Where to begin

Really where do I start. It's been since Halloween since I blogged!

I will give a quick catch up on what has been going on with our family.

In early November we lost my grandfather after a difficult stay in the hospital. He went to the hospital to have a tumor removed from his lung, now it has been so long I can't recall when he went in. I know he ended up in ICU for most of the fall. This was hard of course, but PopPop had been suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis for years and had a hard time getting around. After the summer before last when he and Granny didn't plant a garden we knew he wasn't well. PopPop had told me some time back that they knew Grandfather Graves (Granny's father) was getting less able when he couldn't plant a garden. And I knew when Pop Pop didn't plant a garden he wasn't doing well. PopPop was a very devout Christian and I have no doubt he is with the Lord now, but we do miss him.

Christmas was joyous, but kinda sad. We lost mine and Daniel's grandfathers this year and to me change is one of hardest things to cope with. Realizing that the Christmas's of my youth are gone forever and that we won't ever have Christmas at Granny's in the same way was sad for me. Of course I'm not sad for Aunt Phyllis or PopPop because I know they're with God.




One of my fondest memories of my PopPop is of him and Granny coming up to Simeon's baptism. He loved us all and was so proud of us. Although he was a Southern Baptist and didn't believe in infant baptism he wanted to support his great grandson's entry into Orthodox Christianity. PopPop didn't really understand Orthodoxy, but he knew that my Daniel is a good man and if he was Orthodox then it must be ok. Simeon's baptism was before another service, so it was really long. Trying to find a time my mom could attend was pretty tricky, because of her work schedule. So my grandparents came and worshiped with us all morning long. What a wonderful memory I will cherish.


The weather in January was pretty cold, and we have spent a good bit of time inside trying not to get cabin fever too bad. We have had some play dates to keep us sane. And February is halfway gone now too. We have some busy weekends coming up soon and plenty of things to do in between the weekends. I have some great blog post ideas in my head, maybe I'll get them done sometime before next Halloween!