We started out the New Year with a blast! We had Matt & Lena and their boys over for pretzel logs and oyster soup!!! After we ate we played a few games of our new game of Marble Chase! This is a game that the kids can help us play and we had a blast! Then we decided to dress up crazy and go spy on Mike's parents! Every year they go to Joney Jays to play Rook. This year we crashed their party and made us all laugh!!!
Dear Austin was already in bed sleeping for the night when we carried him out to the Yukon. He did OK once he was awake a little. He went right back to sleep after we got back home!
Ashlyn got the biggest kick out of wearing my silly glasses!
Crazy folks!!!
Hadassah wasn't feeling the greatest and by midnight she was ready for bed. She was brave enough to watch with us the ball drop in NY City. I am so amazed at how many people go to watch that!!! By 12:30, the kids were exhausted and Matt's went home.
Donuts from Beilers were for the next morning.
Austin was up twice during the night. Why? I don't know but he is getting his eye teeth. Maybe that's why? Or maybe we just disturbed him from waking him up??? He is so much fun plus a ton of work right now! He turned 18 months on New Years Day and I love this stage. He is trying to say more and more words. He can tell (or try to tell) you what he wants. His eating habits are so opposites of Ashlyn's! He wants the meat and pushes the veggies aside. He doesn't try new things very much. My super picky eater. He stills has his nuk and blanket and bottle. At 18 months old, the other kids had their bottles and nuks taken. I'm thinking about this for him. Thinking ...... :))). Anyway, late nights usually still consist of getting up early with Austin. Most times he's up around 7 AM. But because he was up twice and I ended up on the couch with him, he slept a bit longer. I woke up and Mike and I were trying to decide if we wanted to wake the kids to go to church or just stay home? Then I got a phone call from Mom. I answered and she was crying. I asked what was wrong. I knew her and dad were still at the cabin. She could barely talk because of Laryngitis in her throat. She said that Daudy Riehl died. (This is my dad's dad. My grandpa.) What??? What happened? He was 82 years old but still in great health! She went on to say that he got up Sunday morning and got ready to go to church. He scootered out the long driveway and arrived at Sam and Lena's. That's where they were having church that morning. He walked up their steep driveway and was in their barn talking to some church men. When suddenly he feel flat on his face. And died. A heartattack? We don't know for sure but the ambulance people were saying it seemed like that's what happened. The ambulance was called right away. They tried to shock him a few times. CPR was being done. Nothing brought back the warm body temperature or started his heart again.
Now this was a shock to all of our family. It seemed too sudden and we had no time to say goodbye. Daudy Riehl will be missed greatly! But, I did have to stop and think of those who suffer with cancer. Or long illnesses. Or need special care for years. How awesome to be feeling well up to your natural dying moment!!!
Mom and Dad quickly got things packed up at the cabin and headed home. Three hours of driving when wanting to be with your siblings is hard and long! We did decide to go to church and then head down to Moses for the viewing and family gathering later that night.
Meanwhile, we had planned on eating pork and sauerkraut with Matt and Lena Sunday evening. I whipped together a big pot of mashed potatoes and we ate around 5. Then we left the children with them while Mike and I went to grieve with extended family.
It was raining and cold outside. So many people came out to the viewing Sunday night and Monday night. Then the funeral was yesterday with it still raining. Mike and I both got colds and now with tears mixed in with it, we kept reaching for tissues! It's always a sad day when buring a loved one. Someone that you will miss. Especially, since the Riehl Family is sticking with the original plans on gathering together on Sunday for our annual Christmas Dinner!!! Daudy won't be there this year with us and we will miss him so much!!! I really wish we would have been able to see him before his dying day. We were looking forward to talking to him on Sunday!!!
Thank you friends for coming out and showing support over these past few days!!! This is another chapter closed and another grandpa in heaven!!!
I found this quote on Pinterest and like it a lot!
Sunday night God blessed us with a gorgeous sunset!!!
Daudy's casket was carried to the basemet for the funeral service. Then all the family went to Gordonville graveyard to bury him.
With many relatives being Amish, they all brought their horse and buggies to the graveyard.
Rainy day for a funeral!
Sunday afternoon I had the chance to sit down and think about the New Year. Here are a few things I wrote down. A few goals. A few reminders. A few resolutions.
Matthew is riding around the kitchen constantly on his new hover board!!! And he plays songs from the iPhone on his Bluetooth hover board!
Mike gave me an original old fashioned bike for Christmas. I can ride it or use it for décor!
Lena gave Matthew a wood burning kit for Christmas. He's been busy burning wood all through Christmas vacation!
We've never left the children or babies sleep with us in bed. Until Austin was born. And mostly then because when he was still a newborn and woke up during the night, I didn't want him crying and waking everyone else up. (We were then living in the basement of Mike's parents because of home renovations.) Austin seemed to sack it out in our bed and sometimes it still happens. During Christmas vacation, he slept in our bed a few times. I don't like it this way but if it means a few more hours of sleep, it's what we do. And then one afternoon, Ashlyn took a nap in our bed! So cozy!!!
Now today, I am cleaning up the house, taking down the rest of the Christmas décor and the Christmas tree is out on the back porch! It feels good to give a clean, fresh look into the house again! The kids are back to school and we are trying to get back on a better bed time schedule! Today, I can't help but think of my aunts and uncles and my dad that are missing their father! Heaven just got a little more closer for me this week!
