Anniversary

Yesterday was our anniversary. I have now been married for 23 wonderful years. I am so glad that that is only start of our eternal marriage. Eddie said everyone was wondering the secret of staying married so long. It makes me chuckle a little because when we look back millions of years from now 23 is going to REALLY seem like nothing. Eddie brought me home some beautiful flowers. I wish there was a button to upload smell because they smell even better than they look. We had a nice quiet dinner at Red Lobster last night. I love you Eddie!!!!!!!!

A Sad Yet Wonderful Trip

It was a sad reason for a trip, but it was wonderful to see the family. We left at about 4 PM on Wednesday for the long drive to Utah. We drove all the way to Kearney Nebraska arriving at about 1 AM. The next morning we were up bright and early to finish the trip to Utah. We arrived at around 6:30 PM and went by Grandma Stringham’s house. It was a lonely feeling not having her burst of energy meet us at the door. We spent a few minutes helping prepare the house for the funeral lunch. The lose of Grandma really began to sink in at this point.

On Friday we had a few extra minutes so we meet my parents at Crown Burger for lunch. The were able to bring McKayla and Trey which made the kids happy. Carol then met us there to take our kids to her house for a sleep over. The fry sauce was yummy but the company was even better!!!

That night we met Nichelle and Mike for dinner at the Cheese Cake Factory. We had to laugh because there just happened to be a Carter’s baby store right next to the restaurant. We knew the wait for a table would be long so Nichelle and Mike went a few minutes early to get our name on the waiting list. With that accomplished they went next door to Carter’s. They called us on the phone and told us there was an hour wait so to meet them at Carter’s. How convenient for them. Grandpa once again gladly pulled out his debit card to buy more clothes for Tennyson. He sure is going to be a well dressed kid.

Saturday was the funeral. It was a day full of love. Grandma was truly a lady who could bring her whole family together. the talks were perfect. Grandma wrote a short history of her life which was read. We laughed and cried reliving memories of Grandma. All of her Grandkids were there. We had the lunch at her house afterwards because grandma wanted to continue having her house be the center of her families life. It was great to see all of the cousins and siblings together. Even though it was a sad day as we will miss Grandma it was a comforting day being with family knowing we will all be together forever.

Next came the hard part. We had only been in Utah a little over 48 hours before we had to turn around and do the drive again. It was a very long drive but were blessed with great weather. We even made it home before going insane!!!

Grandma Stringham

On Friday Grandma Stringham went home. 

Old woman, hospital bed
The room is filled with people she loves
And she whispers don't cry for me
I'll see you all someday
She looks up and says "I can see God's face."
"This is my temporary Home
It's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passin' through
This was just a stop,on the way To where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know this was
My temporary home."

This is our temporary home

What a wonderful women.  She lived with love for her family.  I would have a hard time living for a few days without Eddie, yet she showed us how to live without her eternal companion for years.  I really admire her for the way she went on with her life full of love and support for her family.

  I will always have memories of visiting with her on her couch.  The last time we visited with grandma was at Thanksgiving. I remember ring the door bell and being greeted by Grandma.  Even though she had a hard time walking and communicating she knew we were coming and that we were a couple of minutes late. 

 

She was always so proud of her grandkids.  Every  Christmas Eve we would do a talent show at her house.

  You could tell by the smile on her face how proud she was of all of her grandkids.  It was a highlight of her life. 

Sitting on her back patio with her will always be a highlight in my life.  She was so proud of her yard as she should have been.  It was always perfect! 

Training Tennyson the Right Way

Last week we had a horrifying experience when we looked at the Fiske blog and witnessed the tour of Tennyson’s new digs.  They had set his crib up but this wasn’t the shocking moment.  As we looked closer at the tour we noticed that since it was Monday Night they added a family activity to the occasion…they made Tennyson a Red Sox Blanket….NNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  They recorded that it was their best FHE ever.  WHAT WERE THEY THINKING AND HOW CAN WE TRUST THEM WITH TENNYSON??????? Tonight we had to remedy that problem.  Tennyson MUST be trained the right way!!!!  We rallied our family here in Chicago against all odds and took on the biggest service project of our lives.  We could not let Tennyson be brought up in such a savage way.  We tied  Tennyson a Cubs blanket, that’s right…THE CHICAGO CUBS BABY!!!  Now all is right again in the world.

  Even Derby pitched in!!!!

