Where has January...December...November gone?!

Oh, goodness sakes! It was mid-November the last time I posted and now, here we are and it seems as though I've forgotten everything I wanted to write over the course of two months. In fact, I have!


Thanksgiving was wonderful, though bittersweet. We went to Grandma Opal and Grandpa Tom's home for a combined Christmas and Thanksgiving and it was the first time in a long time that the ENTIRE family was there. Most of the time not everyone can come as they are too far away or have other plans with their spouse's family. It was awesome!

In saying this, it brings me to also add that that this was the last Christmas and Thanksgiving, or any other special gathering that any of us would celebrate with my Grandpa Tom. He passed away not too long after and although we knew his health was failing, it came much too quickly. I have never experienced a death in my family and I can say that even though you know what is coming, it always comes too soon and feels unexpected. Writing this now, I think of my Grandma, my mom and how much they miss him. We talk sometimes of him, but the coversation is still too short, as the tears come too quickly. His funeral service was wonderful and I know watching from above, he must of felt such joy and peace in his heart. I miss him everyday and I can imagine he misses us, too. Avery said to me just the other day, "Mom, I want to die so I can see Grandpa Tom." I haven't decided yet how to react to that comment and I don't think I said much other than that she has so much to live for yet. That made me especially sad but it is telling of how sensitive and compassionate Avery is.

Christmas was really wonderful as we ended up staying home the entire time and with John and I both working at the same company, we get to be at home on the same days! So, I finished up my Christmas shopping taking an extra vacation day withOUT the kids and wrapped gifts. My favorite is stuffing the stocking, maybe because that was my favorite part about Christmas. I don't really know why. Mom and dad were always so creative in their stocking gifts, I guess! And it was pretty easy this year as all Avery wanted was Silly Putty and beads. Those fit in the stockings, too! We did get her a little video game, which we've recently been really thankful for because on Saturday mornings when she gets up extra early, we tell her to go play her game and she is always so excited to do so. An extra 15 minutes of sleep never hurt any kid's parents! She wrote out a letter to Santa--really sweet and left him milk and brownies. Which I was regretting at 11PM after I had already eaten two for desert at dinner. UGH. And I can't throw anything away because she always finds it and scolds me! This includes the approximately 500 drawings she's done at school--she is much like her father in this way--saving EVERYTHING. It drives me crazy. After opening gifts that morning we tried to head down to Minnesota to see the rest of the family, but we had to turn around at Iowa Falls. The weather was awful and with the two girls in the car, we didn't want to brave it. Don't tell John, but I was secretly kind of happy that we could jump back into our jammies and veg out for the day! I did miss seeing them, though. Anna is in her first year in college and loving it. Maria lives in Chicago and I can't wait to go see her sometime. Chris and Dan just had another baby, Greta and none of them have seen Sophie yet. So, after packing and unpacking, it was disappointing that we couldn't make the trip.

John and I had our first ugly sweater party, which was an absolute blast. So thankful to mom and dad for watching the girls for a few hours! Talk about UGLY. I can't believe some of the sweaters we saw. I thought mine and John's were definitely ugly, but they were actually pretty decent compared to some others! YIKES.

New Years, John's brother Nick came over and stayed for four days. It was also a great time had by all and it was so great to see John spend some time with Nick. They don't do their annual road trip anymore (although they still do the snowmobiling trip), so they don't get together much. And they are like best-buds. Nick makes a mean bowl of chili, too! They played the Wii and watched some football-A LOT of football. I made all the goodies, as tradition calls for, including shrimp cocktail, little smokies, stuffed mushrooms, and bacon covered water chestnuts. MMMMMMMM! So good.

The girls are growing up so much, it seems. Avery has lost two teeth and Sophie is waving "bye-bye" and just nearly walking. I'll share more here later this week! And...I PROMISE I'll get some pics up if I can figure it out. I still can't move them around like you guys have. They always stay on the right side?? WHAT?! Grrr.