Christmas Came!

 *Christmas Eve*

This year we had a Williamsen X-mas Eve party at my sister Amy & Karl Menssen's house in Bountiful. My bro. Cameron and his wife Amy were in charge of everything. So we had a yummy waffle bar and breakfast for dinner. We headed up to the cemetery to visit dad/grandpa's Lee's grave. Then back at the house Amy W. did the games. They were a hoot! It was a fun evening. In the pics my boys were quickly decorated as snowmen. A picture of Bodie and Rafe at the cemetery. It was weird having the family party without my dad being there. I mentioned how it seemed like someone was missing. It's a hard time of year to have a loved one gone. I've been more emotional about my dad during this x-mas season. We all sure miss him. We also missed having my bro. Drew/Alecia from out of state. Then back at the house we did a few presents and went home to do our own little tradition on X-mas Eve (reading Twas the Night Before X-mas, and since we didn't reenact the Nativity we also read Luke 2,etc.). I had to throw in the picture I took of Jax's note he left for Santa with the milk/cookies. Here is what it says in his awesome spelling and grammar.

 ("Hi Santa! Merrey Christmas. I sure hope I am on the good list! Wright back. Could you please show me a picture of you with a rain deer? :)  I will not tell enyone.  Love Jaxon a freind")  Every year I get a kick out of the notes Jax leaves.

 But, that's not where our X-mas Eve ends. Greg and I were finally getting started "setting up" at about 11pm. I have been wrapping for several nights before, Greg has been opening, checking, and charging batteries. So we were ready to do our Santa and then relax and get to bed at a decent time. So at 11:30pm Bodie starts crying. And after a few minutes of him doing that. He throws up. A LOT! So we bathed him, changed his bedding, started laundry and put him back to bed. He felt fine and no more throwing up. Then at 1:30 or so Greg and I are about done setting up. Phew! And we hear Bodie talking and happily waking up Rafe to get up for the morning. He was gathering his cup, slippers, and blanket ready to leave his room. So we hurry and stop him and put him back to bed. Then at 2am I am changing laundry and Creed wakes and comes out of his room. In a panic I stop him and tell him to go back to bed. He said he just can't sleep. And then Greg and I finally make it to sleep. Then at 4am Creed comes into my room saying he still can't sleep. So I make him go back to bed. Then at 6am he's up again. Back to bed he goes. Until both he and Jax are up in our room at 7:10am. I realize we can't make them quietly sit and wait for their little brothers to wake up, I remember how exciting it always was. So we pried our eyes open and started our morning...

Jax and Creed quickly pushing their way to the family room to see what Santa brought. Then after stockings we "try" and take turns one by one opening presents.

 I love seeing the boys open their presents. So much time and thought goes into picking and deciding what to get them. And of course then there's stuff we do in a hurry or have no thoughts on what to get. But for the most part it's a nice validation.

Greg wanted to save the big present for last. So they all opened it together. They were so happy to see we got an Xbox. For the record, I was not a fan of getting another game station. The only picture I am in. Proof that I was there! I was trying to rip the paper. But that paper wouldn't rip. It had a lot of plastic or something I guess. Kinda funny to see everyone trying to tear paper that wouldn't. And a great highlight was we got a white Christmas! A warm December and no snow going to bed on the 24th and waking up to a white world is always fun. Then my traditional picture of my boys and all the mess before we clean up a little.

*Christmas Night*

A day of naps, grand parents visiting, snacking, checking out new toys, and playing Halo all day makes for a relaxing day. I love the bottom 2 pictures in this collage. Greg and I spent a while with our fire and looking out the window to the snowy world and x-mas lights in our yard, so romantic. :)

I have to mention my favorite gift. The boys love them, like I knew they would. Their own little live pet birds. Well they aren't really alive. But they sing, chirp, and you old a button and it records what you say and they talk back and repeat what you say. So awesome! They are having a hay day! I was able to gather the boys for 2 seconds today for a picture. The bottom one is a blooper. Rafe had dropped his bird and then my attempts didn't quite work.

