They Got Married In The Evening...

This last weekend was a great family experience...although it took the planning of all of us to come up with the best way to make it all happen.

When Nissa and Todd visited over New Year's weekend, they were trying to plot the possibility of a January wedding. Claude and I wanted to be in attendance and we could not attend from the 21st of January through the 31st. Paul has some health issues that require some serious surgery and that was set for this Thursday the 19th of January. Nissa and Todd both work at the same place and have a difficult time taking the same weekend off. What to do, what to do, what to do???

They realized they could both be off on Saturday, January 14th. They were having a small wedding with just immediate family and the Bishop performing the ceremony. They contacted Bishop Wilson and he could perform the ceremony at 6:30pm on Saturday the 14th of January. That was in place and now we needed to coordinate the rest of us getting there.

Claude and I knew we could adjust our commitments to attend. I had to find a substitute for my Sunday School class for three Sunday's in a row. I had the one for their wedding set up when I knew it was a possibility and was able to finalize the other two Sunday's as we drove to Michigan.

Jake was helping with a furniture move at work but would be able to cut loose on Friday evening. The plan was for Claude and I to leave Kentucky, drive to Cabela's to replenish the seasoning rubs for Claude's grilling and smoking this coming year and restock my hashbrowns in food storage, then make it to Jake's about 5:15 or 5:30 to get him and then head to Muskegon. He would stay at Nissa's home and Claude and I would stay at the Comfort Inn.

Andie and family had just taken a week long cruise with Michael's family over Thanksgiving. Hayden had already missed a lot of school for that and two days of sickness. He didn't need to miss anymore. Plus Michael didn't have vacation days left. Andie wanted to go but it would require some major child care arrangements. Bless her heart she set to work and found someone to care for Bailey on Friday morning and someone else to care for Bailey Friday afternoon. Hayden would be in school. She had a friend to get Hayden from the bus stop. Then she had another friend coming to pick him up and keep him for the afternoon. Michael would go after work and pick up each of the kids and care for them the rest of the weekend. All was in place, eMail's with all the phone numbers and time of childcare were sent. Then the person watching Bailey in the morning on Friday had a child come down with 103 degrees of fever. Andie set to work rearranging things. She got another friend to help out. It's a good thing Andie has lots of friends willing to help.

Claude then suggested that we change our hotel to stay in Chelsea on Friday night as there was now a forecast for major snow in Michigan over Friday and Saturday. Goodness!!! I shortened the stay in Muskegon by one night and added a Friday night stay in Chelsea for Claude, Andie and me.

Then Andie talked with a dear friend from Kentucky who moved to Plymouth, Michigan. That is about 30 minutes from Jake. Maybe she could visit her friend that Friday night. So Claude and I decided to drive to LaGrange, Kentucky (where Andie lives) and spend the night on Thursday evening. This gave us time to play with the Mini's. Then Friday we would drop Andie off at Jamison's for a sleepover. Then we would pick her up on Saturday morning and head to Muskegon.

Here are a few pictures of our fun.

Hayden, Claude & Bailey Bouncing Balloons

Bailey Shooting Pompon Into Sandi's Hand

Bailey Sitting On Claude

Bailey Playing Wii and Andie Editing Pictures

Claude & Hayden in Light Saber Duel in Basement

Friday morning came, Michael headed to work, Hayden headed to school, Andie dropped Bailey off with her friend, and Claude, Andie and I pointed the red Buick toward I-71 and Cincinnati to begin our journey. As we got in the car Andie said, "Dad, can you take me to see my friend?" We all got a chuckle. I eMail my friend Laura to tell her about this funny. She responded with "Is she asking, Are we there yet?" Such silliness.

The snow was falling a bit, the wind was blowing a bit but Claude kept on going. We made our first pit stop in Piqua, Ohio where we had lunch. Then back up on I-75 headed toward Michigan.

We got caught in our first traffic jam not too far up I-75. Michael had loaned us his GPS and it was diligently trying to help us avoid this backup. However, we didn't notice this until it was way to late to change lanes and take the exit. Fortunately it was not a long backup and we were out of it by the next exit. A trailer had blown over in all the wind and they were righting it and putting it on a tow truck to remove it.  We would see one more rolled over trailer when we got into Michigan.

