Let's go in something of a chronological order, from the beginning of the month to the end. As you all know, we started out the month losing Rachel. That's already been covered. But when even the most tragic things happen, the Lord still provides joy in our lives. After all, that is why we are here! On December 1st, Rachel went home to her Heavenly Father to start her mission in the spirit world. On December 2nd, Nick came home from his full-time mission in the Lima (North), Peru mission. I can't begin to describe the gamut of emotions we felt, so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...
Even with the circumstances that Nick came home to, or perhaps because of them, we were all so overjoyed to see him again! Danny and I weren't going to be able to be at the airport when he first got home, so we felt fortunate to get to share in that unique experience. He had an amazing mission, and we loved hearing a small part of his many adventures during the time we were all together.
And we spent a lot of time together! Rachel's funeral brought us all together for more time than I think we've ever spent together as an entire family! We were even blessed to have all of my Mom's siblings and her Dad spend some time with us. Again, there were a lot of tears during this first week of December, but I'm not ashamed to say there was at least, if not more, laughing. Family really is what it's all about!
From left to right: Grandpa Aldrich, Danny, Nick, and Jeff. Nick just got his
MacBook, and the tech frenzy was well under way.
It was an exhausting week for all of us! This is my brother-in-law Matt, and
my six week old nephew, Elijah. He was such a trooper during all of this!
For Rachel's birthday on the 22nd, we charged my sister Jessie with putting
together a flower arrangement that we could put on Rachel's grave. Like
everything else, it turned into a family affair! Pictured here from left to
right: Baron, Jessie, Roman, Isabelle, Devin.
From left to right: Claire, Roman, Isabelle. Roman was REALLY into
the whole flower-arranging thing! :)
I mean REALLY into it! He's too cute if you ask me...
From left to right (I think) : Baron, Isabelle, and Roman. This is so classic
for the twins, and shows just how identical they look! Sorry if I messed up
on their names...
The middle of December was a bit hectic for me, personally. Danny had to return to our home in California to work before our scheduled vacation for the holidays began. I felt strongly, however, that the girls and I should stay with Grandma Candy. We were separated for 2 1/2 weeks, which was...interesting! Before this, Danny and I hadn't been apart for more than a couple days and a night! But we persevered, and we were strengthened when it got difficult. The girls missed their Dad like crazy, and I have NO desire to be a single mom! During Danny's departure, I started to feel a bit queasy, and as the days passed and the nausea didn't, I became more and more convinced that we were pregnant. It wasn't easy to manage the girls and feel sick, but thanks to my Mom and in-laws, I had plenty of help! I think the biggest help of all, however, were all the cousins around to entertain Claire and Sophie! Here is a little photo journal of their good times...
We got plenty of snow while in Utah, and the kids were sick of being couped up
in the house, so we bought them all snow clothes and sent them out to play! Left to right:
Roman, Baron, and Claire
Turns out that plastic saucers and a couple stairs provide a great deal of cheap entertainment!
Claire isn't really much for excitement, so eating snow was about as crazy as it got!
The boys, however, had a much different idea of fun! That's Baron going down
the stairs 'o fun, with Roman setting up right behind him!
I got Claire to try it one time. She enjoyed it, right up until
she started going down! :)
This was Sophie's first time in the snow. She was so loaded down with snow gear
that she couldn't stand up very well. She mostly just scooted around on her belly,
licking the snow on the way.
She did it! After a significant struggle, she managed to be a biped once again.
This pretty much sums up the cousin-time...hanging out at Grandma Candy's,
eating chocolate! Left to right: Sophie, Claire, Isabelle, Baron, Roman (I think, it's
kinda hard to tell!) :)
So, that brings us to Christmas. This is probably the longest post ever, and if I haven't lost you by now, I'm impressed! By the time Christmas rolled around, we all felt like we have lived at least a few months in a few weeks worth of time. Hence the title of this post! If you haven't heard or gathered by now, we confirmed on Christmas Eve morning that I am indeed pregnant with our third! Merry Christmas, Danny! :) We started Christmas morning out at Grandma Candy's house, with Aunt Heather and the twins and Uncle Nick who got to be Santa this year and hand out the presents. After the opening of presents, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Call's for Christmas morning Take Two. Here is the photo evidence...
This was the initial entrance to see what Santa brought. The girls haven't quite
caught on to the excitement yet...
In my family, we always start out with stockings before "Santa" distributes the real presents.
Sophie's starting to get into things now.
The boys look like they're having exactly the same amount of fun!
How much more identical can you get? Twins are so cute!
Claire was SO excited about her Play-Doh. Thank you, Sophie!
Sophie is our little stacker, so Claire knew just what to get Sophie for
Christmas! Sophie is stupefied with utter glee...
I think this was the pinnacle of Claire's morning...it's at least tied with the Play-Doh.
An actual Princess Aurora dress-up dress! Thanks, Mom and Dad!
Here was are with our second Christmas Morning! Santa thought the girls had been
extra good this year, and brought presents to BOTH grandparent's houses! Lucky girls!
Notice what Claire is still wearing...
This is one of many outfits that Grandma Call got Sophie. I don't think she had
any fun at all shopping. :)
Like Sophie, Grandma did plenty of shopping for Claire! Too bad she never
intends to wear anything but her Princess Aurora dress for as long as she lives!
The joys of Christmas: picking your first thing to play with among a sea of wrapping paper.
Sophie may not have quite grasped the whole Christmas thing, but she figured it waa
safe to follow in Claire's footsteps.
Uncle Kenny got Claire 24 more Play-Dohs, not knowing that Sophie had already gotten
her like 8! This was the best part of the morning for the girls. Left to right: Danny, Sophie, Claire,
and Uncle Kenny.
So at long last we finished the month with a wonderful New Year's Eve party at the Call's, with more food than ANYONE should eat no matter the occasion! I'm sure a lot happened that would have you all at the edge of your seats, but a girl can only blog so much! I'll try to be more consistent now that life is getting back to normal, and I don't spend quite so much time vomiting. Did I mention how excited I am to be pregnant again? ;) Really, I am. All in all, it was the craziest month any of us have ever lived through, but one that will live in our fondest memories forever.
3 comments:
WOW - that is quite the blog entry! I am impressed! I am glad that you all were able to have FUN during the month of December - and be utterly spoiled on Christmas! Thanks for squeazing in a visit with us - not sure how much the girls enjoyed Chuck-E-Cheese, but we loved seeing them and YOU!
Your family is so awesome! The girls are getting so big and SO pretty.
That was a long post! :) It looks like during all the changes that happened you were still able to enjoy yourselves. It was great to have you guys close for so long.
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