I'm just going to tie Thanksgiving and Christmas into one giant post, because that is basically the way they feel in real life. You anticipate Thanksgiving as the start of the holiday and by the time you take the last bite of turkey, it's Christmas eve. At least that's how it feels.
So we'll start with Thanksgiving. Before Thanksgiving got here, we were lucky to spend a quick morning with Keaton at prek hearing a few poems and songs and eating the snacks they made with the high school home ec class. He was excited to share and we were excited to share the morning with him.
Thanksgiving Day we went to the Hall side. We got to snuggle our new niece Margaret all day long, which was absolutely horrible. HA No one hated it more than Emmalyn. Maybe Keaton. Maybe me. Kidding. We all loved it! :) She's absolutely sweet as pie. And the pie was GOOD that day.
We even grabbed a few family photos and Grandkid photos!
As we transitioned into Christmas, we started focusing on shopping, events with friends, and Emmalyn's 3rd Grade Christmas play. She said she had a dance part, but didn't mention it was a solo. So when show night came around, we were shocked to see her preform alone. We were nervous because she said Mr. Plains wanted her doing flips and back walkovers, which seemed hard to believe, but she wasn't lying. And she ROCKED IT.
To wrap up 1st semester, we got to attend the awards ceremony to see Miss Em receive an award for A/B Honor roll, as well as no missing or late assignments.
We kicked off Christmas vacation with a bit of a scare. Mom became a bit sick, and though I encouraged her, she held off going to the doctor. When she finally did -- she text and said "bacterial pneumonia". Okay -- not great, but manageable. Later in the day, I got a phone call from Mom and asked how Harry's Christmas program had gone....knowing they'd likely gone to it. Well, instead, she updated that they were just leaving the doctor and that they'd gotten hard news. After some imaging, they found a mass on her lungs and they believed she had lung cancer. She'd see the oncologist the next day. LIFE. CHANGING news. It was the hardest 24 hours trying to not google and let ourselves go down the rabbit hole of losing Mom to cancer. She visited the oncologist the next day, and when she finally called, my breath caught in my throat. To my delight, or relief...........her and Dad were more concerned about figuring out how to talk to me via bluetooth through the car than anything else. Hopefully this was good sign. They were both cautiously optimistic. They loved the oncologist they met, Dr. Narayan, and said she told them she wasn't comfortable diagnosing cancer just yet. She was encouraged that in 24 hours on antibiotics Mom was already feeling a bit better and that she wanted to give the meds time to work before she determined anything. So, ride 2 weeks on meds, and see where we go from there. On the 26th she'd go back for a catscan, 27th for a recheck with the doc. And so, we waited, and prayed like crazy for improvement. And, little by little, Mom felt better, though, exhausted, which is a natural with pneumonia. We had a great Christmas, and counted our blessings as it's the best Mom had felt in a few weeks.
By the grace of God, when Mom went back on the 27th for her follow up appointment, Dr. Narayan walked in and said, "You're all clear! Just pneumonia!" Can we give God a big ole AMEN for that one? The thought of not having my Mom as my counselor on my drive home each day, or my confident when questioning every parenting move I've ever made scared me to death. There's still so much we have left to do together. So thankful God only scared us this time, and that we can continue on with our plans for the future. Mom, we love you forever and please, don't do that again! :)
Christmas was the same in many ways this year too -- Christmas Eve with the Hall's, Christmas day with the Stockments. The only difference this year was the Hancock Christmas on the 22nd rather than Christmas day. Pics to follow. We are so blessed each year to give and be given to. To have the resources for a wonderful Christmas for our own family, as well as those we love. I pray that you kids don't remember the gifts, but the feeling of Christmas. The magic of being together. The laughter. The surprises and joy. The fun of picking out the perfect gift for your sibling. The hugs. The food. The songs. The thankfulness that comes knowing we have each other. That is what Christmas is meant to be.
Hancock Christmas -
Keaton was the winner -- getting Uncle Trent's White Elephant Gift -- a Senior Poster of Jake Flinn!
Hall Christmas --
Christmas Morning -
Stockment Christmas -
So we'll start with Thanksgiving. Before Thanksgiving got here, we were lucky to spend a quick morning with Keaton at prek hearing a few poems and songs and eating the snacks they made with the high school home ec class. He was excited to share and we were excited to share the morning with him.
We kicked off Christmas vacation with a bit of a scare. Mom became a bit sick, and though I encouraged her, she held off going to the doctor. When she finally did -- she text and said "bacterial pneumonia". Okay -- not great, but manageable. Later in the day, I got a phone call from Mom and asked how Harry's Christmas program had gone....knowing they'd likely gone to it. Well, instead, she updated that they were just leaving the doctor and that they'd gotten hard news. After some imaging, they found a mass on her lungs and they believed she had lung cancer. She'd see the oncologist the next day. LIFE. CHANGING news. It was the hardest 24 hours trying to not google and let ourselves go down the rabbit hole of losing Mom to cancer. She visited the oncologist the next day, and when she finally called, my breath caught in my throat. To my delight, or relief...........her and Dad were more concerned about figuring out how to talk to me via bluetooth through the car than anything else. Hopefully this was good sign. They were both cautiously optimistic. They loved the oncologist they met, Dr. Narayan, and said she told them she wasn't comfortable diagnosing cancer just yet. She was encouraged that in 24 hours on antibiotics Mom was already feeling a bit better and that she wanted to give the meds time to work before she determined anything. So, ride 2 weeks on meds, and see where we go from there. On the 26th she'd go back for a catscan, 27th for a recheck with the doc. And so, we waited, and prayed like crazy for improvement. And, little by little, Mom felt better, though, exhausted, which is a natural with pneumonia. We had a great Christmas, and counted our blessings as it's the best Mom had felt in a few weeks.
By the grace of God, when Mom went back on the 27th for her follow up appointment, Dr. Narayan walked in and said, "You're all clear! Just pneumonia!" Can we give God a big ole AMEN for that one? The thought of not having my Mom as my counselor on my drive home each day, or my confident when questioning every parenting move I've ever made scared me to death. There's still so much we have left to do together. So thankful God only scared us this time, and that we can continue on with our plans for the future. Mom, we love you forever and please, don't do that again! :)
Christmas was the same in many ways this year too -- Christmas Eve with the Hall's, Christmas day with the Stockments. The only difference this year was the Hancock Christmas on the 22nd rather than Christmas day. Pics to follow. We are so blessed each year to give and be given to. To have the resources for a wonderful Christmas for our own family, as well as those we love. I pray that you kids don't remember the gifts, but the feeling of Christmas. The magic of being together. The laughter. The surprises and joy. The fun of picking out the perfect gift for your sibling. The hugs. The food. The songs. The thankfulness that comes knowing we have each other. That is what Christmas is meant to be.
Hancock Christmas -
Keaton was the winner -- getting Uncle Trent's White Elephant Gift -- a Senior Poster of Jake Flinn!
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