Bye-Bye Balloon

In our house, we send balloons up to Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Jim in heaven. We buy special balloons on their birthdays and the anniversary of their death, go outside and wave good-bye to the balloon.

For my birthday, Amanda, Josh and the cats sent me an Edible Arrangement along with an "I Love You" balloon attached to it. The Arrangement came during Alex's naptime, so it was dinnertime before he saw the balloon. As soon as he saw it, he took it to the sliding glass door, pointed outside and said "bye-bye balloon". It made my heart smile that he knows what we do with balloons and it makes me really happy to know that eventually he will know the reason why.

After dinner, we took the balloon outside, let it go, told Grandma and Grandpa that we love them (or "buv you", in Alex-speak) and said and waved bye-bye to the balloon! I suppose that it was only appropriate to send up a balloon to my parents on my 30th birthday. I love that we have this special tradition and I love knowing that it keeps the memory of my Mom and Dad alive!

Here are some pictures of us releasing the balloon:

Alex and the balloon:

Watching the balloon float up the Grandma and Grandpa:

Showing Daddy where the balloon is:

In the middle of saying "buv-you" and waving:

Bye-bye: