Christmas 2025

Well, Christmas came. It was a rocky road right up to the bitter end, but it did eventually come. I thought once Tala's funeral was over we would be able to focus on Christmas, but what is the saying about when men make plans, God laughs? 

On Tuesday, I was at the store for the third time that day when I ran into Emily. She told me that she had been talking to my mom and that my dad hadn't been feeling well. I talked to my mom shortly thereafter, and by they time we hung up, I had convinced her to take my dad to urgent care. Unfortunately, that didn't go as planned, after two separate falls and being turned away from urgent care, we ended up calling 911 to help get my dad off the floor and my mom and I spent the next 10 hours (all night long) in the ER on a stool and a folding chair following a diagnosis of a UTI. After a VERY long night, my dad ended up being admitted to the hospital, where he would spend the next 2.5 days including Christmas. He was eventually transferred to a skilled nursing facility, where he is now, to rehab.

It was with that backdrop that Christmas finally arrived. The festivities began on Christmas Eve. We gathered with the Lundberg family despite missing Nana and Papa, despite the stress and exhaustion. We had pizza and Chinese, played games, and exchanged gifts. I had planned a game of Family Feud and to me that was the highlight of the night.

Then it was Christmas. Despite the incredibly un-Christmasy lead up, we locked in pretty well for Christmas morning. We had gifts for everyone, obviously, but the big surprise was that we have booked a Mexican Riviera cruise for Spring break. We had planned to tell them by hiding rubber ducks around the house, one of which said "We are going on a cruise to Mexico". First, I wrapped a duck for each of the kids under the tree. I planned to tell them that I had heard getting a duck for Christmas was good luck, a lucky duck, and then once all the presents had been opened, tell them that maybe the ducks meant something else and they should go look for more around the house. Unfortunately, with all that was going on, I accident labeled two ducks as being for CC and none for Elsie. With that, it turned out that the first two presents CC opened were both ducks. I think she though she was being punked.

After all the presents were opened, the ducks were found, and the big surprise was out, we set up the axe throwing and golf chipping set from Santa. We then settled in to finish Home Alone and for a Christmas nap.

Later in the day we went to the hospital to visit papa and then to the airport to pick up Grandpa, Lollie, and Jensen. We are mid Grandpa, Lollie, and Jensen visit. The highlight of the visit so far was our visit to a highland cow farm. It was CC's dream come true.

What About Now?

Last week, I asked "Is it Christmas?" as my blog title. Unfortunately, it was a rough week and it did little to put me more in the mood. There was lots of basketball, lots to be done to get ready for Tala's funeral that was yesterday, lots of work to be done before being off work, a trip to the laundry mat since my washer is STILL broken, and I got rear ended in my new car on the way to one of Merrick's games.

The only Christmassy moment was when we took brief drive to look at Christmas lights and went to this magical house.

I don't have a lot to say tonight. I don't really want to talk about Tala's funeral other than to say it was beautiful. The Samoan singing and the speakers paid the perfect tribute to Tala. Now, the fam is watching Home Alone and I'm off to join them, desperate to get in the Christmas spirit.

Is It Christmas?

Yesterday, as we were clearing out and cleaning Tala's house for the second weekend in a row, Jeremy commented that it really didn't feel like Christmas. I don't know how it's supposed to with all that we are dealing with. I still have presents to buy and people that I still have no idea what I am getting them. This is the least prepared I have ever been for Christmas and, with Tala's funeral next weekend, Christmas won't make it to the top of the priority list until just days before the big day.

Thankfully, other people have built at least a little joy into the season for us. On Friday, Merrick had a basketball game. Unfortunately, we had our first loss of the season, but at half time, CC and Isabel's dance team performed. It was so fun to have two of my three kids sharing the court/stage, doing something they love.

We also did have our ward Christmas party last night. It was Christmas morning themed with breakfast for dinner and a white elephant gift exchange. Merrick was one of the first to go and scored with a fishing pole that was promptly stolen from him. In the end, he ended up with playdough that will be donated to my work toy drive. Oh well. You win some, you lose some.

We are taking it one day at a time, trying to focus on the little moments of joys, and hoping the Christmas spirit will find us soon.

