Giving Thanks for Grandpa Stewart

We've been trying to make up for not going to Idaho for nearly a year.  We got word a couple of weeks ago, that Grandpa Stewart was not doing well, with lots of fluid around his heart, so Brian, Nathan, and Cousin Joe (along w/ Emily and Makena) drove up 2 Mondays ago for a quick visit, and he passed away halfway through their trip.  They were glad to be able to be there for Grandma, and the next weekend, the whole family drove up for Grandpa's Funeral.

We love Grandpa!-Though very strong, he had the most gentle way about him; someone mentioned at the funeral that nearly all pictures of him were holding a child.--We feel like we've really strengthened our Angel Fleet with 4 Grandparent funerals in the past year!--which is a comfort with the stresses Brian feels on the firm right now--tight times, and partners disagreeing with how to profitshare, AND the neverending drama of City Council, AND that DCFS came over to double check on Lucy after her police incident (see earlier post)!! Still, we have SO much to be grateful for, and are thankful for all of the sacrificing that has gone on for all of the generations before us to allow us such abundance.

 We came for 2 days of school, a Christmas Suzuki concert, and some pie making, before going back up to Idaho for a lot of Thanksgiving fun! We had an amazing meal at Brother Layne's and Lisa's new home in Rexburg, and rotated a lot between their home, Troy and Kimber's (also in Rexburg), and G&G's.  Lots of fun cousin time, a fun girls' shopping trip to outfit Kathy with some new SMALLER-sized clothes! and PLENTY of good food!

Halloween and other SCARES!!

Having a lot of people in our family really allows us the chance to experience things completely.  For instance:

1-  Halloween is not just a night to dress up and go trick-or-treating, it's a season of COSTUMES AND CANDY EVERYWHERE!! 

Brent continues to please crowds for as long as the pink pega-unicorn costume fits!-Maddie volunteered to help her friend at their ward carnival, so she missed this action

 First there was a fun costume piano recital, then Trunk or Treat at the Church on Saturday (notice Anne costume #1-clown- We had spent a whole day looking for clown wigs!); followed by an awesome session of candy trading

notice breeding costumes strewn across the background

 Then we got dressed up for school parades and parties (Anne costume #2--princess)

completed with a PERFECT WEATHER night of trick-or-treating. 

and Anne's costume #3:  ballerina!!

 Brent stayed home to hand out candy w/ Dad, and Maddie hung out w/ a couple of good friends.  I took the wagon with this crew, and we even made it to the kingsize candy bar house, where they blacklight-stamped your hand to make sure you didn't doublevisit! Our neighborhood is AWESOME!!--hotdogs and water bottles at one house w/ a giant movie projecting in the garage; cocoa and homemade rootbeer around a firepit at another, and just loads of friendliness cruising the sidewalks all night :). All that camaraderie made it much easier for me to tolerate the explosion of costumes, candy wrappers and sticky fingers all over our house :).

2-End of Term is not just a chance to get a report card, it is turning our home/computer into a project/book report/missing assignments cranking machine, and attending 3 concerts in ONE week!!

This is Brent playing clarinet, only he is directly behind the director

Maddie and her audience after the orchestra concert

 We had the our first piano recital with our new teacher, Brent's band concert, and Maddie's orchestra concert all in one week.  Anne had a costume group lesson, and her first Suzuki "play-in" the last 2 weeks too.  Fortunately, no one seems to be getting worse! Brian and I finished it off w/ our play tickets that same week, and LOVED an amazing production of Scarlet Pimpernell. 

3-Having a two-year-old is not just exciting, it is police-notifying dangerous, as we admit to losing track of one body among many long enough (20 min) for her to walk up to the top of the street "Looking for my Mom!"

We LOVE this little munchkin! She is enormously adorable, and has us all smitten, even WITH her ability to break through/take apart/climb over anything, and her INSTANT scream when denied immediate gratification.  After trying on dozens of costumes, when it came time for the official dressing up, she insisted on being a "BALLET" and wearing ballet "SIPPERIES" for her shoes.  She didn't always say "Trick-Or-Treat," but would wave w/ a "HAPPY HAWWOWEEN!!" to everyone.  She dances and bounds around all day, and is darling with singing herself to sleep at night or in the car.  

She HATES to be left behind though, and when I ran out with Emily and Anne this past Friday to the library for a minute, she left her father's side in the house long enough to get a popsicle from the neighbors, and then start walking up the street:  barefoot, and in a T-shirt and shorts (which was fine for the warmth of the day, but the sun was going down by now!).  When we got home, we couldn't find her to give her the balloon we brought her, and we gradually started getting concerned as the sun set, and we searched the basement, and then neighbors searched theirs, and we still had no sign of her.  Finally, we headed up the street far enough to pass a neighbor coming home who'd identified her for the policeman who had just picked her up at the stop sign (there was a high school football game going on, so they were either around for that, or the lady that stopped her called them).  All they could find out from her was that her name was "Lucy" until our neighbor drove by, which is about as we caught up w/ them ourselves.  Oh LUCY!!! She told us as we held her, "I just looking for my Mom!"  that Brian's --we were glad she was safe, and though Our date night was a bit muted that night--what with all of that stress, on top of Brian being caught up in a City Council debacle in appointing a new police chief, where the mayor has already threatened him with the fact that she knows we paid our utility bill late once (!!?!), uncertainty at the law firm in deciding fair ways to disperse profits, AND finding 3 mice over the last month, the last one which was also that day.  We went out and bought some more child locks for our doors (which still need 3 layers of duck tape).  There ARE scary things to deal with, but it's nice to have Sunday to cushion the blows, and so good, in tricky times to have the strength of numbers that we do! Even though it's usually the chaos that multiplies with so many people, so do, the peace, the joy, the laughs, the music, and the strength.  We really are so blessed, and with so many people, there are so many ways to be blessed!