Saying Goodbye to Grandma Ruby

Jim's sweet Mom passed away last month, and was finally reunited with Grandpa after 8 long months. She asked for Grandpa every single day. The days that she was not all there, she would ask where he was. The times her memory was good, she would ask why he left her and when he was coming back to get her. She would say "He promised me it wouldn't be long, why hasn't he come yet?" He was always the one thing on her mind, no matter how her health was. She waited until we had a birthday party for her, and all of her children and most of her grandchildren were there to say goodbye to her. The next morning, we got the news that she had passed. It was a bittersweet day, and a most difficult one for Jim. We were happy that she finally got her "Birthday wish" to be with Grandpa again, but I don't think you can ever prepare yourself fully to lose your Mom.

Temple Square

We bundled the kids up and went to Temple Square to see the lights before Christmas. It was so beautiful and fun for the kids to see not only the lights, but the Salt Lake Temple and the beautiful sights around Temple Square. I was cold, and chaotic at times, as it is with a bunch of small children, but it was a good memory we will always cherish. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful place to let our kids learn about our Savior and the Gospel that is so close to us. We stopped in the middle and asked someone to hurry and snap a shot of us, which is not easy with 11 people, 5 of them being children... and the guys are just as hard to get to smile as the children! But the family shot turned out pretty good!! They went out as our Christmas card this year. We hope your holidays were just as wonderful. The Holiday season always makes me realize how incredibly blessed we are.

Thanksgiving

This year we decided to have a good old fashioned Thanksgiving at home. Candice & Rachel came up the night before Thanksgiving and we made pies while the grandkids decorated and ate sugar cookies. Poor little Alyvia fell and broke her nose on my stairs a week or two before, and she looked like our little Avatar. We had my Mom over and Aleese, my niece came with her, her parents Jeff & Kris were in St. George and she had to work so she was at home by herself. We were thrilled to have her spend the day with us! We ate until we couldn't eat another bite, and watched Christmas movies. It was so nice to have a traditional holiday at our home with the family.