Saturday, March 26, 2011

RIP Daddy

My dad passed away today.  He had alzheimer's and it progressed pretty rapidly.  I am glad he is finally at peace, but I know I will miss him terribly.  These are some of the things I remember about my dad from before the disease:

1.  He was a jokester.  He would leave rubber bugs and rodents all around the house.  One time he got the powder from a joke shop that makes a liquid turn to solid so you can pretend to spill it on someone and it won't come out.  He did it on a friend with some water in the cup and it worked and got a big laugh.  Then he tried it on a realtor at a timeshare presentation, only this time he put the powder in orange soda and the soda did not solidify like it was supposed to and it spilt all over the realtor and his fancy suit. 

2.  My dad lived for vacations.  He missed his calling to be a travel planner.  He always watched the travel channel and the only book I ever saw him read was the Bernbaum's Guide to Disney World (his favorite place).  He always knew the best things to see, do, and especially, eat.  A lot of our vacations revolved around where we would be eating.

3.  He was always the last one up on Christmas morning.  My brother would be up at dawn begging to open presents and we would have to wait until my dad had his cup of coffee and got the video camera ready.  He wore the same sweat suit every christmas too.  This 80's style blue suit with red stripes.

4.  He was great with numbers.  He could do mental math like it was nobody's business. 

5.  My dad was the world's best bargainer.  I was always amazed at how he could talk prices down or get stuff thrown in for free.  I think my garage sale skills come from watching him barter all those years.

6.  He never missed a single one of my dance recitals.  I can't promise you he stayed awake through the whole show, but he was definitely there for me.

7.  He liked getting stuff that "fell off the truck".  Sometimes he would wake us up after we had gone to bed and say come down stairs and see what fell off the truck.  One night it was a power wheels jeep.  I couldn't wait to ride it.

8.  He never got lost.  We would be all the way across the country and he would know exactly where to go. 

9.  He would take me with him on Sunday mornings to buy fresh bagels and it was always my "job" to hold them on my lap for the drive home.

10.  He loved walking around Costco and eating all the samples.  We would go there at lunch time and pretend to shop just to eat the samples.

Friday, March 25, 2011

My Dad

One of the best things about going home was getting to see my dad every day.  I was able to say my goodbyes to him and let him know how much I love him.  I am so glad I had this opportunity because as I am writing this post my dad is ending his journey of life.  I am glad he will be at peace and no longer have any pain.






Home- Day 10

It was our last day home today : ( We spent the morning at the mall with my friend Jillian and her kiddos.  The kids played, we ate lunch, rode the carousel, saw puppies and got free cotton candy! The kids were thoroughly wore out for our long drive back to Texas.









Home- Day 9

We spent the day going to church, eating at a church potluck, and then hanging out with family.  We will miss everyone so much!



Home- Day 8

We got to spend the day with our good friends Harry and Mary, who are actually more like family.  We love them all to pieces!







Home- Day 7

I met up with my friends Joelle and Ericka at a park for a playdate.  Our boys are best buds and Aila loves playing with Katelyn. The kids were wore out after our playdate and took a good nap before we had more friends come over in the evening for a bbq.














Home-Day 6

We started our day out by going to my friend Shea's house for a play date.  Our friend Lindsay came with her 2 kiddos as well, so there were lots of kids to play with.  We had such a great time hanging out and the kids all played so nicely together.  After the playdate it was time to meet my family at the Old Country Buffet where my Aunt Mary treated us to dinner.  It was St. Patrick's day so we all wore our green.  I ate so much that I could have probably gone into hibernation and been fine for a few months!





Home- Day 5

We were supposed to go to a Dbacks spring training game with my mom and brother but when we got there it was all sold out.  Instead we went to the train park, which is one of Logan's favorite places to go.  The kids all rode the carousel and train and then we had icecream and played at the playground.  We ended the day celebrating my cousin Michael's brithday at a park.  It was great to hang out with all of my cousins and watch the beautiful AZ sunset.