I Like Surprise Visits

Today Traci came to Oregon City to visit with her sister, Cyndi who is moving tomorrow to San Diego, California.  They surprised me by calling and then coming over to visit for about an hour.  Kaleb came and Tag Grossnickle, his cousin.  Cyndi brought little Jaiden, too.  It was a very nice hour and it could have lasted longer and it would have been fine by me.  The new kids to our place got to see the singing snowman.  Jaiden and Tag got to wonder if they liked the dog or not.  Rose was a good girl for them.

How Many Ways to Say Rain

The weather forecaster has lots of ways to say rain these days: rain, showers, scattered showers, 90% chance of rain, etc.  I'm snug and cozy in the house, though I did go out this morning.  It's just a good day to stay inside.  Where are my neighbors and their big motor home?  They left yesterday for 4 months to go down south. Hopefully not to California or they are going to be disappointed.  Rose still wants to go outside, though.  She goes to the door, looks out,  turns around and goes and lays down. 

More of the Cutest

Here are the cutest 8 grandkids you could ever see.  I know, you think your kids/grandkids are the cutest . . .

Josie

I can't believe we didn't take any pictures of Josie or her parents while they were here.  We did get a professional portrait done, though.  Isn't she the cutest?  I'll post the pictures we got of all the kids together.  They are also the cutest.

Holiday Happiness

Family was abundant at Thanksgiving.  We visited, cooked, ate and shopped for Christmas--it was so much fun. I loved the time spent together and getting to know Josie much better.  I can still hear her singing in the car while we were driving.  What a joyful, generous little spirit she is. 

Then they go home, and it's too quiet.   We did make a fast trip to Joy's to celebrate Oliver's birthday.  He was so much fun.  We went with them to their ward Christmas Party, and he wore his Christmas pajamas since SisterMoberly wanted all the kids to wear them if they could.  He had one party after the other and was excited about it all.  We spent Christmas Eve with Heidi's fun family.

We did make some Gingerbread houses, and the girls modeled their Christmas pajamas.  

The Wednesday before Christmas, all the grandkids who live here spent the night with me.  Kaleb spent the afternoon with Papa while the girls and I saw, "Tangled".  It was a chick flick: we were all crying and oohing over the romantic hero.  We came home, ate pizza, and all piled into the car to see Christmas lights.  The girls asked me to turn on the radio and they sang along to Chrismas songs.  They sing very well, even Kaleb.   When we were looking at the last of the lights, "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" came on and Elizabeth said, "That's the perfect song." 

Grandma loves having the grandkids over.

Family Reunion and Moved Again

We got back from Missouri. We had a great time with Dale coming for about 4 days, and then all of us going down near Branson to a spot on Bull Creek in Taney County where the Meadows Schoolhouse is. We turned off of a highway and it looked to me like it was where 3 long driveways converged. It was all slighty uphill. We were following Willard who had already turned around about 4 times. He stopped his car in the middle of the 3 dirt "driveways" and said, "I can't remember if we take this road (pointing left) or that one (pointing right). The sign just said "Goodnight Hollow". We went to the right and lo and behold, once we went up the hill we were on a regular road. We were looking for a "low water bridge". Willard said if we saw that, we were in the right place. We did see it and we also saw that the other road that went to the left came to the same place, so it didn't matter which road we took. We crossed the bridge and went a ways more and came to the schoolhouse and cemetery. The family was already gathering. Esther had a wonderful time seeing the nephews and cousins. There were about 25 people that came,since it was not an official reunion. That will be in 2012. Esther said she could look down the road where it curved and the trees obscured our view of anything beyond and just imagine her home there. It is where she was born and lived in her younger years. She did not want to drive down there because she was afraid it would be different than her memory. I doubt it from what I saw. It seemed unchanged and it was lovely there.

Esther had one day to rest when we got home and then yesterday afternoon and evening we moved her to Vineyard Place. She is now in apartment 126 and she loves it. I can't remember ever seeing her happier. It did my heart good.

Changes

Today Jerry was released from the Bishopric and then sustained to be the assistant ward mission leader. He is very happy about the change, especially since he loves to be working with people. He was called to this two weeks ago but it took time to take care of it. This morning the ward mission leader that he is going to assist had a heart attack (and a stint put in). It appears he will do just fine, and we are glad for that. Jerry in the nick of time, it seems.

Lower Fence

Jerry and I did go out and finish lowering the fence. He had gotten this idea a year ago and his friend, Ed Turpin, gave him the lower fencing. Ed took down his fence. So here is the result. It's hard to tell from these close-up pictures but now the view all around is open with nothing in the way. It was fun working together, too.

