Life Can be Tough With Tender Mercies Thrown In

Alec December 2015

I'm not trying to publicize or point fingers with this post.  But it has been such a part of many of our lives, and it isn't something that can't be tucked away and ignored.  It takes too long of a time span and has impacted many of our lives.  

The year 2015 with, and for, Alec has been a heartwrencher.  He had several different challenges -- some with the law, some involved a stay at a Crisis Center for a couple of days,  another a scare at the ER which involved some not too smart choices he made that almost ended up really bad. He had a few jobs that just didn't work out for him for various reasons. In the end over Labor Day weekend he was arrested by the Wasatch County Police.

His bail was set high enough that we didn't feel like we could bail him out.  We would use that money to hire an attorney for him. 

 For the month of Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec. we visited him almost every Wednesday and Saturday at the jail.  We talked with Alec on the phone and exchanged letters as well.

The middle of December we discovered that he needed an evaluation that couldn't be done in the jail, so he was released to our custody one day at noon so we could take him to Provo to a psychologist's office for tests and interviews. 

It ended up being a sweet day for us in a hard way.  When I went to get him he came out in the clothes he'd been arrested in -- stocking feet even.  We took him home and he changed his clothes, got a jacket and some shoes.  Christian came over on his lunch hour, and Debbie brought the boys over to the house.  We hugged and talked and cried for a few minutes.  Alec got to see the Christmas tree and his stocking.  We let him choose where we bought him lunch (The Dairy Keen Drive-thru).  Then Kirk drove us to Provo where we dropped him off for his 5 or 6 hour evaluation. 

We got some really good conversation in on the drives.  When we arrived back home we picked up pizza on the way, and his friend Isis came over while we ate the pizza.  More tearful hugs and "I Love Yous".  Then about 9:00 she and I dropped him off at the jail.
It was our early and most heart-felt Christmas gift of the season.

December Birthdays X 3 and The (Somewhat Dysfuncional, but Very Important) Nativity

Little Sweetheart Nora Laine is the epitome of Christmas beauty and sweetness.  And so it began.... But then the Lion aka the whatever animal our fun little costume is supposed to represent aka Kendrix decided HE needed a turn with the baby which did not set at all well with Nora.

Dinner was served and yummy snacks were aplenty.

The birthday kids, Emily (12), Kris (11), and Zadrian (5) were all honored with a cake.  Before the guests arrived, I made a little sign saying "No Cakeworms" in honor of Grandpa Kirk Hunny.  That was his nickname as a little boy.  Sure enough, Kendrix Kirk hadn't been in the house more than a couple of minutes when I looked over and he had plucked a nice huge glob of frosting from the cake.

Xadrian and Kendrix got new pjs for Xadrian's birthday.

Kris was his social self which we appreciated.

Our two bearded ones, David and Christian actually quit looking at their phones for a minute.

Angel Emily, Animal Kendrix, Wise Man Kris, Shepherd Raymond, Mary Nora, and Joseph Xadrian tried to hold still and be quiet while Grandpa Kirk read the Nativity from the Bible.  Unfortunately the roars from the Lion kept interrupting while Mary wandered.  It is tempting to give it up, but Grandma Hunny is willing to take whatever sort of Nativity she can get.

Emily and Xade loving life and each other.

Baby Bradley David Tracy

Natasha and Brian added a son to their little family on November 15, 2015 after his mom was in labor for many hours.  Eventually he was born by Caesarian section.  Both Elise and I had the feeling that it was going to be needed and were praying for her during that time.  While Natasha was here for Christmas holiday, she told me she knew that Grandma (Lela) Day was there with her during that hard time when neither Elise nor I could be there.

He was quite jolly for us and we loved his smiles and his oh, so chubby cheeks and chubbier legs.

The two Grandmas and Emily had a great time holding him -- we think it'll be no time before he out weighs his brother Timothy.

Elise and her two grandsons -- doesn't happen very often that they get to enjoy each others company....Arizona is a long ways away.

An Old Fashioned Heber Valley Winter

 It had been several years since we had the kind of
winters we used to have.  The snow came daily for
weeks at a time.  It would have been deeper, but
it also rained in between and packed the snow
down.  I talked Dad into leaving the little lights up to provide some light for the the dreary month.  This year in particular I liked having their beauty and light.
Sharon and Felix added a deck to the front of their house.

 Dad was determined to keep the walks and driveway clean which resulted in our stacks of snow.

Eventually when we finally have had enough, I may have to take down the SNOW sign I made to get it to go away!