Honey

She is as sweet as they come. We all love her bunches and bunches and will miss her so very much. Please pray for her family. 

 

 

March...and April

I'm behind as usual...again.

Rather than a lengthy post I think I'll stick to some photos to recap the highlights. :) Forgive me for taking the lazy approach.

A bunch of us got together for a little bowling to celebrate Joy's birthday.  It was a lot of fun, and we definitely need to do it again soon. 

A birthday morning is as good as Christmas morning for this cow-licked duo. Since we planned to head out to FL on the boys' birthday, we promised them an early start and managed to squeeze a lot into their day. 

We were planning on a birthday party for the boys, so I promised them a big Angry Birds cake for it. I had no intentions of throwing together a cake before we were scheduled to leave, but the look on Ben's face when I told him no cake was enough to make me feel like poo, so this is what he and I came up with. Ben did all the decorating himself. 

Regardless of the sad circumstances for our FL visit, we had absolutely no problem enjoying the beautiful weather and our wonderful friends' company while we were there. I was really grateful for the opportunity to spend so much time with Emma. Her personality is something else, and I thoroughly enjoyed all the time I had with her.

Brandi asked me to make a birthday cake for her mom, Debbie's, surprise party. Debbie is a huge Disney fan, and I was excited for such a fun theme. After returning home and feeling a little down, this was a wonderfully fun distraction. 

We got incredibly lucky this year and have been enjoying pretty mild weather now for a couple of months. It's fun to be in a home where we get seasonal surprises for the first year. I had bulbs to plant in the fall and waited too long and missed my window. I was happy to see the last tenants had some planted some and we were treated to a flower bed of tulips. We also had the most gorgeous (and unfortunately super stinky) blossoms on the tree in our front yard.  

Another Canfield member joined the world. Preston James was born on April 8. I'm so excited to meet him in May. :) Congrats again James, Brooke, Jaydaka and Madison!

I was all excited for clear skies and a reasonable hour to view the lunar eclipse. I was awake but had set my alarm in case I dozed off....good thing I went out early to check if things had started because I had looked at the wrong time zone and nearly missed it.

I was in the worst of moods before I started the boys' birthday party cake and was no mood for making decorations or hosting a party, but after I got started on these figures for it and saw the boys' excitement grow with each one I finished, my spirits lifted tremendously. :)

While D and the boys went on a fishing trip with my dad to Lake Powell, I headed out to MN to spend some time relaxing and talking the ears off of my dear friend Lyndsay. One of these days I'll figure out how not to be such a chatterbox! 

Zach has no problem pooping and peeing wherever, whenever. He layed down some serious stink in a bucket on the boat during their fishing trip, and it was so bad that Ben puked over the side of the boat.

Grief sucks.

I've been putting off this post, hoping that with a little more time I would have a better handle on things, but I don't think I've made much progress, and I don't feel like I can move forward until I've acknowledged the grief I feel about Pop Pop's passing.

I read something a while back that my sister-in-law's mother had told her growing up about our feelings being our feelings. The good, the bad, and the ugly....whatever those feelings may be, it's okay to be feeling them. I've held onto that phrase and try to think of it when I find myself all over the map.

Two weeks ago today I was back in Florida with the boys and was able to attend a life celebration party that the Bacon's threw in honor of Harry. I can't think of a more fitting way that his family could have acknowledged the great man that he was. They know how to throw a hell of a party, and this was no exception. It was a great opportunity for Harry's family to highlight the good times, and I observed far more laughter than tears.

Tears are okay. I knew for me they'd come at a later time...like today, out of the blue, in buckets. There's definitely no rhyme or reason or timetable to how we process our grief. I didn't foresee feeling this way myself, but it seems kind of silly that I wouldn't. I was present to see some dear people that I love go through something awful and lose someone who is a core piece of their family. It sucked. I think at the time, I was just trying to keep it together and do what I could to help in whatever way they needed.

After coming home and moving forward with our own day-to-day stuff, I'm pretty sure that I distanced myself from the reality that was settling in for the Bacon's. I wasn't there any longer to witness first hand how they were dealing, so I wasn't faced with that grief yet myself. It wasn't until today that I recognized I've been in denial the past couple of weeks. I see it now though, and depressed and angry came to the grief party too. I can accept that Pop Pop is gone, but then I'm faced with the thought of his family moving forward without him. It makes me feel incredibly sad and angry over how unfair it all seems, for everything that they will all miss out on doing together. I know Pop Pop is in a good place now, but it's not where I want him to be. I want him with his family.

