Comment allez vous?
The holidays are always the craziest. I felt like I was so prepared and then all of the sudden at the beginning of the week things got crazy. But that's ok. It was a good week all the same.
Christmas Eve I went to Chase's family's party. This is a quality shot of us kids messing around in the basement after we did a nativity scene. He has a super awesome family. I really like them. They do a cousin gift exchange at their party and his sweet mother, not wanting me to feel left out, got me a little gift. It was a beautiful necklace and some lotion and things. She really is so wonderful. After that, he came with me over to my aunt's where we ate the traditional Christmas Eve fried rice and Hawaiian Punch.
Funniest part of Christmas Eve. So when we're leaving his parent's house, we go to put on our shoes by the front door. He pulls me into him and kisses me and thanks me for coming. We go to put on our shoes and there is his cousin sitting in the front room, nursing her baby and watching us. HAHAHAHA! She was so cute. She said, "No worries. I've dated before too." I died. Oh man. We have some good awkward moments like that. So funny.
Christmas day I woke up to a surprise. I did all my parents' Christmas shopping this year and really, it wasn't much. With all the craziness that was going on we just didn't really want to/couldn't do a big Christmas this year. But Christmas morning, I found that my Santa had not forgotten me. When I woke up I found my stocking full of the usually treats and a new skirt and some make up waiting for me. Are you kidding me?! My parents are truly amazing. They ALWAYS turn outside themselves and think of how they can serve others. It was truly a mighty tender mercy.
We spent the day down at the hospital with my brother. It was a really good day. He had a good morning. It was so funny. When we walked in, we found him watching football of his TV. He has strict orders written on his care board that say he is not suppose to watch TV because it's too overwhelming for him. So we were shocked. We asked him who turned it on for him and he said he didn't know. When I walked into the room farther I also found Fruitie Pebbles all over the floor. I asked him if he had poured himself a bowl of cereal and he said "I cannot confirm or deny anything." Guilty. Haha it was so funny! He also admitted later that he might have turned on the TV himself. He doesn't have anyone sitting in his room with him during the day any more (except for my parents of course) so you never know what you might find in the mornings when they get there.
We went for a long walk and chatted. We walked him outside to see the snow. (There was a miraculous snow fall Christmas Eve so we all woke up to a white Christmas!) My dad gave Chase a snowball and he threw it at me. That was the first time we've seen him really smile since he's woken up. It was awesome. We ate powdered doughnuts (a Christmas classic for our family). Around 12:30 pm we got to Skype with my little brother on his mission. My brother and sister in law and their two boys came over to the hospital. We also Skyped with my sister, my brother in law and their new baby. We were all in Chase's hospital room and it quickly began to be too much for him. You could see him start to shut down, the filter left and he started getting really restless. My dad took him out of the room and we wrapped things up with everyone. He gets very easily over stimulated. But Toph (my little brother) is doing awesome in AZ! He loves being a missionary and he loves his companion.
I was assigned to pick out my baby niece's Christmas presents and I bought her the cutest things. It was so fun to watch my sister open them all and get so excited. That little girl is going to look fierce. Mm hum. I did good.
My brother overall is still progressing. Physically, he is healing great. He can talk and walk and even his eye sight is getting a little better in the one eye. He started wearing his glasses which helps. Sometimes he gets really clear and he is really with it. Other times he's confused and lost. I think for the most part he has more up moments than down. We'll see. We just take it a day at a time.
My brother's recovery is really a miracle. I am amazed at how quickly he is progressing. I know without a doubt it is all the prayers and faith that have been sent heavenward on his behalf. We are so blessed to have so many who are praying for him and for us. We are sustained every day by the mercy of Heavenly Father and I am so grateful for his infinite love.
Boo thang and I exchanged gift on Friday because I ended up being at the hospital later than I thought I would have. He had to work but he assured me it would be a "slow day" at the model home so I could come and visit, no problem. Anytime he says that, I know there will be people. It's just inevitable. But his sister and brother in law were coming to say goodbye before they headed back to California so at least it wouldn't be me alone this time when people came in.
Maybe I should explain that a little better. He works for a home developer and so he sits in a model home most of the time and people can just walk in and he'll talk to them about the different floor plans and communities and what not. So on slow days, maybe no one will come in. He assumed the day after Christmas would be a slow day.
Any who, I go over and we exchange gifts. He gave me mine first and goodness. The kid spoiled me. Oh la la. I don't know. He's a good one. But of course, someone walked in while we were opening gift to give Chase some paperwork. Haha "slow day".
A little while after, Chase's sister and brother in law came over. We chatted for a little bit then decided we should play a game. There weren't any on hand but Chase had brought his Nintendo 64 because Ben and Amanda wanted to borrow it for a few months. We decided to hook it into the model home's TV and play some Mario Cart. He only has three controllers so we were switching off after every round. There was a good amount of smack talk going on and some cries of distress and a few calls for assassinations as we played. We were not quiet. At some point, poor Chase answered his phone at a particularly dramatic point of a race and we were all shouting. He ran into the backroom to get away from the noise. Oh dear. Poor thing. Then, the funniest part, we hear someone walk up to the door. Oh no. We hurry and try to hide the games and the controllers while Chase is stalling them at the door. We all ran into the back room and tried to be quiet as we could as he talks to this guy. Oh man. We actually did a pretty good job. But as the guy was leaving he saw the N64 and gave it a weird look. It was so funny. Poor Chase. He thought it was going to be a slow day. And of course, after Amanda and Ben leave and he and I are saying goodbye, a whole family walks in. Haha oh man, so funny.
I went to lunch with my girlfriends on Friday. It was so fun! One of them I hadn't seen since way before my mission.
That's us. Ladies who lunch. I love them so much. They are all pretty much grown ups now. Sarah is in graduate school in California with her husband. Amanda is in law school in Colorado. Kwin is going to school in Provo and teaching at the MTC. I can't believe it. When did we all grow up?! I have the best friends. They really inspire me to keep going, keep progressing. I'm so blessed.
This weekend I got the stomach flu. It was the worse. Chase had some sort of stomach bug too. Poor thing. He got sick Friday night and I got sick Saturday night. Bless his little heart, he came over Sunday night to see how I was feeling. I told him he was taking his own life into his hands. He risked it anyways. He cuddled right up to me all the same. He really is a good one.
Well mes Soeurs, I love you. I'm praying for you and for the work. I'm so grateful for all you do and so proud of you for going on missions! It is such a blessing in our lives. We get to learn so much while we are there and we come home new and better people. Strive to change. Strive to be better. Take this opportunity and let Him mold you into something new. You'll never regret it.
Have a miraculous week!
Bisous,
Soeur Tribe
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