Try Again

I’m going to try this again. I’m not sure why I stopped posting. It just happened. I stopped posting and I stopped reading all of my favorite blogs. I just stopped. I’ve been slowly following my favorite blogs again and I’m going to try this again. So here goes!

The last couple of months of 2017 were very eventful. Our beautiful baby granddaughter whose due date was December 6th was born November 10th – on my mom’s birthday! Her mama’s health was not going well due to preeclampsia and the doctor decided to bring baby Bayah Lynn into the world early.  Thankfully after a two week stay in the hospital Bayah and mommy came home and are healthy and doing great. Bayah weighed 4 lbs. 3 oz. when she was born and she’s now over 6 lbs. She’s the prettiest little thing and is just perfect. And big brother Braxton is so in love with his baby sister. We are truly blessed. Braxton celebrated his 4th birthday at the hospital in the waiting room and he thought that was so much fun. He said it was the best birthday ever! Just goes to show kids don’t need big parties. He was just happy to have all his family, a cake and presents to open!

Then December came along. We lost my father-in-law the week before Christmas. He was 93 and doing great and then he came down with pneumonia and before we knew it he was gone. It happened so quickly and yet most of December was spent with my husband making the three hour drive to his hometown not knowing if his dad was going to make it or not. He would drive nights and spend nights there and drive back and forth. It was so hard to lose Albert but everyone was thankful he didn’t suffer and he was ready.

And then the flu hit. Poor Drew got sick at Grandpa’s visitation. Thankfully my dad and mom were there and were able to take Drew home with them. He missed Grandpa’s funeral but he just couldn’t have been there. Then I got sick, and Joe got sick, and Eric got sick, and Aaron got. Braxton was sick and Jeremy too. We postponed Christmas from Christmas Day to New Year’s Eve Day. Then my dad and mom got sick. Mom ended up sick on New Year’s Eve Day and couldn’t celebrate with us but thankfully we had FaceTime and she was able to still be part of the fun.

Then the following week my sister got sick, her daughter Diamond got sick, my Abby got sick. Whew – it pretty much hit all of us except for baby Bayah. Thank goodness. Andrew and I went to Abby’s house on the coldest day of the winter so far, it was -17 out that morning, to watch the kiddos when she was sick. Iowa was the coldest area in the country that day and we broke a 100 year record with the cold. Normally I wouldn’t have stepped  a foot out of the house that day but when your baby needs help and you can provide it – off you go no matter what! I hated Abby being sick but it was fun to watch Uncle Drew and Braxton have fun and get to cuddle and love on Bayah all day!

We are now all on the mend and ready to take on the new year! We’ve had bitterly cold weather and beautiful snow and a heat wave of 38 degrees today! My poor chickens are so glad to be out and about in the yard today. No eggs of course but that’s to be expected. Drew has been going stir crazy stuck in the house and then no recess at school due to the cold. Yesterday they had recess and he was actually tired and ready for bed last night! I’ve started a few projects around here and have plans to get a lot more done. I’ve been stitching and selling my cupboard tucks which has been so much fun. Joe went hunting over the weekend and had a great time. His nephew Mike came down and hunted and spent the night Friday night. That was a lot of fun. They hunted with our son-in-law Jeremy, Jeremy’s dad and Jeremy’s brother-in-law. Joe and Mike didn’t get deer but they had fun. That’s the main reason for hunting I think. To get out and spend the day walking the timbers and being together. A deer is great and I appreciate the meat too but I’m glad the guys get to do this together every year.

Then last night after work Joe went over to Dad and Mom’s and hunted. Still no deer but Mom fixed chili for supper and Drew and I went over for that. After supper we played games with Drew and dad gave me a box of goodies. He’s been doing this lately. Giving me things now and then that he knows I will treasure and love. Earlier he sent me home with his first toolbox.  No tools of course – he still needs those and I sure don’t – but I love this tool box. It’s the one I remember him using when I was growing up. It’s beat up and rusty and chippy and perfect. I love it! I’m not sure what I’m going to do with my box of treasures yet. A few things I’ll display, the rest I’ll store away. And hopefully I’ll be able to keep Drew out of it as he loves to sort through boxes of anything!