Goodbye to a Good Man

About two weeks ago, my family said goodbye to my wonderful grandpa, Leo Stoniecki.

Brylee and I left town (for the third weekend in a row...we were getting a little weary of traveling), and headed to Chicago to be with my family. Brylee had previously been on three airplane trips, but this fourth was the first time I tried it alone. I should have gotten a picture as I was walking into the airport, because I had a backpack on my back, Brylee in her Bjorn carrier on my front, pushing a suitcase with wheels in my right arm, and carrying a car seat in my left arm! Needless to say, I felt like a pack mule! Luckily, I was flying Southwest, and checked all but the baby and the backpack, so that made boarding the plane easier. And we were fortunate to sit next to very nice people who didn't mind holding a random bottle here & there while I tried to coordinate holding & baby and managing feeding items.

The two days in Chicago went by fast, and we primarily hung around my grandparents' house visiting and reminiscing about good times. The funeral was on Thursday morning, and we made sure to take some family pictures. Unfortunately, as we all grow up, it's hard to get together with all of my cousins and aunts and uncles.

My dad is on the far right, his two brothers, and my sweet Grandma! She looks great for 88! There are six of us cousins. Two of my girl cousins are serving overseas for the Navy right now. Thankfully, they were both able to come home for the weekend.
My handsome brothers and Grandma

My whole family, minus Bryan who had to stay home to get some work done

Four generations of "Stoniecki" lineage

This cute girl stole the show while we were there. She did so well in yet another new surrounding!

There's this wonderful ice cream shop called Rainbow Cones near my grandmother's house. We used to go there during the summer as kids. We all went Thursday night after all the memorial stuff had ended and it was just close family again. They basically sell one type of ice cream cone, called the Rainbow cone, which has five flavors layered on each other, including orange sherbet, pistachio, cherry, strawberry, & chocolate.

We're not there very often, so I thought it was only appropriate to let Brylee try a little. Hey, I didn't know when she would be back to ever be able to try it again! So she got a little lick of just the sherbet (which I figured was mostly flavored sugar anyways).

Of course, she loved it, and then wanted more the rest of the night until I had eaten it all!

It makes me a little sad that it takes a funeral to get all of us cousins together again, but I am thankful for the time we got to catch up! It was a good time to make a sad situation joyful!