Las Vegas

Last weekend Eddie and I got a little get away to Las Vegas. We left Chicago at noon. Well, at least we left the airport gate at noon. The weather had been really bad in Las Vegas. They had received more rain on that day than they had the whole year. We had to sit on the runway for 2 hours. By the time we got to Vegas my legs were totally swollen. Luckily by the time we arrived the rain had stopped. Eddie went to a dinner for work after we arrived so I stayed in the hotel to relax. We had a really nice sweet so I ordered in room service and took a nice jacuzzi bath while watching the TV in the bathroom. It was a nice relaxing night with no one needing any of my attention.

On Friday the weather was a little nicer but unfortunately still cool enough that I had to wear my coat. We started with a great, I mean really fantastic, breakfast buffet at the Mandalay Bay where we were staying. We than went for a walk down the strip.

It was still a little cool out so we went from one casino to the next indoors. We went to see the display "Bodies". It was neat to see the real insides of bodies preserved. You could see all of the muscles, bones, ligaments, and the whole circulatory system. It is amazing how much is in the human body and how it all works together. For more info go to http://www.bodiestheexhibit.com/bodies.html

That night we went and saw Lance Burton's magic act. It was pretty cool he even mad a car disappear. Eddie really liked the juggler he had performing with him. He was laughing out loud during the whole skit. For more information go to http://www.lanceburton.com/ and watch the trailer.

On Saturday the weather was perfect. We started at the great buffet again. Yum, Yum once again. We than hit the strip. This time walking without coats in the sunshine. It felt sooo good.

We tried to solve a crime at the CSI exhibit. We did a great job finding the murderer and even received a diploma. We watched the water fountain at the Bellagio. After we walked across the street to check out the Paris Casino. This was a new one for us. It was not as impressive as we thought it would be, but they sure had some yummy chocolate eclairs!!

That afternoon we saw the Lion King. It was our favorite show!!! There were lots of colors, the animal movements were amazing and they even added a few songs that were not in the movie.
For more info go to disney.go.com/theatre/lionking/lasvegas/#/video/lk-sneekpeek/

After the play we went to RM Seafood for dinner. We laughed at what we ordered because Eddie got sophisticated Sushi and I got fish and chips. Talk about opposites.
On Sunday we once again ate at our yummy buffet...I really miss that place!!! We went through the Mandalay Fish Aquarium and than sadly I had to return home. Boo Hoo!!!

We had a wonderful time. The best part was just being together. We spent a lot of time just walking and talking and laughing.

Todd’s Visit

Todd came to visit us this week.  Eddie was very excited to have someone in his family finally come see our house.  We had a great dinner together and they spent the night playing basketball and ping pong.  Eddie and Todd are turning into old men, they were sweating so bad they had to get the towels out.  (It’s not like they were playing full court basketball!)

It was very important to Amanda that she beat Todd.  He crowned her the champion!!!

When we were done playing Eddie tried to drive Todd back to his hotel.  I say tried because they got to talking and ended up almost in Wisconsin.  I had to try to find them on mapquest and navigate them back.  It was a cold, snowy night but everyone finally made it safely to bed.

Update

OK so it is the middle of January and I still have not even finished posting our Disney trip on here. My friend asked me for my BlogSpot address so now I guess I will have to keep it up to date a little better. So here is a brief recap of Christmas in photos…..

Here we are playing Christmas songs on chimes. We had a great dinner with the Moyes and Crismons on Christmas eve followed by some Christmas songs and the Christmas Puppet Show.

We then returned home for a little Christmas singing of our own. Every year we sing all of the Christmas Carols from the primary song book. We usually do it earlier in the season but this year we did it to replace our annual talent show. The kids think they are too big for a talent show. We also opened grandma Golda’s PJs.

The next morning began bright and early…ok so it was like 8:30.

We then reported to my bed for the traditional opening of the stockings.

Cute hair Shaylin!!!!

There wasn’t enough room on the bed for Mike and Nichelle.

This was followed by a breakfast of orange rolls, and then the unveiling of the tree.

Yes I know we need a new tree. We bought this one years ago when we were poor and started traveling at Christmas time so we had to stop using a real tree. I think next year I will go for a big, real tree again. We then began our traditional present opening. We do this one present at a time.

After we opened the presents Mike and Eddie started the task of assembling the basketball game and the ping pong table.

It was a picture perfect day.