Christmas 2009

Okay, okay, I know I'm so behind on blogging. But I need to try and catch up for journaling reasons, we've had A LOT happen in the last year and a half that I need to remember! So here we go.

We spent Christmas 2009 with the Lage's this year, we stayed over on Christmas Eve and then opened presents that morning. Trin was so Excited because Santa brought her the dress form she was wanting and Zoe got the Heely's and remote control truck she wanted. We came home that afternoon and Grandpa Muehlfeit came up and opened his presents from us. It was a nice mellow Christmas. I normally do a Big family Christmas dinner, but this year we did it the day after, we missed the Draper family and I know how bummed Paula was that they weren't there. I even made place cards for them. I love Christmas time and being with family, there is nothing better!

The Spirit of Christmas

My heart is full today and I wanted to share with you why.
I've always tried to teach my little ladies that giving to others is one of the most important things, especially at Christmas time. So last week we read a beautiful Christmas story called "the Box that Christmas came in." It is about a couple who fills an apple box full of food and goodies and delivers it the week before Christmas to a young couple with newborn twins. The young couple were so grateful because they had no food in the house and didn't know what they were going to do. After we read it, we started talking about who we could help out this Christmas. Our little ladies were telling us about different kids from their school. We finally came up with a little family that we don't really know, but knew we wanted to help them out. So we loaded an apple box with a Turkey and all of the fixin's that go along with it. We also threw in a lot of extras. We tried to think of things they would need grocery wise for the week. We found an outfit and a new pair of shoes and socks for each child, and of course some fun stuff too. I had mentioned what we were doing to a certain friend at the school and she said she already has some stuff for them as well, so we decided to put what we had together.
Last night after we all got dressed in black and got some shoes on that we knew we could run in, we went to deliver it. The girlies stayed in the truck and watched because the road we delivered it on is a busy one. Justin and I sneek up to the front step with our two boxes over flowing. I take off first ( well we all know why... short, squatty= I can't run that fast) and hide behind some bushes in their yard. Justin knocks on the door and makes it behind the bushes just in time for the mom to open the door. She opened it and said "Oh my gosh!" She went and got the phone, we heard the mom say " We just got Christmas!" She was naming off everything in the box and saying "I don't know who it is,but I can see a truck parked down the street!" We sat crouched behind the bushes for about 5 minutes while she talked on the phone, we were guessing it was here husband, because at that time we noticed his car was gone. She finally drug the box full of the presents inside and shut the door, so we made a run for it. We hopped in the truck and took off, not 30 seconds down the road we passed her husband. We almost got busted, it was so fun! Then we turned around and saw all of them taking the box of food inside. As we were driving home, Justin took my hand and said "thank-you for having our family do that for them, you could tell they really appreciated it." Then the girls said "next year we think we should do two families." Justin explained that if we did that it would mean them giving up some of what they wanted for Christmas. They were like "OKAY!" I'm pretty sure they will remember this night for many years to come.
Now, I'm not sharing this story for people to say "oh that's so nice of you guys!" Instead I'm sharing this with you to remind everyone that it is Christmas time and it doesn't take much to make someone have a wonderful Christmas, who otherwise would have not. You don't have to spend a lot of money to do this for someone. You could make a plate of goodies or sew them something. I think when people just know someone is thinking of them it helps. So now I will ask you this question. Do you know a single mom, a widow, an elderly couple, or a family you could help?
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year!

Good Puppy

So yesterday I'm back in my room getting ready and the little girlie's scream "Mom, come here we have something to show you!" I went out to the front room and this is what I saw. My nephew chillin' inside the dog kennel and the girls just laughing hysterically. I said "girls don't put him in their and they said " but he wanted to, he just crawled in!" One day when they are all grown they will look back and say " hey, do you remember when we locked you in the dog kennel?" I hope they will laugh as hard about then as they did yesterday.

Don't worry Paula I took him out immediately and told him not to get back in it again. He obeyed like any good puppy would!!!

Not until February

We went to Salt Lake on Friday because my Mom, Paula, and I were suppose to go and see Elton John and Billy Joel in concert that night. On Thursday Paula called and said they postponed it until February. We were a little ticked off, but decided to go down anyway. We went and saw the movie "The Blindside".......Excellent, I recommend everyone to see this movie. We still had fun together even though we didn't get our Crocodile Rock on!

And as a Bonus I got to bring back one of my favorite little guys. I was surprised I talked her into it. But I'm loving every minute of it. Thanks for letting us stay this weekend guys and thanks for letting me bring home the Bubbers. I'll try not to let him eat too much Chocolate!

A Snowy Day

On our first real snow fall of the season, we decided to start the day off with these yummy German pancakes that Justin loves to make for us. They were Delicious!

Then we thought it would be fun to take the kids out and pull them on the sled behind the four wheeler. Here they are below ready for the ride. Justin and I took turns in the sled with the kids. Here is Justin with our little ladies. My sisters little guy and I driving the four wheeler, I should of had Justin take a picture of us in the sled, but I forgot! He did great in the sled with "T" and I, he rode for about 10 minutes.(Not loving this picture of me, but I had to put it on because of the cute little guy I'm holding)

This was the end result of the sledding. The girls kept saying to Justin, "just take us until you dump us!" So he did, it ended with Z getting pissed because he dumped them and walking back to the house. T just laughing and saying "that was awesome!" (I do have the dumping on video, but I need to have Paula show me how to put it on my blog. I'm still a blogger idiot!)

