Christmas with my family

My brother and his baby Parker who is 15 months

Fred trying to maneuver two babies

Christina, my sister in law with Parker

Fred caught in action on Dustin's Iphone, playing on Parker's scooter

As you can see I cannot sleep and I was up thinking about my father. He was sick during the picture session so he is not in the family photos but we took a few good pics of him with the babies. My father has some good days and recently it seems like he is having some bad days; which, makes me really sad. On our way home from Christmas, I cried most of the way, just thinking about Harlowe and if she will remember my dad when she gets older? She will probably not remember what a great person he is and that just breaks my heart. I hope she will look back on this blog and remember what a great grandfather he is. It is sad that he cannot play with her like he wants to, but I am grateful he can still hold and cuddle her. The times I have gone home, he has been sick so I haven't taken anymore photos of him with Harlowe, I really need to get better about that. We are always on the go, I forget to take photos but hopefully that will change during the next trip.

I think about the meaning of Christmas and I know my family and I are really blessed and I am happy about the time we all get to spend together. I am really going to cherish the time we have together and I am grateful that my dad has gotten to know Harlowe and watch her change and grow. She is changing so fast and doing new things every day, it is like I learn something new about her everyday. I love you dad and I know I don't tell you this enough but you are a great father and a great grandfather.

Ok, about our Christmas, we had a great Christmas and as you can see we got to spend a lot of time with my brother and his family. I really only get to see Fred once a year but Dustin and I have been talking about visiting them in Washington because we have never been to the White House and all that good stuff. We will probably have to do that soon because he just got a new job and he might be moving soon, congrats on the new job, Fred. Anyway, I keep on digressing, Harlowe got a lot of good gifts; such as, lots of clothes from my parents and they also started a college fund account. My brothers family bought her lots of clothes, a cute Asian blanket and lots of great books. I love the books and so does Harlowe, we read them everyday, especially the ABC and numbers books. Oh, my mother made Harlowe this great baby blanket; which she worked really hard on, Harlowe sleeps on the blanket every night. Thanks to my family for all the great gifts and all the great memories.

I really cherish Christmas's with my family because that is the one time we all get to spend together. It's funny since I have gotten older, I really don't care about the gifts (but gifts are always nice, ha) but it is the time we get to spend with our loved ones. I really miss my brother and I am grateful for getting to see him and his family every Christmas. Thank God for blessing my family and bringing us together each year.

I love you dad!