Grandpa--Part 1

For those of my friends still out there blogging, good for you! I'll be honest and say I use Facebook as my main outlet for journaling and recording memories now. I wish I had more time to make lengthy blog posts as I did in the past, but *sigh*, oh well.

Today I make an exception, because I write this in memory of my grandfather, Grandpa Dawson, who passed away this morning. Feelings are too raw for me to feel comfortable plastering this all over Facebook. A personal journal would be the best avenue to go for something like this, but seeing as I don't have one currently, I figured this is the best way to go right now. So, I apologize if you came to this post excited to see me back with a lighthearted update on the antics here at the Lealaogata household (haha--yeah, right!), I am sorry to disappoint.

First off--I have a confession to make. I suck as a granddaughter. I did not go visit my grandpa as often as I should have (and even wanted to) the last several years. I used the usual lame excuse that life is just too busy (it's hard enough to make time for visiting my own parents and even close friends). And because of his failing health, he was essentially homebound (meaning: he got out every once in awhile, but it was definitely easier for me to go visit him than for him to come visit me). I probably saw him on average 5-6 times a year, if that. And that was before we moved away from Utah. In the last two years since we've been in Arizona, I think I have seen him maybe 3 times. That's sad. I truly hope he forgives me and checks in on us now more than we ever checked in on him before.

With that said, I would like to honor him with a series of posts outlining some of my most prominent memories of him. And, of course, if I can track down some photos of him (I don't have any recent photos?!? Again, worst granddaughter of the year award!), I will post them as well.

Monsters, Nightmares, and Ghosts, Oh My!

So as I put my kids to bed, someone (usually Jasmyn or Tai) always asks to sleep in my bed because their room is too scary. I can usually talk them into staying in their room, but one night a few weeks ago Jayda brought up that she had a nightmare the night before and she wanted to sleep in our bed or have me or Lehi stay in the room with her.

A little bell went off in my head and I thought "teaching moment!". So we talked about how when you get scared or if you have nightmares you can always say a prayer and Heavenly Father will help you sleep better.

"How does he help you sleep better?" one child asked.

My intelligently phrased answer: "He sends the Holy Ghost and he can sleep next to you until you feel better"

It took me a moment to realize that though Jayda has a working understanding of the Holy Ghost and what he does, to the younger kids it is possible that I just suggested that if they are afraid of monsters and nightmares then they can pray and a creepy ghost man will come and sleep with them...and this is supposed to make them feel better?!? 

I back-tracked a little bit and explained in more detail the workings of the Holy Ghost and left it at that.  The subject did not come up again until tonight as I was putting the kids to bed again. Tai said that he had a nightmare last night and wanted to sleep in my bed. Jasmyn got excited and exclaimed "I won't be scared, the Holy Ghost will sleep next to me!!"  Well, if nothing else, she gets the basic concept.

Spotlight

Jayda has had plenty of "spotlight" opportunities, so now it is Tai's and Jasmyn's turn.

Tai takes a Bounce class (a trampoline class) and Jasmyn takes gymnastics. They both had a Show-Off Meet (like a recital) and of course we took lots of pictures and video.