Water Glasses

These were my Grandma Donna's water glasses

A revelation of sorts hit me this Thanksgiving. As many of you know, my Grandma Donna, my mom's mom, had dementia; not quite Alzheimer's, but definitely dementia. On a good day she knows my name, often when she is not asked. More in casual conversation she will say, "Brenda, what did so and so say?" On a bad day, of which I have not really witnessed, she will kick one of her care givers.

As I set the dinner table for Thanksgiving this year, I used the water glasses that she gave me when she had to give up her house and moved into my parent's house and eventually on to assisted living. This Thanksgiving, I thought I would ask her about the water glasses to see if she remembered...

My sister and I are my grandma's only two grandchildren, my mom was an only child. I grew up with her. Not a week went by when I did not see my grandma. My sister and I loved to go over there, and our favorite spot was to go to the Jack-in-the-Box drive thru with her when we spent the night with her; my grandpa worked nights.

When I asked her about about the water glasses she looked at me with a blank stare. She started to get a bit confused so I had to change the conversation on to if she wanted pie or not. Something inside of me really needed for her to acknowledge the fact that she remembered, the other part of me knew she would not. How could my Grandma, the woman that I knew so well growing up, not remember such a simple thing?

The last few years I have not made the effort to try and really Talk to my Grandma. Something inside of me was kind of scared to try. Today for the first time in a few years I really made the effort to carry on a conversation, and it FAILED. It failed in a big way, but I'm okay with this. This was really the first time I really had conversation with my Grandma the way it used to be. Sure, it didn't go so well. But, I'm okay with this. I was actually talking to her the way it is going to be now and it felt good.

My Grandma knows that I have children, and lights up when she sees them. She constantly calls Raif a she, but tonight when she was in the car going home she told my mom, "he really is a cute little guy," or something like that.

My mom, GOD bless her, still goes to see her mom quite often, and talks, talks, talks to her. I'm not sure if the conversation goes anywhere, but at least they talk. So, from now on I'm going to talk to my Grandma. I know deep down inside of me she knows exactly who I am, and who my children are, and just how special she is to all of us. So, I'm going to keep on talking to her and I know when none of us are on this Earth, God will give her back her mind and she and I will have those conversations we once both cherished.

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!

Raif and his Grammy
Raif enjoyed his dinner, he's still wearing it!

Kelly and Me

Margaret and her Mom

Guyton and his girlfriend Jen

Margaret and Charley

Colby with his Dad and Eli

Kelly and Dad

Mom and her Mom

Bailey with Lexy and Jaymee

Bailey and Jaymee

Raif with Jaymee and Lexy

The "Kids Table"

Bailey with her Grammy and Great Grandmommy

Colby and I hosted Thanksgiving this year. We figured it is easier to have it at our house and that way we can have both sides of the family; and let's face it, with two small children it's always easier at your own house! Colby made a scrumptious barbequed turkey and I made mashed potatoes and corn bread. Everyone else contributed to the feast to make it easier. We were so happy Guyton and his girlfriend Jen could make it down from the bay area. We also got to have Colby's grandma and my grandma Donna to join us. It was a fun and festive night filled with laughter and lots of great food!

Disneyland Winter Wonderland

Raif and me at the It's a Small World Lighting
Colby and Bailey at the lighting
Bailey watching the parade
Colby and I took the kids to Disneyland yesterday after Raif had his nap. We knew we wanted to see all the lights, but wasn't sure what there was to offer. Well, we couldn't have planned it any better. We arrived at Disneyland at 4:56 when they were announcing that the tree lighting ceremony was about to start. We then walked to It's a Small World and at 5:15 that was lit up. We then walked back to Main Street, got our spot for the parade at 6:30, ate some corn dogs, and got to see the lighting of Sleeping Beauty's Castle, snow and all. We left right after the parade and had some delicious beignet donuts as we walked through Downtown Disney. An absolutely memorable and wonderful way to welcome in the Holiday Season!

Crab Cookout

I think we need to invest in some shell crackers!

Colby and I had some friends over for a crab cookout. Someone else took pictures, so I don't have any of people. But, we did have fun cracking the crab shells with hammers. Colby cooked all morning and we DINED on crab cakes, ceviche, tuna wontons, and clams and crab. He really outdid himself and we had a wonderful party. It was a fun way to welcome in the holiday season.

Preschool Friends

Silly Hat Time
Circle Time

Ball Time

Bailey got invited to her first preschool friend's birthday party at My Gym in Signal Hill. She didn't want to go when she first got the invitation, but then was so excited the morning of and kept asking when we got to go to Kyra's Birthday. My Gym does a great job of keeping the kids active and entertained and it was a fun to get to see Bailey interact with her new friends from school.

San Francisco Trip

Aaron and Sarah on the roof top of our hotel
We enjoyed wine and a cheese platter on the roof top

Drinks at the St. Francis Hotel

Dinner at Town Hall

Ice Skating on the Embarcadero

Sarah's 1st Time Ice Skating

Ice Skating was tons of fun

Sarah on her ice skates

The only thing missing from this pictures is cocktails in hand

Lunch at The Waterfront

Aaron and Sarah joined us last weekend for a much needed get away trip to San Francisco. We dined, drank, ate some more, drank some more and walked a lot. It was a great trip and look forward to a repeat next year!

Our Little Boy is at it Again!

5 seconds is all it takes to:

The smile says it all.

Final Halloween Pictures

Halloween Night with our neighbors Vicki and Annabelle
Halloween afternoon at the Irelands, lots of fun games!

We've just about got all our princesses covered. Neighbors of the Ireland's.

Raif was not in the mood to be a lobster!Bailey and Reagan

Pumpkin carving Friday night

Bailey spent about 30 minutes scooping out the seeds.

Raif wasn't much into the pumpkin carving, he didn't want to touch it.

Colby creating our Jack-o-Lanterns

We visited Grandma Donna at Palm Crest where she lives on Friday afternoon. I dressed up Bailey, Raif and myself for all of the residents to enjoy. My mom was a flapper again and dressed Grandma in some of her costume. Grandma even won 1st prize for the residents! And that my friends, is the END of Halloween until next year. The decorations are being taken down and on to Thanksgiving. I had tons of fun with Halloween this year, but am glad it is now over.