Our next stop was Cabela's.

Then we found Jamison's and left Andie for her visit. Jamison was able to provide us with warm water to defrost the holes where the windshield wiper fluid is supposed to come out.

We stopped at Jake's work because he was not answering his phone and it was near 6pm. The snow was coming down harder now. Jake was helping with the rearranging of the cubicle walls for their office. We left him at his work and headed to check in at the hotel. He would meet us there later. We enjoyed dinner at Coney Island. Then a bit of a chat at the hotel until time for bed and a good rest before Saturday's journey.

Saturday morning we picked up Jake. Jamison and family told us about a deli called Zingerman's that we had never tried. It is located in Ann Arbor. They brought Andie to Zingerman's and we met them there for a quick breakfast before heading to Muskegon. I would highly recommend this deli to anyone. They also have a road house that serves meals. We plan on trying that some evening when we are visiting Jake.

As we drove toward Muskegon, I received an eMail with a photo attachment from Michael. He took Hayden and Bailey to Waffle House for breakfast. They LOVE Waffle House which is a gene they get from their daddy.

Bailey & Hayden at Waffle House

We made it to Muskegon in great time. We checked into the hotel and got another room for Andie and Jake to share. Then we went to visit Katelyn at her work. She works just across the street from the hotel. We made a few purchases to make her day better. Now we were off to Nissa's home to see the rest of the family and see if we could help in any way in preparing for the wedding in the evening.

Nissa had it all 'under control'. This was her favorite saying as a teenager and we always worried when she said that. Now it is a running joke in the family. She did have it all under control. Food was prepared. All her ducks were in a row.

When Katelyn got home she scooped up Paul and Aubrey and we loaded our car to go to The Pita Place for a nice lunch. Yum...I was getting my falafel and cinnamon pita bites!!! We had a nice lunch which gave Nissa time to rest and get ready.

We went back to our hotel to rest a bit and get ready ourselves. Then we went back to Nissa's to follow them to the Church.

Everyone pitched in to set up the Relief Society room and the kitchen. We were able to take some family pictures before the ceremony.

Nissa Thompson (the Bride) and Todd Tyler (the Groom)

The Blended Family
Derrick Tyler, Katelyn Squires, Paul Thompson,
Nissa Soon-to-be-Tyler, Todd Tyler,
Aubrey Thompson, Mitchell Tyler

The Original Cast
Sandi, Andie, Jake, Nissa and Claude

Bishop Wilson and his wife arrived and papers were put in order so the ceremony could begin.

Sis & Bishop Wilson

I don't know when I have ever seen Nissa with a more huge grin on her face. It was a sweet ceremony and they both said "I do" and they did!!

Nissa Becoming Mrs. Todd Tyler

After the ceremony we enjoyed ham sandwiches prepared by Nissa and Todd. This was a nice time to get to know Pam, Todd's sister. This was our first time to meet her.

We all enjoyed a nice piece of the wedding cake.

The cute thing about this was the blue icing. We realized it was turning all our teeth blue. What a handsome group we were with our blue teeth and lips!! Now that is going to be a cute memory for years to come.

We all helped clean up. We went back to Nissa and Todd's home to open presents.

The snow was coming down heavily now. We determined we should head for our hotel for the night and get good rest for the long drive back to Kentucky on Sunday.

Sunday morning Claude went out to clean off the car. He said there was an additional 6 to 8 inches of snow on top of the car. I took this picture of the courtyard at the hotel from our window.

We drove back to Chelsea and had lunch with Jake before dropping him off at his apartment. Our next stop would be for gasoline outside of Dayton. Then on to Florence, Kentucky for dinner at Chipotle's. Ending up at the Marx home in LaGrange, Kentucky at about 7:30pm.

During our drive we received another eMail from Michael with pictures of the kids at the Yum Center in Louisville. He took them to see the Harlem Globetrotters. Brave, brave Michael!! He actually went with a co-worker and their family. The kids had a great time and told us some of the funny things the basketball players did.

Bailey on the left end and Hayden in stripped shirt leaning forward.

Michael had Hayden and Bailey ready for bed when we got there. Bailey jumped into her mom's arms and let out a squeal I heard from the driveway.

