CHRISTMAS MEMORIES 2018
and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
Darkness now covers the earth, and thick darkness covers the nations.
But on you the light of the LORD will shine;
the brightness of His presence will be with you."
We didn't know it at the time (as is usually the case with death), but this would be our last earthly Christmas with Grandad...
JEM and Kelly's Convivial Cozy Christmas Party!! ...Snowman pic after Los Cabos with Angie ...And our group showing up for Chet's first Pictures with Santa event!
Fun times in Sand Springs... Nancy hosted a fun game night with so many great snacks (made by her and Sarah)... then we stopped by Teresa's to say hello when the Wilsons went to pick Tate up!
My first "Mockey Little Christmas" party, watching The Greatest Showman that year! (The guys fixed my guest bathroom toilet, hence the strange bathroom pic. lol)
CHA Christmas program... I went to watch Carter's 4th grade play and helped Mom get pics of all the kids!
Fun times with Laura and co. at Judge Vassar's Christmas-themed Retirement Gala... then a random pic of the girls and Loki by Steve and Sarah's Christmas tree!
Photo-prop fun at Nancy's Christmas party! ...Hanging out with the Miss K when she spent the night! ...Seeing Instant Family in theaters with Dad and Rach ...and going to David's to wish the best girlfranz a Merry Christmas and bring them some dog treat presents!!
Our family Christmas Eve was at the Parrish home... Mom and I worked together that fall typing up recipes and collaging family photos for the DeBusk Family Cookbook (a Christmas gift for all the relatives)... Rach wrote Buster's name on Grandad's gift for him (his best friend) and he's tearing up because of that in the top left pic... Pelican's dinner pic of Rach and I with Christmas light earrings... and all the kids got new hoverboards that year!
We'd been getting a Christmas Eve pic of Babah and Grandad with their grandkids and great-grandkids since 2014... but that year, we decided we ought to throw in one of them with their daughters (the original Switzer family), and one of them with their son-in-laws just for fun! ❤ And I feel pretty confident that that was a God thing on the timing of that!
It feels appropriate here, so I'm inserting this throwback pic to a classic Switzer fam Christmas in the late 1960s! ❤❤❤
As his first and only biological great-grandson, Jace Michael and Grandad always had a special relationship, and this pic from our 2018 Christmas Eve dinner is one of my favorites of them! ❤
You never know when it might be your last (earthly) Christmas dinner chat with someone. Just another friendly reminder to make the moments count, and maybe snap a few photos! Jace and Grandad had seven Christmas Eve dinners together, and they chatted it up, as you can plainly see. lol Jace is naturally an extrovert who's happy to speak right up, which was great as Grandad gradually lost his hearing. And Jace was really great about taking care of him and talking about life and treating him like he always did, to the very end - I love that. (2011 was Grandad crying tears of joy in anticipation of Jace's birth. And the 2019 pic is a poignant moment that still makes me tear up of Jace hugging him in the hospital after his stroke.)
There are obviously bittersweet elements to it, but there is so much beauty in these memories and photos to me - and so much sacred hope in my heart because of the work of Christ! Grandad is alive and well and free of pain and suffering, and we will all have a grand reunion someday. One more throwback pic to a 9121 Christmas...
Happy Wednesday, friends and family -- my last work day for 2021. That verse at the top was part of John Eldredge's latest letter, and it really spoke to me. We live in a darkened world, but the light of Christ is real inside us. Praying for inner life and peace, and that the brightness of God's presence and goodness will shine on you and guard your heart in this season, right in the midst of any pain or fog or darkness that may be surrounding you! ❤
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