Merry Christmas 2011

December 2011 holds many memories.  Sunday morning, Christmas Day, I told Wil that I miss all 3 of our parents.  I said that I'd like to hug all three of them just one more time, and I promiseI'd send them all 3 back.  I miss them, but I don't wish them back, to the life that they had here on earth back.

On Christmas, 2010, we were still caring for Wil's mother in our home. We had my Mom and Dad along with Carol and Norm join us on Christmas Day. Little did I know that would be my last Christmas with my Dad. We were quite certain, that is was our last with his mother.

The plan was to have Matt, Monica, Brennan, Sawyer, Jeremiah and my mother here for Christmas lunch and the day.  I was talking to my Aunt Liz,(whose husband passed away in July) after church and discovered she was going to be alone all day.  I felt badly and wanted to invite her to join us, but wasn't sure what my family would say.  Dumb thing to question, because they immediately told me to invite her.  It took some convincing, but she came and we were so glad she joined us. Mom was pleasantly surprised when she came and found Liz at our place.  Liz was really missing her husband, Jerry and Mom was missing Dad.  Mom brought along, "Yoder's Delight", like she said she would, but also brought along, Custard pie-in honor of Dad.  It was his favorite.   We enjoyed their company a lot.  After lunch, they looked at Isaiah's Kenya pictures on our TV, before they both left to go home.  Liz needed to get ready for her family on Monday and Mom wanted to rest before she went to Norm and Carol's family for yet another party. 

After gifts were exchanged and the children were playing, Matt, Monica, Wil and I were exhausted. Several previously late nights led up to the exhaustion.

We have had a lot of losses in the last 1 1/2 years.  Wil's father(Alvin)- June 24th, 2010, his mother(Barbara)-Dec. 31, 2010, Uncle Jerry-July 2,2011,  my Dad(Henry) Dec. 9, 2011 then Uncle, Mahlon-Dec. 14th. Along with the death of the 3 parents and Uncles, there were also several cousins.
Another huge loss was, our church family, as we once had it. The Sunday morninig after Dad died, the tears flowed as it dawned on me that I didn't have an established church family in which to share my loss with. What I discovered is, that your church family isn't an establishment, but rather, Christian friends. 

In spite of all the losses, there are good things happening.  Among the top things right now, is our excitement in the waiting to welcome little Henry Polinger to this world.  After months of his mommy(my neice, Lynette) being on bedrest to prevent premature labor, he has developed a love for the womb.  His Grandma, Carol(my sister) left for Thailand, the day after Dad's funeral(Dec. 13) to be there, when Lynette and Rusty had their baby.  She was return Dec. 23rd.  She extended that return to Dec. 31st.  As of today, the little guy is still content in the womb.

Isaiah, our oldest grandson(14) is a Freshman and enjoys his school and church friends and his X-box. He keeps track of our every other Tuesday night that we go to ElZorito for supper and finds good excuses to go more often. He just recently went to Kenya, Africa with his Yoder Grandparents and has many great memories from that trip.

Brennan(7) is in the 2nd grade with 2 front teeth missing.  He is the grandchild that seems to notice peoples moods and has a tender heart.  He surprises me with his real stubborn streaks at times.  His parents probably see that more then I do. He enjoys playing scoccer, riding bike, star wars, ND football, well...just about any activity.

Sawyer(4) is simply a delight to have around. I told his parents, that life would be boring without Sawyer.  They need to be reminded of that at times.  Everyone loves to hear him talk and he is so full of love.  He is also full of drama, and dislikes almost all foods except for snack type foods.  He does like our yogurt and granola and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Meal time can be unpleasant if he is forced to eat. He LOVES to play the wii at our place.

Jeremiah(3) is our non-stop talker right now. We we all be shocked if if doesn't end up being involved in music somehow as an adult.  He is constantly breaking out in song and he sings at the top of his lungs, when no one is around.  He enjoys having a song book in his one hand and a mike in the other.  I think that comes from the many times he saw his Papaw lead singing.  He talks very clear, but he goes from one conversation to the next, simply to not loose your attention.  This cuddly little guy will also inform you when he is about to poop and when it's time for you to change his diaper.

So as you see, although we have had our losses, we have much to be thankful for.  These 4 grandson's all live in our back yard most of the time.  Isaiah goes home to AZ in the Summer, Spring break and Christmas.

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