Our Christmas Season

It's nice to have (at least two) boys that still get excited about Christmas, because it could be easy to just jump in the car and drive far away to a secluded beach somewhere to get through the month of December and Christmas day (I always feel so much better at the beach). 

Even though it's been five years since Noah and Aaron passed away, I still don't look forward to Christmas.   It's still hard to have to go Christmas shopping on my own and to have to make the Christmas season a happy time for the boys, but I don't dread it like I used to though which is a nice feeling.  There were lovely decorations around town this year.

Mum came along to the Christmas parade with us again this year.

We put up our tree early in the month and I kept thinking about how far I've come in five years. The first year I couldn't even put it up, and the next year I put it out in the sunroom which is a room we don't use at night, as it meant I didn't have to look at it. 

 This year I enjoyed seeing it all lit up every night.

We also decorated Aaron and Noah's graves at the cemetery.

 

When Aaron and Noah were alive we would always go to the Carols by Candlelight.  It was hard to go with Noah because he was not feeling well and we would end up leaving early, and it was also hard to go because of his wheelchair.  We would have to try to make him comfortable all night (by getting him out of his chair and lying him on the ground or holding him all night) and we would also have to take along his suction machine.  But we loved going every year as a family and it was one of our Christmas traditions. 

We haven't been now for six or seven years, because it was just too hard to go without them but this year I woke up on the morning of the carols, thinking that it may be nice to go again.  I didn't think much more about it until my cousin Tim sent me a text asking me if we were going. I told him I had been thinking about it and said I would if they were going. 

I was happy to hear that they were and my cousin Sam also sent me a text to say they were going along, so we met up with them as well.  I think the last time everyone had been was also the last year we had been. It was nice to go again and to just have some laughs with good friends.

Jay is too cool (or we are too boring!) to sit with us and hung out with 'squad' all night, which I was happy for him to do.  It's nice that he has such lovely friends to hang out with.   When I told the boys that we were going to the Carols by Candlelight Kobe asked me what it was, as he was only little the last time we went.  He thought it sounded very exciting and loved the whole thing.

 I'm pretty sure we did a lot more talking and eating than singing, but it was a really fun night.

 On Aaron's birthday we were up late so it was a good night to go and look at Christmas lights.

On Christmas Eve we caught up with Aaron's Dad Roxley and his Step Mum Carrol to exchange presents. 

Every Christmas Eve we always have yummy food on the floor in the lounge while watching a Christmas movie. We have been doing that since the boys were little, and the boys still look forward to it.  The weather suddenly got very hot a couple of days before Christmas, and we were too hot to want to eat early, so we decided to go swimming at 6.30 pm instead.  We met up with Tim and Helene and lots of other friends had the same idea. It was fun to all be there at the same time. 

We then came home and ate while watching the Carols by Candlelight on TV. 

I was a mean Mum (I keep reminding the boys I'm no longer Mother of the Year! lol!) and told the boys they couldn't get up until 6am.  At 5:50 am Harri couldn't sleep any longer and came into my room, so we woke the other boys up.   When Kobe saw that Santa had been to all three boys he said 'we've all been on the good list!' and Harri cracked us up as he said 'it's a Christmas miracle!'.

Harri is SO much like Aaron in many ways and was excited to get lots of sport related presents (all of which he chose). 

The boys had fun playing with their presents all morning, while I made pancakes for brunch.  

At church it was lovely to see Melissa and Wes who were visiting from the USA one more time, before they left Tasmania.  Harri absolutely loved Wes and Kobe said 'Wes is cool!' as they loved talking sport with him.  Harri is keen to play the PlayStation with him online once they get home.

The weather on Christmas Day was so hot.  It was the warmest Christmas I could remember in many many years.  We headed out to Mum's in the afternoon and I had to stop to take photos of the beautiful poppies on the way.

We met up with my brother Eden and sister in law Steph at the beach mid afternoon and walked out to the island as the tide was out. The water was so warm!

