I am not sure where to start. We had a whirlwind couple of weeks. We lost Grandma Rondy unexpectedly on December 21st, (Great Grandma to the kids). So some of our holiday times were spent sadly remembering her, and prayng for Grandpa who had to spend Christmas without her. I cannot understand how a man like him, who has experienced so much tragedy and loss in his life, can still manage to find the silver lining...but he does. He is nearly 83. Grandma was 75. He said that in Mass on Christmas morning the priest told him that this Christmas was probably Mary's best (what with her spending it in heaven with Jesus and all :) and Grandpa said, yea he was probably right, but "you know, we just have it so good here, it's hard to imagine it being any better anywhere else." When we gathered at their home on Saturday after the cemetery, we all gathered to pray before we ate, as usual, holding hands in a giant circle. Ususally we pray the Our Father, but Grandpa said that since we had already prayed that together at the cemetery, he wanted to pray the prayer that he and Grandma had been praying together in bed each night while they held hands. It was a Catholic prayer, and I don't know the words or the name of the prayer. But as I stood listening while those who knew it said the prayer, it occured to me that my idea of who he and MaryAnn were was so limited by my interaction with them. They were married. He lost his wife. And in that context, tryng to put myself in that position, I cannot begin to imagine how he must feel. Just picturing them praying together at night, holding hands brings a whole new meaning to the entire situation. May God bless Grandpa Rondy, and speak peace to his spirit.
*As I am reading back over this, I noticed that I titled the post "The Highlights". This loss is, of course, not a highlight, but rather allowed us to put everything else in context, which was just what we needed.
It seemed like everyone got something that they had been wanting, and hopefully we reminded the kids {and ourselves} where all things come from. We are truly blessed. God has indeed allowed us to have more than we deserve. We will continue to give Him the thanks for all we have daily.
I spent a fair amount of time doing some creative projects. I promised Doug that I would not take on any projects during the next quarter, having done just that last quarter. No painting any rooms, or moving the furniture, or sewing or anything....it will be tough, because I have a twin bed in the basement that I would love to give a quick sanding and a nice fresh coat of navy blue paint to. I made Ethan a cute quilt for his big boy bed, and so now that bed needs to be worked on. If you would like to tackle that project for me...please call :)
Anyhow, three more days until winter quarter starts and the kids head back to school also. We all are ready. We need a schedule to function properly.
We spent a wonderful two weeks seeing some family that we haven't seen in a while. Doug's cousin, who has four daughters, came to town and we got together with them. It took about ten seconds for Erin and their ten year old, Mackenzie to be BFF's. They also had a daughter, Lexie, who is seven...she and Avery were fast friends. Poor Owen didn't know what to do when Brandon went home, he was overrun by girls. He said, while we were swimming at their hotel, "Mom there are TEN girls and only four boys." They had brought an aunt and little girl cousin with them also.
I PROMISE that I will get some pictures up soon. Maybe tonight when the kiddos are in bed. We have some good ones, and Erin got a camera for Christmas...which has yielded some great shots that I need to post. The new picture in the header is one that she took of the gang with her camera using the timer.
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