Thanksgiving has come and gone. We "survived" our first holiday without Ryan. There were a few tears, but overall it went well. I greatly appreciated the hugs that I received and the willingness of others to talk about Ryan. The kids had great fun running around with their cousins and did quite well despite skipping naps!
It has been a busy couple of days after the holiday as well. Early yesterday morning, Papa Steve got here to spend a little time with us. The kids played, and played, and played with their Papa Steve. While the three of them were napping, I joined in on the craziness of Black Friday and went to the mall. I got a little of my Christmas shopping done, but I also got some fun things for me. :)
Today, Saturday, was filled with more playing, but we also went and looked at a house. I want to be able to purchase a house for the kids and I that will be a place we can grow into and stay for quite awhile. It is an overwhelming task. I need to think about things like: school district, the number to bedrooms and bathrooms, the size of the lawn. These are things that everyone must consider when buying a new house, it just causes me to feel the loss of Ryan even more. We can't bounce ideas off one another or state the pros and cons of different houses. I know that I have people that I can ask, but ultimately it is my decision -- one that I am not looking forward to making on my own.
Over the past few days I have also added to our ornament collection with our 2008 ornaments. Lily and Wyatt had fun picking out their own ornaments, although the girl selection was quite limited.
Wyatt's "Backhoe Loader" (probably not an accurate name, but it's Wyatt calls it).
Lily's bear (it is pink, that is why she got it -- she is not into bears or dancing, but again, our choices were limited :) ).
The harder ornament to choose was our family ornament. It made the most sense to get a "three person" ornament, but Ryan is still part of our life. I went with two ornaments:
Lily, Wyatt, and Mommy 2008
Our angel, Daddy (the wagon says 6/6/2008)
Here are just some random pictures from the past few days:
Lily enjoys checking out the ornaments on the tree.
Being silly while eating our cereal.
Watching the parade on Thanksgiving morning.
6 comments:
So glad you had a Good Thanksgiving. Love the new ornaments. ery good choices. And the picture of them two little ones all snuggled up on the couch together is just too sweet.
Im so glad you made it through Thanksgiving - we did too..but I am GLAD it's done with for another year now!
I LOVE the ornaments you picked out, especially Ryans - that is so very fitting. You have such a wonderful family and I can feel the love between you, Ryan and the children through and through!
God bless you Kristin!
Yeah, what a sweet smile from Wyatt! He did not mind you taking his picture. What a sweet idea with your ornaments Kristin...love it. Looking forward to hearing some new thoughts on the house:-)
the ornaments are BEAUTIFUL!! You are such a fantastic Mommy and Woman!! I love you! Miss you too!!! I have had some missing Ryan random thoughts lately, just like, "hmmm, I could have asked Ryan that..." kind of thoughts. They make me sad and yet I smile at the same time, I love to remember him and you. Love you!!!
Love your post and pictures today, Kristin. I was praying for you this week, even yesterday the Lord brought you to mind at one point.
Do you know we are approaching our eighth Christmas without Bob and we still buy two ornaments for the tree each year that "Santa" puts in Bob's stocking, which we also hang every year. One of the ornaments is for Betsy's tree and the other for our family tree. Santa also leaves a bag of "Cracker Jack" in Bob's stocking - it was his favorite snack!
Maybe we can have lunch together during my Christmas break. I would love to see you and hear how your house hunting is going. I sold our house in Chicago and bought a house in Michigan within the first year after Bob died. I can relate to your apprehension and sadness. God will help you with these decisions. There were "God-sightings" galore during that chapter of my life.
XOXOXO...
The angel ornament is perfect. My fave pic is those two snuggled up watching the parade! My thoughts are with you and the kiddos this holiday season.
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