In all living, have much fun and laughter.: December 2009

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

More 80's flashbacks....

More flashbacks... I love going through old pictures! Thinking of how close Garrett is to having his first son, we had to laugh when we saw this picture of Garrett... he was about 16 months and was bigger at that age than Nathaniel is right now. It's just fun to look back and remember the fun times... I had just found out a few weeks earlier that I was pregnant with Kimi in this picture.... I love being married to Thayne and being a mom to these incredible human beings I call my children!!!

Flashback to 1988

I was going through pictures and found this picture of Thayne and Jace. Oh the memories it brought back! It's amazing how long ago it was, and yet how fast the time has flown by. Two of the most incredible men I know... there are moments when I look at Thayne and this is the face I see.... this is the face I will always see, the man that stole my heart the moment I saw him.... the man I will always love, even though the years keep rolling on. I think about the dreams we had of our family back then and to see the reality of our life now is amazing! I will always love this face...he has been my best friend and the love of my life since the moment I looked into his eyes and I cannot imagine life without loving this amazing man!

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Willie Joe...

I can't believe it has been 23 years ago today that I heard the news... I had gone with Thayne who had to drive out to do an inspection and as we turned onto our road I saw my mom and little brothers walking towards our house. Willie had been found at his house not breathing... they worked on his a long time but couldn't revive him. My uncle Willie gone... one of my best friends. How could he be gone. He was only 20. He wasn't supposed to die. He was only 17 months older than me and I had more memories in my life with him than without. He was like my brother. My first words were about Willie. He had been so excited that I was pregnant... he couldn't wait to meet my baby... and I couldn't wait for my baby to know uncle Willie. And now he was gone. He just fell asleep and didn't wake up. That didn't happen to young people, that only happened to old people. It hurt so badly. I remember that first night, waking up, and thinking I had the most horrible dream.... only to realize it was not a dream after all. Twice I woke up and heard the words of a song.... "somewhere, out there beneath a pale moonlight..." and I wondered where he was, what he was doing, and did he know that our lives had forever been altered, never to be the same again. He always made me laugh, always made me happy. I remembered the time my friend and I were running track and we were beat... Willie was there.... and he laughingly told us that he was the "eye in the sky" and to keep going, we could do it. And I knew that this time, he really was the eye in the sky and that he would forever be watching over me... but it would have been so much better to have him here, not on the other side. It didn't seem fair. Our house was right across the street from the mortuary and I hated thinking of him there, alone.... I remember the day my mom asked me to come over and help comb his hair, that she couldn't get it right... the thought freaked me out... but I loved Willie, and one thing about Willie... he cared about what he wore, and how his hair was combed, so I walked over and combed his hair for him! I always felt like I would have a baby named after him, but each time I got pregnant and knew it was a boy, I just knew it wasn't my Willie yet. Then my grandma got sick, and we knew she was dying. I got to talk to her not long before she died.... she said she had seen Willie, that he was there, waiting for her. I told her to tell him to hurry and send my Willie to me... she laughed and said she would tell him. 2 weeks later she died, and on the day she died I found out I was pregnant. I knew... I knew without a doubt that my Willie was on his way. And oh how that little boy reminded me of Willie Joe. Sometimes it felt like uncle Willie was whispering in his ear telling him that his mom would laugh if he covered himself in Vaseline.... or it will be funny to dump 5 lbs of sugar on the floor with red kool aid, or to smear the peanut butter all over his body. That was just Willie Joe... he laughed hard, he played hard, he found great joy in playing jokes on people.... he lived a lot in his 20 years. There have been times when I have felt him with me, watching over us, helping us... I remember the dream I had of him when I was pregnant with Kailee... it was so real that when I woke up I could still feel him in the room, still smell his cologne.... I told him how much I missed him, how much I wished that he knew my kids. He smiled his smile and told me not to worry, that he knew my kids, he knew ALL of my kids! I found great peace in that... we have our own guardian angel and when we really need him he is still there. Everytime I hear the song Who You'd Be Today by Kenny Chesney I stop and catch my breath and think about who he would have been... would he have seen the world, chased his dreams, settle down with a family, what would he have named his kids... it wasn't fair that he died too young.... but he lives now, through us. I share the stories with my kids. They love uncle Willie even though he is gone.... and I am grateful for the memories I have of him.

William Joseph Corbett

September 17th, 1966 - December 29th, 1986

His poem they shared at his funeral:

At night I lay and wonder, just who I really am

and things that's happened to me, and how much that I can stand;

I know that I am special and my heart is full of love.

I wish I knew just what to do. I'm God's gift from above!

There's times I feel unworthy and times of dark despair.

At night I lay and wonder and I'm proud because I care.

Sometimes I might not show it and sometimes I drift away

but in my heart I know the path, "Your Footsteps" that's my way!

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Chirstmas Day...

Christmas day was really laid back and relaxing. We had nothing to do and no place to be! The kids did pretty good and really didn't start trying to wake us up until right before 5am. We had family prayer and then the kids went to work! They all seemed happy and everyone had a great time. It was so fun to have everyone under the same roof. Tiffany and Garrett stayed and so did Caitlyn. It's always a crazy scene with paper everywhere and kids laughing and showing us what they got. We had so much fun watching Nathaniel as this was the first Christmas he knew what was really going on. But he is OCD.... as in REALLY OCD. He would tear one piece of paper off and hand it to Jace or Garrett, repeat many, many times. It about drove him crazy that his brothers kept telling him to throw it on the ground. Finally Jace would help him throw it on the ground and then they would cheer... well when you cheeer for him he claps and laughs so that became a game... but we laughed because you could still see him look at the paper like it was really stressing him out! He loved his presents though and had a great time playing with his basketball and hoop! They told him to dunk the ball. It was a little too tall but he kept trying... then in typical Nate fashion he looked around, ran over and grabbed a bucket that his toys go in, climbed on it and dunked the ball! Smart boy he is! I am so grateful for this amazing family.... so grateful for the joy that they bring Thayne and me and so grateful for the amazing human beings that they are! It was a great Christmas... and we have many exciting things to look forward to in the coming year!

