One of the Best gifts

For my birthday this year my dad returned a journal I had given him 15 years ago.  He kept the card that I had given him with the journal and gave the whole thing back.  I had asked him to write down the stories he tells us in his own handwriting so that someday I would have them all written down.  I really wasn't expecting it back until he was gone.  I'm glad he gave it to me now, because the kids love to ask him questions and find out more about him.

My dad has always been a story teller, and I was afraid that the stories would get lost after he is gone.  He isn't going anywhere for a while that I know of, at least I hope not, because I'm driving up tonight to go skiing with him.  I also love to see what he remembers about things that I was around for.  At Thanksgiving this year, my Mom was telling us about a year that they had venison and salmon at their house on the ranch.  I thought that sounded really good, so I asked Dad to bring down some venison at Christmas.  I told him where I had gotten the idea, and he said, "no, it was elk and chukkars."  He told me this story about my uncle shooting an elk that had been out with the cows on the ranch and he and a friend had spooked some chukkars and they cleaned them up and had a home grown dinner for Thanksgiving.  I had to laugh, because of course no one knows exactly what happened.  I think they settled on the elk, chukkars, and salmon, provided by aunt from Seattle.  Whatever the real story is, I enjoyed our salmon and venison dinner on my birthday this year.  The kids spent much of their time home reading my Dad's journal and laughing about the stories.  They even had a little argument over who gets the journal after I die.  Some things really are priceless.

This was actually a really simple and lovely Christmas.  Everyone was home from December 24-27.  We didn't do much but eat and hang out together.  My friend Keely out did herself and gave me a beautiful dutch oven.  My mom bought me a different style dutch oven that is blue.  The girls are also fighting over who will get those when I am gone.  I figure they will be well seasoned by then, and I will have to leave them some recipes to go with them.  It also gives me some good wedding gift ideas (not that we have any looming in the near future).  We spent a good chunk of change at Famous Footwear which had the employees telling me, "I'll see you tomorrow."  Funny story here.  Ben, the manager at Famous Footwear has been selling me shoes for 18 or so years now.  He knew I had a lot of kids, but had never seen all of them together.  The day after Christmas we all went to the mall to spend our gift money and take advantage of the sales.  We pretty much took over the store and were negotiating who would get the BOGO on the clearance shoes, when Ben came over and asked if we were LDS.  I laughed and said no, we just like big adventures.  He then told me about his family growing up and how much he loved being a part of a big family.  It was a really sweet conversation and made me very thankful for our small town and the percentage of people we are contributing to it.  Rick even got everyone to go for a short hike (not short enough for most of the kids, but they did it) and take a family picture.  They only complained a little bit, and did all cooperate without any yelling.  I got everything I had hoped for, and so much more.

I am thankful for:
30.  Awkward conversations, involving laughter and tears and real topics.
31.  Worship services, singing, praying, babies, bread and juice.
32.  Breakfast after church with my people.
33.  Fun movies with the kids (Jumanji was really entertaining!)
34.  Singing in the car with everyone laughing and dancing
35.  Popcorn
36.  Washers and Dryers, handwashing in a creek is a reality in too many places.
37.  Sibling conversations
38.  Community service projects that involve being outside and telling stories for hours
39.  Lunch with Art and the kids, always good food and good laughs
40.  Having Brook home for a few weeks, I miss her so much!

I Spy...

I spy, the sled that Grandma Sandi made for Soren in 2004.  I spy, the angel that Beach Grandma bought us in Santa Fe.  I spy the ornaments that were given to Madie when my Mom hosted an ornament party for her instead of a shower in 1994. I spy, the quilted ball that my childhood neighbor made for me when I had grown up and was starting my own family.  I spy, the cheerleader ornament that my brother gave me my senior year.  We went to different high schools and his school went to state (he was rubbing it in).  I spy the thistle ornament that Grandma Sandi made and put on all of our gifts several years ago.  I spy the ornament Madie made in cubbies when she was four.  I spy the ornament with our wedding picture in it, for our first Christmas together.

