Abbigail Jeannine receives her patriarchal blessing

Abby called me Saturday and invited me out to their home on Sunday afternoon to go with her and her parents to get her patriarchal blessing.  I was humbled and very happy that she wanted me to be a part of this special moment in her life.  I arrived at their home a little after 4.  We went to the patriarch's home only to find out that he had told her 4:30 but meant 5:30.  He wasn't home yet so we went back to their home and visited until a little before 5:30 and then headed back.  Nice that Gertsons only lived a few blocks from his home.  During the hour that we were waiting, Annie downed and apron and quickly made pumpkin cookies for us to eat and for Emmi to take back to the Y with her that night.

The blessing was beautiful.  I remember quite a bit of it but won't share any of it because it is Abby's blessing and is private to her.  The Patriarch shook my hand and said, "You must be a very special grandmother to be invited."  I teared up and certainly did feel very special.  Abby is not only my name sake but has a beautiful and very genuinely sweet personality and spirit.  She is far advanced spiritually than I was at her age.  I was touched by the blessing she was given from her Heavenly Father through the patriarch.  It was a tender evening for her, her mother and dad and for me.  The Patriarch asked Abby to give the opening prayer and after the blessing he asked Jeff to give a closing prayer.  First time I've ever experienced an opening and closing prayer in that kind of situation.  Both the prayers were beautiful and filled with much love and meaning.

I asked the Patriarch if I could take a picture of him and Abby.  He hesitated and then said, "Well, I guess there isn't anything in the handbook that says one shouldn't.  I just smiled and commented that I thought it was perfectly acceptable and that we weren't in the chapel, we were in a home.  He said no one had ever asked for a picture.  I just smiled and took it quick before he could change his mind.  I think he was a bit uncomfortable which I thought was kind of silly.  Picture of Abby and I and one of her and the Patriarch.  Wish I could remember his name but it has gone from my mind and it is too late to call Abby.  

Those cherished 'thank you' notes

When the towels and sheets came out of the dryer, I went downstairs to make the bed and put the towels back in the bathroom.  I was greeted by 'thank you' notes laying on the table.  I read them, each one, with tears.  Tears that represented happiness from having this family with us for a week and tears of saddness of having them on their way home and that we wouldn't see them again until June.  That seems so far away.

 I love that Peyton loves Neals jokes!

Anxiously awaiting this surprise package.  Neal and I are the ones who should be doing something fun for them!  Thank you all for a wonderful visit, midnight talks, midnight games and just enjoying every single minute with you!  Love you all.  Gam and Pa

Like Father like Son

Jamie took this picture of Tucker and sent it to Neal and I.  Tucker is always taking pictures of Neal asleep and Jamie thought this would be a good pay back.  It is perfect!!

Saying "goodbye" once again.

This is the hardest time for me and for Peyton.  I could say that some day she and I will grow out of it, but I'm already 71 and haven't grown out of it yet so, Peyton, I don't think there is much hope for you.  Goodbyes are just always going to be a bit harder for you and me.  Tucker and Jamie had decided to leave about 9:00 but reality was more like 10:30.  They were well ready to leave by 9:00 but Jamie always leaves the basement immaculate and that can only happen when everything is packed and out to the car.  It just takes extra time to pack, get three girls moving, clean the bathroom, haul laundry upstairs and start a load of wash and then vacuum everywhere.  Thank you Jamie for always leaving me with nothing to do but put clean towels back and make the bed.

We all sat around the kitchen table chatting and for me, avoiding the inevitable.  Jamie finally said, that we needed to have family prayer and be on the road.  Tucker asked Neal to say the prayer and then we slowly made our way to the car.  Lots of hugs and held back tears, waves goodbye and a car driving out of sight.  We love having them come and enjoy every minutes they are here which makes it even harder to say goodbye.
There always has to be a selfie of the group.