Years of Christmas Cards

I wish I would mail out cards. But, time, money, time, and means equals a quick electronic emailed card. It's easy, saves paper, postal workers, and maybe we're lazy. :) 

I personally love getting cards in the mail. It's my favorite. I get excited when we get them. I hang them in our kitchen to see all month. It's so fun. How neat of people to send them out. I'm just not one of them. Oh well.

Here is this years I put together...

 And for a small comparison. Here is 2013. Oh look, Greg and I look the same. The boys are a little younger and this was the time Rafe had throw-up down the front of his shirt.

And 2012. Oh, look at baby Rafe... so little. His first time wearing shoes. He had just started walking and it was summer so he never had them. So for fall and pictures he had to have them. Too bad we don't go back any further in our cards. This was the first one we started.

If I had made a card, these might have been the pictures used. ;) So for a quick photo throw back, here is us in 2011. Rafe's baby blessing day. Greg is 39, Jax is 6, Creed is 4, Bodie is 22months and Rafe was 2 months old.

Here we are in Nov. 2010. I was in my 2nd trimester of pregnancy with Rafe. Oh, look at the cheeks on Bodie! He was 15 months old. Creed just turned 4 and Jax was about to turn 6 years old.

 The day we blessed Bodie in September 2009. He has a big yawn going on. :) 
Creed was going to turn 3 years old in 2 months and Jax was 4 3/4.

And the rest of these are really tiny. They are from the side bar on my blog. I would have to leave my computer and go find the disc of pictures to search for older pics of our family.  So this is it.

Here is 2008. I've had this picture in my bedroom all these years. I just love it.

And the last one to show is 2007. I love little Creed's hair. He just turned 1 and Jax was almost 3 years old. We look so young. Ha! I was still in my 20's!

A little walk down memory lane.

Nutcracker

 I wanted my boys to have a little arts and culture. So why not expose them to the ballet?! I've been waiting for my older boys to be old enough. And this was the year. We took my mom with us to Ballet West's performance of the Nutcracker. It was a fun afternoon. The boys enjoyed the first part and I enjoyed the 2nd part more. They were a little bored with the real ballet but did enjoy some of the international dances. And we all enjoyed the music. I was glad the boys recognized some of the songs. Creed even got a little motion sick from watching all the twirling. The part that made them the most happy I'm sure is their nutcracker souvenir they helped buy. And luckily my mom was there to help explain what the dances were or who the character was. I knew some but couldn't remember much from when I was growing up. Then we met up with Greg and the younger boys and all went to dinner.

 And the next day we had our ward breakfast then headed down to Alpine for a family party and celebrated Greg's mom's 70th Birthday! We had a video slideshow of her and celebrated and had cake. How can she be 70 years old?! She is such an awesome grandma. I am lucky to have such a sweet mother-in-law. Everyone just loves her! We are going to have a girls afternoon out next week for her too.

 On Sunday we enjoyed our ward's Christmas program at church. Greg and I had to say the prayers. I wasn't a fan of that. And poor Rafe cried when he couldn't go up with the primary children to sing and then cried when I went up to the stand to say the prayer. I guess my baby can still be a baby it seems. (he he)

And I have to show this series of pictures. Our neighbor was enjoying the show and took video of a few seconds of his favorite part. Put on by the miniature Greg named Bodie. He was a little crazy into the song "Lullaby Jesus" So much so, the kids around him would watch him and not the chorister. He rubbed off on Creed because he was actually singing and smiling. I'm sure his smile was because of Bodie. But it is fun to watch. I wish they would let people record the primary program. How awesome would that be?!

