I love Christmas!! It's such a fun time of year!! I especially love the traditions. My family always goes to a movie on Christmas Eve and this year we went to see Bolt. Jacks loved it and as soon as it was over asked if we could go to see it again the next day. Cooper was a handful! He did pretty good until about halfway through and then he lost interest in the popcorn and the movie. I eventually had to go stand up with him and let him play on the ramp down to the exit while I watched the ending.
After the movie we headed over to the Keele's for dinner and the program. All the kids dressed up and performed the Nativity for us while Bert's brother, Dave, read Luke 2.
Then the kids gathered around while John read The Grinch. Traditionally Bert's dad Don would read it to all the grandkids but John has stepped in for the last couple of years. All together there were 47 people gathered at Peggy's for Christmas Eve (and that's just Bert's immediate family!!) It can get pretty chaotic!
We headed over to my mom's after the program so the kids could open the traditional Christmas pajamas. Then we headed out to look at lights. Both boys fell asleep pretty quickly because they hadn't had a nap that day, but Bert and I enjoyed all the lights. After we got home and got the kids all tucked in we went to work wrapping a couple of things and getting ready for Christmas morning. It was fun to see their faces when they walked out in the living room and knew Santa had been there. After opening a few things at our house, we headed over to my mom and dads.
Taking a break from opening to read some of the new books they got!
My sister had a baby on Dec. 3. His name is Tate and he's so cute and such a good baby!
In the afternoon we headed over to the Keele's to open some more presents and play games. Peggy was able to get Don out of the Nursing home for a few hours on Christmas and it was really good to see him back in the house. For those of you who don't know, Bert's dad has Alzheimer's and has gotten really bad in the last year. He's been in a nursing home for about 6 months now. It was so good to see him and be with him again. One of Bert's sisters-in-law came up with the idea of making Don a quilt, to hang in his room, with all of our pictures and things that might help stir a memory for him. We each made a couple of blocks and then Julie pieced it all together. It came out so nice!
I've always wanted to get a generation picture with Don, Bert, and the boys but I never have my camera with me. Thankfully I had it on Christmas and was able to get a good one. Don has been losing his memory slowly ever since Bert and I got married. In the last couple of years it has gotten so bad that it's hard to have conversations with him. It's hard to remember the real Don because I only knew him for a short while, but he is one of the best men I've ever known.
Now onto a funnier note...the boys came out of their room on the day after Christmas dressed like this. They had both decided to take their pants off and put on the Crocs and then they ran around the house for a while laughing and having fun. It made me laugh to see them dressed like this! They are so funny!
We hope everyone had a fun Christmas and a good New Year. We're grateful for all of our friends and family and want you to know how much we love and appreciate you!!
Bert's dad passed away early Sunday morning. It was a very peaceful and sweet experience. For the last 6 months he has been in a care center and about a week ago Peggy felt impressed that it was time to bring him home. She said she missed his company and wanted to be the one to take care of him. He hasn't been doing so well recently and has been losing a lot of weight and even had to be put in a wheelchair because he was falling down too much. So we all thought that if he was going to continue to go downhill it would be better for him to be at home when he passed away. But even after she made the decision there was a lot to be done to get him home and so it was going to take 2 weeks. She went to see him last Saturday and he had gotten really bad and had been in bed for 5 days and wasn't opening his eyes anymore. But it was a Saturday and private ambulance she had ordered to transport him home wasn't working on weekends.
Bert got in contact with my brother Ben who is a paramedic/fireman for Orem City. He said there probably wasn't anything they could do to help us out. But then Ben called back about 5 minutes later and said his Captain was a really nice guy and really wanted to help us out. So Bert and Ben got it all arranged and Don finally got home around 8 o'clock. The family all gathered around to be with him on Saturday night. It was so sad to see him laying in the hospital bed and not opening his eyes. It was a sweet experience to be with him and tell him goodbye. I had left my kids with Tiff and my parents and kept thinking I should go home so they could get some sleep but I just didn't want to leave him and felt like it was going to be my last time to see him. We got a phone call later that night at 4:30 saying he had just passed away.
It was really peaceful and he just went in his sleep. Don was one of the nicest men I have ever known!! He was an excellent husband and father and a great role model for everyone. He will be dearly missed but we all know he is in a better place and that he can be himself again!!
