Thanksgiving was great, we spent it with the Cardoza family this year. I had my cousins here from Oregon and Arizona who I have not seen since April so that was nice. Everyone enjoyed seeing our little Xander for the first time and Gage had fun with his cousins.
After Thanksgiving we were already counting down to an exciting Christmas with Gage and Xander. Gage finally understands Santa Claus and he was so excited to get presents and make cookies for him. We spent Christmas Eve with the Gardner's which was very enjoyable and memorable with Xander playing Jesus and Gage playing Joseph. Gage got a little carried way but like I said it was memorable. I had family coming in town from California who I only get to see once a year so we were celebrating Christmas with them the Saturday after Christmas. So things for my side of the family were a little weird this year. We have always spent Christmas morning with my family and this year it was just our little foursome in our new home. It was nice but we were also very concerned for my grandmother who was in the hospital ill with complications with her kidneys.
My dear grandmother Betty has had many health issues over the past 10 years but every time she had pulled thru and surprised us all, except this time. Her poor body so frail and week was not a candidate for dialisys. So my father and my aunt were left making a difficult decision. On friday morning the day after Christmas my mother called to tell me they decided to take my grandmother off all her medication.........20 minutes later my mother called back, grandmother had passed away peacefully with 2 of her 3 children by her side. My uncle and his family were in route to Utah at the time. Christmas with my family this year was a sad but memorable one. We made grandma's traditional Christmas dinner, spent time sharing memories and made plans to travel to California where she was being buried.
New years was ok for us. We spend New Year's Eve traveling to California. The first big road trip with both boys. They both did amazing. We spent 5 days in my hometown of Tulare California visiting with family I hadn't seen in years. New Years Eve was spent with all my immediate family eating yummy food and watching football.
The most important thing we learned this last year was about Family. It is EVERYTHING. Without Family you have absolutely nothing. It is why we are here, why we were given life and why we enjoy this life. Spend as much time with your family because you never know when it may be your last.
