Happy New Year!

Happy 2009! Wow, where did 2008 go?

December has been quite interesting and emotional for us. The first couple of weeks I was just trying to get through work to make it to my 2 week holidays. We did have our ultra sound the first week which was really exciting. Seeing the little life that I often feel is out of this world.(a Side profile)(Here the baby was folded in half touching their feet. There is a little foot to the left of the head that is showing the sole and the toes)

I made it through the last weeks of school and happily went onto my holidays. We weren't planning to go to my parents, but to just stay home and have a quiet Christmas and go and see Jason's parents and hang out with friends. I was having a really hard time getting into the Christmas mood because we hadn't found a Christmas tree and didn't put up any decorations. Jason knew that I was kind of down in the dumps. He went out and surprised me with a beautiful tree! This is our second tree in the 5 years we've been married. We just never got one because it wasn't worth it if we were going to Canada for Christmas. Just the thought that he wanted to cheer me up and went out of his way to find the perfect tree for me, brought tears to my eyes. He got the decorations out and decorated the house with our little collection. It was starting to feel like Christmas. (those things sticking out of the tree are pheasant feathers. We got a little wild this year!)

I had talked to my parents on the 20th and they told me that my Grandma had been moved to Eden Mental Health Hospital in November, which I already knew, but they had to move her the week I talked to them, to the hospital because he had pnemonia. She was not herself. They thought she was starting to have dementia because she was paranoid about everything. She was being watched, or someone was listening to them through the phone or she was seeing bugs and water on things. She had changed mentally. I had talked to a friend the weekend before about her own grandmother dealing with alzheimers and how difficult it was for her to visit her grandmother. I didn't want that for my grandma. Very unexpectedly on the 23rd she went home to be with the Lord, with her daughters and husband at her side. This totally changed my idea of Christmas. Presents aren't important, but rather the people we spend it with.
Our plans for Christmas took a drastic change and we packed quickly on the 24th and headed to Billings for Jason's family dinner. That was fine, but Christmas evening turned into a flop with Jason and his mom having an argument. What a way to start a very emotional week. We had to stay an extra day due to some snowy weather and left the 27th. The 28th we got together with my mom's side to have lunch. It was hard to not have Grandma there. The sister's are pulling together to help their dad out and not leave him alone so he doesn't get lonely in this hard time. That is the hardest thing to see is my Grandpa alone. He made my Grandma his life and now she was gone. We left in the evening to see my dad's side for supper. It was nice that we got to see all my extended family around a hard time. Jason also wanted to go see a movie so we left the gathering and saw Marley and Me. Really cute movie, but I needed some Kleenex. It was too close to home with having our own dog. I would totally recommend it. Very clean and funny, a good family movie.
I was able to run into a couple of friends and see their new babies which was great to see. They were also excited to see my little baby bump.(23 1/2 weeks)

We had a family time at the funeral home Monday and the funeral was Tuesday. My grandpa wanted the grandchildren to be the pallbearers, but with myself and my youngest cousin being pregnant, Jason and my cousin's husband Russ stepped in to help the other 4 girls. I come from a family of 6 granddaughters. A Mennonite funeral was a whole new experience for Jason and something he'll never forget. The church was packed with a lot of white haired family and friends. Over 350 people came which was a big support to my family. One thing that mom told me that I will always treasure, is that even though my Grandma may not have been herself at times, she was excited about the new generation that was coming to her family. She had asked her sister-in-law to make both babies a quilt. So when it is done and sent to us, it will become a very special memory of her for me.
We left yesterday so we could get back and Jason could get back to work. I also wanted a few days before I head back to work, already. We were pretty tired last night when we got home but we did head out to our friends house for a short time and headed home to go to bed at 11:30pm. No big party for us, maybe next year. Although next year it won't just be two but three of us.