For tea we went to Eden and Steph's and had salads, ham and prawns and yummy desserts.  We were very sad to get a text from my sister in law Becky to say that their car was playing up and they would have to turn around and go home. It meant we didn't get to see my brother Jared and his family for Christmas and we missed them a lot.  My brother Christian was also home in Sydney for Christmas, and my sister Nicki and her husband Alex now live in Illinois so we had a very quiet Christmas with so many people away.

After tea the kids had fun playing outside, and we then played some new games that we got for Christmas which was a lot of fun.

This year was a lot easier than it has been over the past five years, but I still kind of wish I could just hide away for the whole Christmas season.  I'm not sure if it will ever really feel the same or if I'll look forward to it. 

Thanks Alison for taking our Christmas photo again this year. 

Aaron's 44th birthday

Yesterday would've been Aaron's 44th birthday, but he will always really be 39.  It's a hard time of the year with the anniversary of Noah's death, our anniversary, Aaron's birthday, Christmas and then the anniversary of Aaron's death within 4 1/2 months, and even though I just want to get through these months as quickly as possible, I'm grateful for friends who make it easier to enjoy the day as much as possible.

This year Aaron's birthday actually ended up being on the first official day of school holidays - for me at least! Jay has been on holidays for a little while already, and the other boys finished the day before me.  School doesn't usually finish this late.

Three years ago we had Christmas with two missionaries from our church - Sister Vermeulen and Sister Hadfield.  They were away from their families on Christmas and we find Christmas hard now, so I thought it would be nice to have them around.  We had a beautiful morning with them and have kept in touch ever since.   They are both now home and 'Sister' Amy Vermuelen is about to get married and 'Sister' Melissa Hadfield is now Melissa Morales and is married to a lovely guy Wes. 

We were excited when we heard that Melissa and Wes would be visiting Tasmania for Christmas as they live in Utah.  She sent me a message asking when would be a good time to catch up, and I organised a big group catch up a couple of nights ago, and then yesterday we met up with them again at the Gorge.  It was such a lovely way to spend Aaron's birthday. The weather was so warm and sunny and we went for a walk around before having our first swim of the season in the pool. 

At night we met up with my friend Simone and her husband Simon (who is actually my cousin), and my cousin Tim and his wife Helene and all their kids.   Simone is due to have a baby in about a month.  This will be their sixth! She was saying that people say she's either amazing or crazy when she tells them this will by number 6. I think she's both :) 

It was a beautiful night and the kids had fun playing cricket - well some of them did! Let's just say that Kobe is such a bad sport and came over to me in tears every time he got out!

Jay couldn't have tea at the park with us as he had to work, but he joined us at the cemetery afterwards to release balloons and have a Pepsi. The light was so pretty as we were walking in. Simone captured this pic of me carrying the balloons in.

I was so excited when I saw that my cousin Simon had his drone. He is a police officer and actually bought it to use for work (Search and Rescue) but it's also a fun toy to play with and it was amazing to see footage of the cemetery from another angle.

We all walked to Aaron's grave and then had a Pepsi for him, before releasing the Hawthorn coloured balloons.

Jay bought tea at work (McDonalds) and walked down and ate it at Aaron's grave. I'm sure Aaron would've loved it as Maccas was also his favourite.

Next year we will have another addition at the cemetery with us.  I can't wait to meet Simone and Simon's little man.  Simone was starting him on the Pepsi early, but cracked us up as she hates it so much and keeps saying 'it tastes like medicine!'.

We went over to Noah's grave before leaving. 

Tim is great to have around for many reasons including he gives great massages! We laughed that the drone footage would look dodgy because he was trying to crack my back for me and was giving Simone and I massages. Luckily we are cousins or people would really be talking!

Kobe was so cute as he put this t-shirt on in the morning and said 'this is all true!'.

There was an amazing sunset as we were walking out the cemetery. 

During the day I put on FB and Instagram that it was Aaron's birthday and encouraged anyone who wanted to, to have a Pepsi for him that day.  It was so fun to see photos being posted throughout the day from family, friends and even strangers  - all having a Pepsi for Aaron.   It made our day and it was nice to know that people were thinking about him and doing something that he would've loved.

Thanks for the drone footage Simon. Here is a quick edit of some of it.