Visitors

Ahh..  This past weekend was Christmas.  I absolutely love this holiday, although some years I love it more and some less.  This year I loved it more.  I was way behind schedule on all of the things that I think should be done, but really it doesn't matter if I don't get everything done. 

One of the things I usually try to do is bake a lot of cookies and candies.  I remember watching my Aunts WeeWoe and Alma bake cookies.  I remember the year my aunt Alma died and going to visit Wee Woe who lived with Alma.  It was a Sunday morning, and I went to her house between services while waiting for Katie and Julie to finish Sunday school.  She always had church music playing on her radio and this day was no different.  The only thing missing was Alma.  I remember watching Wee Woe rolling out dough for cut out cookies, but the sadness in her eyes was heartbreaking.  There were lots of tears in those cookies that year.  Even though she was mourning, Christmas was still coming and she was going to be ready.  I really believe that Christmas was sad for her a lot of her life.  Her grandmother was buried on a Christmas Eve in 1930.  I can't imagine what that must have been like. 

Which brings me to thinking about visitors.  It seems that Christmas has a lot of visitors, the Angel Gabriel visiting Mary and Joseph, Mary visiting Elizabeth, angels announcing the good news of Jesus birth to the shepherds, the visit of the Magi.

I think back to this weekend and all the visitors I had at my house.  I loved having every one of them, and wish they could have stayed longer.  But I also wonder what it must have been like for Mary.

Imagine being a young girl around Erin's age and having an angel tell you you're going to have the Savior of the world.  I asked Erin what she would have said if that was her and she said something to the effect... "I don't think so"...  but I guess that is why she nor really none of us were chosen.  Anyway, Mary had great faith and was truly honored to be chosen.  I really think God has a sense of humor though.  Imagine being in a very crowded and noisy city finding no accommodations for the night, being so close to having a baby and having to ride out to the countryside to await your baby's birth.  And then being visited by, of all people,  SHEPHERDS!!! Really!!! But God is so good.  Shepherds are just ordinary people like we are, and Jesus came to save ordinary people. I imagine Mary was pleased to have some visitors.  She probably wanted to share her Son with everyone, and these men came to her to meet her child...and then again two years later being visited by the Magi.

What a wonderful gift we have been given in our Savior Jesus Christ!!!!

Merry Christmas to all of you ... thanks for visiting me.

Thankfulness

THANK YOU!!! 

Words I never use enough.  Most things I take for granted and truly don't thank people the way I should.  So on this day of thanks, I would like to thank everyone in my life who has made it so special:

My husband Brad -- Thank you for 33 years.  For being here when we all needed you. 

Katie, Julie, and Erin -- what can I say?  You girls mean more to me than life itself.  My heart literally bursts with love for you girls.

Joe -- for making me laugh and making Julie happy.

Shadow, Sam and Yadi -- my three favorite dogs who bring so much joy to me.

My parents -- even though my dad is with Jesus, my parents made me who I am today.  Thank you for teaching me the importance of faith so I have someone to walk with me in my daily life.

My sisters -- even though we have different ways of dealing with life, I remember the laughter and memories we had as children.  I love you both with all my heart.

Nieces and nephews.  It was so fun to see my sisters in you.  I love all of you and now we add your sweet children to the mix. 

My sweet aunts Alma and Wee Woe.  I miss them so much. Their gentle ways of handling all that life gave to them made an impression in my life.  I miss their cooking and remember the times I spent at their house overnight.  Each Thanksgiving and Christmas, I try to bring a lot of their memories into my traditions.  The cookies, pies, and love that they put in each celebration shaped me more than they will ever know. 

and mostly,

Thank you Jesus for loving me and saving me.  You are the One that gave me everything!!

Table centerpiece

Erin and her beautiful pie crust

Katie and Sam

Very pretty

Julie and Shadow

My beautiful daughters

My silly daughters

Veteran's Day - (late again)

I started writing this blog on Veteran's Day and since I did it at work on a different program, I forgot to take it home with me to repost.  So here is my post that I wanted to post for Veteran's day.

Today is Veteran’s Day.  Over the past few years, I have really gotten away from thinking about this day.  Usually, the malls have sales, and there are some government offices are closed, but for the most part, it was just another day.  (Sad to say how my thinking had become).

So starting this year, Veteran’s Day will become more than a “day”.  My father and father-in-law both served in WWII and Korea, respectively, and I remember a few stories my dad told me -- such as my dad would have been in a terrible battle in Africa if he had not hurt his hand in basic.  He ended up getting reassigned to a supply line and spent his time in Iran in the desert.  My uncles also fought in WWII, and my mom told me a few things about them – how two of her brothers met up in a PX in New Guinea.  That always impressed me how two farm boys from Augusta, MO stumbled into each other half way around the world.  Mom told me how her mother would sit and pray for them constantly.  My uncle Randy fought the Japanese and was in a platoon of men where he was one of a few men who survived.  Everyone came back safe and sound --  Proof that God was listening to the “home front”, (and still hears every day).

