Christmas

My whole family with the exception of 2 brothers in law and 3 cousins.

Gram and Gramps with the grandkids.

Cousin Conor making Mina laugh. So cute! (Thanks for the pics from your blog, Krista! I took my camera on the trip without realizing the memory card was full. Woops!)

These pics are from Geoff's sister Kathy. THese are the yummy wings we ate while there. MMMM!

The wings gang.

We had a quiet Christmas this year. For Christmas eve it was just Geoff, Mina and I with Geoff's parents for dinner. His sister and her family came later. For Christmas we went back to Geoff's parents and had yummy Christmas breakfast! The cousins exchange gifts and Mina's gift from cousin Jill was a cute outfit and little book. We then went to see Blind Side while Geoff's sister and his mom watched Mina (thanks again!) It was a great movie. I got teary, especially since we ourselves just adopted. It hit close to home! We went back to Geoff's parents for dinner and that was about it.

The next day we went to see Sherlock Holmes, an excellent film. When we got home I got a call from my brother saying that my grandfather (my mother's father) had just passed away. He started coughing up blood, the neighbors came to help my grandma get him to the hospital and he actually died of cardiac arrest on the way. It was sudden, and that's the sad part, because we didn't get to say goodbye, but my grandpa was 84 and had progressively worsening dementia. He didn't remember who I was the last time we saw him. My grandmother said she was having more and more difficulty caring for him at home now, too. With all the lingering and suffering I see working at the hospital I was glad for my grandpa's sake that he went quickly and didn't have to suffer much.

Geoff and I were able to join the rest of my family in Utah for the funeral and it was a nice reunion, despite the circumstances. All of my siblings were together for the first time in several years. We were actually only missing one brother in law and 3 cousins. It was great spending time with them. We also spent time with Geoff's sister and their family who treated us to good food and great company. Thanks again everybody!