The House Siding

Jerry worked the entire week I was gone at Girls' Camp. He was working on the foundation facing and the siding on the house. He plans to take it one day at a time and then paint it next year. Everything he did had to be hand cut and made to fit. Notice that there is no gaping square hole in the concrete anymore (with an old doormat over it). Notice the beautiful foundation and the nice squared-up backdoor. How about that new siding? Home restorers would want to keep the old tongue and groove siding, and maybe someday someone here will want to do that, but Jerry doesn't. I can't blame him. He will have to work very carefully to get behind the electrical panel and electrical service hookup. Once he gets that done, it will be a bit easier. Today for FHE he and I are going out and finishing up making the cyclone fence shorter. Right now it's 2/3 done. It will be good to have something finished.

Rhubarb

So, what's with this rhubarb? They get the same amount of water and sun. They were planted in the same type of soil. I don't get it. (Unless you count the fact that a whole dumptruck load of dirt was dumped on them at one time and they survived somehow.)

Garden 2010

We have had quite a time with the garden, since it rained up until July 5th. Not just rain either, cool weather, too. Here's our effort so far. I still enjoy going out there and seeing what's up and what I can take care of.

Perfect Day

It is so beautiful outside--the sun broke through about 1 o'clock showing a perfect blue sky with big, fluffy white clouds. There is a perfect breeze. It's heavenly. The fields around us are all overflowing with wild daisies and overgrown grass. It's just one of those days to tell yourself to be contented, to slow down and look around and feel the breezes. There is more beauty in the world than ugliness, and many people to love.

Seminary Is Almost Over

I have one more day of seminary for this year. Maybe then I'll remember to take the time to write all the things that have been going on around here. We had an auction today which was lots of fun, as always, but not so much fun for those who didn't earn much money. That was probably only one or two students, thankfully. Everyone else went to town. Top seller was a real lasso from one of the girls, it was nice and used, too (super dirty). The second top seller was a bag of candy, which was the last of what was in our treasure chest. The oldest candy was from Easter, not too bad,but if it's still in there, well...no one really wanted it. That was Willie Wonka Krispy Eggs and little packs of Twizzlers. The other top sellers . . Sunny D., Fiddle Faddle and popcorn. Those boys are always hungry. There were squirt guns, a real grenade that had been drilled out, a remote control car, a T-shirt that was from "Monopoly" that had the picture of the cop and said, "Go To Jail", and just a bunch of stuff. We always get a kick out of it. We had some wealthy people because some had not used up all their money from the Christmas Auction. I will miss this group and I am glad I will most likely get to do this again next year.

Violet Louise Glaus and My Grandchildren

I just got back from spending a few weeks with Joy as she awaited the birth of their daughter, Violet. I enjoyed very much everthing I got to do there. Oliver woke up on the first morning after I came, which was before Violet was born, and through the monitor I heard him say, "New baby." He was so aware of what was going on. Even though he wanted to do everything himself ("I do it!"), he was very patient with Grandma. What a sweet boy, but he is 2, so lookout world.

Violet is very beautiful and Joy and Nate did so great through it all. I was sorry to come home, but we all need to get on with our lives. Here a few pictures of our little Violet.

Each and every grandchild, whether newborn or 14, is very special to me and each is unique. I picture their faces, hear their voices in my mind, see their expressions and wonder what they are doing each day. I think of their talents, too and wonder what life will bring for them. The heart's capacity to love is amazing. I should not be surprised that I feel this way about them--even if I had 50 grandchildren I would know each and every one of them and feel connected to them. I feel that way about my children so why not all the grandchildren? It is a gift from God that we are so connected on such a deep level.

Family Pictures

It was a lot of fun getting everyone up, dressed and together the Saturday after Christmas. Brandon and Traci came the farthest and were there in plenty of time, with everyone looking so nice. At our house, we all shared bathrooms and got ready in shifts. I'm so glad that Heidi and Scott and their 3 girls were close by and, with 3 girls, I'm sure there was some scheduling of who got the bathroom when. I'm so glad that we did it.

Better Food In Schools

I put a link to Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on my blog here. If you click on it you can sign his petition to the government asking for better, fresh food in the schools. I'm all for that. He did this in Great Britain and things there are so much better in the schools.

Holidays are Wonderful

Even though getting ready for Christmas can take much thought and effort, it is such a great time of year. Now we still feel in the holiday spirit around here. The spirit of family, friends and celebrating life's occurences, even the little daily ones. Whether it's Josie cutting teeth, Kelli's birthday, the deep emotions of Trent Snider's passing and the wisdom it brings to us, or working in the garden, it's all part of our life's experience and as Brigham Young said, "At least you are having experiences." Some we like more than others.