A Great Man

59 years ago today, my dad Wayne was born. He is the fourth of five boys to William and Gertrude West. I would meet him when he was 30.

I don't believe there is anyone out there like him. I have two sisters so he was in a house full of women. He has always been a quiet man. Letting us ladies do most of the talking. When he talked though, we listened.

I can't recall a childhood memory where my dad wasn't present. One of my earliest memories of my father is when he worked for Foremost Dairy and he would bring home ice cream.

Wanting a better life for his family he decided to start up his own business. I didn't know it then but man times were tough. We wouldn't see it in our father though. He worked sun up to sun down and to this day he still does. He has always taken pride in a good days work and providing for his family.

He loves baseball and started collecting cards as a child. I can't tell you how many baseball cards he has, lets just say there are closets full of them. I loved watching my dad sort his cards. I wasn't allowed to touch most of them but watching from a distance was just fine with me. We would sit in there for hours. We used to go to card shows on the weekends. I remember him waking me up at 3 a.m. to head to a show in Oklahoma.

One Sunday morning when I was nine I remember my dad sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper while eating his breakfast. He looked up and asked me if I would want to tryout for a traveling softball team. I did, I made it, and I traveled with that team for nine years with my dad right there with me, usually coaching first base.

I played basketball in high school and he had a certain whistle to get my attention while I was on the court. It didn't matter how loud that gym would be I could always hear it and would look to see what advice he had for me.

The most recent memory of my father is him walking me down the aisle, and with a soft peck on my cheek he gave my hand to Jarad.

I have his nose, hands, feet, and lips. Along with those I got his competitiveness, temper, love for sports and the outdoors, fighting for what I believe in and so much more.

He is a great man and I am proud to call him dad.

Happy Birthday Dad! I love you.

Jarad

On Tuesday December, 23 Jarad went in to have surgery on his hand/wrist. Nothing major or life threatening just a simple surgery, that's what we thought anyway. Let me back up a few months and explain.

A couple months ago he noticed a growth if you will, on his wrist. He said it hurt a little but didn't really think anything of it. He knew he needed to get it looked at but didn't make the time. Then it started growing and becoming more painful and uncomfortable. He went to the doctor to get it looked at they thought it was a cyst and tried to drain it by sticking a needle in his wrist. That didn't work so they decided he would need to have surgery.

The surgery went great and the growth was just that. A growth nothing more. The recovery however hasn't been so great. He was not prepared for all of the pain and the limited mobility of his right hand/wrist. There was a notch on his bone that the doctor had to scrape off which helps explain all of the pain. It will probably be a month or so until he has full movement of his wrist.

Livi now points to his hand and says, boo boo. It is so cute. Livi saying that not Jarad's hand! Well I guess his hand is kind of cute too.

Our Christmas(es)

Hannah, Amber, Me, Abbey on Christmas Eve.

We raided my mom's jewelry for all of her Christmas pins, earrings and necklaces. The only rule was we have to keep what we put on. We didn't plan the outfits either. We're just sisters.

This Christmas for the first time in my whole 28 years of existence I woke up and went somewhere other than my mom and dad's for Christmas morning. Actually last Christmas (2007) was the first time I have ever woke up somewhere other than my parents house on Christmas morning! I knew the day would come. I always knew that one day I would be married, with a family of my own, and I might not get to spend every Christmas morning with my mom, dad, grandma, sisters and their families. Last year (2007) we spent Christmas morning at my folks. It was only fair that we spend Christmas 2008 with my new family (that I love very much and am so thankful for). My only request, that I can bring my mom's homemade cinnamon rolls. These aren't just any cinnamon rolls. As silly as it sounds, these rolls ARE Christmas to me. When I smell cinnamon rolls I think of Christmas morning. Every year my mom would make the rolls on Christmas Eve and place the dough on the ledge of the fireplace to rise. There was actually one year that her oven had went out right before the holiday and she told me that she couldn't make the rolls that year. I think I was around 15-16 years of age and I was crushed. I complained and whined and whined some more. It was then decided she would go to my grandma's house (just a hop, skip, and jump away) and use her oven on Christmas morning. I love my mom.

So back to this year. The Giddens/George clan were thrilled and allowed me to bring these magical rolls. I admit though I didn't make the rolls my mom made them for me to take. Christmas morning came and although was a little strange being in a different place experiencing how someone else does Christmas morning I felt like I was at home. They do it just like my family back on EE does. We opened gifts, ate the magical rolls, laughed and laughed some more. Then it was time to come home so Livi could take her nap and get ready to head out to my parents for some more Christmas fun.

Here are some pictures from our very busy day. Sorry I didn't get any pictures of the magical rolls, we ate every last one of them. I really didn't get much other than Livi opening her gifts. Just know we all had a wonderful Christmas even if I don't have pictures of it. As for the cute guy with the wrap on his arm, I'll be telling that story next time.