Goodbye, Tala

 This has been one of hardest weeks we have had in a long time. Given all that we have been through recently, that is saying something. Tuesday night I was trying to fall asleep when my phone rang. On the other line was Emily and she was completely hysterical. She said something had happened with Tala and she was headed over, but it didn't look good.

Wednesday morning we learned many more details. Tala had had a heart attack. The EMTs worked hard to revive him but he had gone somewhere between 10-30 minutes without oxygen to his brain, but we didn't have a lot of information about the long term prognosis. I was supposed to leave around lunch time to go to my company's winter retreat. I talked to Emily and asked if I should stay home. She said there was nothing I could do and I should go. That turned out to be a terrible decision.

Before I could even arrive in Bend, I learned just how bad things were. Tala was showing no neurological response and while they are keeping him alive with life support, they had a DNR should he have another heart attack.

By that evening, his organs were shutting down and they decided to remove life support. Tala passed around 9pm Wednesday night, less then 24 hours after having the heart attack, and I truly believe he was actually gone long before that.

The next 36 hours were beyond miserable. My family was falling apart and I was stuck three hours away falling apart and trying to still participate in work meetings.

I finally got home on Friday afternoon. I wish I could say that things got better after I got home, but that was just the beginning and time to get to work. There is so much to be done from funeral planning, to dealing with the house, cars, business, and most importantly, supporting Kalani. To say that the community has rallied around Kalani is a gross understatement. He is being held up and support from every imaginable angle.

There is so much to be done, but we have a plan and we are working it. Various members of the family have very conflicting emotions about Tala and his passing, but I truly hope he is resting well on the other side. Until we meet again, Tala.

I'm sharing one of my favorite Tala pictures. This is the Tala I want to remember, Here he is painting little C.C.'s fingernails.

Thanksgiving 2025

 This week has been a blast! Truth be told, I am sad to see it come to an end. At the last minute, I convinced Jeremy to take the week off of work. Since the kids and I were already scheduled to be off for the week, that meant we had an entire week to play as a family.

The week started off with a bang! On Monday, we started the day with a trip to the Nike employee store. That is always a fun time for everyone except our bank account. After a brief stop at Costco, we headed home and CC and I went out for some special time. She didn't find what she was looking for at Nike so I told her I would take her to our favorite thrift store; Red, White, and Blue. We definitely made up for anything she missed out on at Nike. Once CC and I got home, it was Elsie's turn for some special time. I took her to the pool while Jeremy went to the gym

Tuesday was the day the girls had been looking forward to the most, the day we went to see Wicked For Good. While all the Clifford ladies could not wait to see Wicked, the boys were less than enthused. Instead they opted to go see Predator while we saw Wicked. Everyone was happy with their decision in the end. The rest of the day was pretty low key. I ended up taking Elsie to the doctor because she was still really struggling with her rash from her cast. We were able to get some extra strength cortisone cream and start getting on top of that.

Wednesday was Thanksgiving prep day. I got the pies made and made all the plans and preparations for the next day. We also went to the church for some roller skating, scootering, basketball time.

Thursday was the big day. The boys went and played football in the morning while I cooked and watched the Thanksgiving Day Parade with the girls. Once everything was cooked and everyone was cleaned up, we went to my parents in the early afternoon for dinner. It was an enjoyable afternoon and evening hanging with the fam and eating way too much.

Friday, the theme, as Mariah Carey would say, was "It's time!!!!". Down came Thanksgiving and up went Christmas. We did a final leaf clean up for the season and put up outdoor lights. Inside, the girls worked hard to put away the Thanksgiving decor and get out the Christmas decorations. By Friday evening, all that was left was the tree. That would come the next day.

Yesterday, Saturday, was tree time. It ends up being a whole day affair because the place we usually go is about 45 minutes away. We picked the perfect tree, got hot chocolate/cider, and wrote a letter to Santa. They didn't have the free crafts this year that they have had in past years, but with the insane prices all the places near us charge, it is worth the drive. We were then able to get it home, lit, and decorated before we ran out of day.

See? I told you we had a fun week. Tomorrow, it's back to real life, but this week brought memories that are not soon to be forgotten. Thanksgiving really lived up to it's hype as my favorite holiday.