I made my family cry last night

But it wasn't a bad thing.

I gave my mom this:

And Colleen got this one:

And Kristin received this one:

To you, these may look like ugly old man sweater pillows.  To us, these have sentimental value.  The blue, white and mustardy sweater belonged to my grandpa who passed on in September 2003.  That Christmas my Grandma (his wife) gave each of the grandkids one of his sweaters and one of his watches.  I wore the sweater a couple of times in college but realized that I didn't need to wear it to remember my grandpa.  Because he died before I became a Christian, I don't know if I'll see him in Heaven some day, but I certainly hope so.  He was one of the sweetest guys I've EVER met.  I loved him sooooo much.  His dad left him when he was young and he dropped out of school in the 8th grade because he didn't like the nuns.  Even still, he taught me how to read by being willing to read to me often when I was little.  He bought me a huge book of nursery rhymes which I kept in my dresser drawer.  When I'd see his truck pull up I'd RUN to the bedroom to get the book and be back in "his" chair before he even came in the house.  He was the one that would watch my sister and I when we were sick.  He gave us "soda" (ice cream with pop).  HAHAHA probably great for us when we were sick, but we loved it.  He also was a single dad for a while when my Grandma (his first wife) passed on from breast cancer when my mom was only 6 years old.  He would sew mom's dance costumes, he would put her hair in rollers, and worked 3 jobs.

He loved my sisters and I so much.  He would come to all of our dance recitals and dance competitions.  He would watch all of the Disney princess movies we could watch in one day.  He would give us apples cut up with salt on them (back then we used to like it).  He made my younger sister disgusting PB & hard salami sandwiches because she liked them even though they were disgusting for him.  He took Kristin and I on vacation with my grandma (his second wife) 3 times when we were younger.  That was sooooo special to us. He would take me in the ocean because he knew I loved it even though he was tired.  So special!!!

So that was why those pillows although made from old man sweaters, are soooo special for my family.   Hope you have a great Sunday, expect more pictures to come for other craft projects that I did as birthday gifts recently.