Sunday, January 9, 2011

Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Birthday for Nana


It's been a while since I posted on my blog, and I don't mean to bore anyone that reads this blog, but until I get faithful with a journal, this is my lazy way of keeping track of my life. I am going to run quickly through my last couple of months as a lot has happened but I have got to get it down before I forget. I am planning on writing a history for my family as soon as I get time and I wished I had started this about 35 years ago. Word of advice to young families. Start writing down the cute things your children do so you don't have to go back and try to remember. Spencer's children love to hear stories about when their dad was young. I have about ran out and I wished I could also tell stories about their mother, but I will leave that to the other Grandma. As soon as they can understand, I can't wait to tell them the story about when Spencer was the Santa at our elementary Christmas party. He had forgotten boots so he wore his tennis shoes and as the kids came up to get their candy canes, they were amazed at how tall he was and how big his feet were. I remember one little boy looking up at him and saying "Wow Santa, you are really tall." I couldn't stop laughing. Spence didn't think it was very funny though as he hadn't expected the whole school to be there, he was sweating to death, and he was running out of candy canes. I don't think he will ever put on another Santa suit after than ordeal.
Back to my story. Starting with Thanksgiving. We had Thanksgiving this year in Boise and Kelly and his family couldn't get there until Friday. Thursday, those who were there went out to eat and I kept wanting to stand up and make the statement that we weren't being lazy and not cooking, but we were going to celebrate on Friday but I didn't (surprise, surprise). By Friday, my whole family had shown up, even our Texans. Spencer had assigned me the job of taking care of Cole (my newest grandchild) and I was in hog heaven. I pretty much just sat, held the baby, and watched with pride and happiness my family having fun together. Summer had a beautiful table set and we felt very elegant in our surroundings. It was a very memorable Thanksgiving. My family will be glad to know I didn't make them take a family photo. I wanted to but was too busy holding my newest grandchild.
Christmas, it's back to Boise after Kelly and his family stopped at school (at my request) and we celebrated in my classroom. That was fun and I am glad the grandkids got to see where I spend most of my time.
Again, I spent most of my time holding the baby and hopefully that freed Summer up to get some things done. I can't think of a better Christmas than holding a baby most of the time. We had a great time Christmas Eve and then Christmas morning. It was my job not to let the children come down the stairs until Summer and Spencer were awake and considering how late they stayed up putting things together, it was a good thing the kids waited until about 7:30 to get up. I tried entertaining them for a while upstairs but I finally ran downstairs to wake the parents and Spence rolls over and says "Just give me five more minutes." I infomed him that he needed to get up now and would miss the whole thing if he didn't. And Christmas morning began. That afternoon I drove to Council to finish off my deliveries, and got to visit with Ned's family some. I only stayed long enough to unwrap gifts as I was worried about the fog and the roads going back to Boise. It's always interesting at Ned's parents home. I have never seen a quiet moment there. There were snowmibiles flying around, kids running in and out, and Gwen in the kitchen, which is where I usually find her.
What a fantastic Christams! Thanks Summer for putting up with me so much. I realize that it's not easy having someone invade you home but you never blink an eye and I never feel unwelcome. Next celebration was my birthday. My birthday always falls on the first couple of days back to school after Christmas break so it usually isn't a fun time. This year I decided to make it a little more interesting so I took 120 mini muffins to school for the students. The last ten minutes of classtime I showed them the muffins but told them they had to earn them by writing me a nice birthday note. Wow! I didn't realize that I was the "Best Teacher in the Universe", that I reminded one students of her grandmother that she loved, and that I had "Eyes the color of the ocean." It really made me feel good although I had bribed them with muffins. Then in the middle of the afternoon, I got flowers delivered to me. That was a real treat. By the end of the day, I had heard from all my children, I was exhausted, and glad to fall in bed with another year behind me. I can't believe how old I turned on this birthday but I really can't complain because I am very healthy, my bones don't creak, my heart has a regular beat, I don't have cancer, and I am still alive and kicking. I know this coming year is going to be the best of my life. All I have to say is: "Bring it on."

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