Halloween 2016-The California Duncans

Donuts anyone?  These felt donuts looked so real
I wanted to eat one!

This is what a handsome devil looks like!

I'm not sure of who Ellis is but he does a great job with his costumes!

Andy's Latest!

A ring toss was not good enough for Andy when he was assigned to have a booth at the ward Halloween Party.  Instead he made this great contraption.  I think it was the hit of the party.

Even Grandpa gave it a try!

Caleb's Soccer Game

While Andy and Angela set up for their ward Halloween party Scott and I had the wonderful opportunity to take Caleb to his last soccer game of the season.  It was so much fun watching him make the first goal of the game for his team.  These little kids are so cute and although I am not sure they always are as into the game as much as their parents are they definitely have fun.

Happy Birthday Will!

9 Years Old

Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.

Happy Birthday Miriam!

15 Years Old

Life isn't a matter of milestones, but of moments.

Rose Kennedy

I have everything packed away and don't have a current picture of Miriam.  All I can say is she is a beautiful young woman!

Perspective

I haven't written much about what is happening here and lately I have had several occasions recently to remind me that much of our life is based on perspective.  It is wonderful how sweet everyone is to Scott and at Church I see people going out of their way to speak to him and I love his sweet responses when they do.  I know he has no idea who they are but he covers himself well.  In that same respect sometimes he sees someone and will immediately tell me the persons name even though it isn't someone he even had a close friendship with.  Whenever I compliment him for remembering some detail he is always surprised by the comment.  One of the greatest blessings of Alzheimer's disease is that I know Scott is totally unaware of what he doesn't remember any more.  We have recently seen two different movies in which a character in each one had dementia and were in very advanced stages.  I watched Scott when the conversation went on about their condition and he had no idea that he was going to become just like them.  I have to admit the reality is so much harder on me!

We watched a movie about John F. Kennedy's assassination and he asked me what ever happened to the man who killed him.  I explained that Jack Ruby killed him as they were taking him to another location.  He was shocked.  When they showed the picture of John Kennedy Jr. saluting as the casket went by he wondered what he was doing now and I explained that he died in a plane crash.  He got tears in his eyes.

I have tried to come up with ideas to keep him occupied and busy and packing boxes has been a great distraction and something he is very good at.  Each day he likes for us to drive over to our pending house to look at it.  He says each time, "it's still here!" and then we go on about our day.  I wonder what we will do once we settle in?  He still loves to read and while packing I found numerous family history stories of many of his family members and so once we get settled in I want to get those out for him to enjoy.  I thought I would also see if he would enjoy reading the Work and the Glory series.  Of course when we get moved I plan to see how his painting skills are!

He has passed the shower needed several times a day stage to needing to be reminded to shower.  It is always better to remember to be grateful for the good things--and not complain when they seem a little excessive!  Don't worry, at least he isn't arguing with me when I remind him that he needs to shower each day.  The best part is that he makes me smile every day with the quick retorts he makes about something that he saw on TV or a thought he had.  He actually has developed a fun sense of humor and he laughs often which always touches me.  Life is different than I thought it would be but it is still good!

Ellis and Eden

Thanks Andy for the picture!

I wish I would have gotten a picture on Sunday night when Ellis sat down to play us a song on the piano.  He has become a very accomplished piano player and he proved himself very cool under pressure when he started into a very complicated piece.  In just a moment Eden who was mesmerized immediately climbed up on the piano bench beside him and with all of her heart she joined in.  Honestly, if you didn't know better you would have thought she was actually playing a duet with her cousin.

A Family Court of Honor

Lincoln earned his Eagle for scouting over a year ago but they never had a Court of Honor.  We felt so honored last night to participate in recognizing Lincoln for his great achievement.  I am so grateful that they were able to wait until we got home from our mission to be part of such a wonderful experience.  Andy was super nice and lead the whole meeting with Ellis playing the piano and Ruth leading us in song.  Especially cute was our honorary color guard!

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For me the sweet moment was when all of the scouts in our family came up front and recited the Scout Oath and Scott didn't miss a word (miracle and anomaly of Alzheimer's disease).  When Lincoln was presented with his Eagle badge his grandpa (the oldest Eagle Scout there!) was invited up to pin it on him and then Lincoln pinned his mom and dad and gave his Uncle Andy the Mentor pin for his help in working towards his goal of becoming an Eagle Scout.  Lincoln did a nice job or recognizing all the people who helped him earn this prestigious award and admitted that his favorite merit badge was the bird watching one.  He and Uncle Andy have much in common when it comes to their love of birds.  We started the evening with a pizza dinner and finished the night with pie for everyone.  It was just a really nice experience.

Happy Birthday Ava!

9 Years Old

The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.