Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, goodbye 2020

Christmas has come and gone as with the passing of another year. I hope everyone got to celebrate with friends and family. Covid seems to have restricted many of us from celebrating the way we always have. So, this Christmas may have not been as we had wanted it to be. Some reading this blog entry may have lost loved ones this year and this was your first Thanksgiving and/or Christmas without them. I am right there with you. It was tough no doubt. All the memories and missing Daddy made me so sad. I ran across pictures from Christmas 2018 on my FB memories tonight. It brought tears to my eyes seeing him sitting there with the great grandkids opening presents. Grief is hard. It is not a place we need to stay, but don't let anyone tell you to move on. You will know when you are ready. Now for some happy surprises!

It was Saturday, December 19th. I was getting ready to go out to eat with Mom, Haley, her boys, and our Ghost Ryder. Alex's best friend called saying he needed to deliver a package Alex mailed him to bring to us and video it. I let him know when I got home. He came over and said he needed to video us opening it. He had Alex's pictures that were made at boot camp. He said he left one in his car and would be right back. I had no clue. He said it was like a shadow box and he had to set it up and for us to close our eyes. We did and when we opened them....my baby boy~now a man stood in front of me dressed in his uniform. I was stunned!!! It was like I saw him standing there, but like it was a stand up poster board of him. I just started crying (happy tears of course). His little heart was beating so fast! Boy oh boy did these two guys pull off a wonderful surprise. Alex left on September 1st for boot camp. He graduated on October 29th and left for Pensacola, Florida for his A-school. I was hoping we would be able to go see him for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but he said the base was on lock down because of Covid. No liberty off base. Total legit reason, right? He got us all too.

Alex got to surprise his Nanny too. It was funny and sweet. We talked her into going to The Falls with us. She has never been during Christmas to see the lights. The pink lights was her most favorite. We had such a good night with her. She just wasn't all about the holidays this year. We all understood. It was fun getting here out of the house. The pictures above are on a slideshow. Click through them.

Tracy and Pam cooked lunch for Christmas Eve and we ate over at Haley's. I told Tracy that he was taking over Christmas Eve meal from now on! He just laughed. I loved watching my great nephews opening their presents and chasing each other with Nerf guns. Memories made.

It is now Christmas morning. We begin cooking the BIG Christmas breakfast. All the boys were here and it made Christmas so much better having them all here. They opened their presents and ate. It was a great morning and also tough. Momma and Daddy have come over the past few years to eat with us. Daddy celebrated his first Christmas with Jesus and Momma didn't feel up to coming. Then we had to take Alex to the airport the next day. So many emotions ~ good and sad. After cleaning up, it was time for a nap! Who was with me on nap time? Now it is time to put up the tree until next year.

How are you going to say goodbye to 2020 and HeLlo to 2021? We still have a few days to think about it.