Food For Thought.....

Ever thought you would be excited to pay $2.33 gallon for gas????????

The Majesty of the Sky

This evening as we were getting ready to leave for the bowling alley, I went outside and this is what it looked like. Isn't it amazing? I couldn't figure out where the red was coming from, but I thought it was beautiful. Within about 5 minutes, it began to dissipate, and then it was gone. I'm so glad I didn't miss it!

Our Thanksgiving Celebration

Today we celebrated Thanksgiving. It was a perfect day. Joleen, Alex and Carmen was here. Aimee and Vince was here. They brought Aimee's friend Christy with them. Carol, our next door neighbor was here too! Add in Brad, Sarah, and myself and we had quite a bunch. The food was to die for, and there was just enough to enjoy without having to eat it for days afterwards. Add to our day, magnificent weather, music in the background, puppies and babies, and lots of laughs and you have a recipe for a perfect day. In the morning, Aimee, Vince, Sarah and Christy went to see Harry Potter. In the evening, Joleen and Alex left Carmen with us and went to see it themselves. While they were gone, we took Carmen and Sarah to the mall for something to do to pass the time. Seems I'm out of practice with little ones. It took forever to hook her in the stroller! After we got home, I gave her a quick bath, and we were off to bed early. Seems the excitement of the day just wore me out! Tomorrow we will decorate for Christmas since we'll be in Lake Tahoe next week and won't be available to do it then! The neighbor's will wonder what's going on, but oh well.....We pray many blessings on all of your holiday celebrations! Click here for photos.

Isn't He The Sweetest Thing?

Never in my life would I have imagined faling so deeply in love with an animal. (Other than Brad, of course!) This little dog just melts my heart, even when he's being a little menace like he is right now. He is definately in his terrible twos in dog years! He just looks for trouble to get into. But as with all our children, when they are sleeping, they wear their halos, and for a brief moment we forget the horror of the day. Buster has this habit that I love most of all. Although, it is difficult to tell in this photo, he is actually UNDER my down comforter. He loves to burrow underneath the comforter and curl up in a ball. Then he places that sweet little face of his, right on my stomach or leg or some part of me or Brad and prompty goes to sleep. When I opened the covers to take the picture he had to open his eyes to see what I was doing. Nothing gets by him!

Sarah's New Teeth

Well, today was a big day for Sarah as we made the first of 3 major trips to the orthodontist for braces. Although she was very nervous, she did very well. I was proud of her as she endured an hour of cheek stretching, mouth drying, metal gluing, rubber band stuffing trauma! I thought she might lose it when the spacers were being shoved in her molars, but she didn't! She'll go back on the 29th for the wires and on December 7th to complete the job. We expect her to wear them 18-24 months. She'll only have top braces for about 4 months while they stretch her bottom jaw wider. When she is all done, there will be a hole next to her eye tooth, where the missing tooth is. For those of you who don't know, she was born with one less tooth than the rest of us. Her retainer will have a false tooth in it, and after awhile, we'll have to get her an implant. I offered her an out, but she was adamant about needing a great smile for her career choice of flight attendant!

Jessica's Baby Shower

Today, we went to Michelle's house for Jessica's baby shower. It was a great day with lots of family, food and fun. Jessica was there, of course and so was her boyfriend, Taylor. Other than a persistant bladder infection, she is doing well. The doctor says she should be able to carry baby Chase Landon another few weeks, delivering somwhere between November 25th and December 5th (if I remember the dates correctly.) Chase is currently breech and doesn't seem to have room to turn, so she will probably deliver C-section. She received many beautiful gifts. None were less special than the other, but the fleece blanket seemed to be the talk of the town! Seems the grandkids LOVE those blankets. Jessie told us that she has packed hers to take to the hopsital with her. The other grandkids say they never go anywhere without those blankets!

This day was special for Brad and I as we had all of our grandchildren at the same place at the same time. I can't remember if that's ever happened before.

David is turning out to be quite a ham bone. In the slideshow, you'll see him being Superman. He is fearless. I feel sorry for Michelle. He will definately walk early, and will be a hard one to keep track of.

Click here to see a slideshow of our day.

Adjusting

Adjusting to change is never easy. This has been a big year for adjustments and the hardest ones are yet to come. Having my children grow up and move out of our home was difficult enough. Walking them down the aisle, although a wonderful moment, was sad as well. But, last year, I was doubly blessed when both girls, with new husbands in tow, celebrated the holidays with me. I had them all at Thanksgiving. I had them all Christmas eve. And yes, they all spent the night and we celebrated Christmas together...all day. I was spoiled. This year, there have many many occasions where when we got together we were not all present. Each time, we settled in to our new roles of accepting each other's new lives. Vacation in Hawaii was the most difficult. To finally be able not only to afford a vacation, but to be allowed the time to take, and not be able to take all my children, presented a void in each happy memory. As I sit here this morning and reflect about how to get through the next two months without everyone where I want them, when I want them, I am sad. I also feel guilty for being so selfish. How do I do this? I don't want to let go; I don't like it. I try to compensate, to make arrangements that will finagle them all here for me. It's getting harder and harder. We are close. We are blessed. We speak almost everyday. We email on the days we can't talk. It's not like we are absent from one another. But something is different during the holidays. This one, not only am I missing my married daughters, but my youngest as well. Making the adjustment from completely living every moment taking care of her needs to leaving her in the complete care of someone else has been far more difficult than I had imagined. Halloween was very wierd without her. My little ones were supposed to be the queen's that day, and I don't even know what my youngest did. I have no idea what she looked like. I have no way to find out. She hasn't written in 2-1/2 months. She has never called, even though she has weekly phone privileges. This Thanksgiving, I have found a way to share the traditions of the holidays with 3 out of 4 of my girls, even though it will be in two different days and it means I will have Thanksgiving dinner twice in 5 days. It's worth it to me. In sadness, though, we will not share it with Deana. Another holiday lost. Will she miss it? I wonder. In my heart I don't think so. I fear that she adapted so well to the group home, that she might be better suited for that than in our home. I wonder.... Aimee will celebrate Thanksgiving with me before Thanksgiving, but will be all alone on the actual day. This is hard for me. Joleen will get to go away with us and share Thanksgiving with us, but will not be with us Christmas morning. This is the first Christmas morning in the 22 years I've been a mommy that my daughter will not wake up with me. It's hard. I am happy as she starts new traditions with Alex. I truly am, but still I am sad. Her absence will definitely be noticed. Aimee is spending the night on Christmas Eve, maybe for the last time? Letting go......does it ever get easier?