A Few of My Favorite Things

Some of my favorite gifts this Christmas were from my girls. The journal and smile from Jenna, and the Mom message and delicious smelling candle from Heather. I love the positive messages, the thought they put into finding these gifts, and the love that was wrapped up with them. I love these girls to the moon and back again, times infinity.

Visiting Graves on Mother's Day

We normally visit our grandparents' graves on Memorial Day, but this year we decided to go on Mother's Day. It was a nice, quiet afternoon, and it seemed like a great activity. Both our mothers have passed, so it was a good time to remember them. Kelly cleaned their graves and we talked about our parents. The girls were good sports as usual. They don't like when Kelly get teary, but I think they like remembering what they can and hearing our memories. We are happy to know that we will be reunited one day.

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.

Meaningful Youth Activity

One of the most meaningful Young Women activities happened this evening. With the focus of gratitude, we showed the girls a video interview from years ago of a high school senior who had been born with no arms. The story explained how she had adapted to everyday life with not having arms. Because she was born without them, she never missed them. She had been determined since she was young to do anything and everything she wanted. She was even a cheerleader! The girls watched her do things with her feet such as pull a bowl from a cupboard and pour cereal and milk for herself, eat dinner with a fork, do homework and classwork, put make up on and even put in contacts! After the video, we had some stations set up for the girls so they could experience what it would be like to have no arms. We had them eat brownie bites with a fork, pour cereal in a bowl, write on a white board and then write on a table top.  We had a block tower for them to build and we played a game of catch with our feet. I'm not sure how meaningful it was for the young women, but I will never forget the experience of learning about this girl and how she overcame the challenge she was born with. Oh, and her boyfriend that took her to the senior prom was the cutest!