Christmas was a hectic but fun time. This is the first year Jessie really understood what was going on. It was a little sad also as it was the first Christmas without Bill. In some ways it was a blessing that he passed away before Christmas because he wouldn't have been able to be there with us anyway and at least this way he wasn't sitting in the nursing home alone. Grandma did pretty well considering and I think the distraction was good. We took her with us to the mall to see Santa, and Jessie wouldn't sit on his lap, but she and Brandon talked to him. Then we wandered around a little bit, and they rode the kiddie rides. Then we took the kids to the playground where there was a little boy that was the same size as Jessie but probably only about maybe two, if that. He was having trouble on the slide and Jessie was trying to help him. Then he decided that he liked her and they went around holding hands. He took her to meet his mom and then Jessie took him to Scott, who was sitting in there with them. She was running around telling us she had a new friend and Brandon was following them around like a protective big brother making sure that he wasn't going to hurt her. I had to tell him to relax and that it was okay and then he relaxed and went back to playing.
Bill knew this was going to be his last Christmas and he wanted to give the kids a special present just from him, especially Brandon because they always had a special bond. Grandma suggested children's bibles that he could write an inscription in and they could have them always and pass them down to their kids. He wasn't able to hold on before Grandma could buy them, so I took her to the store and we bought them and she wrote the inscriptions for them that she thought Bill might have wanted to say to them. The kids don't completely understand the whole death and heaven stuff yet but they both seemed to understand the importance of the books and got very quiet when they opened them. Brandon especially because he is so sensitive about things. I think they will really appreciate them when they get older. All in all it was a good Christmas with lots of presents, family and happiness.
