Saturday, December 18, 2010

Happy Holidays!

I've been MIA for a few weeks and I apologize. I have been in a black hole since Thanksgiving and there is now light at the end of the tunnel. First I woke up the day after Thanksgiving with a horrible, nasty cold. I was the last one in our family to get it and it knocked me down real good for about three weeks.

On November 30, my father passed away from double pneumonia. He had been in a nursing home for four years, but to the end he was my dad. The Sunday before he died he joked with my niece about how crappy the Minnesota Vikings were playing this and that their year was over!

Here are my mom and dad on their wedding day - January 11, 1947.
The entire family, with the exception of one great grandson, including my three brothers and all their children, me, my sons, DIL and Mr. E made it to the service in MN. Mr. E had his second airplane trip and loved looking out the window the entire time. He also got to spend time playing in the snow. Here he is being King of the Mountain.
And trying to make snowballs.
It was the first time in 25 years the entire family had been together so we took the opportunity to have family photos taken. Here is my wonderful family (left to right): Brandon, my youngest son, The Hotel Man, my DH, Mr. E, me, Tasha, my DIL and Geoffrey, my oldest son.
Mr. E surprised all of us with his newest behavior: saying "Cheese!". He started doing it while we were having family photos taken. He stood in front of everyone who had a camera, posed and said, "cheese". He had everyone laughing!
My whole family
This is my lovely mom. Isn't this a fantastic photo of her?
If you've made it this far I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. If you don't celebrate Christmas, then I wish you Happy Holidays!

Sweet P

7 comments:

Candace said...

So Sorry for your loss, but glad that your family could be together to comfort one another and enjoy each other. Your family looks wonderful.

Carolyn said...

My thoughts and prayers are with you in the loss of your father. The family pictures are wonderful though! Merry Christmas!

Sandra :) said...

I'm so sorry about your dad, but it's wonderful that your family got together. I agree with the other commenters - your family pictures are wonderful!

Chookyblue...... said...

sad news about your Dad..........but lovely that all your family could get together......it is hard to get everyone coordinated together........

Have a lovely Christmas......

Denise in PA said...

So sorry about your dad, Paula. I'm glad your family could be together - very lovely photos. Your mom is beautiful. (Your dad was quite a handsome guy too from the photo!) Love that photo of the smiling Mr. E! I hope you are feeling better and have a wonderful Christmas!

Lori said...

I'm sorry to hear about your father. Love looking at the old photos, your mother looks SO YOUNG! But she has the same eyes and the same smile. Mr E and snow! Cheese! Must be a favorite word, I often hear Mason saying it while Laura Beth sings "on top of spaghetti" with him. He's not too sure of the rest of the words, but knows cheese fits in somewhere! Mankato has had 42" so Mason has plenty. We only have 2-3" covering the ground. And I'm not wishing for any!

Lynda said...

Oh dear, please accept my condolences on your dad's death. It's been 25 years since my dad died, but I remember ever so clearly our first Thanksgiving (first holiday after his death) without him. Things do get better with time, but it can take a while. Please give that to yourself.