 This is a picture of Lexi saying goodbye to her birthday balloons.  Funny story here.  Tucker told me that Peyton wanted to such in some helium to make her voice go higher.  Apparently she sucked in too much and she passed out!  Scary but kind of funny.  She wanted to do it again (not pass out) and promised Tucker she would only suck in a little, but Tucker told her absolutely not.  Lexi wanted to take the smiley face home with her but both parents said that was not an option to have that balloon floating around in the car for 12+ hours.

 All piled in after hugs.

 Pulling out on a snowy morning.  The first snow of the winter.

It is hard to see but all the windows were rolled down and everyone had their arms out waving their final goodbye.  My heart ached.

 I wanted to add here that Tucker was having a problem with his foot and then his leg.  We were concerned that he might have a blood clot so Neal took him to the ER on Friday morning.  They ran all kinds of tests and did an ultra sound on his leg but could find nothing wrong.  They were actually going to leave on Friday and go by way of Lake Tahoe. Jamie wanted to attend a guide dog graduation for one of her clients that she had enjoyed working with.  However because of weather issues and the concern about Tucker's leg they decided to wait and leave Saturday morning and go straight home through Southern Utah.   We did get a text from them that they arrived home at 12:45 in the morning.  I'm sure they were happy to be home after a long drive.  

Decorating for Christmas

The tree goes up Thanksgiving night and the next day is pretty much devoted to getting it decorated.  This year went quickly and smoothly.  Neal jumped in and helped along with Peyton.  It was fun to watch her as she determined where each ornament should go on the tree.  We had the whole tree done in a little over an hour and it is gorgeous.  Decorating the tree is certainly one project that I'm glad is over and done with.  Of course there is always one or two or more accidents of dropping a Christmas ornament.  This year the first person to break one was Pa.  Peyton, with her hand on her hip, pointed to the mess Pa had made.  It was all in remembrance of a few years back when Peyton accidentally dropped a glass bulb and it shattered on the floor.  You all know the rest of the story.

One of the harder things that I sometimes choose not to bother with is the nativity.  I have a beautiful one that Lila Mae made for me when Jeff and Annie were little.  It is the arranging and figuring out where and how the scene should be set up.  So, this year, I put Jordyn Lyn and Lexi in charge.  They did a beautiful job!  Thanks girls.

 I had Peyton set up the wood nativity.  That one is fun to set up as well because there are so many ways you can arrange it.

 The finished Nativity.  I'm happy to have it set up.  Isn't this what Christmas is all about anyway?  It is a beautiful reminder to me every time I look at it.

All I have left to do is the garland on the banister and I should be done.  Feels good to have most of the decorating already completed.

The Christmas Tree

The day always ends with the boys helping Neal put up the Christmas Tree.  It has been a long tradition to put up the tree Thanksgiving night and then decorate it the next day.  It is an interesting change from one holiday to the next over night.  I keep telling Neal that the tree is too big for the two of us to tackle any more and we need to get a smaller tree.  I haven't quite convinced him yet but I think that may happen in a couple years.  The two of us are not even able to lift it up and down from the loft in the garage without help.  Yikes, we are getting older and need help from our kids!  Jeff standing on a chair putting on the top of the tree.  It helps to be 6'8"!!  Thanks Tucker and Jeff for helping us assemble the Christmas tree.

I happened to go downstairs to put a folding chair away and found all the kids on the couch watching a movie that they had made.  One of the few moments where they were all quite!

Thanksgiving dinner

It is quite a feat putting on a dinner for 27 people.   If we had the whole family there would have been 9 more people making a total of 36 people!  For some reason that would seem overwhelming to me.  Not even sure how we could seat 36 people in our home.  With all the girls help we prepared a delicious traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  It was delicious.  Everything prepared to perfection.

 Of course the day is always followed by table games.  Now with the kids getting older everyone wants to play.  We keep trying to get the teens to start their own games but they always seem to want to play with the adults.  This game below is one of the family favorites.  "What Were You Thinking".  It was one of those games that I bought from the internet and has ended up being the best find ever.