Monday morning Claude and I headed back to Sadieville.

It was a great family weekend. Thank you Michael for watching the Mini's and filling their time making wonderful memories. Thank you Nissa and Todd for choosing a time when we could come and witness this wonderful wedding. Thank you Andie and Jake for working with all our schedules so we could all have a good time in the car ride and the visit. I have a wonderful family and it was grand to see the cooperation and joy we have when together.

Congratulations Nissa & Todd!!!

Winter Illness...

The Wednesday before New Year's I met my father to sing at the nursing home. He had planned to show a DVD of country music (he has tons of these). As soon as he said hello I could hear it in his voice. He was getting sick. His voice was scratchy and at least an octave below where it should be. I asked him if he had seen a doctor. He assured me he hadn't and didn't think he needed to. He has a regime of a cold medicine he takes when he starts to get sick and he had started that and was sure he would get better with a little rest. He was grateful he had not planned to sing that Wednesday.

Thursday we did not have contact.

Friday morning I called him to invite him to dinner when Nissa and Todd came over the weekend. His voice was now two octaves lower and he sounded beat down. I was very concerned. Again I suggested seeing his doctor. Again he refused. I suggested he come out to our home and rest where I could watch and care for him. He refused. I suggested I take Tiny so he didn't have to worry about her. He refused. I did go in and feed Mimi so he wouldn't do that and then I took him some ice cream bars. Papa was running a bad fever, his head was bright red. Again I asked him to see his doctor, come home with me or at least let me take Tiny. He refused.

Saturday morning I called again. He was worse. Nissa and I went in to feed Mimi. Then we stopped at Kroger and picked up some juice and headed to Papa's apartment. He was redder that Friday and definitely on a downhill slide with this illness. Again, I asked him to go to his doctor, come to my home or let me take Tiny. Again he refused.

Sunday morning Nissa and Todd and the kids left for Michigan. I got ready for Church. Then I received a phone call. It was Papa. He said, "We've got a problem."  He was dizzy and couldn't hardly stand, he couldn't remember if he fed Tiny and/or took his morning medicines. I told him I would be right there.

As I drove in I made a mental list of what to pack for him. He was, at minimum, coming home with me this time. I was able to determine he had taken his medicines and fed Tiny. I packed what he would need to be at my home for a few days, collected his laundry and packed food for Tiny. Then I had to run to Church and teach my Sunday School lesson.

I left Church and went back to Papa's apartment and scooped him and Tiny into my already loaded car and headed for Sadieville. The nursing home would have to feed mom.

We got Papa set up on the sofa with his pillows and footstool. Then I got him something to drink. He settled into a nap and I unpacked his stuff and brought my computer upstairs so I could monitor how he was doing. In the evening he woke up and got a shower. We fed him a nice dinner and filled him with fluids. He watched football all day and slept through a good bit of it.

Monday we could not get an appointment with his doctor because it was the New Year's holiday observed.  I did leave Papa and go in and feed Mimi. This gave Papa some peace of mind.

Tuesday the doctor saw Papa. As Papa was beginning to perk up a bit he could not define for sure what he had suffered over the weekend. He wrote on his chart it was an upper respiratory infection. I sure it was bronchitis or flu or pneumonia. Since I have no medical training, I'm only guessing by what I was like when I had bronchitis and/or the flu.  

Papa invited me into his appointment so I was also able to discuss with Dr. Weckman Papa's loss of memory. He gave Papa a simple test for Alzheimer's and really feels that is not an issue with Papa. He said that when a person experiences a lot of stress (like a wife with Alzheimer's, selling your home and moving, concerns over money, etc.) that you experience the stress and some depression. Those things combine to cause you to lose focus. This lack of focus results in your not registering so that you can remember things. This is what is happening with Papa. The only one who can change that is Papa and his ability to deal with what is happening in his life.

After the appointment, I left Papa to rest at his apartment and I went to feed Mimi.

Wednesday Papa had an appointment for an MRI with the orthopedist regarding his spinal issues. I drove him in and waited while he had the MRI. After, I took Papa home to his apartment. The dizziness was gone. He was ready to be in his home again. I headed to the nursing home and fed Mimi again.