Retakes

Since Kindergarten is a major milestone year I wanted to for sure get pictures of Bodie. And Bodie has an under bite. And in his picture it sure came through. In fact I can't say he was even smiling. As cute as he is and the picture is, I wanted one a little better of him. So the day before his picture retake day Rafe clawed and scratched him across the face. So he looked like he got attacked by a cat. So we missed it. Then I got all the dates and schools that we could go to for retakes. So, the next dates his scratches were still visible. Then the next time he had a chapped bloody lip. Then the next time we couldn't make it, then the next was something else. It was unbelievable how we just couldn't seem to get a wound free face and make it into a local school for retakes. Then the last one of the year. I took him over to get the pictures taken no matter what. And it took the photographer like 6 tries with my help to get him to look, hold still, and smile "normal" This was the best and I figure it is a smile and better than the first, so it's a success! And yes, he insisted on wearing the same shirt. He's a cutie pie!

Before                                                                              After

observation

 Nothing too exciting. I just wanted to document something. This fun cute poster of all things Disney. I just love it. It's been hanging in the upstairs bedroom for 10 years. And it's been ripped down a few times, and has pieces missing, and I wanted to remove the old thing many times. All my baby boys stared at this while in their crib. Even now, they could point at the characters and name them or say, oh yeah, I remember that movie. Anyways, as I mentioned, I painted the upstairs boys bedroom and I took this down and won't be putting it back up. I'll have to find something else. But it was so great. I took it out of a Parent's magazine when I was pregnant with Jax I think. Good bye colorful memory of my boys room!

And I love this mountain. I see it out our window at home. I see it while we drive all over. The 4th picture is sunset this fall from our street.  The 3rd picture is dropping Bodie off at school with a fresh snow in the early morning. Dark up in that neighborhood. In the winter it often times "disappears". I'll jokingly ask the boys where did the mountain go? Because it's covered and looming in clouds and we can't see it.
 I love going up to Bodie's school. Can you imagine the students seeing this grand scene out the classroom window all day. Lucky. The first 2 pictures I took this past Friday and Friday before that. Sitting in the car waiting for the Kindergarten classes to come out on an early out day. Friday's are silly, 2 hours is all. I just dropped Bodie off and am back to pick him up. It's so early in the morning the sun is about to creep past the top and finally shine down.Well the sun has been shining across the whole Salt Lake valley for hours. But at 10:40 am this winter it's barely ready to shine on the school. I was kidding about it being so early. I think it's kinda funny that at that later morning hour the neighborhood up there doesn't have the sun yet. At our house the sun peaks over the mountain at about 9am. Not too bad. That Mount Olympus and it's big shadow I tell ya!

Decembering

 Half way through the fun month. The unusually warm month this year. The always busy month. December is great. It's just so different from, let's say January. Am I right? I love the Christmas season. Greg made his favorite Wassel yesterday and a Gingerbread house with the boys tonight. We've done a Christmas play, work party last night, Jr. Jazz for Jax, lots of shopping, watching Christmas movies, dinner with friends, and all this...

1- I have 2 cub scouts. That is weird. Jax is so proud to be in Webelos, and Creed had the biggest smile when I showed him his new scout uniform. They were helping with a service activity at Creed's first pack meeting. I'm always knocking on wood about when they give me the calling to be a Den mother.
2- Rafe found something to keep him busy while I searched the toy isles at the store one day. It took quite a bit of persuading to get him to quickly put them back so we could go pick up Bodie from school.
3- The cemetery had a luminary lighting night. So we went to put some on the graves of my dad, g-ma/p-pa Jensen and Uncle Bill. Before that we had dinner at my mom's, she had a Christmas Tea Party for her local grand kids.
4- Creed's class had their annual Tanner Dance performance. He is lined up and ready to start. I told him he better "get into it" more this year. And he sure did. He had fun and was entertaining to watch.

 5- Temple Square Christmas Lights with the Lorenzon Family. Rafe and Bodie were in aw of the Christus Statue. I love the picture of them drawn in close and looking up at the grand statue of Christ. Bodie asked if this was Jesus's Grave we were visiting. I explained it to him.
6-Rafe really wanted a picture of him with the spires. It only took 8 tries. :)
7-Jax wanted one of him with the temple as well. We needed to be further away, it's just so neat to be so close.
8- All the cousins enjoying the Christmas lights at Temple Sq. and downtown. Before heading to dinner at Training Table with everyone. That's turning into a tradition.

