Her favorite food: strawberries (James - - snacks!)
Her least favorite food: throw up (?????)
Favorite things to do: see animals, eat lunch
Something that makes her happy: sharing toys
Something that makes her sad: taking toys...(James - -Laura is sad when we go swimming.)
Something that makes her afraid: bumble bees
Something that makes her excited: snacks
Something that makes her laugh: the sheep dance (Anybody that is not in our family will not understand that and I won't try to explain.)
Something about Monica that is pretty: dress...wedding dress!!! (???) (James - - Monica pretty.)
Her dad: Grandpa (James - - I like jumping!)
Her mom: Grandma (James - - I like jumping!)
Her sisters: Laura...Katie...um...Bonnie...and YOU, Mom! (James - - Bonnie?)
She will marry: Laura
Something she learns about at school: animals and flowers
Her favorite movie: (James - - BLUES CLUES!!!) Barney!
Favorite movie: Sheep dance movie!
Favorite books: I don't know... (James - - BOOKS! ...runs over to the bookshelf and brings back a bunch of books...)
Favorite color: green
Favorite toy: a snake
More things Monica apparently likes to do: eat bugs!
Kinds of bugs she likes to eat: snakes and bumblebees
Does Monica love you? (both) YES!!!!
We hope you had a great birthday!!! We love you!
(pictured here with the best gift he's ever gotten!)How old is Andrew?: Seventeen?
Favorite food: cereal
Least favorite food: throw up (she said this, probably looking for the same reaction she had gotten when she said it about Monica!)
Something he likes to do: go on a mission
Something that makes him happy: sharing toys
Something that makes him sad: not sharing toys
Something that makes him angry: hitting and pushing (I think she has decided that the same things that evoke cetain feelings in me carry over to all other adults)
Something that makes him laugh: the sheep dance!
Something that makes him excited: snacks! (and I think she has decided that the same things that evokes excitement in her carries over to others as well)
Something about Andrew that is handsome: black hair
His dad: Grandpa?
His mom: Grandma!
His sister: Bonnie! . . . Is Bonnie his sister???
Is married to: Oh, THIS one is Bonnie!
Something he learns about at school: No, Mom, Andrew goes to WORK . . . No, work . . . No, Mom, JUST work . . . NO, WORK!!!! (This obviously meant more to her than it did to me so I dropped it.)
What he does at work: learns about frogs (???)
His favorite movie: the sheep dance movie
Favorite color: pink!
Does he love you? (James - - YES!!!) No, Mom, he loves Bonnie . . ., no, JUST Bonnie. No, JUST BONNIE!!!! (getting quite teary at the notion of him loving anyone but Bonnie)
(We proceeded to move forward into the napping portion of our day as simple questions were bringing about mutiny.)
We hope your day was grand! (butter-less cake and all) :) Haha, sorry, Bonnie...it really wasn't bad at all! We love you! (Even if you can't love us back since you have Bonnie.)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MASON!!!
As a family, we celebrate Mason, his life and the gifts he has given us every day of the year. All the things he set in place in order for our family's plan to unfold before moving from this life to the next leaves us feeling so blessed. The love we received from him on this earth and the love we all have for him never has and never could change. His legacy is our family. We love to celebrate all he accomplished on this earth . . . how could we not, with two precious children that are a direct result of his time on this earth? We love to speak of him and to laugh about things he said and did and marvel at the lessons he, his life and his passing have taught us. He lived his short life with more energy and enthusiasm than most do in long lives. And that is what we love to celebrate on the day he first came to his mortal existence. As our children grow, June 3rd will always be a joyous day as we do our best to pass on the spirit of excitement for life he had.
At the viewing, the night before Mason's funeral, my sister, Katie, came up to me and whispered in my ear that if Mason had been there in spirit he probably had already gone because he was disappointed in the food . . . or he was swinging from the huge chandelier.
I didn't doubt it and I vow to make sure that every year, on his birthday, if he chooses to be with us in spirit, he will never be disappointed in the food and always be allowed to swing from our chandelier.
So, here is a little glimpse into our celebration this year, as each of the kids sent birthday balloons up to heaven to their "Daddy Mason" . . .
James, getting his balloon ready. He refused to color very much on his because I wouldn't let him use the permanant marker I used for the writing. But he did enjoy taping the paper onto the balloon!
Bethany, with her VERY colorful paper, helping Daddy get it all ready. She is the only one who really had a grasp of what we were doing, of course, and thought it was awesome that we could send balloons up to Mason, who lives with Heavenly Father and Jesus. She was pretty darn excited about the idea that they would see her coloring too.
And here is Ben's balloon. Minimally involved at this point, but his day will come!
Here they are, getting ready to send the birthday balloons to heaven! It was SO windy that day, the balloons are hardly in the picture, being blown around so much! I love this picture because the kids are laughing at the wind!
It was a lot of fun and we got some video of them letting their balloons go. As a side note, it was so very windy that one of the balloons got blown around a lot more than blown upwards and, well, there is a very large tree close to our house that shall henceforth be known as "heaven" . . . I'm hoping it's the thought that counts!!!
It's been a great month for celebrating birthdays! Sorry I was late with this, but again...thought that counts? :)
Love to everyone!
10 comments:
You're an amazing person, and I’m amazed at the turn-around of events. I often try to put myself in other peoples' difficult situations and imagine how I would react. The majority of these pretend scenarios end up with me breaking everything in my imaginary house.
And thanks for the comments on our blog. It’s nice to know that other people can see how ridiculous our life is. We are looking at start a family of our own soon. We just move around so much. We’ll be in and out of the country much of this next year. On the other hand, we’ll put it off forever if we wait for some kind of pause in travel/work. If you ever come to the Middle East just avoid Iran and Saudi Arabia (and Iraq of course). And don’t go ANYWHERE without your daughter!!!
-Brett
Thanks for a good cry. I imagine Mason watching and wishing you would have tied something on fire to those balloons before you let them go. We love you guys.
THAT WAS FUN TO READ! CUTE THING TO DO WITH YOUR FAMILY. YOU AMAZE ME!
What a special tribute... your children are blessed to have such a thoughtful, loving mother. :) You made me cry too, and I am going to go give my kids and husband another hug. Life is truly precious.
sometimes I have to dodge those baloons while I'm doing my thing. Fun stuff. Now anytime they freek me out, I'll think of that. Oh, and crystal and I both cried too. Love ya.
What a great tradition to keep with your kids...they are all so precious...I love that Bethany was excited for everyone to see her pretty drawings in heaven ;) What a great tribute to Mason...we love and miss him, but have some GREAT stories of him to carry on! He definitely made sure he will NEVER be forgotten :) Love you all.
What a great way to celebrate Mason's birthday. Our kids still ask us when Jesus is coming to visit so that they can see Uncle Mason. Thanks for sharing how you remember his birthday...it really means a lot to us.
I love kids answers to questions, always good for a few laughs! What a cute idea. I have to tell you how much I enjoyed our visit. I would love to do it again! You are incredible! How neat to be able to celebrate Mason as well.
Hey Mandy
I always love reading about your conversations with your cute kids! I can't wait till I have fun conversations with my kids when they are old enough!
I really love what you are doing in memory of Mason! It is so sweet!
Cathy
I love the Birthday conversations! ha! ha! So cute! How have you guys been surviving the heat this summer? We have resulted to hibernation...which is giving us cabin fever! What a brilliant idea to celebrate Mason's birthday. I miss him often...he was so much fun! I'm sure you and JC have more memories than me about that!! You are my hero Mandy! I mean it.
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