As I took the ornaments off of the tree today, I realized how much history they represent.  I realized that my children are growing up.  There are no more babies first Christmas ornaments being put on the tree.  There are fewer and fewer ornaments coming home from school, that the kids have made.  I do have several ice cream cones from kindergarten, only one has been nibbled on, which makes it even more memorable.  We all thought of Little Man when we hung it up.  I have many hand made ornaments, some from my kids, some from my nieces and nephews.  It is a very random assortment, but each one has a history.  It brought back many memories of Christmas's past.  My kids aren't little anymore, they have new interests.  Some of the ornaments with pictures, we aren't even sure which child it is, they look so much alike.  I'm not a very sentimental person, but putting all of these treasures away was getting to me.

I think I will make a point of finding ornaments that represent where my kids are each year.  I need to get a first Christmas ornament for Nesradine and Martha.  I need to find a runner for my big girls.  I need to find a guitar for Karsten.  It will be my quest for the year.  My Mom has been great about making sure the tree is full of beauty.  The first year we were married and living in Minnesota she sent me an ornament every day for the twelve days of Christmas.  It was really encouraging for me, and I loved it.  She has also brought back ornaments from her various travels.  I have Hawaiian ornaments, New Mexican ornaments, and many other points on the planet.  I have kept an ornament journal for the last 15 years or so.  I write down when I get a new ornament, and where it came from.  I am hoping that my kids will find it interesting someday when they inherit my very eclectic collection.  Maybe next year we will spend time while we are decorating, telling the story of the ornament as we give it it's own special place on the tree.

Home Again

We made it home between storms. We had clear, wet roads, and sunshine. We rolled in to a driveway that had 4 inches of wet, crusty, drifted snow. My dear husband is out trying to clear it out before it really freezes.

Today is my baby bro's birthday. Happy Birthday UB! We have this odd family tradition of traveling on both of our birthdays. We were always driving to grandma's on my birthday and returning on his. That must be why we don't really do big birthday parties, we were always in the car. That might also explain his love of convenience store food.

So the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, an Arby's meal and water to give to the tree.

The Second Day of Christmas

My true love gave to me a snow shovel, and six smiling shovelers.

And when they were finished they got to jump off the roof. This is what happens when Dad is in charge. The landing was good, but tough to dig out of. They shoveled the garden shed, the porch, half of the garage, the front walk and the driveway. We are expecting another foot of snow tomorrow. My Dad loves winter, and even he is looking for real estate in Arizona.

I've been making coffee and hot chocolate and organizing all of our gifts. I'm not sure how we are going to get it all back home. It will be a merry trip. We brought shovels with us, just in case we have to shovel as we drive home. I hear that it is sunny and 70 in Ethiopia.

Jesus Christ is Born

And because He is born, we buy each other loads of great gifts. We are digging out from under the pile of paper and snow. We got up at the very dark hour of 6:00. Apparently K-man was running around sometime before 4:00, but none of us were moving. We opened our stockings and then had breakfast. We didn't do cornflake sundaes, I'll work that in next year. It is now 1:00 and we are putting together castles, learning about ipods, making paper dolls, and blogging. Oh yeah, we are also shoveling, and plowing, and shoveling some more.

God is good, and for all these blessings I thank Him. I wish that N could be here this year, but I know that next year will be more glorious because God is perfect in His timing. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and Glory to God in the Highest.

Another Shopping Idea

The AHOPE store has been updated and stocked. Check it out for Christmas card ideas, cool sweatshirts, more jewelry. I just ordered hoodies for my kids, since the snow has started to flurry around here. My dear friends have put a lot of work into it, so please take a look.

Gift Ideas

If you are starting to think about Christmas gifts, and you know anyone who likes unusual jewelry, here is a thought. The folks at from HIV to Home have necklaces made by women in Uganda. They are lovely necklaces in various colors. You will be crossing one more thing off of your to do list, helping to provide work for women in Uganda, and helping from HIV to Home bring home children to forever families. It doesn't get much better than that.