 9- Our family tradition of Tepenyaki's. I loved Rafe's concentration and desire to use his chop sticks to eat his meat. And of course the boys LOVED the whole experience there.
10- Sleep over - I painted the boys room upstairs (all by myself thank you) and it was drying so Bodie and Rafe were sleeping in the family room. And joined by their older brothers. I loved how Creed fell asleep. Had to get a picture of my sleeping boys. And it took a long time for them to finally get that way. Too much sushi and steak I guess. Or just being hyper crazy excited boys. :)

Great Baptism

 It's great to be 8. It's great to be baptized! Creed was feeling pretty special on Saturday. He was happy and excited to be baptized. It was nice, there was only one other child doing it too. So it was short and sweet. Not many from our ward came, weird. But we had all our family and some friends there as well. And yummy food after at the brunch. My sister Amy Menssen gave the baptism talk, and then Jax gave a short talk on the Holy Ghost at the confirmation. Then I was supposed to bear my testimony. And forgot to "think and ponder" about what I would say, so I got up and drew a blank, mumbled something and sat down. Ha! Creed didn't notice. And Creed, Jax, and even Bodie insisted that they wear grandpa Williamsen's ties. They've been loving doing that to church as well. Makes me smile.

Here he is all before. And I forgot to get a group shot, but the scattered eating is the best I have of everyone. Too bad I can't go back in time. :)

 I really like the stained glass window at our font. Although it's a little room and opens up into the hallway, so most people were standing and watching. But it was ok, everyone could see. I love seeing all the little kids sitting right at the front glass to see the baptism. Creed asked Greg a couple times before to practice on how he goes under the water. Bodie and Rafe just kept talking about how they loved having hot cocoa at the brunch. And Jax was happy for Creed and was telling him he now pays tithing and has to fast since he's an official member of the church. I hope Creed remember's his special day always. It was great!

TEN!!

 My first born has been around for a whole decade. Crazy. I'm sure I'll be saying 2 decades in no time. Jax was such a happy baby. Always smiling and laughing. Easy as could be. I was spoiled. He's laughing in this picture, about 9 months old. When I was going though his baby pictures, I was reminded that Greg's family was obsessed with him. For good reason of course. He's adorable. And he was the first grand child on that side of the family. So I had lots of pictures of Jax's aunts going coo coo for him.

He is always wanting to have fun. I loved this picture of him he was over a year old. Shows how silly he was and he still is.

Jax is a great example to his older brothers, I'm very glad for that. I have to nag him everyday to get his homework done. We struggle every morning with what he should eat for breakfast, he won't just eat cold cereal like everyone else. He is always wanting to make something, paper, scissors, pencils or crayons are always out when he's home. He loves sports, loves his friends, loves talking and talking, he's a good helper for me when I need, he loves bugging his brothers, he takes after Greg in a lot of ways. I love when he speaks french, how he is not shy and talks to adults, his loud cackle laugh, his sweet spirit, he has a soft side, and Greg says he loves his cheerful disposition and how he's always eager to help him and be with him.

His big day: he was so excited he couldn't sleep, he actually tried going to bed early the night before, but couldn't. He wanted a red cake, so I just used some red writing. And he was excited to take his usual suckers to school to give out to his class. And he was feeling lucky that he had a field trip to the Symphony on his birthday as well. So he dressed a little nice for that.

We had his favorite pizza for dinner and cake and ice cream to celebrate with Grandma W. and Amy & Karl.

 Here he is that morning opening his presents. He got a new "real" basketball and football, he's so happy he hugged it. What a turkey! One of his presents (PS3 controller) didn't come yet, so I wrapped a picture of it. He was ok about that, until he had to wait 2 days. Then he was obsessed with when he'd get it.

