The end of December, Winter arrived and with an attitude! It has been a cold last few weeks! I can't believe I haven't updated this since October...so here goes! Phil has still been working on the house. We now have quite a bit of the trim hung, but still not all of it. The fireplace is in the living room...still in its cardboard box. :) Baby steps, right?! Speaking of baby steps...Right before Thanksgiving we had our 20 week ultrasound. The three kids and Phil were there with me for the ultrasound, but only Samantha found out the gender. She surprised us that evening at a little gender reveal party with our parents and some pink-stuffed cupakes...it's a girl! We are excited to meet this sweet little addition to our family and are doing some preparation. We have a few girl names picked out, but haven't "nailed down" just one yet. Might have to take a list to the hospital and wait to see her before we choose a name. Getting back to the house progress, we now have carpet on our staircase to the upper level of the house. We were never able to remove the previous carpet's glue from the stairs, and decided to carpet rather than continue to try to strip it. With two boys up and down those stairs, I thought it might be safer and quieter also. This was no doubt the right decision, as the morning of the day we had the carpet layer scheduled to do this job, Connor scared the heck out of us when he fell down the stairs from the near top. The loud clatter got me moving faster than I've moved for the last few months, that's for sure! I found Connor at the bottom of the stairs on all four, facing the staircase. I'm guessing that means he flipped in the process, but he doesn't really remember! There has also been some heartache the last few months. The end of October my Godfather Greg Swim passed away. He suffered from Parkinson's and after a fall in July, never recovered. Greg was one of the funnest guys to be around. He had a sense of humor like no other, and even though he had suffered for several years, he never complained, but rather was always fun to be around. I remember when I was a little girl, it was a game; he'd try to chase me around for a kiss and I'd run the opposite direction as fast as I could! My grandpa Kohmetscher also had a stroke in October. His health declined following this and December 11, he passed away. Connor's wisdom helped me that morning when I was feeling very sad. He said, "Mom, this is the best thing that could've happened for Grandpa!" He was right. Grandpa's quality of life wasn't anything he would've wanted, and I'm hopeful that he and Grandma were reunited in Heaven in time to celebrate Christmas together. I know I have been fortunate to grow up with my grandparents well into my adulthood, but gosh it's still hard to let them go. On a happier note, we spent a few weeks in November/December coaching Connor's 6th grade basketball team. It's always fun for me to get to do this, but I think Connor is ready for someone else to be his coach! He's sure a competitive little guy! Blake finished up football and moved right into high school basketball. They have an extremely young team with only 1 senior, 1 junior, and the rest are underclassmen. Because of this, Blake has been getting lots of playing time! Tonight we celebrated their first win of the season! In fact, this was the first win of any sport competition this school year for this big-hearted, hard-working group of guys...made my day! Samantha finished up volleyball in November and decided not to play basketball this year. It was a difficult decision for her to make, but it seems as though she's happy with her decision now. My goal for things to be accomplished in the next couple months are: trim work and doors complete, fireplace installed, and nursery ready! Nov. 11, 2017 Blake and his buck! Nov. 12, 2017 Phil, Connor, Blake wrestling Nov. 19, 2017 Early Thanksgiving with the Jandas. Phi's mom and sisters decorated Carolyn's Christmas tree. All the grandkids lined up by age for a picture! Nov. 21, 2017 Samantha baked cupcakes and Nov. 22 she filled them with pink tinted cream for gender reveal! Nov. 22, 2017 Baby Girl Janda Nov. 22, 2017 Reveal party: Linda and Lefty (my parents), Connor, Samantha, Blake, Ron and Carolyn (Phil's parents) Nov. 24, 2017 Connor by staircase. Samantha re-decorating the chalkboard for Christmas! Nov. 26, 2017 Christmas decorations! Dec. 11, 2017 Last year's Christmas--Gma & Gpa Kohmetscher Dec. 16, 2017 Grandpa Kohmetscher's Funeral December 18, 2018 Christmas Program On December 20, 2017 I had a package in my mailbox from Denny and Diane Anderson. Denny is the oldest son of our former Clay Center neighbors, Bob & Pearl. Bob and Pearl were like a bonus set of grandparents for our little family who we were very thankful for. They both passed away a few years ago within 3 1/2 weeks of each other. My first reaction to seeing the package was, "Why did they get us a Christmas present?!" After opening it I soon found a baby quilt, and thought, "Wow, that is very nice of them!" I then read the enclosed letter and learned that this was a hand-embroidered quilt made by Pearl that Denny and Diane had in their keepsakes. They decided to give this to our new baby...what a special gift. Denny and Diane are following right in the footsteps of the type of people Bob and Pearl were, that's for sure! Christmas Eve 2017 Dec. 24, 2017 Dec. 25, 2017 Brother-in-law Travis Christmas morning---our first Christmas in our new home! Christmas Pancakes 2017
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorI'm just your ordinary small-town type of gal. My family is my world. Gardening, running, camping, and boating are my hobbies. Teaching youngsters is my career. Archives
July 2017
Categories |