With Lisa gone, I decided the family should be together this Christmas. Lisa loved the family holiday gatherings. So, I reserved a condo at Legacy Golf Resort in south Phoenix. We stayed there for grandson Aaron's wedding on Feb. 1. Everyone liked this place because it had activities for everyone and a full kitchen for cooking family dinners.
Erik, Kadin, Gracie and Jeffrey arrived first on Dec. 21. They brought Christmas decorations and a small tree so it was very festive. They picked up Arne and I around 8:30 that same night.
Monday, Dec. 22, we were joined by Nick and Taylor. Nick was only going to be able to stay for two days because of work but...he broke his collarbone the previous week-end while snowboarding at Tahoe. We were sorry for his injury but very happy that he now would be staying in Phoenix until Jan. 6. Grandson Aaron and Kristina joined us for dinner and spent the night. It was great having so much time with them. They both seem very comfortable with us now.
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| Jeffrey showing off his new hairstyle. |
Tuesday, Erik treated his girls, Nick and Taylor to a Suns game. Arne and I got to have Jeffrey to ourselves and it was a delightful evening. He was so good, with no sisters to harass him.
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| Jeffrey making a friend. |
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| How do I look, Grandpa? |
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Wednesday night, Nick and Arne stayed home while the rest of us went to the Phoenix Zoo for Zoolights. I know we should have gone to a Christmas Eve service but just didn't feel like it this year.
Christmas morning, the kids opened their many gifts. Santa was employed this year so they had a pretty good haul.
Moondog arrived around 2 and we ate dinner around 4:30. We all wondered where Daniel might be.
Family
gifts were exchanged that evening. I gave each of the kids and
grandkids a personalized book titled "Remembering Lisa." While they
brought tears, there were also happy memories. Only Moondog was not able
to look at his book as his grief is still heavy.
Friday afternoon, we all headed over to the fire station where grandson Aaron is a fireman. He gave us a tour of his fire truck and where he and the other three men on his team hang out when nor on call.
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| Aaron and Aaron |
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| Brothers |
Saturday morning, Erik and kids headed back to New Mexico. It was sad to see them go but we had a fun week. Nick, Arne and I headed to Marla's, where we would spend the next four nights.
We had a nice time with Mark and Marla, in spite of the cold weather. Marla and I hiked three mornings. We celebrated their anniversary with Mark grilling fillet mignon. We celebrated Nick's 28th birthday at Oregano's. Nick left on Tuesday to spend the next week with a friend. Arne and I flew home on Wednesday, arriving in time to spend a couple hours at a neighborhood New Year's Eve party. We didn't last for the 10 PM ball dropping, however.
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| Heading out for Nick's birthday dinner. |
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| Arne and I on visit to Terravita |
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| A memento from the Swensens for the Swansons |
HAPPY NEW YEAR! I wish everyone good health and happiness in 2015.