It's amazing how fast time goes by. 10 years sure did fly by. I kept thinking how weird it was all day know how long it had been since he was born. To have a "pre-teen" as Jax will be sure to inform anyone and everyone. :)  Crazy!

Happy Birthday Turkey

Happy Turkey day. Thanksgiving is always a yummy day. We have lots to be thankful for. It is always nice to reflect and really think about how much gratitude we have. For our family night a few weeks ago we listed all the random things we are thankful for. Here's a few, home, family, jobs, each other, books, school, TV, flowers, grandparents, sleep, baths, temple, church, camera, video games, and yes, then the boys started getting silly and carried away. I happen to always call them "turkey's" when they are being silly turkey's.

 Here are 2 of my favorite quotes...

It's not happy people who are thankful it's Thankful people who are happy.


Gratitude turns what we have into enough.

I had to share this awesome turkey Bodie made. When I saw it on the kindergarten bulletin board and compared his to all the other kids I thought "oh boy" but I did have a huge smile. The other ones had all 5 fingers on their hands/wings, nicely cut out round heads, even eyes and a perfect triangle opening beak. And Bodie's was just so cute, so unique and original. One of a kind I tell ya.

~~~

And a Happy Birthday to my dad. He would have been 69 years young. His birthday falls right on Thanksgiving Thursday this year. It is bittersweet. I miss him. But ya know, I've missed him for a long time. His illness took him away from us years ago. And now that his spirit is gone I can remember back to when he was my dad. It's just over a month ago that he died. I still can't believe it sometimes. But at least I do know he is himself again with a whole mind. That makes me very happy. As sad as it is to have lost my dad, it is also a happy feeling. What a peaceful way to mourn someone. I love my dad. And as Creed said in his talk in primary on Sunday, "I am glad I know that Families Are Forever".

 

Today we are off to visit his grave at the cemetery on his birthday, then to Alpine for the feast with Greg's family.  I hope my pies turn out. And I hope my mom enjoy's her day.

Creed is Great

 Wow, it's great to be 8! Creed had his birthday and boy was he happy about that. Greg was out of town again on his birthday this year. But, did fly home that night at bedtime. The birthday morning I had presents, balloons, camera's all ready to go. Jax was doing Greg's job of filming until I fired him and took over doing both camera's. :) Creed was happy to get presents, and really liked his scriptures, video game controller, and he asked for his own lamp for his room and some other things. He enjoyed his day at school and we went to dinner at IHOP with aunt Amy and G-ma to celebrate. Then back to our house for cake before heading to the airport to pick up Greg.

 When our kids turn 8 we let them have a friend party. So the next Saturday we went bowling! 

Creed's form improved as the afternoon went on.

 I loved how Jax helped Rafe sometimes, by whacking him in the head to help him throw the ball. Rafe didn't like that. Jax did his turn without bumbers so his score was lower, and Bodie liked sprawling out on the floor again. And learned to throw the ball instead of just pushing and rolling it.

 Here's the best group shots I got. His friends eating at the tables then all 11 kids (including my own) with Greg at the lanes.

 He wanted a Minecraft party. So uh, I did some cupcakes with it. He had such fun, he loved being with his friends, and his brothers. I loved watching him with these boys. He can be so silly. He made sure to make all of them feel important and glad they came and what great presents they gave him. And it was nice to get to know some of them that I didn't really know.

 I can't believe this kid was born 8 years ago. Time is going by too fast. I keep telling my boys to stop growing. It sure is great though having Creed be as old as he is. He can be such a great help. He is the best at being Rafe's buddy and cheering him up or buckling him in his car seat. He loves playing video games with Bodie, and loves sharing a room with Jax. Those 2 brothers are 2 peas in a pod. Creed is always goofing off and being silly and laughing, even when he's not supposed to. He does well in school and comes home and gets his homework done, quickly gets to practicing piano and does it well. He loves his cold cereal in the mornings and eating whatever concoction I give him for lunch. He is turning into a social butterfly. He is being more brave, he volunteered to sing a solo with Jax and another boy for the Primary Program, he just have a talk in Primary today, and in school his teachers say he is always talking and laughing with everyone and wanting to help, they enjoy him in class. And he started scouts! 