Time may move us forward and help us to heal, but what I'm struggling with the most right now is knowing how much this grief process sucks, knowing that Pop Pop's family all has to go through it too. We can share with others, lean on our loved ones for support, but ultimately we all have our own muck to work through.

Such is life. Death comes for us all at some point. Life is a huge revolving door, taking us in until it's our time to exit. I may not have known Pop Pop for the majority of his revolutions, but I'm still incredibly grateful for him and his life. It's because of him and his Honey and the family they started that eventually connected their family with mine, and that's a really great thing.

Blessed. 

Team Bacon

I'm sure I've wrote about the Bacon family enough over the years that those of you who come here to read my posts, know them on some level, and a few of you have also had the pleasure of meeting some or all of them.

To me, they are an extension of family and have always treated us as such. They are a fantastic bunch of people; generous, kind, fun-loving, full of life.

After spending this past week with them, I came to see another side to them, which I had hoped not to see for a long time. Faced with the loss of Harry, their Pop Pop/Dad/Husband... I saw them band together, and show a tremendous amount of strength and grace under some very sad and difficult moments.

For those who did not have the pleasure of knowing Harry, I'd like to share with you how I saw (still see) him. Harry was a rock for his family and an unbelievably hard worker, and never once did I hear him complain about anything. He was not your warm and fuzzy type of man (evident in every awkward hug I'd attempt to give him), but you could comfortably sit and have great conversations with him. He listened, asked questions, was genuinely interested in what you were discussing with him. He loved and supported his family and what more can you ask for from a man? He simply was/is the epitome of what a great man should be. He will be so very missed.

When I think of Pop Pop I will remember him winding the cuckoo cuckoo clock in their kitchen, sharing a bowl of chocolate marshmallow ice cream with Emma, his breakfast & lunch things laid out on the kitchen counter the night before an early-morning shift; his half smile and twinkle in his eye when I could see him suppressing a thought he didn't want to share out loud. I will remember the softer side of Harry you often only saw when he played with Emma. My heart hurts at the thought of her growing up without his physical presence in her life, but I can't imagine a better person to look after her and the rest of the family from the other side.

I have seen Team Bacon pull themselves up by their boot straps and muck their way through a rough couple of weeks, and I am confident that despite the gap that Harry has left in their lives, they will continue moving forward a day at a time and come through it all even stronger than before.

I found this quote and immediately thought of Honey and this about sums up how she has been managing the loss of her partner...  "He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has." ~Epictetus

I have overheard Honey comforting others that are mourning Harry's passing. She may have moments of grief, but I see her embracing the good and choosing to remember the happy memories of Harry and their life together.

I believe that Honey and the rest of the bunch have the right idea in not dwelling in the moments leading up to Pop Pop's passing, but rather focusing on the good man and life he had. I believe that this is by no means the end to their time together, just a long intermission until they meet up again.

Please join me by keeping the Bacon Family in your thoughts and prayers as they find their way and adjust to the absence of Harry, and please raise a glass in memory of him and give thanks to the great family he helped bring into this world...and give thanks for those precious loved ones in your lives.

Warm Florida...

Time sure has been getting away from me! Just when I think I've caught up my train gets derailed and I find myself behind again. Such is life...

December was nuts but a lot of fun. I'm thinking there needs to be a bigger stretch between Thanksgiving and Christmas. There doesn't seem to be enough time to squeeze in enough holiday fun into just one month. I keep going over the things we didn't find enough time to do, but I shouldn't lose sight of all the great things we did squeeze in.

The boys and I had planned a little visit to Florida back in October, but as we were sitting at the gate at the airport, ready to board, the boys' behavior dictated a very loud and dramatic exit from the airport instead of a walk down the jetway. Not exactly the pleasant flight I had hoped for. Lucky for us we found a small window to make up the trip, and we enjoyed a few days with the Bacon's....after a much better travel experience!

We love all the Bacon's, but we were extra excited to see how much Emma had changed since we last visited. It's so much fun to see a little person change so quickly in a short amount of time. She definitely did not disappoint and was full of the lively, sweet/sassy personality we had been hearing so much about. It was so nice to spend most of our time just hanging out at their house. Patti and I did a little sewing, which totally took me back to when I was a kid around the holidays, watching my mom sew our Christmas gifts. Love it.

