A Smile from Dad

My dad isn't moving and thinking so well these days, but every once-in-a-while I can say something that will make him laugh. After Kelly took him for a shave and a hair cut, I told him I needed a picture of my handsome dad. He found that amusing. It's in those moment that I see my dad, the one I knew as a little girl and a young woman. He has a dry sense of humor and loves to joke. It's hard to watch his brain deteriorate. It's not too bad yet, but it will get worse. The neurologist said that because he was a smart man, he will be able to hide it longer. He sounds like he knows what he's talking about and appears the intelligent man he's always been. But he doesn't know that some of the things he talks about are not in the right time frames or possibly didn't happen. I don't tell him. It doesn't matter. I just enjoy the time we have.

Nearing the Finish Line for School

Heather is nearing the finish line with school. I hung her uniform up to dry for the last time and had a sentimental moment. She is working on some service hours for her government class. Heather is already receiving a service cord for service rendered over the past two years, but government wants the service in the time frame of the semester she's in government. So, Heather has added some activities. She helped feeding grandpa this month, she helped box some clothes for a shelter, and she has been working with her former first grade teacher, Miss Ashlock/Mrs. Hunter. It's cute to see her being teacher grading papers and organizing, and super cute that she's doing it for her first grade teacher. Although I'm a little bugged that the Government teacher was so particular about the service the kids logged, I'm happy Heather has had this experience to reach out, outside of church, and serve in the community.

Aunt Michelle's Extended Visit

Aunt Michelle stayed a few extra days to help out with Grandpa Ron. We celebrated his birthday from April and Aunt Shell's upcoming May birthday with some yummy bundt cakes. On Aunt Shell's last day, she and I went to The Original Pancake House on the way to the airport. We love getting Dutch Babies here. Our mom used to make them, and they're so yummy. We love went Aunt Shell, Uncle Shane and Gavin come to visit!

Cleaning Out Dad's Place Part 3 and 4

Work at my dad's was put on hold after Michelle's last visit in October. We needed a break. After finding out that Michelle wasn't going to be able to return until next May at the earliest, I made a plan to try to get the rest of the stuff down the mountain. On December 5, Heather volunteered to go with me to be my assistant. We donned masks to protect us from the dust and nicotine smell. She was a trooper helping me put things in boxes and load the truck. Once again, I thought I could get everything in one load, but the truck filled up fast. When I realized I wasn't going to get it all in one trip (we were working on the back room that was filled to the brim with stuff), we called it a day and headed down the mountain. We had a yummy dinner at the farmhouse before heading to Grandpa's new place to unload. Kelly and Jenna helped unload.

On 12-19, I made a trip up myself. Heather had had enough, and it felt like my burden to bear, so I went alone. I was pretty confident I could finish up. I had told Dad that I wanted to get him moved before Christmas and before the rain and snow started. I stopped along the way to take pictures since it had snowed recently. It is really pretty in the mountains, and I can see why people like Idyllwild. I finished the back room and collected everything from the living room, kitchen and other rooms that I could. I left my dad to pack the bathrooms and whatever else he wanted to take explaining to him that he needed to make this a final trip. With another loaded truck packed to the brim, I headed down the mountain. There was a storm coming in so I hit some clouds on the way, but otherwise made it down just fine. Kelly, Heather and Jenna helped unload again.

My dad followed me a few days later with his car packed also. He informed me he left his television and cable box along with a few other things for his "next trip." I don't understand what he's thinking. He has a buyer, and they want to make a deal. The weather is going to be bad the next several weeks which makes travel unsafe. I guess it's a hard transition, and he isn't ready to say good-bye yet? I don't know. He doesn't communicate all his thoughts even when I ask questions and give him my thoughts on what I see that needs to be done. He's been alone and independent for a very long time, and I guess he isn't used to communicating. I guess he'll make another trip up when the weather clears.

Cleaning Out Dad's Place, Part 2

We scheduled this weekend to meet Michelle, Shane and Gavin at my dad's Idyllwild place to continue clean out. After Michelle and I initially visited in July, worked and realized the task was going to take a lot longer than anticipated, we scheduled time with the husbands and some man muscle. We rented hotel rooms for an overnight stay so we didn't have to drive back home in between packing days. The kids thought this was cool, and it was nice to have a shower and place to stay closer to the action. We concentrated on the outdoor areas as well as moving the furniture pieces that required the guys. We filled the back of a UHall truck and took another load or two to the local dump and donation centers. After two full days of work, there is still a lot to do, but we were pleased with the outdoor areas being cleaned up. I worked on the porch which seemed insurmountable. I concentrated on one area at a time until I could see the end. It was really easy to want to feel frustrated at how much was left after all our hard work, but we had to focus on what we DID accomplish.  We have scheduled another packing day in October, and we'll need another rental truck. There's that much stuff.  After we unloaded the truck, we couldn't believe how much space it took up. If we can't get Dad to part with more stuff, his new place is going to look like a warehouse of boxes with isles in the middle. Yikes.