Here Creed is as a baby. A week old, then 8 months, then his first birthday. What a cutie. I love his blue eyes. We all love to watch Creed on our home movies. Bodie and Rafe even love it even though they aren't in it. They laugh and think he's the best. He holds a dear place in my heart and I love him and love that he's in our family!

Fall stuff

 Here's a review (not the best iphone pics) of some of what we've been up to this fall...

Up our canyon (Millcreek) for dinner and Smores with our friends the Davies. Enjoying a dinner on the patio on a fall evening with Greg's mission companion and their family, the Glende's. Then we tore out my parents basement for a reno. And Rafe was so happy and proud to get his first trophy.

 Next...

 Greg did Jax and Creed's hair for crazy hair day. (this was the day my dad passed away and I was with my mom) Rafe and Bodie have these weird bumps/growths surrounding one of their armpits. I forgot what it's called but, it's a virus related to a wart but it's not that and it lasts 9 months. Why 9 and not 6 or 12? Who knows. Bodie's are starting to go away but Rafe's are in full swing. Yuck. And Creed played a short season of indoor soccer. He was way bummed it was over. He loves playing.

I have an ugly story of Rafe and an episode from today. I was at Creed's last game, Greg was fixing his 3rd faucet at the duplex and I had all the boys and was trying to leave after soccer was over. Something made Rafe mad and he wouldn't come with me or his brothers. He started screaming/crying. Every time I would walk towards him he would back away, he wouldn't let me get his coat on, it was raining, he was being stubborn. Did I mention he was screaming his head off, and it was echoing throughout the whole Rec Center. So I finally just grabbed him, picked him up and tried carrying him out to the car past the Library entrance too and he starts kicking and squirming and I'm about to drop him and can't quite get a good carry on him. Everyone is staring. And then... Greg came out of nowhere and saved the day! My hero! He took Rafe out of my arms and quickly got him out of the building. He is better at that than me. So I was able to find Jax and Bodie in the Library (they were gone trying to hide from loud Rafe I'm sure) and get to the car after Greg had him in his car seat. Phew. I wonder when my 3 year old will out grow his tantrums? Stores and Rafe - don't go together either.

Um, what else... oh, I did a huge task and did the Reflections program at the school. That was a huge undertaking and was a ton of work. Luckily I did it with my neighbor, but boy I tell ya. A lot of work! I am so dang glad it is over. I was so relieved when I turned in the last of the entries. I have a new appreciation for PTA's and what they do.
 

Greg made us put up our Christmas decor this weekend. So we decorated our tree while eating Halloween candy. But, I guess because Thanksgiving is so late in November this year, we really have just over a month and a few days for x-mas stuff. So our Holidays are all meshing together.

I guess that sums up the gist of things.

Halloween 2014

 Finally getting around to talking about the big fun holiday! We all love Halloween at our house. After my dad's funeral and after spending day after day in Bountiful and with family we had to eventually go back to normal life. The boys didn't like having school, homework, goals, cleaning & piano to catch up on. Everything that was put on hold for a while. But at least going back was a fun few crazy days.

On Tuesday I ran over to Rafe's preschool program. Really cute, the teachers did a great job singing as the kids kinda got stage fright and didn't sing much at all, ha! Then on Thursday, since no school on Friday, all the other boys had their costume parades and Halloween parties. I love going to the school parades. Always fun to see the many different costumes. I am kinda sad I had to miss Jax and Creed's school though. Bodie had a kindergarten program that morning right after his parade. So I was up at his school. He is a silly character and had fun doing his program and singing the fun songs. I texted Greg that it was weird as I sat in their gym watching with no other little kids with me. Just me, no whining Rafe since he was in school too.

