11 in 2011 Day 2

Favorite Holiday Memory

Oh wow! How do you pick just one favorite holiday memory?!? Ok, I'm going to cheat just a little and tell you about my two most favorite holiday memories but they are the same theme so that has to count for something right?!?


Part one of my favorite holiday memory was Christmas 2007. We had decided to celebrate Christmas with my mom's parents on December 30th. It was a day that everyone (at the time 22 people) could all make it to grandma and grandpa's house at the same time...yes this a major feat when you have people who live in two different states and range in age from 3 to 75! Why this is one of my favorite holiday memories is because it was the last Christmas my grandpa was with us. None of us had any idea this would be his last Christmas, we knew his health was getting bad but we all thought he had a few more years in him. We had a wonderful day of celebrating together, everyone was happy to be together and there was just a calmness that was in the house that day when we look back on our celebration. My grandpa ended up passing away February 23, 2008 but we all hold December 30, 2007 close to our hearts.

 December 30, 2007
Cook Family Christmas

Part two of my favorite holiday memory is the same story as above but with my husband's grandpa. For Christmas 2009 the Stinson family was having a hard time finding a date when a majority of the family could gather to celebrate Christmas but it seemed like out of thin air it worked out that New Years Day would be the best day when everyone except for 3 of the grand kids (at the time 49 people)  could be there so we went with the date! We all gathered at Bonnie and Dales house and had a wonderful day. Again, we knew Dale's health was fading but we had no idea it would be the last time we would celebrate Christmas with him.  Dale was diabetic and had to watch what he ate very closely however, on this New Years Day each one of us saw him sneak a cookie or two but no one said anything to him. I was 22 weeks pregnant at this point so I got very tired very quickly so I was kind of being pushy with Jason about leaving so I could go take a nap, however the best thing happened before we left. Dale was sitting in the dinning room telling stories about his youth and their house, Jason and I ended up sitting there for over an hour listening to the stories. I am so glad that we didn't end up leaving because we would never have another chance at that moment because Dale passed away on January 7, 2010.

January 11, 2010
Grandma Bonnie with 15 of her 16 grand kids

Whenever I hear Laughed Until We Cried by Jason Aldean it make me think of both of these moments, especally these lines:

This past year my family
Was sittin cross-legged 'round the Christmas tree
Listenin to granddad, we all knew it would probably be his last
He was crackin jokes and we were takin turns
Tellin stories bout fishing or lessons learned
Out on the porch with him we all felt like kids again

Make me cry every time!