Kami at her new art desk! She kept asking if we were sure it was hers, wasn't it Nate's? We told her no, Santa knew she loved to draw! She was SO excited!

Hayden wanted the City legos SOOOOOO bad!

One paper at a time... makes slow going when you are trying to open a present!

Kalli loves her new Barbie Town House!

Passing out gifts....

WHAT? Willie was so surprised that he got a new phone, his old one was broken and we kept telling him we couldn't do anything until after the first of the year!

Good morning Tallin!

Happy, happy, happy!

Caitlyn opening one of the many articles of clothing she received that day! =) She said the first thing Jace told her after getting engaged was that she was going to have to change her spending habits! He's a fine one to talk since he is usually the one spoiling her!

Checking out the gifts...

Kami showing us her Tinkerbell stuff...

Willie....

Kassi is so excited to get a camera....

Good morning Kimi!

Wyatt.....

Nate's face just lit up when he opened this monkey! I wish I would have had the camera ready right as he opened it... he LOVES this monkey and he was so excited when he opened it that he made his brothers get it right out of the box!

This girl is TOUGH... nobody messes with Kassi!!!!

Tallin checking out another new shirt....

Kimi checking out her Ipod

Kailee, Hyrum, Kami, Kassi and Tallin....

Tallin gathering his 'stuff'......

Jace pushing it all into a pile....

I think we lost a kid in there somewhere....

Tanner and Kinzee....

Kami-hen

Oh yeah... some happy little girls this morning!

The goods!

Kassi gave us some chocolate and other goodies and a bottle of sparkling cider with this little warning! haha, she is so funny!

Kami and one of her new baby dolls....

Kalli gets to build some bears!

This picture of Kassi just cracks me up... it is SO totally Kassi.... she called dad's laptop first to get songs on her new Ipod.....

After....

Caitlyn loved the new coat we bought her! As soon as I saw it I knew it looked like Cait... and even at 5am with no make up on she's still cute!!!! But shhhhhh.... she will probably strangle me if she knows I blogged this picture! =)

Where did everybody go????

The after is always the best picture... we had a wonderful Christmas!

This kid is a character... we were eating crepes. He had a cup of orange juice but it wasn't enough... he kept telling us he wanted more but we told him he had his cup! Then he grabbed the whole thing and started drinking.....

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Christmas Eve....

I can't believe how quickly Christmas came this year. In fact this whole year has seemed to fly by in a blur and it seems like weeks at a time went missing. So before we knew it, it's almost Christmas eve! We usually have a sort of party all day long Christmas eve and then have a family get together and then a sibling gift exchange. Well... they say the best laid plans.... you know, there is no such thing! On the 23rd I had been sick all night and we still had things to get done in order to finish up Christmas. So knowing that I couldn't handle it alone Thayne was able to get out of work early and come home and help me. At the last store, paying for the last gift, his phone rang and before he walked out I heard hims say something about a ground fall. Those words and underground mine never go well together... we drove over to his work truck and he said it didn't sound like he would need to go back out. I dropped him off and he followed me home but by the time we pulled into the driveway it was decided that he HAD to go back out, it was much more serious than first reported and he turned around and left! He asked if I wanted to ride out with him but I could just imagine him being stuck out there all night and I still had the rest of the gifts to wrap so I sent him on his way and told me he would be home as soon as he could. I laughed... MSHA and hurry do not go in the same sentence! He was gone all night. He finally got home at about 5:30am freezing and exhausted and grateful that he made it home. He literally fell asleep as his head hit the pillow. He had barely slept a couple of hours when they called and said the meeting was in town at the office so we sent him on his way again! He told me that it didn't matter how little sleep he had, he was going to make sure this Christmas was wonderful... and true to his word he made it wonderful! By the time he got home he napped while I did a couple of things to prepare to go into my brothers house and then we went in for our family party. We got home and had a wonderful time watching the kids exchange their gifts. I think that we laughed the hardest when Nate opened his 'real' monkey. Nate loves monkeys. When he was a newborn he decided the cute monkey his dad brought me from the New York airport was his and we have fed his obsession ever since. So we found a monkey that is much different than the ones he has but it acts more 'real'.... Jace bet that he would be freaked out. He was right. It took a while for him to warm up to it, but it was so hilarious watching him react that we all just kept laughing and watching him. He finally got brave enough to touch the ear, and then the hand, and then he would feed it the bottle...but he was so fun to watch! After we got the little ones downstairs and in bed, we got busy helping Santa.... except Nate refused to go to sleep and seemed to get more wild as the night went on. We were in our bedroom with Caitlyn, Jace, Garrett and Tiffany just laughing and talking. Nate was showing off for us and we really had a great time just hanging out together. Nate and Jace had a sword fight with the wrapping paper and finally Willie sent me a text that said we were too loud and they couldn't sleep! =) It was a wonderful day despite all of the set backs!

Getting ready for the gift exchange....