Then after Bodie and I raced down the hill to catch Jax and Creed and their classes out on the play ground for recess, so I saw them and some of their friends dressed up.

And can I just say... Holy Elsa! The movie Frozen is still quite the hit. One of the kindergarten classes had 6 costumed girls. I dare you to find a group of little girls where there wasn't an Elsa. So funny.

Wednesday night after being at my moms earlier, we quickly carved one big pumpkin Greg grabbed at the store. The boys were kinda sad not to get their own, but we had no time all week. We always have next year.

Ninja, Zombie Basketball player, Mummy, and a Skeleton. Make that a last minute bloody zombie ninja and a Mummy zombie. aka: Bodie, Jax, Creed, and Rafe.

 Halloween night we went down to our neighbors house in our ward that hosts a big pre trick-or-treating Garage Soup potluck party. So we ate and headed out to get the donuts down their street then on to collect candy. It was a great time. Perfect warm weather. And check out that sunset! It's weird to say we had a beautiful time Trick-or-treating. But it was.

When Rafe was done I drove home with him to answer our door. Then a while later Greg and the other boys made it up the hill and then Bodie stayed home. Then even later they all were done and came home and ate some candy, watched a quick show, washed off and went to bed. It was a Happy Halloween!

Funeral

This is all about the Funeral. I still can't believe it - we had my dad's funeral! That means he is gone and we buried his body. We knew the day and time would come eventually. But, it was still sudden.

Sunday night the 26th we had the viewing. It was a nice evening. My on-going Migraine took a break for Sunday and Monday. Phew. It was a good turnout. Mom did great, and was glad to see people and surprised by who all came. Dad was loved.

Monday morning, I couldn't sleep (again) and just had a pit in my stomach when ever I'd think about speaking and the funeral. More people came by for the viewing before hand. Then it was a quaint group for the funeral. We couldn't decide on which of my dad's sisters would speak, so we asked all 3 of them to do it together (tag team). And my 2 brother's and sister and I all wanted to speak. So, we figured we'd all go up together and mention some memories we had and share something short and sweet. I kinda didn't want to have to speak (too emotional). But, also felt I should , and I prayed I would hold it together and not get up and blubber and mumble - and I was ok. Speaking went pretty good, considering. Greg spoke as well and did great. The grand-kids all sang "Families Are Forever" and "I am Child of God". We ended the service in an hour and were headed up to the cemetery. 

Here's my boys all ready for their Grandpa's funeral. They were so happy to get a rose to wear. And all the men and boys wore my dad's neck ties. Although, Bodie and Rafe didn't wear one (to their dismay), it would have drowned them.

The part I knew would be hard and bring the flowing tears did. The family prayer. My bro. Cameron had to do it. And, when they close the casket - oh boy. My sweet Creed was bawling. Jaxon also was teary. Bodie and Rafe are so young - but, they were pretty reverent. They knew it was a special time. We rode with my mom in the limo up the hill to the cemetery. I was so torn. I really wanted to be down by the grave and take a bunch of pictures of the pallbearers bringing the casket down the steep hill, being followed by all the grand-kids in their boutineers. But, I was with the family group coming down with it all. 
I quickly tried to capture some. Then all the pallbearers, sons, and my dad's brother-in-laws and grand-kids put their roses on the casket.

Right as we were getting started at the grave for my brother Drew to dedicate the grave, the sun went away and it got soooo cold. We didn't have our jackets. So, we didn't stay too long.

Here's most the grand-kids staying warm after.

One last family picture before dad was truly laid to rest.

What a beautiful day. Incredible view.

Jax and Creed got to ride back down to the church in the limo for the luncheon my mom's ward did for the whole family. They were pretty excited about that.

I was finally able to eat. My appetite wasn't much all week, and I certainly couldn't eat that morning of the funeral. Then we gathered up the pictures and blocks on display and headed to my mom's to relax for the afternoon and evening. 

Before sunset we headed back up to Lakeview Cemetery to visit dad in the ground now. Then the kids went crazy with collecting flowers as a keepsake, ending with a gorgeous sunset. You can see a little of the stand of flowers left down on his grave.

