Blessings of Christmas

Christmas is not a day, it is a season and a spirit in the air.   The majority of our immediate family gathered yesterday at Mom and Dad's house and spent most of the day.  Grandson Austin was with his Dad and Nicole, Matt and Mia spent Christmas in Northern California with Matt's family this year. 

Mom was able to open her eyes and greet each of us and then would fall right back to sleep.  We would take turns sitting with her.  Her heartbeat still seems strong, she has good circulation in her feet and toes, and there in no pneumonia present in her lungs.  Her breathing is very shallow, but consistent.  She seems contented and comfortable, as long as we stay on-time with her meds.

Dad has declined, in my opinion, considerably over the past week.  I am not so sure that he has not had a mini-stroke.  The strength in his left side (his "good" side) is greatly dimenished, his is much less attentive and expressive, has difficulty swallowing, and refuses foods, so he is very weak oveerall.  He did perk up a little bit yesterday when it was time to pass out our Christmas envelopes from him and Mom.  We turned his recliner so he could watch the activities of the day, which mostly consisted of gathering around the snacks on the table!!  Danny fixed him a red beer and he did drink a few swallows of it.  He also ate a small Coke float that I made him in the afternoon.  He did a lot of napping, but I know he really treasured having us all here.

All of us kids and our familes will re-convene at Glenda's house on Saturday so our children can celebrate the holiday together and we can exchange gifts. Togetherness is big in our family and Jean, Glenda, Danny and I plan to focus on that for the remainder of our lives! We were appreciating each other yesterday and realizing that our children don't have the blessings of multiple siblings, so we need to continue encouraging them to nurture their relationships for future supoprt!! 

I pray that each of you had a safe and blessed day with loved ones.  I promise to keep you all updated on Mom and Dad to the best of my ability!  God's blessings!  Sandi