Mom's House at Christmas

Sometimes living in my mom's house can be really hard. She has been gone for nearly five years and sometimes it feels like just yesterday. Princess Pea has a hard time with it too. She was so little when Mom died and has so few memories of Grandma. My heart aches for her.

My mom was such a wonderful person and she loved her kids and grandkids more than anything in this world.

Sorting Ornaments! 

Mom and one of her Sisters

It's hard to live in her house at this time of year. She loved Christmas and tried so hard to make it so special for all of us. She created special traditions that the grandkids still talk about. Being the youngest by 4 years, Princess doesn't  remember or was too young to take part in some of them and it makes her so sad.

One of the favorite traditions Mom started was having all the kids coming to help set up the tree. Grandpa would fight with the lights while Grandma and the kids sorted ornaments. When I look back, I sure wish I had taken more pictures. They are so precious now.

Mom also had stockings for each of her grandkids. She would hang them all on the railing going upstairs , the oldest at the top and the youngest at the bottom and she would always have them filled for the kids. It wasn't much, but she loved to do it. As the kids got older, it was harder and more expensive to fill the stockings, so All the moms started to contribute to the stockings too, but Grandma always had things too. I remember the year she had them go on a treasure hunt to find their stocking. The oldest helped the youngest and the rest worked in pairs to figure out the clues. We even had to go to the park one year to get a clue.

Christmas at Grandma's!

Mom and Val

When the grandkids got old enough, Grandma would have them all spend the night before Christmas. They would all camp out on the living room floor and use the tree lights for a night light.

As hard as it is to live here at Christmas-time, the memories are so precious and full of love it makes it worth it.

The Most Wonderful Chaos! 

Mom and Dad at Christmas