Goodbye, Grandma Hottman. We love you.

It’s a contemplative Holiday Season in our family this year. While it’s been a joyous time with the many wonderful things we’ve experienced in 2010, we are also saying goodbye to Grandma Hottman, a woman who has blessed us all in many ways throughout the years.

Sadly, Grandma passed away yesterday.

Grandpa Don says that we should celebrate her wonderful 92 year life, and we will. But, saying goodbye isn’t easy, especially to someone who has been such a fixture in our family. I just always thought she would be here with us.

Lance and I were up late into the night last night, reflecting on our many memories of Grandma, and the things we loved most about her: 

-Her striking resolve to live. Lance says that it is nothing short of amazing that Grandma kept herself going physically over the last 5 years – most of the time, it was nothing but her sheer fortitude. We have to laugh at the way that stubborn will seems to resound in her descendants (namely with a certain great granddaughter who willed herself to walk in less than 2 months without bothering to crawl first….because, like Grandma, she just decided to make it happen).

-Her laughter. I loved it when Grandma said something to make me laugh – she would laugh too, and it would make me laugh even harder. Those were joyous moments, and I miss them already.

-Her love for “her boys”. Grandma absolutely loved her boys – Lance & Kip were her heart and soul: countless trips to the toy store “to look” that resulted in video games and action figures, slipping a $20 here and there to them throughout college (and even adulthood in some instances), and loving Rebecca and I like we were her own granddaughters from the beginning simply because Lance and Kip loved us.

I have countless treasured memories of Grandma, but the most important to me is what would be one of our last visits with her on Monday. She didn’t want to go, but we took her to listen the Christmas carolers down the hall at the rehab center. As we listened to the music, she relaxed and seemed genuinely at peace for the first time in a long time. She even shook her jingle bells with Lyla and clapped with her throughout our visit. I’m glad they had those moments together so we’ll be able to share them with Lyla someday.

I know it’s cliché, but we’re glad that Grandma is in a better place – I imagine her in Heaven, enjoying a feeling of youth all over again, maybe at a karaoke bar (one of her favorite past times) with Papa June, her friends and family.

So, that’s what our family will be celebrating this Holiday Season, along with our many blessings.

We love you, Grandma.  

I Love Hats

We haven’t been feeling very well around here – Mommy & Daddy seem to be affected by some terrible bug or food poisoning (we’re hoping it’s the latter). But, Lyla Q. is enjoying a new past time: putting on hats.

She loves to put them on her head the moment she finds one – it doesn’t matter who it belongs to. Today, it was two favorites at the same time – her hat and alphabook cards. It just doesn’t get any better:

Christmas with Rand

We celebrated Christmas with Rand tonight with presents and several wonderful desserts, in a new family tradition: Holiday Dessert Night. We had a great time – Lyla was thrilled with her new puzzle and school house, Rand loved his Scooby Doo Mystery Machine, and I was personally over the moon with Ari’s meringue cookies, peppermint ice cream and chocolate sauce (Lyla was pretty happy about her first taste of peppermint ice cream – I couldn’t get it in her mouth quickly enough).

It was a festive night, and we loved being able to celebrate Christmas with wonderful friends.

Here are pics:

Who needs  presents when you have a coke bottle?

Lance’s Holiday Fave: Peanut Butter Pie

Snow! Snow! Snow!

Today was Lyla Q’s first opportunity to try out her new snowsuit and boots. She was inquisitive as always, and of course, determined to walk through it no matter how tricky. She ultimately stood in the back yard, repeatedly reciting her current favorite words: Dog, Daddy and Mommy…

Holiday Snow just doesn’t get any sweeter than this:

Hmmm, I think I like this….

She’s way too busy to pay attention to the camera:

Mastering walking in the SNOW:

Our drying boots – can’t wait to do it again!!

Cookie Night at Aunt Nancy’s

Tonight, the Watts Girls gathered in Elizabethtown at Aunt Nancy’s for our first annual cookie night. It was a great success – we had a wonderful time, of course. Everyone brought at least two batches of their contribution and we all baked together until very late into the night (I think several of the girls think I brought at least 5 batches of mine because it took so long to make them all, but I swear I didn’t – by the way, thanks for baking most of my cookies, Sarah, Mandy and Lisa).

Lyla lasted until right around her bedtime – 8:30 or so. At that point, she gratefully went to sleep. She had a good time hanging out with Mimi (formerly known as Marmie, which isn’t working out linguistically), Aunt Nae-Nah and the girls.

She’s completely in love with her “covie”:

Here are pics of the Baking Girls:

Our Tribute to Tevan – We Missed Her So Much!

Mandy right after she realized her iPhone had been dropped in something liquid. Fortunately, it survived.

Mmmm, Tasty: The Finished Product:

Some of my favorite girls in the world (WE MISSED YOU SO MUCH TEVAN AND LEAH!!):

Cookie Eating – It’s amazing that Nancy “forgot” to eat her cookie and Mandy is the only girl I know who can make downing the Barefoot Contessa’s chocolate chip cookie look this sexy:

Love you girls!!! Next year, we’re on again!!

Mmmmmmm Tasty...

Lance has been teaching Lyla a new catch phrase this weekend, and it seems to have made an impression on her. In fact, Lance is beginning to understand that Lyla mimics almost everything he says, which means it's time for a few changes here and there for us both!

She unveiled her new phrase this evening totally out of the blue and of her own accord: she reached down and picked up a scrap of food on the floor, looked directly at me and said, "Mmmmm, tasty!"

We rolled on the floor laughing at her.

She's sooo funny!

In Lyla's mall adventures today, she continues to be fascinated by the word, "Baby". Today, she walked into a jewelry store and marched straight up to a little 8 year old girl, pointed at her and said, "Baby!!" We all laughed, but I don't think the girl was all that amused - ha!



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Banana Hair Gel

Lyla is in LOVE with bananas. She sees them on the counter and immediately starts pointing to them and asking for a “Nana”. She gets giddy with excitement when I get one down and hand it to her.

Today, she found a new use for bananas – they’re great for styling your hair in a pinch. So, the next time Mommy runs out of hair gel….