Grandma

While we were in Disney World, we received word that my grandma Clark had passed away. The event was extremely bittersweet as she had suffered for a long time, and she was truly ready to leave this life. She didn't want a funeral, so on Saturday we held a memorial service at her home with close family members only. It was a wonderful gathering where we all got to remember what a remarkable woman she was in this life, and how great a legacy she left behind. I will miss her. Some adjectives that I would use to describe my grandma are: Strong, loving, protective, glamorous, intelligent, long-suffering, and level-headed. She was amazing. She will be missed. I love you Grandma.

Merry Christmas to us!

A week and a half ago Ben and I were talking, wondering to ourselves why it was that we hadn't planned a vacation during the time that he has off, seeing as how he will not get ANY vacation time for this first year working at Mesaba. It suddenly occurred to us that we were going to miss our one chance to take a family vacation this year if we didn't act quick. We started planning something small, like a quick drive to Lava Hot Springs or something like that, but then when I mentioned our plan to my mom, she informed me that she had a week with the Marriot time share that they own that was going to expire, and that we could use it if we wanted to. In about an hour, we had thrown together a vacation back to my favorite place........Florida! It was so perfect. I felt like our leaving Florida was so rushed and that I never really got to "say goodbye" like I had wanted to. We left last Saturday and got back yesterday. The weather was gorgeous, the crowds were small, and I was in heaven. We spent three days at the Disney Parks and one at Sea World. It was tough to come back to the snow, but it was sure a great Christmas present!

Happy Birthday Jacy Bug!

Happy Birthday Jacy Bug! Today is Jacy's official birthday, and yesterday we had a really fun party for her. We had a ton of family from both sides there with some great food and a lot of cake! We've had so much going on in our little family lately, it has been hard to keep the blog as updated as I would like to. Right now, Ben is waiting to train in the simulator, which is backed up, so he is home until the 27th of December. We are LOVING LOVING LOVING having him around all to ourselves after going for almost a month without him. Plus, it couldn't be a more perfect time of year to have him around for all of the holiday stuff that's going on. So, we've been pretty happy lately. I can't believe that Jacy is a year. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I'm not a big fan of the first year of life, and getting to the one year mark is a major milestone in my book, so it's as much a celebration for me of surviving the first year as it is a celebration of her birth. Anyway, I'm so greatful for the opportunity to share a mother/daughter relationship with Jacy in this life! I'm so glad that she was born! Happy Birthday Jacy!