California Trip

On Saturday, July 31st my grandma Evelyn Henslee passed away. She was my dad’s mom, and she was a wonderful, sweet, and very kind woman. She and her husband Jack live in Bakersfield, California. She has struggled with many health issues and has been in significant pain for the last several years, so while it was sad to have her go, I am so relieved that she is no longer in pain. I know she is happy to be whole again. She was 88 years old.

Abby and I flew to California last Tuesday to be with my entire family for the viewing and the funeral.

My sister Carrie and I were on the same flight to LAX with our babes. Abby and Colton were great on the plane- I was more worried about the other passengers and their reactions to us and the babies than the babies themselves but they were fantastic travelers. The strangers around us were also very nice and I was even offered help from several other travelers on both flights.

The 6 of us haven’t been together since Robbie and Hannah’s wedding, over 2 years ago (and strangely, also in California.) The funny thing about this trip was that no spouses ended up coming; it was completely a Hamill trip. It was so wonderful to be with my siblings and parents and I am so glad we were all able to be together for this funeral.


Abby and Colton were able to meet their Aunt Keena and Uncle Robbie and we all had tons of time to talk in the car on the way from LA to Bakersfield.

Sorry Mom- Abby doesn't look too excited to be with you but she really was!

There was a lot of this going on.

Keena and Robbie at the burial.

I don't know why but I really like this picture of Keena.

There was even more of this going on. Lots of side-by-side cousin time in the carseats.

My dad and his step dad Jack.

We are sorry to have our grandmother gone but we enjoyed spending time together and with our cousins from my dad’s side who we don’t see often.

Airport bathroom on the way home! (She was not happy at this point.)

It was a very quick trip and I returned on Wednesday night around 10 pm.

Cue the food poisoning.

We had a luncheon at my Aunt Lynn’s house after the burial with a ton of food that her friends prepared. I ate a lot of everything and who knows what it was, but my family all ate what I did, for the most part.

Robbie had a red-eye back to DC Wednesday night that I was sure he was sick on, and Keena had to go back to work the next day… fortunately (or unfortunately for us) my mom and I were the only ones who were hit with it. It was awful, and sparing the details, it was a rough couple of days. Taking care of the baby made things more difficult, but thankfully the absolute worst of it was during the night when she was sleeping.

Food poisoning aside, we had a good visit. Next time, no funerals please. And maybe I pack my own lunch.