 Jeff introduced me to a new game called AlphaBetty.  It is a word game which always intrigues me.  He and I were busy playing that game while Greg and Maren were changing the screen to glass in preparation for winter.  I love seeing the glass replaced with screen much more!

Greg had just come off a long shift at the airport and I know he was tired so I really appreciated him taking some time to help his in-laws.  Thanks Greg!

Traditions

Thanksgiving morning I woke up to the smell of the turkey baking.  That wonderful smell permeates the house and I love it.  I laid in bed and thought of all the past Thanksgivings when I was growing up.  Mother always hosted Thanksgiving for the family.  There was always a feast of the traditional Thanksgiving meal along with her wonderful home made pies.  I have always loved Thanksgiving more than any other holiday for as long as I can remember.  Mother's birthday was the 27th so often her birthday landed on Thanksgiving.  Today, as I write this, is her birthday and I am missing her.

Back to the present.  Our family all met at Fat Cats at 10:00 for the traditional bowling.  We did things a little different this year.  Instead of having the teens and little ones bowl with their parents we put all the girl teens on one lane and all the young boys on a lane and the adults together on a couple lanes.  It worked out perfect.  Everyone bowled two games including the youngest of the group.

We always run into President Little and his family along with the Pikes from our old neighborhood on Cumberland Road.  It is a fun tradition and one that I hope we continue as the years come and go.
I didn't bring my phone, which is unusual for me, so I had to rely on my children sending their pictures to me.  Here are some of the pictures that came my way.

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving preparations actually begin the night before.  I like to get the tables set up and some of the food ready to be cooked the next day, the turkey stuffed and in the oven at midnight and the rolls raising very slowly in the frig overnight.  It was also a night for sleepovers at Lynda Ann's home.  Jamie and I drove the three girls to Stansbury and left them there playing games.  I love that the grandchildren are taking up the tradition of table games.

 We noticed that Annie had some interesting things on the counter that she was in the process of making for Thanksgiving.  This year her idea didn't turn out quite like she had hoped so she bagged the idea and we didn't get to see the finished project.  She said it was supposed to be a turkey leg made out of pretzels and marshmallows and rice krispies.  However it just didn't come together.  We had a good laugh.

 Jamie and I drove back and picked up Neal and Tucker who had been setting up the tables and chairs.  We went to Cafe Rio for dinner along with a bunch of other people who had the very same idea.  When we got home we played a round of Shanghi and then off to bed.  It was a fun day.

A couple random birthday shots.

 Couldn't resist jumping in.  Probably the best picture of me ever!!

Cute Picture of Peyton

Emmi and I both thought this was Einstein but we found out that it was Mark Twain.  I think Tucker was the one who recognized who it was.

Tueaday evening

Maren and her children stopped by to visit.  Tucker went and bought pizza for everyone and then the kids put together gingerbread houses.  As Jamie and Maren were putting the houses together they soon recognized that the frosting does not dry in 30 seconds like the directions indicate so they decided to hot glue the frame of the houses together and have the kids then just decorate the outside.  Very clever and time saving decision.

After the house were finished and decorated we played a game of Shanghai.

Tuesday events.

I went to work planning on staying until about 1 or 2 when I got a text from Jamie that said, "When are you coming home?  It is boring without you here."  So I immediately closed down my computer and headed for home.  I thought Jamie and the girls might be visiting friends that day but they stayed home and I certainly didn't want to miss any moment I could have with them.  Jamie's sister, Karly, dropped by about 12:30 to visit.  I busied myself with making bread and chocolate chip cookies.  It seems to be a tradition now that when the girls come to visit, we make bread.  Peyton seems to be the one who is the most interested in the process.  She intently watches from the mixing, to the kneeding and then anxiously awaits for me to cut off her section of dough to do what she wants with it.

 Bread right out of the oven nice and hot.  Perfect for cutting and spreading with butter and jam.