Time with my family💜

It's been a long time since I've written anything.  We've been busy since we returned from Maui and have been spending most of our time with family and friends.  Which is really all I want to do these days. I love being surrounded by those who love me and who I love dearly.

The first event was a 35th birthday celebration of my oldest daughter Danielle.  It's very rare that we can coordinate a time that works for everyone, including her two young sons.  We had a wonderful evening and captured the moment in the attached picture. I'm so thankful that she lives nearby and we can spend time with her and the kids and everyone else!  What a blessing it is to be a Grandma (aka BUNI) and have my family near me💝

We were also able to attend our oldest grandson's holiday program at school. I loved that they focused on 'giving' and were involved in a fund raiser this year to help kids in other countries. Very good lesson for them to learn at an early age -- it's not about getting -- it's about giving! He got to play his violin for us and I was pretty impressed...although I may be biased😃

We then celebrated an early Christmas in Chico. What a wonderful time it was at Carol's house with Caitlin, and Odie too of course (her doggy). They are always so sweet and so supportive of everything I'm going through. I loved our time with them. Dinner was wonderful and they spoiled me with champagne and beautiful Christmas glasses to drink it in!  Lucky me.

One of our best friends then joined us at our house for a few days. Karen has been friends with Bob for years but the minute I met her I knew we were kindered spirits. We have so much in common and its wonderful to spend time with her. She loves my kitties as much as I do I think! She helped us prepare for a Christmas Open House and we stayed up way too late making cookies! I could not have done them without her.  The Open House was a success and saying goodbye the next day was hard.

Christmas Eve was a wonderful event at Danielle's partners aunt's house in Oakland. What a lovely family. She started the evening with a prayer and asked all of us to share a story or an accomplishment with the group. What a wonderful tradition! I hope we can continue to join that family every year.

Everyone stayed at our house this year and we all woke up together on Christmas morning. It was the first time that's happened in many years. Probably since Ryan & Michael were babies. It was wondeful to see their faces when they saw the gifts that Santa brought! And of course the celebration continued as we opened gifts for a few hours! There were 8 of us and each of us had several gifts so we took our time.

I am so grateful that we were all together, and that I was able to see some of our extended family and friends this year. Bob's son Jonny will also be here tomorrow so we get one more visit before the month ends.

I'm feeling peaceful and have come to accept the loss of the Roche/Genetech clinical trial. I know that something else will come my way next year.  I can't feel anything except completely loved and at peace.  Some of you who are reading this continue to 'fill me up' with your love and prayers and blessings. Thank you for that. I feel them and I need them.

I look forward to what 2017 will bring. I still have my moments of sadness and I had some issues with keeping track of what I wrapped or purchased this year. I had to unwrap a few things and then immediately put a label on them so I knew who it was for.  My Alzheimer's was evident at times, but there were other days where I felt pretty normal and on top of things.  As I've learned this too is normal for Early Stage.

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday too and that the new year brings continued peace and joy. Thanks again for all your support and love💜