Goodbyes & Hellos
This weekend was exhausting...but in a good way.
On Saturday we said goodbye to our favorite bird...and also some hellos to some family members we hadn't seen in a long time. It was bittersweet. Great and sad and wonderful and tearful all at the same time.
But, it was a really REALLY good weekend all around. Our Goose is in a better place, watching down over us all day and night (as Patrick reminds us) and isn't suffering anymore. We got to see some cousins and relatives we haven't seen in ages and that was just great. Family time is always the best time. ALWAYS.
Before I get too sappy with my weekend recap, I have to plug ^^^ this. OHH EMM GEE. How freaking fantastic is that??! Scooter the Dog, Olan Mills style!! A friend from high school does these and I had her do Scoots and I freaking LOVE it so. I may or may not have gotten this blown up 30x40 canvas sized for our bedroom (read: Mike's Christmas gift). Oh and these bad boys are only $20 if you want to get your dog or cat done up -- she does amazing work!!
I had a half day on Friday and Rosie tagged along with me since it was kinda a crazy morning with family coming into town and what not...and she was actually SO GOOD the 4.5 hours I was there! She just sat there and colored and ate snacks and watched her iPad and was good as gold. I would totally bring her again in a heartbeat!
My cousin Jack came in from Florida and he stayed with us, which was great because the kids are obsessed with him (and cannot wait to go back and visit him in southwest Florida again soon!) so that worked out nicely. Friday night we had all of my family over, who were all in town from DC and Florida, to whip up the photo collages for Goose's memorial the next day. We covered 500+ pictures on 13 poster boards! HOT DANG! But what a great walk down memory lane making these and looking back at all of the awesome memories we had with Goose and the cool things she did in her 90 years.
Eating my words here -- but golly I love my van sticker. And I also love dressing my girls in matching outfits! Two things I said I'd never do but heck if I'm not doing them now and LOOOOOVING IT! The girls wore matching Wizard of Oz dresses for Goose's memorial -- which was fitting because she loved the Wizard of Oz so much.
We took advantage of some cousin snaps while everyone was together! We were just missing my oldest cousin Sara, but this was the first time in years that we all were together! The memorial was only two hours but I talked through the entire thing and boy, by 5pm I was POOPED! Haha! We also played chase with the kids during this time too, but fortunately we were the only group in the funeral home that night so they didn't mind the kids running around like crazy.
We then headed to downtown Kirkwood for a reception and this was a blast too -- it was so great getting to again see some old faces and reminisce about our Goose. The kids came for a bit and then Mike's parents took them home to sleepover so we could stay and chat. That was nice to be able to have them there but then have some adult time to catch up with my aunts and uncles and cousins. We started wrapping things up around 8pm and I swear I thought it was like 2am!! I.was.beat. I crashed as soon as we got home.
This morning I had an early morning photoshoot and then I went and picked up the kids, grabbed a quick lunch, and put everyone down for a quick siesta before we headed off to another family Christmas party!
The annual Yadon Christmas Party is always the Sunday before Christmas and we headed up there after siestas. Annie wasn't on her A-game (icky cough...we've all been battling coughs and colds this week and I think hers is peeking so hopefully she'll be on the mend in the next couple of days) but she still seemed cheery enough for the party. Patrick had a blast running around like crazy and so did Rosie! I swear they could make friends with paper bags if need be. Friendliest kids ever.
Mike and the big kids headed off to the Mooneys then for Sunday family dinner while Annie and I elected to go home. She had an icky cough and I wasn't feeling awesome (probably just exhausted from this weekend's events and getting over a cold myself) so we did dinner and baths on our own and I was actually able to get a lot of stuff done (cough-cough this blog post!) before the big kiddos got home.
All in all it was a great, memorable weekend for some goodbyes and a lot of hellos. Funerals and memories are bittersweet, and this weekend I'll remember forever. So glad we got some great snaps to remember it by.
I have just a few days left of finals this week and then it's seeeee ya 2017 for school! I cannot wait for Christmas break! Lots and lots of awesome things a'planned! :) Have a great week friends!!
On Saturday we said goodbye to our favorite bird...and also some hellos to some family members we hadn't seen in a long time. It was bittersweet. Great and sad and wonderful and tearful all at the same time.
But, it was a really REALLY good weekend all around. Our Goose is in a better place, watching down over us all day and night (as Patrick reminds us) and isn't suffering anymore. We got to see some cousins and relatives we haven't seen in ages and that was just great. Family time is always the best time. ALWAYS.
Before I get too sappy with my weekend recap, I have to plug ^^^ this. OHH EMM GEE. How freaking fantastic is that??! Scooter the Dog, Olan Mills style!! A friend from high school does these and I had her do Scoots and I freaking LOVE it so. I may or may not have gotten this blown up 30x40 canvas sized for our bedroom (read: Mike's Christmas gift). Oh and these bad boys are only $20 if you want to get your dog or cat done up -- she does amazing work!!
I had a half day on Friday and Rosie tagged along with me since it was kinda a crazy morning with family coming into town and what not...and she was actually SO GOOD the 4.5 hours I was there! She just sat there and colored and ate snacks and watched her iPad and was good as gold. I would totally bring her again in a heartbeat!
My cousin Jack came in from Florida and he stayed with us, which was great because the kids are obsessed with him (and cannot wait to go back and visit him in southwest Florida again soon!) so that worked out nicely. Friday night we had all of my family over, who were all in town from DC and Florida, to whip up the photo collages for Goose's memorial the next day. We covered 500+ pictures on 13 poster boards! HOT DANG! But what a great walk down memory lane making these and looking back at all of the awesome memories we had with Goose and the cool things she did in her 90 years.
Eating my words here -- but golly I love my van sticker. And I also love dressing my girls in matching outfits! Two things I said I'd never do but heck if I'm not doing them now and LOOOOOVING IT! The girls wore matching Wizard of Oz dresses for Goose's memorial -- which was fitting because she loved the Wizard of Oz so much.
We took advantage of some cousin snaps while everyone was together! We were just missing my oldest cousin Sara, but this was the first time in years that we all were together! The memorial was only two hours but I talked through the entire thing and boy, by 5pm I was POOPED! Haha! We also played chase with the kids during this time too, but fortunately we were the only group in the funeral home that night so they didn't mind the kids running around like crazy.
This morning I had an early morning photoshoot and then I went and picked up the kids, grabbed a quick lunch, and put everyone down for a quick siesta before we headed off to another family Christmas party!
The annual Yadon Christmas Party is always the Sunday before Christmas and we headed up there after siestas. Annie wasn't on her A-game (icky cough...we've all been battling coughs and colds this week and I think hers is peeking so hopefully she'll be on the mend in the next couple of days) but she still seemed cheery enough for the party. Patrick had a blast running around like crazy and so did Rosie! I swear they could make friends with paper bags if need be. Friendliest kids ever.
Mike and the big kids headed off to the Mooneys then for Sunday family dinner while Annie and I elected to go home. She had an icky cough and I wasn't feeling awesome (probably just exhausted from this weekend's events and getting over a cold myself) so we did dinner and baths on our own and I was actually able to get a lot of stuff done (cough-cough this blog post!) before the big kiddos got home.
All in all it was a great, memorable weekend for some goodbyes and a lot of hellos. Funerals and memories are bittersweet, and this weekend I'll remember forever. So glad we got some great snaps to remember it by.
I have just a few days left of finals this week and then it's seeeee ya 2017 for school! I cannot wait for Christmas break! Lots and lots of awesome things a'planned! :) Have a great week friends!!
