Christmas Day 2009 - Just Pictures

December 2009 Part One

So, I am finally getting around to posting about our Christmas. We made a gingerbread house from a kit we bought at K-Mart. Geddy of course wanted to eat the thing, but the candies were ridiculously ancient so it took a lot of convincing to get him to believe it was just a decoration. He had fun throwing it in the trash last week though. All the candies fell off, but man the icing they provided for building the house was like superglue!

We decorated our tree. We had quite the dilemma this year deciding on buying a real tree or a new fake tree. I am allergic to real trees but was willing to try for Scott's sake. He thought it would nice to have one and fun for Geddy. Then we saw how expensive they were... Oh well, we figured we would just get a small one. While we were at Wal-Mart looking for a tree-stand we saw that they had these pretty nice pre-lit 6.5' tall artificial trees for only $35! That was definitely cheaper than buying a real tree and a tree-stand. The tree looked nice and we let Geddy make the final decision. He was all for a fake tree! We chose the one with white lights (never thought I would like one without color, but I love it!). Then we picked all gold ornaments and a beautiful gold star for the topper. We also found some crystal pendant ornaments and some gold jingle bells. It was really a great choice. We still used our small fake tree that we have had for the past 12 years. We set it up on top of our stereo cabinet and let Geddy decorate it with an assortment of colorful ornaments. I just now realized I don't have a picture of that one.

I typically take a picture of Scott and Geddy by the decorated tree. Then I discovered that our camera we have had for over three years has a timer!! So I decided we would take a family picture. I don't like how I look in any photo, but at least the rest of my family are photogenic. We almost forgot to grab Spanky for the pictures. Some of you might laugh that we would include him in our family photo, but he has been part of our family for over 11 years!

One other fun thing we did for Christmas this year was look at lights. A couple of nights we just drove around Payson looking at everyone's displays. Then we decided to go to Spanish Fork's Festival of Lights on Christmas Eve. You pay $5 per car and drive through this amazing wonderland of lights! We had a bit of a wait before we could actually see anything. And we ended up not having to pay because the car in line ahead  of us paid for our car too, even though they didn't know us! That's what I call Christmas Spirit! Apparently it is quite a popular thing to do. I can definitely see why. We plan to make it a tradition of ours now too. I of course didn't have the camera, though I don't think photos would have given the proper effect.

The photos of Christmas Day will be here soon. I also still have to share Geddy's pictures from JCPenney. I haven't done those yet because I was waiting to send relatives the real thing. Hopefully all of this will happen in the next week. And yes, Geddy did get a drum set from Santa. Videos were taken before the drums were destroyed!

Grandpa Doug

Scott's dad, Doug, passed away on Sunday December 27, 2009. He had suffered for several years with Huntington's Chorea. We will miss him and are sad at his passing, yet we know he is in a better place and no longer suffering. We were fortunate to be able to all travel to Calgary this past week to attend the funeral services and spend some time with Cheryl and the rest of the family. We have talked to Geddy before about what happens when people die and that we believe in the Resurrection. We talked to him again so he knew why we were going to Canada. He went to the funeral service at the church as well as the graveside. He had some pretty profound observations for a three-year-old. During the church service he whispered a question to me, "Is it dark in the coffin?" and "Is Grandpa scared of the dark?" I told him it was dark but reminded him that it was only Grandpa's body in there. Then he told me, "Grandpa is with Heavenly Father and Jesus. There is only light there, no dark, so Grandpa isn't afraid." Later at the cemetery in Raymond as we were leaving he took one of the flowers from atop the casket and said, "This is from my Grandpa. When I see him next time after the Resurrection, he will be able to talk and he will tell me he loves me"! I was so touched by him saying this as Grandpa Doug has been sick and unable to speak the whole time Geddy has known him. I am sad that Geddy will not grow up knowing his Grandpa Doug. Doug had a great sense of humor and a love of sports that have passed on to his only grandson. It gives me comfort to know that Geddy understands that he will someday know his real Grandpa. And I am very grateful that we have a few pictures of the two of them together. Doug was very lucky to have my mother-in-law, Cheryl, and my sister-in-law, Shauna, to take care of him and keep him at home as long as possible. Thanks for everything you guys do. We love you!