November 2014

Holiday Greetings family and friends.  On the first day of November, my beloved Grandfather, George Edward Steward, passed away.  I am so proud to call him my grandfather.  He was a true gentleman who exhibited class and integrity at all times.

Grandpa was a World War II Veteran in the Ghost Army. He was a 1951 engineering graduate of NYU and district manager for Fafnir Bearings, in New Britain, CT.

The funeral was at Salisbury National Cemetery in Salisbury, North Carolina. The service had full military honors, which made it even more tender and powerful.

My favorite part was just being with my cousins, grandmother, aunts, and parents sharing stories about grandpa the night before the funeral over dinner.  A memory I won’t forget.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pierce was the only child there and able to bring some joy to my Nana.  Hard to believe I am 32 and this was the first grandparent I have lost (out of 4!!).

The other big event of the month was Michael (Scott’s youngest brother) and Hannah’s wedding!  What is neat about this couple is that Hannah recently served a mission under John and Becky in the Dominican Republic, and so she was basically hand-picked!  The blessings of serving a mission!  And if you think Scott’s family with 10 kids is crazy, Hannah’s family has, wait for it…18!  A mix of natural and adopted just like the Douglas gang.  Anyways, when you take just the siblings and their spouses and their kids, you already have a huge group!  So the wedding was basically her family and his family, minus the patriarch who had to stay in DR and tend to his 250 missionaries :-(

Friday night was the rehearsal dinner/roast at the Atlanta Athletic Club. John was piped in on Skype and we ate a delicious steak and chocolate cake while people gave their roasts.  I of course wrote mine out, so the benefit is I can share it with you.  But rest assured that there were many roasts given and some were sweet, some were embarrassing, but they all were funny!

Here was my two-sense (in poem form)

Michael Lawrence Douglas what a work of art
The challenge of course was knowing exactly where to start
I met Mike when he was the tender age of eight
His 17 year old brother and I were just beginning to date.
Since Mike idolized Scott he assumed it must be true
That I, obviously, was HIS girlfriend too.
One night I spent the night, we were running a race the next day
I woke up to find Mike sleeping with his hands cupped lovingly around my face.
He was adorable, loud, chubby, and round
Constantly flexing his muscles that were not easy to be found
Another funny story that I can remember too
Was when we were a few years older (but I was still pre-lds I’d like to remind you)
To the pool I wore my bikini, thinking I looked cute
10 year old Mike requested that in the future I wear a more modest bathing suit
He’s come a long way Mr. Muckel McGoo
From the youngest of 10 who didn’t have a clue
Angie and Celeste would both be agreed
That Douglas men need some refining when they are first married
Enough with the roast, because if I keep going I fear
That we’ll send Hannah running for the hills before big day is here
So don’t worry Hannah like his brothers, Mike’s potential is high
He has a strong testimony, is kind, and will never leave your side.
More than once I’ve walked past a room and happened to see
Michael reverently praying down on his knees
Let’s not forget Hannah so graceful and Zen
She has a calmness about her, that I envy and can’t comprehend
This serenity will come in handy if you know what I mean
Bc Michael is one of 10 and Hannah one of 18
Records are make to be broken, so with a wink I say this to you
That we hope you two are very productive on your upcoming honeymoon :-)
We love you both so much, and are glad we can celebrate your marriage with you here
So let’s all raise our glass and wish this beautiful couple cheers.

Lucky for us, a Douglas wedding brings in Becky, and the kids really enjoyed spending time with her.

And she got to meet her newest grandbaby over lettuce wraps!

Soon after the wedding we had Thanksgiving.  2 meals as usual—first at Sugarloaf with my parents (they were generous enough to let me bring some people from church who don’t have family nearby), and then off to Scott’s extended family—a delicious fun family day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the Friday after Thanksgiving we always go get our Christmas tree, and we (especially Scott and Jackson) get into the decorating mood!  Forget that we won’t even be in our house for the 2 weeks surrounding Christmas; oh no, every last decoration that Becky has stored in our basement gets dragged up the stairs and shoved in every nook and cranny.  To me it looks a little (lot) cluttered, but I bite my tongue bc it brings everyone so much joy.