After we finished up sewing projects and dinner, Patti majorly treated the boys and I to a little visit to Magic Kingdom. We enjoyed a few hours to watch the fireworks show, electric parade, and a couple of rides. I loved seeing the castle frosted with lights for the holidays. It was gorgeous, and it was such a treat to be able to visit the park during that time of year. Thanks again Patti!!

I loved that we were able to find the time to visit the Bacon's, especially during the holidays. I love their home and how much they get into Christmas. I don't know anyone else who decks their house with 4 full-sized Christmas trees and a few bonus smaller ones! It was another great, and always special, visit with some of our favorite people.

It's fun to be Emma!

February is quickly on the way out, and I'm still mentally half way stuck in January. The boys and I were super lucky to get a break from winter for a couple of weeks, and I think the recess scrambled my brain a bit.

The reason for our trip to sunnier skies was to celebrate Emma's first birthday with the Bacons. There's something about first birthdays that seem to me to be as much as a celebration for the family and friends as it is for the person turning one. Emma is one very loved little girl, and it was lots of fun to be around so many people who love her as much as we do.



Emma is at such a fun age. There's so much for her to absorb at her age. How interesting it would be to get inside her head and see her take on all the things she's experiencing right now.

A couple days following Emma's party we had planned on returning home, but we ended up extending our stay to lend some help. Honey had not been well when we first arrived and needed some extra care to recover from a nasty case of pneumonia. Although the circumstances were far from ideal, it was nice to be able to spend the extra time with the Bacons.

A little of the extra time included another fun party the following weekend. The Bacons are skilled at throwing a good party. Emma's party followed by their Super Bowl party the following weekend were no exceptions! I had lots of fun with Patti getting food ready for the party. I get so many great and delicious ideas from her.

During our stay we also enjoyed a nice visit with Grandma Gaile and her husband Jim, who were kind enough to make the drive over to Orlando from Sarasota. They treated us to lunch, froyo, and gifts for the boys. It was so nice to be able to visit with them and so much sooner than we had anticipated.

I didn't care to leave our friends and the warm weather behind, but it was good to come home to Darius. He doesn't like it when we leave him for long periods, and I can't say that I blame him. We miss being away from him too. I appreciate him and his job which allows us these opportunities to visit our far-away friends and family!

Birthdays & Banana Peel

It's January and that means lots of birthdays! I love it! Carrie kicked off the month and enjoyed a quiet day at home with her new little guy. I would have gladly spent the entire day with her, but my gross little boys were still off limits from Archer...and I totally get it now why little kids shouldn't have much contact with babies. For example, as I sit here and write this, Ben is next to me on the couch with his big toes (yes, both of them) in his mouth. The list of other gross things they do is long....they lick things which have no business being licked, they chew their toenails, stick their hands down their pants and then sniff/and or lick them, dig around in their noses and lick their boogers or wipe them on things. Little boys are gross!

The following week was full of birthdays...five of them! Celebrating were my siblings Eric and Michel; niece and nephew, Karissa and Ian; and my very dear friend, Brandi. I had plans to make Brandi a cake and thought she would be busy most of the day, so I was only planning on a quick visit to drop it off to her. I was happy that I got a little more than a quick visit.

The boys and I met up with Brandi and her three men at Jump Around a/k/a the Banana Peel which is where her oldest, Ian, works. When I told the boys where we were going, Ben kept asking me when we were headed to the Banana Peel. It took us a while to get it out of him, but apparently Ben calls it that because there's a huge jumping pillow there that he thinks is slippery like a banana peel.

Brandi and I enjoyed a little birthday breakfast and a nice visit while the boys had fun being boys! I loved the opportunity to spend part of her day with her. There was a time several years back when we had lost touch with each other, and it feels wonderful to have her back in my life! She's a wonderful friend, and is such a positive influence in my life.

There are more birthdays coming up...my brother James celebrates this month as well as a delightful little girl who will be turning one. The boys and I are excited to be heading out to Florida next week to celebrate Emma's first birthday with her family and friends.

To each of you with a birthday this month, Happy Birthday! What better way to kick off a new year each year than with so many beautiful individuals starting a new year themselves! Love and best wishes to each of you for a wonderful year, and many more happy and healthy returns!