We had a great Day together!

"Our Veteran"

Today my little ladies had a program honoring Veterans! Last week when I received the note telling us about the program, I instantly knew who to call. My Dad.... a.k.a. Grandpa Motorcycle.

Let me tell you a little bit about my Dad. He's a Vietnam Vet, he has a very gruff exterior,but a heart of gold, and his work ethic is amazing. He rarely, I mean rarely takes a day off of work for anything. So I was surprised and excited when I called him last week and he said "Oh Sure, I'll be there!" He even called the next morning to verify the time. Having my Dad take time off to come and hear the girlies sing, meant so much to me.

I don't know if he's ever had anyone Honor him in this way, I think it meant a lot to him, when I called and said "Dad, you're our Veteran, will you come?"

He wore a shirt that said "Vets Don't Forget" and hat that says "Vietnam Veteran" it was so touching and emotional to see all of the Veterans there. My dad acknowledged the other Veterans with a firm hand shake and a "how ya doin?" He didn't even know them, but I think they all share a bond that we will never understand.

As soon as they presented the Colors and everyone said the Pledge of Allegiance together, I could feel the emotion. Then the principal asked for all of the Veterans to stand and we all applauded them, I could see how touching this was for my Dad! He sat down and got his hankie out and had to wipe away the tears. The children began to sing and he silently sat and let the tears flow. I felt very honored to have him sitting next to me. At one point in the program we stood and were suppose to sing the Star Spangled Banner together, my Dad stood there with his hat in his hand over his heart and just weeped. I couldn't even sing, I was so touched, my tears were flowing at this point too. All I could do was stand there and put my arm around my Dad and listen. Then they asked for the Veterans to stand so the children could sing them a song, my Dad stood there at attention and listened to these sweet kids sing a song honoring him. I couldn't see his face but I knew he was deeply touched by it!

Growing up my Dad always taught us kids to respect the flag, respect Veterans, and respect this Country that we are so lucky to live in. He also taught us to honor those who have lost their lives fighting for this Country. He's a very patriotic man and has passed that on to me. He was affected by Vietnam in a way that I will NEVER know, seeing him today so full of emotion and Honor is something I will never forget.

Thanks Dad for coming to this program, it meant so much to me, I'm so grateful to have you as my Dad. This will be something that I shared with you that I will never forget!
So to my Dad and all Veterans "Thank-you" for this great service you have done for our Country! You are Heroes to so many people!

( We do have another amazing Veteran in our family, my Grandpa Muehlfeit, he's a World War II Vet. We did invite him to come as well but he was sick. Sorry you couldn't make it Grandpa, we missed you!)

October 25, 2002

This day, I will never forget. I was shopping with a friend in Utah, my cell phone rang, it was my brother Danny. I could tell by the sound of his voice, it wasn't good. I immediately left my shopping cart in the store and walked out to my car to talk. I remember word for word what we said to each other:
Danny: Susie, we're headed back up to the hospital with Ashlee.

Me: Oh, no, how come, you just barely got home with her.

Danny: She's just not doing very well, it's hard for her to breath.

At that point I could tell by his silence that he knew.

It took me a minute to try and catch my breath after we hung up, I just couldn't imagine life without our precious little Sissy. Then I called Paula at work, told her we needed to leave immediately and get to Danny and Lisa. We drove, for what seemed like forever and made it to the hospital. When we got there, we witnessed something so special, that I will never forget it....Before all of the family and friends arrived it was just Danny, Lisa, Paula, and I in the room with Sissy. We breathed Ashlee's every little smell in, took off her little socks and played with her adorable little feet, took her sweet little hands and stroked them down our faces, and told her how much we loved her. I've never felt more close to my family than in that moment. I am so grateful for that experience with Danny and Lisa. I have never seen more devoted parents. The rest of the family and close friends arrived at the hospital shortly, at 12:20 a.m October 26,2002 our precious angel left this earth. It felt like it wasn't happening. Then we saw, what I consider to be the most precious thing I've ever seen. Danny picking up Ashlee and dancing with her.
The next few days seem to run together, there were trips back and forth from Salt Lake for me and Paula. We knew Ashlee was already watching over us because we were following behind a semi hauling huge hay bails and Trin started to throw up, so I pulled over attended to her and then we got back on the road. Not 2 miles down the road that semi was tipped over and all the hay bails were all over the road. We called Danny and the three of us knew she was already watching over us. Danny said "that's my Ash!"
On a very snowy and cold day October 30,2002 we laid her to rest. I will admit, I hated the fact that is was snowing, but Lisa said "Ash sent it to Bud (Austin) because she knows how much he loves it!" After that the snow didn't seem so bad.

I will never forget this time with my family, it is something I treasure.

As for our sweet little Ashlee, I miss her everyday. I miss the way she would bring up her precious little hand and caress our faces, her feet, her stinky breath, the way she would jabber to us, having races with her and the little kids in her wheel chair, her squeal when we would take her legs and have her run, her laughing with Bud, feeding her thru her button, and most of all I miss her presence and her sweet little spirit.

Sissy, I'm so incredibly grateful for what you taught me. I never knew someone so little could have such an impact on my life. I miss you everyday and long to feel your sweet little hand caress my face. I love you and you are forever in my heart! Love Always, Aunt Susie

Danny and Lisa, Thank-you for bringing such a precious gift into this world. You are both amazing people and I'm so grateful for you guys. I'm thinking of you both today! I love you!