We decided that we didn't want to wake up in this house so we went down to Southern California to spend Christmas with friends and my brother in law. This was still hard and there was still a huge hole where Tin Man should have been, but it was easier than waking up in our house Christmas morning just the 3 of us.
Now that the kids are older, they always have some sort of idea of what their presents are. When they were younger it was much easier to surprise them, because anything made them happy. Now they are much harder to shop for, not to mention have much more expensive taste now.
Still we were able to shock both of them, which was my favorite part of Christmas morning.
Warrior is really into lacrosse now, and trying out for the high school team at the end of the month. So my brother in law and I decided to get him a lacrosse goal net. His wish list included video games, gift cards, and clothes. Needless to say he was very surprised when he unwrapped the net. Seeing the huge smile on his face and how excited he was made my year.
Sugar Peas is into Monster High dolls and anything to do with fashion. A couple months ago she was telling me she wanted to learn to play the guitar. We checked out how much lessons would be here in town, but there's a waiting list for the guitar classes. We put her name on the waiting list, but no idea when she'll make it to the top.
I talked to several friends and found someone in town that would be willing to give her lessons. So I enlisted my brother in law, who works in a music store, to help me pick out a guitar for her. He found the perfect one. Its a beginners guitar. Pink. Sparkly. And screams Sugar Pea.
The kids and I dedicated a rose for Tin Man on the Donate Life float in the Rose Parade. On December 29th we were able to drive out to the Rose Bowl and place the rose on the float.
Since we were lucky enough to be able to do this, the kids decided they wanted to watch the parade in person instead of on TV. Not just watch it in person, but camp out for it so we would have amazing seats.
I was dreading the idea of camping out. But they were so excited about it, and I thought it would help them, so I agreed. My brother in law, the great sport he is, and Warrior went to secure our spot at 6 AM. Sugar Peas, a friend, and I went out at noon.
Little did I know just how much fun it would actually be. I didn't get any sleep, but had a ton of fun.
The kids wanted to make a poster to hold up when the Donate Life float went past. They wanted to show what that float meant to them. As soon as we got there with the poster Sugar Pea set it up on one of the chairs.
The people sitting around us came over to ask about it. We has 2 cops stop to comment on it, and a few people drive back around to ask about it. The kids loved telling everyone about their dad and his donor. One of the cops came back the next morning with his wife so she could see the poster and the kids could tell her about it too.
The parade was awesome. So many people pointed out the poster, gave the kids thumbs up, and even one of the Stanford band members told them that their dad and his donor were his heroes too. When the Donate Life float went past the kids were amazed at how many people knew Tin Man by name. A few of them even recognized Warrior from the video he made for his birthday
I took a ton of photos, and don't want to over load you with them on here, but if you're interested in seeing them you can check them out over on my Flickr account
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