Enjoying the Season

Adam can't help but to be pulled into the holiday spirit. Tonight I asked Mackenzie if she wanted to unwrap a Christmas book and let me read it. She said that she wanted "daddy do it". It was cute watching her get him involved in unwrapping the gift.

The Beginning of the Season

I LOVE decorating for Christmas!!! I spend a little time each day adding little details. It has been 7 days and I am still not 100% finished. I have several projects on my list and look forward to tackling some of them tomorrow. Below are pictures of the kids decorating the tree, Adam putting on his 1 annual ornament, and the kids unwrapping the book "The Night Before Christmas" recorded reading by Papa. More pics to come.

They're Back

Snowflake and Jingle, our elves, have returned. So far, they have wrapped all of our Christmas books (which has been fun to unwrap 1 each day) and gone fishing!!! They are fun to watch move around the house. They tend to be taking it pretty easy on the week nights, but getting a little crazy on Fridays and Saturdays. Lots of fun!!!!

Perfect Potatoes

Thanksgiving this year took a different route than normal. This year, we have seen such a decline in daddy's health. His decline since July has been rapid. It was strongly suggested that mom place him in full time care ASAP. This was a very difficult decision for her, the hardest of her life. However, we (the girls) knew that this was the right decision in the end. I decided to fly up to TN solo for Thanksgiving. It was hard leaving Adam and the kids, but I needed to be a daughter/sister and nothing else during my visit.
I arrived on Tuesday night and Martha picked me up from the airport. Daddy was asleep on the couch when I got home. He was so surprised to see me, his reaction was of that of a child's....genuine excitement. Wednesday was spent getting ready for our Thanksgiving meal and catching up with my sisters. Wednesday night I witnessed several incidents that confirmed his decline for me. We just smiled and enjoyed each other.
Thanksgiving day was spent relaxing, cooking, watching the Thanksgiving parade (which I haven't just watched it in years), laughing, watching old family videos (which daddy cried during some of them saying, "those were the best days."), and visiting. To keep everything simple, we girls had decided to not have husbands or children around. It was a beautiful day. Daddy knew that it was special and tried to talk about his disease several times. This is not something he has done since being diagnosed. He was not successful in completing any of his thoughts, but we all knew what he was trying to get across. I was in charge of cooking. Everyone volunteered to help, but I declined. It was good therapy for me to enjoy cooking the feast of the year without little ones demanding attention. As I was getting the potatoes ready, I found the perfect potato. It was in the shape of a heart. God is good in so many ways. That meal was made out of a lot of love and was enjoyed by so much more love. It was the best Thanksgiving meal I have ever cooked!!! Everything was cooked perfectly.
Friday morning I went in and sat at the bottom of my parents bed, which is something I have done for as long as I can remember. Mom and I decided homemade pancakes would be a good breakfast to start this hard day. Pancakes was always daddy's specialty. I haven't mastered them yet, but have discovered a secret ingredient that makes them pretty comparable. I still can't get them to be as fluffy as daddy's. Sara was able to join us and we had a family breakfast. To keep daddy on his regular schedule, mom went ahead and took him to the Hearth. Seeing them pull out of the driveway was by far the saddest moment for us. Mom refused to let any of us go with her. She is an amazingly strong woman. When she returned, we sat for a bit and then started to pull down the Christmas decorations. We spent the day listening to Christmas music and decorating. Mom seemed to be holding it together, but this is going to be a very hard adjustment for her.
I had to head back to Florida on Saturday. I missed my family terribly and was ready to be surrounded by their hugs and kisses. My heart had a hard time leaving though. I am anxious to head back up in a few weeks, but have so many good things happening until then. I am so blessed.

Trouble...

Love M's bed head and had to click a quick picture. She is going to be a wonderful handful one day. Her little personality develops daily. Gotta love her spunk!!!

My Mister and the Misses

Today I created some chocolate mustaches for a baby shower. Hunter and Mackenzie were able to enjoy them. I was able to a picture of Hunter before his was devoured, but didn't get a pic of Mackenzie until she was done. She was sad hers was all gone, but I couldn't resist the picture.

Happy Halloween

Halloween had a lot of help this year. Hunter took weeks to decide what he wanted to be. I suggested Captain Hook and he loved the idea. Annmother and Pops jumped at the opportunity to help with his costume. They took him to the best costume store around...The Disney Store. It doesn't get much better than that. Since Hunter was Captain Hook, it was only appropriate for Mackenzie to be Tinker Bell (which she has taken too anyways). With a trip to the second hand store, Walmart, and a little hot glue and glitter we created her costume.
We started the night out at the Deardorff families neighborhood and ended the night at a Halloween bash at a local church. The kids had a great time and both fell asleep on the way home. Good memories made.