Mostly what strikes me is that the veterans from WWII were looked on as heroes, and men from Korea and Viet Nam… not so much.  I grew up during the Vietnam War and remember watching the news every night and seeing the bombing and destruction that took place.  I vividly remember the picture of the child running naked down a street after being severely burned from napalm, and watching in horror as an execution took place in a public street.  I remember the protests, and name calling.  It always broke my heart when I heard how returning soldiers were treated.  The people doing the name calling were not there and judging these men was, in my mind, despicable.  Plus, those men fought for those same protestors to have the freedom to speak openly in a public forum without fear.   But, mostly I remember my older sister dating a boy who was there.  He would send letters and pictures to her.  I remember him visiting us and many nights going to the airport to see him off.  My sister always cried.  But mostly I remember the music from the 60’s.  To this day, many songs take me back to those days as if they were happening now.  The 60’s and 70’s were indeed a magnificent time.

SO… to all you veterans, soldiers – Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines --- THANK YOU SO VERY VERY MUCH.  You are all heroes in my mind.  GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!!

Erin

Isn't it funny how life can be sometimes?  I mean just think about why am I here at this place and time, and I'm in this family.  How come I wasn't born during the 1940's and have other people as parents?  I mean it blows my mind.  Which brings me back to Erin.

Erin was a gift given to our family when we thought there were no more gifts to be had.  Katie was 12, and Julie was 10.  We started thinking about longer vacations, high school, colleges (well maybe not college), but the future was coming on.  We were done with baby stuff, and everyone was old enough to be a lot more independent.  That was until that cold February day when I was told "hey you're having another baby"!!!.  I was 39 years old, and just couldn't wrap my head around this knowledge.  Surprise wasn't a strong enough word.  It took me a really long time to finally realize that yes, we were being blessed once again.  After a long, hot summer, our family was finally blessed with Erin.  She arrived three weeks early on a day like any other -- Katie and Julie had homework, the world series was in full swing, it was a gorgeous fall day, I worked that day, and even drove myself to the hospital because Brad was out-of-town.  I remember telling the girls that they should bring their homework with them, because we would be home soon and I would get them dinner.  Well the afternoon turned into evening and evening into late night. 

I remember that seeing her for the first time and noticing that she had cute dimples and big blue eyes.  (Just like her sisters).  She became a very social person from the get go -- meaning that everyone got a chance to hold her after only being a few minutes old.  She captured our hearts that day.  That was in 1996.  Fast forward to 2011.  This past Sunday was her 15th birthday.  The years have literally flown by.  She went from a toddler in pig tails to a grade schooler, to a middle schooler, and now a high schooler. She sings, gets moody, cries, laughs, has many friends, plays piano and sometimes drives us all crazy.  We love her all the more.   It saddens me to think that in three short years, she will move on to her future and life.  How exciting for her.  In addition to her birthday, this past weekend she went to her first high school dance.  Excited doesn't begin to describe her.  She talked about this for weeks, went with Julie to get a dress, spent hours wondering how she was going to fix her hair, but in the end, it seems the dance was everything she hoped for.

Then on Sunday, it was her 15th birthday.  So Erin...  Here's to you -- to a future filled with love, happiness, peace, success and more blessings than you can imagine.  We all love you.

Erin's baptism with Nana and Pa

Recognize these kids? 

Cousins

I spent a weekend in Kansas City to visit family.  While I was there I spent an afternoon with Bryan, Denata and their two kids.  We have had several additions to our family lately, the latest one being Laura's new baby girl, Ashley.  Erin loves to have her pictures taken with her cousins.

Walk in the Park

I've been trying to lose weight.  I will be the first to admit that I am not a fan of the gym.  I don't like exercising in front of people I don't know, and I always feel very self conscious.  I have a lot of problems with my feet hurting, so exercise is not high on my list.  But, lose weight I must so I have started to walk Creve Coeur Park.  The park has been around forever, but several years ago, someone put in a walking, biking, running, rollerblading trail around the lake.  Brad and I have started walking so one night I decided to take some pictures and play with my camera.  I didn't get much walking done, but I had a lot of fun taking pictures of the pretty lake.

I let the pictures speak for themselves.  It was a warm summer night and you could hear the locusts and if you looked really hard, see the deer coming out for an evening meal.  I would much rather walk this than a gym any time. 

Gotta go.  Time for my walk. 

Vacation

This past summer I went on a really fun vacation to Siesta Key, Florida.  It was a genuine beach vacation.  My favorite thing was to walk on the beach every night and sun myself silly during the day.  I spent a lot of time in the water, and after watching Soul Surfer this past weekend, makes me look back on my vacation and think that I was incredibly stupid for going out as far as I did.  But I had a good time.  Katie went with us, and I really really missed Julie and Joe.  I hope they can go with us sometime.  I think they would have fun, too.  We went to the Everglades and got chewed by mosquitoes, ate lots of good food and had yummy ice cream every night.  I played shuffleboard with everyone and generally had a fun time.  I definitely was not ready to come back.
Here are some pictures:

Driving through the Smokies on our way there.

At the Florida border enjoying freshly squeezed oj

Our bedroom in our condo

The kitchen

Living room

Katie and Erin's room

The porch

 Our condo was really nice, but the only thing was the guy upstairs decided he needed a new floor that week so proceeded to bang on our ceiling early in the morning.  Oh well who needs sleep, its just vacation and then you have that beautiful beach.

Katie and Erin on the beach

Pretty Flowers at the Botanical Gardens in Sarasota

Katie listening to herself in a Chinese echo chamber

Sarasota Bay

Katie and Brad at Big Olaf's

Erin at Big Olafs

So that is just a small glimpse of vacation.  See you next year !!!