Holiday reflections....

This year will be one without either of our children with us. I would be lying if I said that I'm not just a "bit" sad about that, but unfortunately, we can't have everything we wish for.

Since we can't be with family, we will spend Christmas with some of our church family. Our friends, Robin & Steve, will grace us with their presence on Christmas day - along with their daughter, Leah and her fiance Tom. I know we will have a wonderful time!!! We are all pumped up about the prime rib, cheesy potatoes, corn casserole, rolls, fruit salad, and pies on the menu. We should all be comatose by about 6:00!!!

At this time of year I often get maudlin about things. Tears spring easily to my eyes and my heart seems to be full all the time. This is not necessarily a bad thing. During the holidays is when I miss my parents the most, and other family members that I don't often see. I hope they know how much I love and miss them.

I also spend time thinking of the vast store of blessings that I have received. God has blessed my life "above all that I could ask or think" (Eph. 3:20 - my paraphrase). He has given me a wonderful husband in which I have placed all my trust for almost 32 years - and he has never dissapointed. I've been blessed with two daughters that have brought me more joy than they could ever know. He has blessed me with two sons-in-law whom I love like they were my own. He has given me a healthy, happy, intelligent granddaughter. He has given me an extended family whom I sincerely love. And if that wasn't enough, He has given me a church family that spans the globe and in whom I delight.

Please take time during this holiday season to thank God for all you have been given. My prayer for the new year is for peace on earth, for our troops to be able to come home to their families, and a return to the basic faith on which our country was founded. May God bless each of you during the holidays in throughout the new year.

Giving Thanks....

We spent Thanksgiving weekend with Alyson, Jim & Lily. It was a great time of food, fun, and fellowship. Alyson provided us with wonderful - no surprise to anyone who knows her - and Lily provided us with lots of entertainment. Jim and Bruce accomplished a couple of projects around the house and Gramby got to veg out and play with Lily.
Here is a picture of the "spread" from which we obtained our "spread"!!!

Here's Bruce helping out with the housework. We took down Thanksgiving and put up Christmas.

Here I am chilling with Lily. She loves to play with her daddy's "toys".

As I end this blog about Thanksgiving, I want to leave you with this quote....

Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day. ~Robert Caspar Lintner

Temper Trap Bandwagon....

Below is an excerpt from the ARIA Awards web site regarding the awards ceremony in Australia this Thursday night.

"Yet another new local act currently causing big waves overseas is Melbourne alt-rockers The Temper Trap. Following on from a month-long sold-out headlining tour around the UK, the group saw its single “Sweet Disposition”, originally released a year ago, climb to number six on the British singles chart. The Temper Trap have received four nominations for this ARIAs, and will perform live at the ceremony alongside Empire of the Sun, Keith Urban, Hilltop Hoods, Jessica Mauboy, Empire Of The Sun, Ladyhawke, Sarah Blasko, Lisa Mitchell, Kate Miller-Heidke and international guest, Robbie Williams."

One of the members of The Temper Trap is married to my neice. We are so excited for them and wish them all the best!!!

Funny Story Friday...

Inspired by my daughter, I am doing a "funny" story today.

When we lived in Green River, Wyoming, we decided to purchase a new van. I did all the homework on what we wanted, what options, etc., and we decided on a Plymouth Voyager. We knew the price we were looking for - we had done quite a bit of shopping around.

We got a price from Salt Lake City - a bigger city with more choices, but wanted to see what our local dealer could do for us. I went in and spoke with a salesman, told him what I wanted, etc. He quoted me a price that was only $300 higher than that of SLC, so we decided to "buy local".

I sat down with the salesman, filled out all the forms to order the vehicle (they didn't have one on the lot). I chose all the options I wanted, color, etc. I asked him how long it would be before delivery. He told me 3 weeks. Great! Everything was all set.

When we were about 2 weeks out from delivery, we decided to put our old van up for sale. It sold in about a week, so we needed another vehicle. Since Shyla was close to driving age, we bought a little Cadillac Cimmaron as an interim car.

Another week went by and I called the dealer to ask about the delivery date. The salesman said to me,"I didn't put the order in. You didn't have your HUSBAND come in to verify the order."

Now if you have ever seen me upset, multiply that by about 1,000 times. I could not believe the gall of this man. For one, he never told me I had to have my husband confirm the order, and secondly, what if I didn't have a husband????? He had done all of the credit checks, so he knew we were good for the money. I was so appalled, I was beyond words.

