Goodbye, Grandpa Lemley

This past Monday, we got the sad news that Grandpa Lemley had suffered a devastating stoke and would probably not live much longer. This was sad and sort of shocking news since Grandpa was doing fairly well lately. As soon as Mommy was finished working on Monday, we headed to the hospital to see Grandpa one last time and to say our goodbyes. 

 Adam and Tessa were very sad to hear the news about Grandpa. They both have loved spending time with him since he moved to Utah this summer. Before we left the hospital, Adam and Tessa both said their goodbye's and gave him one last hug. Adam had a rough time with this. He has such a tender little heart and spirit. Ma was glad to be there to comfort him (while she was giving other family members updates). 

Grandpa passed away the next evening. Ma, Pa, and Uncle Ben were with him when he passed. Even though we knew it was coming, it was still hard to hear he was gone. It's weird to think that all of my grandparents are now gone. My grandparents have always been such important people in my life. I miss them. But we are so thankful to have the gospel and the knowledge that we will see them again someday. 

Christmas Time is Here!

Friday evening we busted out the Christmas decorations and had so much fun decorating our house for the best time of the year. Adam and Tessa love to help their Daddy set up the Christmas tree. Tessa loves to separate all the branches by size and Adam is a good little "fluffer". 

 Caleb wanted to get in on the action. He was such a good "helper".

 Mommy spent most of the evening keeping Caleb off of boxes. He was loving the new jungle gym we had set up for him. 

 Gwennie was so happy to get to put the star on our tree this year.

 But then Caleb noticed Daddy wasn't holding him and so he got a turn with Daddy and the star also. Caleb only wants his Daddy most of the time. 

 After the tree was up, the kids got their new ornaments for this year. They were each pretty excited about what they got. Caleb stole Adam's because it was a ball.

 Everyone did a great job decorating the tree! I loved seeing how excited the kids were to pull out all  of the ornaments.

 You can tell we have a toddler in the house because the bottom of our tree is empty.

 One of our favorite parts of decorating, is reading our stocking notes. We are always anxious to see what our memories were from the previous year and what goals we set and accomplished for this year. 

 Tessa found candy from last Christmas in her stocking. GROSS!!

Our decorations will never be featured on any decorating blogs or websites, but we love our cozy, homemade Christmas and we are so excited to celebrate this special holiday season together!

Thanksgiving 2105

We had a happy and cold Thanksgiving this year! We had frigid temperatures, but no snow. The kids are so anxious for some snow!!

We had a yummy Thanksgiving dinner at Ma and Pa's house this year. We were hoping for a good Turkey Bowl in the backyard, but it was too dang cold! 

 Daddy brought some games to play with everyone while we waited for dinner. Adam and Tessa liked playing Bang with all the big kids.

 Ma reading to Caleb

 Our Tom the Turkey got so full this year. We loved looking at all the things we are thankful for in our family. Gwen's answers always made everyone laugh. 

 Friday morning we got all bundled up and headed to the mall to see Santa fly in on Chopper 5. Unfortunately, it was super windy, so it wasn't safe for Santa to fly in. He surprised everyone and arrived on a Fire Engine!!

Poor Caleb was not loving the waiting, or being held, or especially the cold. He and Daddy ended up waiting in the car while the older kids said hi to Santa. 

 The Fire Engine wasn't quite as exciting as a helicopter, but it was still a fun way to have Santa arrive. 

 We had a great front row spot to see Santa, and then we kind of got crowded out of it, so Mommy couldn't get any good pictures. 

 Tessa and Gwen were excited to see Mrs. Claus!

 

We found some very special princesses waiting for Santa too! Gwen was so excited to see Elsa and Anna!

 Elsa asked the girls if they were nice to each other and reminded them that they needed to be good sisters, She told them that one time, she wasn't very nice to her sister and she accidentally froze everything. Oops!

 We found Ariel too!

 It was crazy cold and early, but we had fun and love our holiday traditions!

 The Princesses all signed a special card for Gwennie. She walked around telling everyone she got their "annagraphs". 

We love this time of year and are so thankful for all that we have been blessed with! Especially that we are a happy and healthy family!