Scott’s doing great in Orlando.  This has probably been his favorite case, with his favorite partner group.  If he can get up under/and stay under these particular guys/this industry (travel and leisure), I think Scott would be tempted to stay for the long haul.  Just recently a PE firm out of Atlanta reached out to him, so he’s casually exploring other things, but right now we’re happy.  Can you guess his current client??

It was so nice having him home the entire week of Thanksgiving.  I think Grant was the happiest though!

I’m doing better each month it seems, mainly because Pierce is sleeping 7 hour stretches at night.  I am currently reading Harry Potter to the two oldest and we are all hooked!  Plus, I’m excited to report only 10 lbs to go!  Thanks to Scott for dusting off his Body Solution software and making me a program.  Nice to be married to a trainer sometimes!  A definite highlight of my month was getting to do ‘high tea’ at the St. Regis Buckhead with the females from Scott’s extended family.  I can’t wait to take Taylor soon!

We also got to go to Fright Fest with our ‘framily’ which was cooold, but so fun-it’s been years since going to Six Flags!  Pumping milk for Pierce in a drafty, outdoor, non-heated bathroom was memorable.

Jackson finished up football and he was somewhat rattled because he didn’t make all stars.  Honestly he really didn’t deserve to make all stars.  His defense was truly painful to watch, it’s almost like he didn’t realize the aggression necessary to be a good defender.  And on offense it was frustrating because he was the quaterback but they only ran running plays.  He actually has a decent arm, but couldn’t showcase it.  They only let 2 kids run it (who were both very good).  However, Jackson only got to run it twice the entire season, and one of the times he ran it in for a touchdown.  A few more opportunities would have been nice, but I’m sure I’m not the only parent who felt this way.  So two defenders made it, and our 2 runners made it.  It was fairly sad though because Jackson prides himself on being really good at sports.  But of course Scott in his laid-back wisdom said “everyone is going to fail at something at one point, the sooner the better really so he can learn to work harder, and be resilient”  I like that perspective and I’ll go with that!  (better than my initial slightly bitter “daddy ball” philosophy).  Plus Scott said he himself was terrible when he first started football, so there is hope if Jackson continues to love football!

On a more fun note, every person in the entire 2nd grade had to make a turkey out of any material.  We decided to make multiple edible turkeys.  They turned out really cute (and delicious!)—what did they do before Pinterest??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taylor went to a 2-day art camp over the Thanksgiving holiday and loved it!  She made about 5 projects at the camp but we haven’t been allowed to see any of them—she brought them home, wrapped them and put them under the tree!

Tay is one of the 5 kindergarteners that has been pulled out of class 6 times this month to be ‘early gifted tested.’  We should know the results in the new year.  It’s interesting how the stereotypes ring true in our house how boys are more math minded and girls more linguistic.  So Tay is great, just so fun.  A woman in church came up to me and said “Taylor is someone I’d love to just hang out with!”

 

 

 

 

 

And boy does she love Pierce. 

Tay got to sneak off with Daddy to waffle house one morning while the boys were sleeping.

 

 

We tried unsuccessfully to transition Grant to a big boy bed, we are also trying to drop his nap—which makes for a fussy almost intolerable evening.  We are concerned because the number of foods he will eat has dropped from about 15 to 5. 

Never experienced pickiness like this.  He has started snoring at night so we are going to get his tonsils checked today, who knows maybe enlarged tonsils are making it hard to swallow.  So poor Grant could be doing better.  We are still loving his preschool teachers, both of them for 10 kids!!  Makes me wish the other two were in private school!

And Pierce was blessed in church this month!  And not a moment too soon, we could barely squeeze him in his blessing outfit.

Scott gave him a beautiful blessing that included:  Love for life, energetic spirit, strong relationships with friends, many talents, energy in his work, open seeking, an eternal companion that will inspire and lift him, a love of learning, a desire to seek more and learn from the Lord and the world, Scott blessed him to serve a mission and be a light to his family and at school.  And finally he blessed Pierce to be an example and beacon to all those around him. 

The main theme of the blessing was energy—so I hope I’m up for it!!  I’m still nursing him, and I’ve never been a hard core nursing advocate, but I can’t deny that he has managed to combat at least 7 major bugs that have taken over our home during his 3 short months on Earth.  So I try to continue through the winter.

So that about sums up a packed November. 

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Love,

TFK