Uncle John’s Funeral

Funerals really do create wonderful family reunions.  I so enjoyed visiting with family members before, during, and after my Uncle John’s funeral—some of whom I hadn’t seen for many years.  These are just a few photos in no particular order and mostly meant for the people that were there, but you can also look if you want to.:) (Unless you were there, then you can..look too….yeah.)

 

This picture turned out fuzzy:( but I still like it.

Ella and Etienne bonding

 

This was after the beautiful service of our whole family—except for my brother Steve and Mel’s husband.  What a great service it was—Silly me, I thought since Jack was actually able to sit with our family during a church service (he’s normally up on the stand when we go to church and I am wrestling with the kiddos in the pew below—well, mostly with Ella actually) that we would all be able to sit and enjoy it together.  Well, I didn’t take into account that the service started at 4:00PM and that is a bit late in the day for both Conner and Ella to be in their very best “sit still on a wooden bench for an hour and a half” moods.  So, we both took turns going out with the babies, but this wonderful church actually had a baby room that could see right into the chapel, so I didn’t miss anything at all.  I was also very impressed with the fellowship and all the food provided—great people!

 

Conner and Etienne bonding—Conner wasn’t about to let his older sister outdo him.

 

 

Some beautiful women!

More beautiful people who I all love dearly—yes, I am in there too and I love myself also. (Cause I’m good enough, I’m smart enough…oh, I hope someone gets this joke…)

Fuzzy again—learning our new camera

Just relaxing together

Thanks for the great memories and special time everyone!

Thanks for the reminder.

 

                       Ella loves clothes experimentation.

This morning when Jack went to wake up the girls, he checked in Ella’s crib.  We get up  at  6:00 AM around here, so generally we let the babies sleep in—and sleeping away she was. 

Naked. 

Without so much as a diaper. 

Jack comes out and tells me. 

“Should I put a diaper on her at least?”

“Definitely.  But let’s hope she stays asleep for a little while.”

Needless to say, Ella was up with us early that morning, happy and chipper as can be.  The moment Jack started to put on her diaper, she stirred and said, “Good morning Dad!  Want some yogurt?” 

Well, family prayer and scripture study started a bit rushed and  not quite as happy as it should have this morning.  I know that we always hear in church the old line of, “It’s okay if family prayer and scripture study aren’t that spiritual as long as you do them” but I still feel like we should TRY to make them meaningful. :) However, a tiff in the bathroom between our lovely older daughters had caused some friction that was still unresolved. 

But, we pressed forward, kneeling down and ready to go.  Ella was lying on the couch and not budging to join us at the time.  Then, suddenly, she got up.  We were very happy to see that she had decided to be a big girl and kneel down to pray.  But, that wasn’t her plan at all.  She boldly marched over to the corner of the room, looked us all squarely in the faces, and began to wave her arms like she was leading a song.  Then she said, “Child God.  Child God!”  What else could we do?  We all sang the song “I am a Child of God” together and it seemed as if the Spirit decide it would join us this morning after all.  Afterwards, Ella knelt down beautifully for prayer with our family and we had a much better time worshipping together. 

What a blessing she woke up naked after all!  Thanks sweetie!

I Love Massachusetts

and I love Scott Brown.  and I love the people that voted for him.  and I love that he drives a truck and said it was “the people’s seat” and not Ted Kennedy’s.  and I love Martha Coakley.  because she ran a really bad campaign and lost.  and I thought it was funny that Obama tried to make fun of Scott Brown’s truck and then Scott Brown used it to his own advantage. 

But mostly I love that Americans are AWESOME people who know what is important, who can be trusted to make decisions on their own, and who won’t let sneaky politicians push them around.  Now on to November!

It Was Time—Again

 

After over a two year absence from that happiest place on earth, we were planning on doing another trip there in the Spring.  However, some circumstances came about that put Disneyland in our path sooner, and we decided the time was right to go again—this time around with five kids instead of three.  :)

My wonderful Uncle John passed away around Christmas time this year—he was a great man with two beautiful children who have wonderful families of their own and a loving wife.  He left a great legacy of faith in Christ and love for family and you can see the evidence of his life in the ones that have come after him.  Really, his family are all such wonderful caring people—he will be missed very much, but we know he is in heaven and what a comfort that is! 

When we heard of passing, we of course planned on going to the funeral after New Years.  His family all live in California and we had a lovely visit with everyone—when we started to plan the trip we realized how close we would be to Disneyland, and that the kids were still out of school.  So, we decided to extend our trip and spend three more days in our favorite amusement park as well. 

 

Here are a few highlights in a very random order:

 

Our three princess in front of the castle with an attacking knight or something I guess.:)

 

Here we are at the Alladin show in California Adventure—they do a super job with this show!  This was actually the only time that Conner got really fussy—probably because we were just sitting for a while.  However, I was able to catch most of the show while standing with him in the back.  He really did well overall—took naps either in the stroller or in his wrap while I “wore” him—he even slept through the Pirates of the Carrebean ride!  He really enjoyed all the stimulation and being outside a lot.

Yes, all three big kids got to take this picture in front of the Tower of Terror because this time they all went on it—although Logan was definitely not the most willing of riders—I got him on though and he sure bragged about going on it afterwards!

 

LOVE this picture!  This was for the 3D bug movie—pretty scary for little Ella at some parts, but she just sort of wiggled around on my lap until she felt better.

 

Both Ella and Conner were napping here in their strollers so all us non-nappers took this shot together—we were sure ready to sleep each night though! 

This is a new part of Disneyland called Pixie Hollow for the fairies—so cute!

  Here we are inside Pixie Hollow:

I love fantasy land in Disneyland—this is where I really feel like we are in the park—and dreams will come true—when we wish upon a star—and all that goofy stuff that I just love about Disneyland.  Oh, and the castle is so pretty!

 

And you have to go to the Tiki Room!  Both Ella and Conner really loved this one! 

 

I think the greatest part for Ella was meeting Micky Mouse—she really hasn’t seen that much Disney stuff, but she sure knows Micky Mouse and LOVED going to his house and meeting him—that was really fun for all of us to see.  I remember when little Logan met him for the first time!

 

Okay, we all loved meeting Micky Mouse! Well, I’m sure that Conner was dreaming about Micky Mouse at the time.:)

It was a really nice part of our trip to get to go to Disneyland—it was definitely different going with a toddler and a baby, but with a great husband and three great big kids to help out, we did it!  It was pretty funny when we got on our shuttle each morning from our hotel to go to the park—five kids, two strollers, four bags of stuff—everyone just sort of looked at us and smiled.  We wouldn’t have it any other way though—how wonderful that we have such beautiful children to take places like this and make these special memories! 

I counted my blessings a lot this trip—and the funeral afterwards really made me think as well.  I love to attend funerals for wonderful people like my uncle who have lived a great life, because it always makes me think what mine will be like.  I only hope that I can affect some people for good the way my Uncle John did—I have pictures of family from that as well, but I will have to post those later.  Hope everyone out there is having a great new year and decade!