Papa slowly began to improve. I fed Mimi through Sunday. Papa just rested with the exception of the day he went in for his MRI results. That nearly wore him out. I did not know he was going to the doctor for this and wished I had known so I would know what they said. There was some discussion of surgery for a vertebrae in his lower spine. That is information I would rather have directly from the doctors.

Papa missed Church again on Sunday the 8th of January. But he was back to feeding Mimi after that. Basically that is what he does. Rest in the morning, feed Mimi lunch, rest the remainder of the day. I'm covering his shift at the Family History Center today. He looks better and sounds better but still has issues with his chest and congestion. That will take time and rest to heal.

What have I learned from this...if I seem a little stubborn about seeing a doctor, it just might be genetic!!!

Puzzling...

This silly puzzle is FINALLY finished.

I truly thought the puzzle I bought for this Christmas would be hard but not too  hard.  It was a beautiful scene, lovely colors that might be grouped and worked on by individuals as they chose to help, just the right combination for a family puzzle making experience.

Andie suggested we start the puzzle on Saturday. So we cleared the dining room table and opened the puzzle and set to work.

My first frustration was that every piece seemed to be warped. If you got two pieces that fit together, they wouldn't stay together because they curled up on the edges. I've never, in my 61 years, had a puzzle that was warped like that, never. Nissa suggested it was when they glued the picture to the backing and cut before it was really dry. She just might be right.

Everyone helped at some point. Andie and I did the bulk of the work but Jake sat with us for quite a while on Saturday. When everyone left on Monday the puzzle still had about half of it to be finished.

I worked until the wee small hours of the morning Monday and Tuesday nights. What I was finding was some pieces fit in two places with similar coloring. Since the pieces didn't fit together really great with the warping, it was often hard to tell you had a piece in the wrong place. When I finally almost finished one evening at 2am, I had 10 pieces laying on the table to be put in the puzzle, I had 10 spaces available in the puzzle for pieces, and none, no, not one, of these pieces would fit in one of the spaces. Good Grief!!!

I determined I should leave this for Nissa and Todd's arrival on Friday. Maybe fresh eyes would be helpful. Claude even sat down and got some corrections made but we still did not have it complete. There were still 5 pieces that needed to find a home in that puzzle. Claude does not do puzzles. This was a big help from him.

When Nissa and Todd arrived, they sat down and found some pieces that were probably in the wrong place. We played with combinations and suddenly the final pieces went into place. It was great to have the puzzle complete. I had actually gotten to the place where I was ready to put that puzzle back in the box and call it as good as it was going to get. 

A huge thank you goes to each member of our family who helped in any way with this year's puzzle. Another successful venture pulled off through family participation.

Merry Christmas...

All pictures are now in. I'm sitting in front of the television with my hubby and my father. My father has been very, very sick and we brought him out to stay with us while he heals. I must also include Tiny in this little group. She is Papa's little dog and adds her own bit of fun to the evening. There has been a series of snow flurries today so there is a covering of snow on the ground. It is an nice time to snuggle inside a warm home and create and post the Christmas Blog. Away we go...

The festivities started Friday late afternoon when Jake arrived first followed shortly by the Marx family. The Mini's came dressed in their reindeer stocking hats Andie made last year. Hayden was wearing a T-Santasaurus shirt and Bailey was sporting a blue tail with white polka dots.

Bailey actually plays with this deer all year. She pretends it is Bambi. The train only comes out at Christmas. Clever Bailey used the reindeer to pull the train.

Hayden brought a game we enjoyed playing together. We had to fudge on some of the rules because Gramma can't move as fast as Hayden. But it was great fun.

I love when the kids enjoy the Christmas tree.

Bailey wanted Christmas singing so we headed to the basement. With a little help from Ma (me) Bailey was able to play and we sang. Bailey and Hayden danced while I played and they sang. Great fun!!

While we slept, Chippy made his appearance Friday night. Chippy is an elf that comes to your home each morning. He observes your behavior during the day and reports back to Santa at night. Then he reappears the next morning somewhere else in your home. The kids love looking to see where Chippy will appear. They were delighted he was hanging from string across the kitchen on Saturday morning.  Andie and I were delighted he remained hanging all day on Saturday and did not fall down.

Bailey was able to really help Claude fix breakfast with her enhanced capabilities by wearing that blue polka dot tail.