He back pedaled and said he might be able to get us what we want from another area dealer. After a bit he called back and said he had found EXACTLY what I had ordered - except it was a different color, didn't have the CD player, and, oh yeah, you would have to pay extra for the upgraded hub caps. But it was EXACTLY what I had ordered!!!

I told him to forget it. I would buy my vehicle somewhere else, and would tell all my friends about this experience as well. He was totally unconcerned!!

We ended up buying our van from a place in Idaho, and it was a great deal.

The moral to the story??? Male chauvinism is alive and well - at least in Rock Springs, Wyoming.

The visitors.....

This weekend we have been blessed to have Alyson, Jim & Lily come for an extended weekend. I has been a joy to have them here. The weather has cooperated also, which is unusual in November.

They arrived late in the evening on Friday night. On Saturday, we went to the zoo.

Here is Lily feeding a peacock.



Lily was a little apprehensive about the huge horses. She eventually warmed up, sort of, to the smaller of the two.



Zoo Montana isn't large, by any definition, but we did have a good time. Lily did get a good look at the Siberian Tiger.



Lily did very well in Bible class on Sunday. Her teachers could tell that she was used to attending Bible classes.

On Monday, we were lazy around the house. Lily loves to play. She played with some kitchen utensils I bought for her that were just her size. She transferred lima beans from one bowl to the other for about an hour.



I caught a little video of Lily sitting at the table reading the Reader's Digest. She is quite a good "reader". It was fun watching her "read".



Geezer set about mowing the lawn in the afternoon and Lily wanted to help.



Monday night, Jim and Alyson went on a date to celebrate Jim's recent promotion. Geezer and Ga Ga got to babysit. We started out trying to feed Lily the leftovers mom suggested. You can see the results for yourself. It was a stand off.


Geezer and I had pizza for dinner and Lily shared with us. She likes pizza much better than leftover veggies and pasta.

Today we went to Riverside Park to feed the ducks and geese. Ga Ga's only mistake was not taking enough bread. Lily had SO MUCH FUN feeding the birds, and she was extremely upset when we had to leave.



The visit is coming to a close, as all good things must. They are heading home tomorrow and we will just have to content ourselves with webcam visits for a while.

Truly blessed...

At times in your life you have the wonderful serendipitous moments and you should sit up and take notice. Today I had one of those. I have always known how intelligent and wonderful my daughters are, but it hit me today that they have grown into tremendous women.

I'll brag for a while...

My oldest daughter, Shyla, graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree and immediately was hired. She worked for about 4 years then had an epiphany that she wanted to attend Law school. With the support of her terrific husband, she quit her job and undertook the arduous task of law school. She excelled!!! When she graduated, earlier this year, she was ranked #6 in a class of 170. Soon thereafter, she took the bar and passed on the first try. YEAH!! Now she is employed by a major oil company. Not only that, but she is a wonderful, giving Christian woman.

My youngest daughter, Alyson, graduated with a Bachelors degree in Biology/Pre-Med. After graduation, she taught school for a year. Due to her husband's master's program, they moved and she worked as a biologist in a lab. After she gave birth to the most wonderful, terrific, beautiful, intelligent, entertaining, photographed, granddaughter in the world, she has chosen to be a stay at home mom - the very best profession in the world!!! Her present job has her raising a child in the Lord, and serving in her congregation in a multitude of ways.

What more could a person ask for????? Two wonderful daughters, two exceptional sons-in-law, the best granddaughter in the world, the most supportive and loving husband anyone could ever want, health, great friends, a wonderful church family, etc.

I am truly and wonderfully blessed.

Youth Rally...

This past weekend we hosted the Fall statewide Youth Rally here in Billings. We had about 50-70 kids and chaperones attend. I didn't attend all of the lessons, but the ones I did attend were great!! I hope all of the kids who were here were Transformed (the theme). We used Romans 12:1-2 as our text.

The weather cooperated, which was wonderful because part of the Rally is devoted to service projects. We divide the kids up and they go to different agencies and volunteer their labor for a couple of hours. Hopefully it inspires them to volunteer in other areas of their lives.

In keeping with the theme of service, here's my quote for the day...

"Service is not what you do for others, it is what God does through you."