Grandma on my mind

My mom said it best the other day when she said that this is sacred time with my Grandma Fitz.  As much as it pains me to say, we are down to days with her.  There is so much I want to say to her and so much I want to say to other people about this amazing woman.  When she was diagnosed with Brain Cancer last year, I started writing down some thoughts about her.  What better time than now to share them....

Forever the optimist, when faced with a second form of cancer, here is what she had to say, "I've lived 85 years & I've had a blast!"  When many get a diagnosis like you did, they have instant regret about their life. Not you. You've said from the beginning that you've lived a great life and you were ready for whatever God had in store for you. To be honest, you lived more life than 3 people combined!

I've loved this song by One Republic since it came out.  The past year it has taken on greater meaning and made me think of my Grandma every time I hear it.  Click HERE. 

In one of our conversations about motherhood, here is the best advice you gave me about being present with my kids in midst of chaos or just a simple game of pretend:

"Do it. Make a memory. Experience the moment. Your kids will remember."

I do remember Grandma.  Here are some of my favorite photos.

8th Grade Graduation

Graduate School Graduation

80th Birthday

Christmas 2011 - When we announced we were pregnant with Eloise 

Eloise's Baby Shower

Whistling to babies from go!

Eloise's Baptism

Preston's Sprinkle

Holding 10 day old Preston just days before she got her cancer diagnosis

Whistling to Preston

Sharing your love of animals with Eloise

Thanksgiving 2015

Christmas 2015

Happy 85th Birthday Grandma!

Easter 2016

Celebrating July Birthdays 

Visiting Great Grandma - October 2016

When I asked your advice about what to tell Eloise when you are gone, without hesitation and with a smile on your face, you said, "tell her that I went to be with Jesus." I won't say that you lost your battle to cancer. We will say you surrendered yourself into the loving arms of God. I know you will be at peace and without sickness or pain but that's doesn't mean that we won't wish you were still here. Since we can't have you here, we will have to do the next best thing - live out your love to everyone we meet. Smile through pain and get back up every time we stumble. I will try to be everything to my family you have always been to me. It won't be easy though as your shoes are hard to walk in, your hiking boots are hard to climb in, and your skis are hard to ski on. I'm determined to be the kind, gentle, loving, passionate woman you showed me how to be.

You are love and generosity, mercy and forgiveness. You are kindness and patience, and Trefzger's apricot coffee cake and thumb print cookies on every holiday. You are the great story for every lull in a conversation. You are the push for so many people to be better, do better, and live better. You are homemade pumpkin bread and thanksgiving stuffing. You are comfort and home. Basically, you are everything we ever needed and don't want to let go of.

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what 

you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”      

-Maya Angelou

               

Here's the thing...I don't want to forget anything.  I don't want to forget one thing you said.  I don't want to forget one thing you did for me or my family.  I don't want to forget one thing we did together.  As hard as I may try, I know that over time I will.  I promise you though that I will never, ever forget how you made me feel - loved. 

Love you forever & always Grandma Fitz. 

Christmas Celebrations 2016

Eloise & Preston had an amazing Christmas!  Having children really brings out the magic of Christmas.  I cannot tell you how fun it is to get these two dressed up in their Christmas best.  They looked cute at every celebration we had this season. 

We kicked off our official Christmas celebration with Papa Jim the weekend before Christmas as we always do.

Next up was Christmas Eve by Grandma Sandy & Papa Mike.  Thanks to Grandma Sandy, the kids all had some fun Christmas-themed headbands and Christmas light necklaces.  They were a hit!  Eloise was beyond thrilled to get the Barbie house that she has been wanting from Grandma & Papa. 

 

After a fun night with the Kalins & Backer families, we headed home, put the kids right to bed and played Santa. 

Brad found this awesome website where you can download a photo of your living room & Christmas tree and a Santa photo will be added.  We told Eloise that we were going to try to capture Santa with our camera so when she saw this photo, she flipped out!  She loved it and even brought it to school for Show & Tell. 

Time to unwrap those presents!

Eloise was so surprised to get all the Troll toys because, "how did Santa even know that I loved Trolls and wanted these toys?  I never told him when I saw him!"

Preston is all about Mickey these days and loved some of his new toys.

In case anyone had a doubt, this beefcake is born to play sports!

Time for stockings!

Picking out stocking stuffers is just as fun for me as shopping for the big gifts.  I even fill Brad's stocking every year. 

Last Christmas, Eloise was fascinated with the idea of someone getting a lump of coal in their stocking if they were bad.  When I saw this candy this year, I had to pick it up for her.

Preston got a drill set from Santa and was ready to help Brad put together all the toys. 

 To wrap up our Christmas celebrations, we headed over to Grandma Carrot & Papa Kevin's house. 

Eloise got a FurReal Pet from Auntie Lo & her boyfriend Greg.  She named it Twinkles and loves it.

Grandma found Bubbas a "BUBBA" sign made of antlers.  Perfection!

We finished out the night with eating the last of the Christmas cookies that Eloise decorated a few weeks ago.  They were delicious!