Claude patiently sat as a king while Hayden made him the tallest crown a king could ever want.

Hayden snorkled in the whirlpool tub. I mean really, this tub is a lovely feature in our home and it is only used for the kids to play in like a pool.

Bailey found the glass tree full of chocolates. Christmas is all about eating more sugar that you should ever eat. Well, maybe Halloween is a close rival.

Bailey already used my hands on the piano. Thus, it is only fair that she use Pa's (Claude's) feet for walking.

Then it was time to decorate cookies for Santa Claus. Now, I made these at least 3 other times this Christmas. They are very simple. It actually comes from a recipe I had to decorate the top of a cupcake. I needed cookies, not cupcakes. I simply made sugar cookie dough from a sugar cookie mix, rolled the dough out and cut it into 2 inch circles. Bake and cool.

The decoration is made with red sugar for the hat, marshmallows cut in half for the trim on the hat and the beard and miniature M&M's for the nose and eyes.

To get the sugar on just part of the cookie, I put the sugar in a little dish, held an index card so there was a gentle curve to it with one hand and sprinkled the red sugar with the other hand. Then I cut five marshmallows in half. Ideally the red sugar would curve so four halves of marshmallow would serve as the fur trim on Santa's hat. The next half a marshmallow would be placed at the edge like the fur pompom on the bottom of Santa's hat. Then two and one-half marshmallows make up the beard.

The eyes would best be done with the blue or green M&M's. The nose should be the red M&M. However, when working with children, I find it best to let their imaginations go to work. Andie, who is an adult with children, made one with yellow eyes to be like a Star Wars character. Hayden recognized her effort right away. Bailey, sweet Bailey, used two M&M's for the nose. Curious about this I inquired of our little darling why two noses. She simply pointed at my face and noted I had two nostrils in my nose. Question answered...Bailey made her some with two noses which were really the nostrils. Hayden loved combining colors for eyes and nose and not holding with tradition.

Sandi and Bailey hands

Since Christmas fell on a Sunday this year and since Church started at 9:30am on Sunday morning and since I was playing the organ and had to leave our home at 8:30am, we determined to open all presents between family members on Saturday evening. We would put cookies and eggnog out for Santa and carrots and apples out for reindeer Saturday night. Then we would open what Santa left on Sunday morning before Church. Let's just say that Hayden and Bailey had no problem with this plan. It also allowed us to have Papa with us for the opening of presents.

Papa and Tiny

Me (Sandi)

Bailey opening light saber from Hayden. Hayden and Andie in background.

Jake opens twisties from Nissa.

Jake opening NASA shirt.

Michael opening card from Hayden

Claude holding flag Hayden made.

Hayden holding painting he made of an angel. The body is his foot print.
The wing is his hand print. The hair is his finger print.

Now we could play with the new toys.

Michael and Hayden in light saber battle. Claude and Bailey watch.

Michael and Hayden make Hogwarts Lego game.

Sandi and Bailey making puzzle.

Evening was coming to an end. Time to get the treats out for Santa and those weary reindeer.

Hayden signing the note to Santa.

Bailey setting out carrots and apple for reindeer.

After a good nights rest, we were up and ready to find out if Santa made it to Eagle Bend.  But first we kept the tradition of a picture on the stairs of everyone in our home on Christmas morning. This year we had an extra treat. Andie and Michael were taking pictures of 'Flat Caitlyn'. Caitlyn is the daughter of Chuck and Amy Grenfell. Chuck is a friend of Michael's from college. We added 'Flat Caitlyn' and the picture taken of Chuck on our stairs in Maryland when he had Christmas with us before he ever met or married Amy. Neat!!

From Top to Bottom: Claude, Jake, Bailey, Andie, Michael holding Flat Caitlyn and Chuck, and Hayden.

Santa did indeed find Hayden and Bailey. They enjoyed opening their gift from Santa and their stockings.

Off to Church we headed. We had a nice Christmas program. Afterward we asked one of our friends to take a picture of all of us in our Sunday duds.

This last weekend Aubrey and Paul returned from Christmas with their dad. They opened their presents on Saturday evening. 

It's been a good Christmas covering three weekends of family visits. Merry Christmas 2011!!