are so excited to look forward to welcoming our grand daughter in September!  Praying for a safe pregnancy and delivery for her Momma and a healthy baby girl!

Mom begins her new journey....

Today, Mom begins her new journey. Just to update you, she has arrived home and is doing really good.  Please keep her in your continued prayers when she comes to mind.  

Some memories of Dad:

At Jess and Andy's wedding 9-16-2011

Thanksgiving 2013

Jen and Evan's Wedding Rehearsal dinner 2012

August 2013

Dad liked to show his 1977 Malibu Classic at Car Shows

Dad working on the C & O Railroad...back in the day...

Dad loved going to the Pere Marquette River property.
Summer 2013

For those of you who may be interested, Dad's memorial service will be:

on

Saturday, April 19

2:00 P.M.

The Clock Funeral Home

309 South Washington Avenue

Ludington, Michigan 49431

In lieu of flowers, donations will be made

in memory of Allen Quick

to 

The Gordon Hospice House

Hospice and Pailliative Care of Iredell County

2347 Simonton Road

Statesville, North Carolina 28625

Exciting News from Grand Rapids!!!

As many of you know, we visited Jess and Andy in Virginia back in February.  The idea was to be able to celebrate our birthdays together, since Keith's, Jessica's, and my birthdays are all within four weeks of each other.  It had been years since we had been together, so we made a trip out to Virginia.

We arrived on Thursday evening, which allowed us to settle ino our guest apartment on the opposite side of the building as Jess and Andy's apartment but on the same floor.  Very nice to be able to just walk to their place and vice versa.   As you can see, it is a very comfortable place, much larger than a hotel room, stocked with linens as well as dishes and cookware, etc.

Thursday, I was not feeling well, so Keith and Jess went to see the Haulocaust museum.  It was a planned thing for us all to do, but I told them to go ahead and go.  That evening, we went to their place and Andy's brother's family, Ben, Candice and two children joined us.  They brought over a birthday cookie to share.  At this time, Jess states that she's going to give us our birthday presents, which were unexpected, as we had already discussed birthday gifts.  Since we opened our gifts, we have had to wait until now to share our news with you all.  This is a picture of our birthday gifts:

Of course, we were so very excited to share our news, but we couldn't share, as Jess hand' been to her doctor appointment yet.  They wanted to wait until the 12-week appointment and hear the heartbeat.  So we pretty much kept it under wraps until now!  Yes, we are very excited to become grandparents.  It is definitely a new era to our life journey.  God is so good!  We are praying for an uneventful pregnancy and safe delivery for our little expected bundle of joy!

On a side note:  This is the weekend in which I had caught some sort of Norovirus and ended up with Andy driving us to the ER to get some fluids on Saturday, as I had quickly become dehydrated.  So, the first people we ended up telling about our grand baby were the people in the ER!  This also meant that I wasn't able to even see Jess and Andy or be near them for the rest of the weekend.  I was so grateful that I was feeling so much better by the time we had to fly home on Monday.  For awhile, I was beginning to wonder how I would ever make the trip home.  It all worked out.  It's certainly a trip that I wouldn't want to repeat!

Dad

As I looked back at the previous post about Thanksgiving and thought about Dad, it amazes me how things can change in such a little bit of time.  After celebrating Thanksgiving here (and Christmas, too!), Mom and Dad had planned to go to North Carolina for Christmas with Lori's family.  Mom said Dad was looking forward to going to see the grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 

                   Dad at the Grand Rapids Downtown Market, Thanksgiving Weekend

The week before Christmas, Rich, my brother-in-law, drove up from North Carolina and picked them up and started back the next two days.  When they arrived, Dad mentioned that he didn't feel well.  (Dad had said that often, but could never put his finger on just what was wrong.)  Before they left on their trip, Dad had seen both of his doctors that same week for check-ups.  Neither of them mentioned that they shouldn't go.  He had also had a blood transfusion, which he had been having just about every two weeks.  

A couple days before Christmas, Lori said she thought he should go get his blood checked as he wasn't looking very well.  As it turned out, his blood was okay, and he didn't need a transfusion.

The day after Christmas, they decided that they better get him to an emergency room to get him checked out.  He was experiencing much confusion and still color didn't look good.  Come to find out, he had a hematoma on one side of his head.  They said it was a fresh wound and could be life-threatening.  With that said, they transferred him to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem.  During this time, they found out his myelio fibrosis had turned into acute leukemia.  After doing all they could do for him, with testing and conferences with the doctors, there was nothing more they could do for him.

Lori and Rich knew of the Gordon Hospice House in Statesville and had only heard good things about it.   On Dec. 31, there "just happened" to have one bed left.  We all made the decision to have him transferred there.  The care he received at that place could not ever been any better.  The people there were certainly there to serve the patient and the family.  Whenever we were there, they left us alone with Dad and never came in or bothered to do various checks or whatever.  It wasn't until his final days, they did come in and gave him some medicine to make sure he was comfortable. 

One thing we learned about is how God's timing is always perfect.  When they left to go down to North Carolina, they left just ahead of a huge snowstorm that dumped several inches of snow in Michigan.  They just happened to have ONE bed available at that place.  If Mom and Dad would have been in Ludington, there is no way that all the family would have been able to go up and say their final good-byes.  All the grandchildren were able to tell him good-bye; Jessica was even able to drive down for a few days and spend time with us.  (Thanks Andy!)  

Dad spent four days at the Gordon Hospice House.  We had spent the whole day with him, watching him breathe his last breaths.  About 5:15 p.m., we all decided it was time to take a break and get some dinner.  We all kissed him good-bye and left the room.  We had just finished dinner, when a call came from the Gordon House that we needed to come.  (Earlier they had explained to us that when someone passes away, they light a candle in a special place in the lobby area.  This allows others to know that someone has lost a loved one.). When we arrived, we were walking by the candle and it was lit.  At that point, I realized my dad had passed into eternity.  As we arrived in the lobby, Gary, the social worker that had done the intake when dad arrived, took Mom's arm and we all proceeded to walk to his room.  During that walk, Gary explained to us that sometimes loved ones wait for their family to arrive, and sometimes they wait for them to leave, so the family doesn't have to go through seeing those final breaths.  Well, Dad waited for us to leave, as within the few minutes after we left, he passed peacefully said the attending nurse.  We were able to spend some final moments together as a family, before the funeral home in NC came.

Presently, a memorial service is being planned for Saturday, April 19, at The Clock Funeral Home on South Washington Avenue in Ludington, Michigan, at 2:00 p.m.  

We just want to thank all our family and friends who have continued to pray for Dad and Mom and upholding our family these past months and all through my dad's illness.  Continue to keep Mom in your prayers as she adjusts to her life without Dad.