been a busy day… well, the morning was… I did a few chores around the house, and then Crystal and the little boys picked me up and we went grocery shopping for Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner…

when we got to the grocery store both boys wanted to hold my hand… this is a bit endearing for me, because when Grandpa was alive, they would have been holding his hand and I would have been walking along behind…

the boys loved to help Grandpa…

these moments are precious and made the shopping very special… they are also very busy and three adults with the two of them would have been a slightly better ratio… we shopped at Safeway for the dinner, and stopped at M&M for the treats for Christmas Eve… when we got back, everyone came in for a few minutes to scarf down their lunch and bring in the groceries, before blasting off to the next errand on their list…

I had some lunch and then a nap… I had plans to wrap gifts but ended up laying on the bed for the remainder of the day… the house is feeling empty just now… I am missing the comings and goings of my mate… I haven’t noticed this feeling in recent weeks but as Christmas gets closer, I guess it makes sense…

sadly, I am thinking of many others I know who are facing this Christmas with one less person in their lives… I am sending thoughts and prayers their way and hoping they will be able to find some joy during these special days…

before, all of the kids would come to our house on Christmas Eve and everyone would sleep over, there would be people everywhere… we would get up early and open our presents all together… this year, I am going to the kids’ on Christmas Eve  to sleep over and we will open our presents there… Cyndi and Ron will be together in BC and we may Skype with them as presents are opened, although it will be very early for them…

we will come back here in time to put the turkey in the oven and will likely hot tub and play games on the TV ending up with dinner…

it all feels different and strange to me, but I am sure it will be wonderFULL… I’ll keep you posted, lol…