Last week was quite the whirlwind of activities.
My big sister Emily came into town from Las Vegas with her 3 ADORABLE little boys and Topher was sweet enough to make it possible for me to spend as much time with her and my other sister as I possibly could.
My 2 sisters, sweet sister in law and I all went out to dinner one evening at La Vigna, (an over priced but tasty Italian restaurant with the sweetest waiter) and then went shopping to Old Navy, (until closing), and then to Target, (until closing), both places in which at 20 minutes to closing time we were still either trying clothes on or still in the middle of our store loop.
It was so much fun to be with my sisters! None of us had any kids and so we were free of screeching, hair pulling, chasing kids down aisles, medicines, feeds, crying, and whining. We could just be silly girls, staying out late and enjoying each other's company.
Thank you Dad and Karen for watching most of the kids so that this was possible, and thank you Topher for watching Gracelyn!!
I also met up with them at Dacia's house one night, and then again at my Dad's house another night...but that night, I spent more of my time cuddled up on the couch with all my neices and nephews watching Wall-E than I did with my sisters. THAT also was so wonderful. I don't remember the last time I was able to be an Auntie and big sister without worrying about Topher or Grace or medicines..it was nice to just hear complaints about who got to be under which arm and who got to be on my lap.
For Thanksgiving, it was really neat to have such sweet sacrifices made for us so that we could be part of the festivities.
The day of Thanksgiving, Topher and I spent the majority of the day at home, and my sister, Dacia, and her Husband Joe came over later that evening to have dinner with us.
The day after Thanksgiving, we had originally planned to go to Topher's parent's house, however with Grace's biopsy having happened, we weren't sure this would be the best idea..WE consulted with Dr. Everitt and after some consideration it was determined we could go if everyone was in good health and we felt comfortable....this almost didn't work out because Topher's sweet family is very very protective of Grace and so people were very over paranoid, but that's ok!! It's very thoughtful of all of you!! However, we went anyway, and felt really good about everything, and had a really nice time seeing some family that we had not seen in over 6 months.
On my family's side, it was our year to be in Las Vegas... but... they changed their plans so that Topher and I could attend, (Thank you Emily and family!) We all got together at my Dad's on Saturday and Venice was kind enough to watch Grace. We didn't even consider taking Grace to my family's get together because it is unheard of for my sister's children ever to all be healthy...hm...I guess that's what you get when you lick the floor, your shoes or stick everything you find on the floor in your mouth...oh well!
I also got a chance to go to Body Worlds with my sisters, this was SO interesting. Heart moms, or anyone part of a heart family...if you get the chance, you should do this, it is fascinating and so educational.
Anyway...I don't know how many of you have even gotten this far...don't worry...I"m not offended if you skipped half or even the majority of the post...it was definitely longer than I'm sure people enjoy reading.
I supposed I just could have said that I was able to spend a lot of time with my family and that that was very meaningful to me and I'm very grateful.
There, pretend that's all I said. Short and sweet right?
I truly am so grateful for my family. They are so wonderful and I love each and every one of them so much. They all go out of their way to make things easier for each other and for me and I appreciate it. They truly are my best friends, my examples, my rocks of support. I'm so grateful to have been blessed with the family that I have. No other family could have done for me what mine has. Also, Topher's family is so sweet and thoughtful also. They are constantly giving up their time, and energy to help us in any way. They are so crazy about Grace and would do just about anything for her.
At the dinner at my sister's house, we had a gratitude jar, where people wrote things down that they were grateful for.
I'd like to share some more thoughts I've had along those lines...
I am grateful for ...
music
family
friends
books
imagination
scriptures
tithing
the priesthood
temple marriage
eternal families
missionaries
kindness
love
the spirit
nature
prayer
waterfalls
my sweet beautiful daughter
my amazing husband
a loving family
doctors who have saved my daughter's life more than once
a selfless family who has given my daughter a 2nd chance at life
a daughter who can pull the ornaments off my christmas tree, spill hot cocoa on my carpet, try to rip open just wrapped presents, and unravel all my ribbon..because I never thought she'd still be here this Christmas time to do any of those things...and now she can. :)
I am so thankful for all the my Heavenly Father has given me. He is wonderful. It may seem strange, but I can honestly say that I am grateful for all the trials Topher and I have been through together since we became pregnant with Grace. They were not easy, and they still aren't, but I am grateful for them. I am grateful for all the blessings they have brought into my life and for the gratitude they have instilled in my heart.
Love you all so much!!!
Sorry that there aren't any pictures. i have some really really good ones, but they're on my computer...which is not working right now. :(
as soon as i can get it working, i'll post the pictures and video that we have of her eating mash potatoes and such.
congratulations for making it through another longwinded blog.
sorry its so behind!!!
10 comments:
What a great post (and grateFUL too)! And it wasn't long winded at all. I loved every comment :)
It was so amazing to see Grace at Thanksgiving. She is so healthy looking - and silly, I might add. Anyone who didn't know what she's been through could never guess. What a blessing and miracle she is!!
Having seen her chow down on mash potatoes for myself, I can't wait for the video. I'm sure it's super cute - of course.
I luv her :)
Oh, Bug! I had so much fun seeing so much of you last week. Thanks for trekking down so much and for all your family that helped so we could spend so much time playing. And I'm so, so glad that you came to Temple Square with us. The boys were so excited to finally see their cousing Gracey. I would post all the thankful strip we read, but.... Karen threw them all away!!!! It was fun to see so much of you and the boys loved spending some time with you. Love you lots, little bug!
I loved the post. It doesn't matter how long it was, because I am one of the most long-winded individuals around! What a wonderful Thanksgiving, and how much more wonderful to have Grace her. We have been fortunate enough to have had Lilly and Ryker for Thanksgiving, something we are very grateful for. I pray you have many many more Thanksgivings with Grace! (P.S. We got/made our niece an adorable red hat of her very own! It is soft and so cute!
Isn't it amazing that you can be so grateful for all that you've been through? It's been the hardest year of my life, but I have learned so much and I would never change it. I love reading your posts, they are always so uplifting.
So glad that Grace is doing so good.. She's so adoralble. How's feeding going? I can't believe how well she was doing with it in your last post! Is she taking a bottle? I've tried EVERYTHING with Bela, but she still refuses to drink her liquids. She's getting a little better with baby food though.. What I'd give to get that darn tube out! Are you getting close?
Hope for many more great updates!
Nice post, as always, but yes, we need those pictures! And let the record reflect, it was Emily who left the gratitude strips on our kitchen counter, in plain sight, as she scurried off to Vegas :>) OK, I guess it didn't register with me when she announced at dinner she wanted to save them (all I heard was something about a blog post, and since she and Jen were taking pix, I figured said blog would be from the pix). At least I sent her off with a nice lunch!
Yay for a happy Thanksgiving! Those family girl times are the best. Love you guys. We're going to Sweets on Tuesday with Will's field trip and it always makes me think of you. Should be a blast!
You're wonderful! I'm glad you had such a good Thanksgiving! :)
Yay! For Thanksgiving! And family! And big sisters...I rock! ;) j/k It's about time for a new post!!! I'm glad you had a good Thanksgiving holiday and that everyone was so accomodating. Okay, love you bye.
Family....it's about time. And know that despite the occasional noise and chaos, it was great to have ALMOST all of the family for Thanksgiving. We certainly missed Alan and Grace - and hope we'll fix both of those absences for New Years.
Hey There,
Thanksgiving was a blast! She is quite the potato eater. Both hands at the same time.
It killed me to not be able to hold her. I was just getting over my annual winter, cold.
Love,
Grandma Atkinson
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