IF update...

The Ideal Fathers are back at it again. They've been working on new songs for sometime now and they've finally got 2 of them recorded and mastered. They did the recording themselves in their practice space, so it's a little rough but the passion is still there. Judging by these great write ups they just received the local critics are still impressed. The guys are still working on more songs and little by little building up to hopefully recording a full length album someday. That of course takes lots of time and money, so bare with them. They appreciate all their fans, friends, and family being so supportive. If you are interested in hearing the new songs or downloading them for free check out this site.

As Cory Casciato from the Westword says "All dads should be this cool." This would make more sense if any of them were actually dads, but they aren't.

Winter Wonderland...

Our poor car was drifted in good. Jesse and Dad spent along time digging it out.

I tried to help, but felt like I was more in the way than anything. Even after all that digging Jesse got in and tried to back out, but Dad and I had to push before the car would even budge. Jesse had to help push several cars out of the snow while we were in Iowa. I'm not so sure he knew what he was signing up for when he agreed to come home with me, but I sure am glad he was able to come.

I believe this is one of the 4 wheelers now buried in a drift.

An old tractor buried in the snow. Everything was pretty much buried in the snow.

Jesse and me getting the car warmed up and ready to hit the road.

Dec. 26th 2009...

Dave & Chelsey at lunch following the services.

Ken

Kathy... enough said.

Dave. Obviously he let someone else play with his camera for a while.

Jeremiah in his marine dress clothes. He presented grandma with a flag in honor of Grandpa's military service during WWII.

Me babysitting Baby Alive.

I was sitting down minding my own business when Syd tossed her in my lap and said "You're babysitting." and then she disappeared. I said "OK", but I was not changing any diapers. Baby Alive is really realistic you feed her and she wets her diapers. No thanks! If I wanted to deal with that I would have a baby of my own.

Jasper and Sydney were inseparable all day.

They were also pretty attached to Grandpa Paul. I was calling them his little entourage, because they followed him everywhere.

Nene (Norine, grandma's younger sister) and Grandma Rita

Barbie and Grandma.

I really like this picture of the 2 of them. It turned out nice.

Misc. Pictures...

Me & Jesse in front of Grandma's fire place right before we left.

Grandma Rita and Me just before we left.

Dave silkying Grandma's hands.

This is something he used to do as a small boy while he sat in her lap when she read him stories.

Flash getting in a nap with her toys (Bunny & Monkey).

Jesse getting in a nap on the couch.

Me & Jesse @ Grandma's house Dec. 26th.

Chels, Me, and Dad. Picture by David. He's really enjoying his new toy
(my old camera).

Lucy licking her lips.

JC is getting to be an old man.

You better believe I drank lots of hot cocoa with peppermint with my dad. It was too cold not to.

Jesse and David on Christmas morning. I think they both really enjoyed having someone to play video games with.

Grandpa Bob...

Grandma & Grandpa Wilson in the tall corn August 2009.

David & me with Grandpa Bob getting our pictures taken with the tall corn. Grandpa insisted on driving us out in the field for these pictures. August 2009

Grandma Rita, Grandpa Bob, and Me.

This was the last time I saw him. Being away from everyone is really hard sometimes. Every time I come back to Iowa I tried to visit Grandma & Grandpa everyday. It was really hard for me to go from seeing them nearly every single day for 20yrs to 2 times a year for the last 7 years. the last handful of times I was back we made sure to take pictures of just me and my grandparents. There are some pretty great ones. My favorite is framed and hanging my living room. I'll post more pictures later.

Dad & Grandpa Bob.

This picture may seem silly or inappropriate to some, but to me it seems like the perfect picture. Grandpa had a good sense of humor and loved to tease. This wasn't lost on any of us. There are many a picture of someone in our family giving someone else bunny ears including grandpa giving himself bunny ears. This picture just seems fitting and it makes me smile.

The church was beautifully decorated for Christmas and with all the flowers for Grandpa it was really lovely.

I was lucky enough to get a peace lily to take home with me. I've been wanting to get some house plants and start a garden out on our patio. Gardening and taking care of plants is very Grandpa Bob like. I only hope that I can do a good job taking care of this lily as Grandpa did with his gardens. I've been told it's an easy 1st house plant and that it will live for years. Every time I look at it or water it I know I will think of him. A friend of mine names all of his house plants and I think it only fitting that we name this lily Grandpa.

After the services there was a lunch for all who wanted to attend.

The Church hall was brimming with people and I know just what Grandpa would say "I'm responsible for all of this." with a big grin on his face showing his pride in all of his accomplishments (especially us, his family).

On Sunday morning I was awoken by a call from my mother with the news. Grandpa had passed away in the night. We all knew it was coming, but it doesn't make it any easier. I started this post last night, but found it more difficult to do than I had originally thought. My cousin Adam beat me to the punch and posted a wonderful blog talking about grandpa and the services. I've chosen to leave a link to Adam's post instead of repeating all that he said. I couldn't have said it better.

Some of my Memories... Grandpa's old pipe, his iconic way of saying Good bye, his favorite sayings "It will put hair on your chest", "It will make your hair curly" (Grandpa, I'm a girl and my hair is wavy enough thanks.), nap times, taking out his teeth, all the animals (especially his pet geese), clocks, lots and lots of clocks, making popcorn on the stove in an old iron skillet, reading, lots of reading, history books, family history, creating, and crafting, ornery grins, great stories, always picking up weird spicy foods while out on vacation to bring back to grandpa (he would eat anything; unlike the rest of us he had an iron stomach), fishing, gardening, pride in what you do and who you are, helping others, stubbornness and putting family 1st.

Family...

Us after the services.

Grandma Rita and me.

Me, Grandma Rita, and her sister NeNe (Norine).

The 6 of us. Dave, Chelsey, Jesse, Me, Dad, and Mom.

The 4 of us.

Jesse and me in front of the stained glass window.

Another picture of the 6 of us.

Jesse @ lunch following the services.

Me & Chels.

Me & Dave. Note that I am wearing heals and he is slouching. I'm not that tall.

Me and Jesse again.

It's not often that everyone gets together and we're all dressed nice, so we took this opportunity to take pictures of everyone. There are tons more, but they tend to get a bit repetitive. I think you get the picture by now.

Christmas Day...

Me and Miss Piggy. Probably the most thoughtful gift I have ever received. This picture doesn't really demonstrate how emotional I was. It was an already emotional Christmas and this nearly put me over the edge.
Thank you so much to Brittani, Jared, and Aiden!

Jesse and Kermit. Strangely enough he guessed what it was before he opened it, but I think that was only because I had opened Miss Piggy 1st. We open presents in age order, so I always went before him.

Lucy giving Kermit the stare down.

Opening my other gift from Jesse. It's a really cool flexible tripod for my camera. Check the link to see what I'm talking about.

Jesse and I with our biggest surprise gift this year a new printer and laptop with carrying case from my parents. They said it was for us to use to skype with everyone. Now we just need to learn how to Skype.
*Side note: We actually did our first skype-ing tonight with Jesse's mom, sisters, brother-in-law, and nieces. It was pretty cool. If any of you have skype feel free to give us a call sometime. I think you can find us under Jesse Hunsaker or erinandjesse.

Merry Christmas Everyone!
Hope you all had a nice time with your loved ones over the holiday.