Cleaning Out Dad's Place Part 1

Another fun adventure I had while Kelly and the girls were at camp was with my sister, cleaning out my Dad's mobile home in Idyllwild. It was pretty good timing that she could come while the family was gone because this was not a project we could undertake while worrying about getting home and taking care of kids and schedules.

This was our first trip to Dad's in many years, and we were, quite frankly, shocked. We did not expect to walk into a situation that looked like an episode of Hoarders, Buried Alive. We discovered that Dad is a packrat/hoarder.  We spent day one cleaning the spare bedroom out so we could have an empty room to move things to that were going to Dad's new place.

I may have recorded this already, but in December of 2014, Dad was at my place and had left for a doctor appointment in Anaheim Hills. He frequently visits the Kaiser facility there, so I thought nothing of it. When he returned, I learned that he had spent the past three or four hours trying to find the location. He went to the location he normally goes to, but the appointment was at a new building, and that was the one he couldn't find. He eventually had to divulge that he cannot see well enough to read street signs or find address numbers while driving. The macular degeneration he has had taken the center or pinpoint vision from his eyes, and the condition will get worse as he gets older. The incident started a discussion about the possibility of him moving closer to me before he needs help. He agreed and we started mobile home hunting in February. After a few trips to mobile home parks near my house (most of which were either too expensive or had only large homes available), we moved a little north and found him a place in Westminster, just about 7 minutes from our place.

Escrow closed in May on Dad's new property, and we thought he had been packing. Michelle and I assured Dad we would help with the move also, but we truly expected that he would do more than he did. I'm sure he was overwhelmed. We sure were. After the first day, we had the guest room cleared and several bags of donations ready. We drove some to the donation center, but it was clear that we were going to need a truck to make any headway.

The next day we rented a flatbed in Banning and drove it up to the park. We used it to truck donations to the donation center, and to dump a few loads of trash at the local waste distribution facility. We were able to clear the kitchen counters and the living room (see before and after pics above), and we hope that Dad will be encouraged enough to continue packing as well as keeping the areas we cleaned up clean.  Time will tell.  Michelle talked to Shane, and they will make plans to come back in a month or two so that both our families can go back and continue packing and moving Dad.

After three days of work, we took the following morning off and went to breakfast and then to the mall to do some shopping.  We were going to spend the morning working at Dad's, but we were exhausted, and since there was no hope of finishing, we took a break. Michelle left in the afternoon to get started with her long drive.  I was so grateful to have the time this weekend and my sister to help with this project. We'll be back at it in October.

Easter

 This is our first Easter Sunday where our Daddy has been in a bishopric.  That means he has early morning meetings, and we don't get to see him until we get to church and then not again until a bit after church as he stays to attend to his responsibilities.  We made the best of it and after opening Easter baskets and attending Sacrament meeting with Grandpa, we snapped a few family shots of us in our Easter best.  When we were all together, we had our egg hunt.  This used to be conducted in our dresses with our cute smiley faces, but now it appears to be whatever is comfy and best teenager poses.  I love it all.  We had a lovely day and took time to reflect on the Savior's Atonement.  It is amazing to watch our girls progress spiritually in their understanding as we progress in ours.  Happy Easter!

Easter Eggs

Not sure we'll ever get tired of dyeing eggs for Easter.  The girls do get tired of all of my photography, and they are much more apt to duck out if the hair and make up are not right (Jenna), but I was able to capture a few photos to mark the occasion.  Grandpa was here and watching the shenanigans with his sense of humor.  I love that Kelly gets involved and makes an egg or two.  My favorite this year was an egg Jenna did that will be telling in the future.  Hashtags are all the rage right now in social media, and her "hashtag egg" was very apropos for the times.

Snow at the Beach

Grandpa Ron has been visiting frequently, and this time he brought some snow from our recent storm. My first thought was, "Oh how fun!" followed by, "We don't have time for this, but we've got to make it work." We called the Holbrooks on our way home from school, and even though we were an hour away from our rehearsals, they met us in our front yard for a snowball fight! It was so fun, and we were proud of ourselves for making the time to do it. Normally we'd see Grandpa in these photos, but he was smart to stay out of the way. Sister Holbrook wasn't so lucky! We even caught our other friend Rachel walking home from high school. It's been a few snowball fights since she's joined in the fun. We are so lucky to have such fun friends!