The kids have loved being able to see cousins every single day for a week, and getting reacquainted with the Williamsen cousins they never get to see that live out of state. We've had a lot of family time and a lot of rolls and lunch meat - ha ha. It's back to regular life again. Dad would have enjoyed so much seeing us all together and sitting and visiting with his family. Good bye dad, love you forever!

My dad

Gosh, I don't want to write this post but, I also can't get behind in writing it. I know I want to remember and share this for posterity. 

So the day came, the day my dad died. It's been exactly 1 week since last Wednesday morning when he passed away. It seems so weird. Surreal and hard to believe and get used to. But, also I feel peace and happiness. Happy that he is free from his ill mind and happy for my mom to be able to have her life back after caring so well for my dad. She has cared for him and loved him so selflessly. It was getting harder and harder by the end. I imagine a relief is lifted for her. I look forward to what her future holds and what she is able to do.

I want to do a brief review of how it all came to be. So, 5 years ago he was diagnosed with early on-set Alzheimer's. And his memory was slipping away. It started out with names, and words. Then got worse, then more confusion. My mom retired early 13 months ago to stay home and care for him full time. Because he needed it. And this last year he really was on a decline. And by the end of this September we held a family Fast for my parents. My dad was getting combative and agitated and a little violent. There was no way she could take care of him if he was going to be like that. So we prayed that he wouldn't and she would find a way to continue to care for him. Putting him in a care home wasn't really an option financially. So the very next week, after a few phone calls, Hospice came (Home Health) and the nurse said he qualified, at the beginning of her assessment she could tell. The picture below is the last one I took of him, while the nurse was going over paperwork with my mom. Dad was there with us and even was joking around and laughing a bit.

They got him on some medication to help him, and it did help at first. After about a week, my mom was trying to figure out the meds and how many doses and work with all the side effects. Waiting to get them in his system. Then they had to stop some of the meds because they weren't helping him the way they help most dementia/Alzheimer's patients. These new meds made him very drowsy. So he was sleeping a lot. Then he slept even more. My mom had to wake him up to feed him and get him showered. 

The last Saturday the 18th we all met at my parents and gutted her basement getting ready for a remodel. I peeked in on my dad that day while my mom was trying to feed him. He slept that whole day. The next few days, she was able to give him a hair cut, the aide and nurse had come by to check him. And then by Tuesday night, my mom called to have my brother and sister come help try and wake him up, he hadn't been awake for a while. He didn't really wake up. (Perhaps he was in a coma?) That night she said she could hear him breathing heavy and kinda fast all night. So Wednesday morning the 22nd she got up and jumped in the shower after checking on him and when she got out, he was gone. At 7:30am she called me on the phone to tell me. We cried, Greg and I called around and found people to take the boys and I headed up to Bountiful for the day. And the next 7 days actually.

In the rest of the pictures: It as trippy to see his official obituary. My brother Drew and sis-in-law Alecia and their kids flew out the next day and so we were all there together to help plan everything for the funeral. In the picture we had all met at Russon Bro's Mortuary to see dad/grandpa Lee and they talked to the kids about death and showed the "white glove" spirit demonstration they do. And then the grand-kids all gathered together practicing their songs for the funeral.

My mom's siblings were so great. They brought meals for our whole group several times. My dad's sisters flew in and notified everyone for my mom. We got started with funeral planning, cemetery, picking the casket, flowers, mortuary, obituary, and gathering pictures. 

Funerals are a big to-do, and we are so glad it is over. It's been bitter sweet feelings. My mom is holding up well. We have all been blessed with strength to get through this last week. Dad was too young. It is sad. But I feel a happy relief for him at the same time. I'll talk about the funeral next.