LOOKS LIKE A WHITE CHRISTMAS

SNOW AND SNOW AND MORE SNOW.....IF YOU CHECKED OUT MY DAUGHTER'S BLOG AT http://www.thatsmerx.blogspot.com/ THEY JUST HAVE A TON OF SNOW IN SPOKANE WASHINGTON. WE HAVE SOME AND IT IS SO LOVELY. I WENT OUT TO GET THE PAPER THIS MORNING AND THE CRESCENT MOON WAS ABOVE OUR TREE AND LOOK SO LOVELY. TOO BAD YOU CAN'T SEE THE SNOW ON THE LIMBS

HERE IS THE VIEW OF OUR BACK YARD:

YES WE WILL HAVE A WHITE CHRISTMAS.I TOOK THE DAY OFF TO WORK ON GIFTS FOR MY CHILDREN. LOVE STAYING HOME ,ENJOY THE CHRISTMAS MUSIC AND WORKING ON PROJECTS.

I MUST TELL YOU OF MY DRAMA WITH OUR CHRISTMAS TREE. ABOUT 2 WEEKS AGO I WORKED ON DECORATING THE TREE. IT TOOK ME ALL DAY WITHOUT THE HELP OF MY CHILDREN. I AM EXTREMELY SPOILED WHEN MY KIDS OUR HOME THEY DO THE TREE. THIS YEAR I DID. IT TOOK ME 2 HOURS ALONE TO PUT ON THE LIGHTS (RALPH AND ANDREW WERE PUTTING LIGHTS OUT SIDE.) FINALLY AT 10:30 PM I WAS DONE AND WENT DOWNSTAIRS TO DO THE LAUNDRY. I HEARD A LOUD BOOM AND RALPH YELL YOU NEED TO COME UP HERE. I THOUGHT MAYBE HE FELL....RAN UPSTAIRS TO SEE ALL MY DAY LONG WORK HIT THE FLOOR...WATER AND ALL. RALPH THEN TOLD HOW IT FELL AND BEGAN TO LAUGH. I PROCLAIMED THIS WAS NOT FUNNY AND WANTED TO CRY. I JUST WANTED TO LEAVE IT ON THE GROUND!

I WENT OUTSIDE IN THE SHED AT 11 PM TO FIND A BETTER TREE STAND. IT TOOK RALPH AWHILE TO SET IT UP, HE HAS BAD KNEES SO IT WAS PRETTY PAINFUL FOR HIM. THEN THE TREE WAS STANDING AGAIN MINUS A FEW DECORATIONS AND MESSED UP LIGHTS. NOW THAT I LOOK ON IT, IT WAS PRETTY FUNNY BUT I WAS SO TIRED!

AFTER CHURCH THE NEXT DAY I CAME HOME TO DECORATE AGAIN. HERE IS THE RESULTS: PRETTY AWESOME WITH SNOW FLAKES HANGING FROM THE CEILING.

I MUST SAY THIS IS MUCH BETTER THAN MY FIRST DECOR JOB. MAY EVERYONE HAVE A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS AND REMEMBER WHY WE ARE CELEBRATING. GOD BLESS!

A TIME OF THANKS

I have been thinking a lot of gratitude these past couple weeks and just what I am grateful for. And here is my list:

Life itself!! The air I breathe. My eyes that see the glorious beauties around me. My mind, still active that can think and remember good times past. My healthy body and strength to enjoy work or play. My feelings of Gods great blessings upon me and Jesus Christ who sacrificed himself.

Our great country we live in and all those who have sacrificed themselves for our freedom and free agency. With our great country came the restoration of the gospel with prophets who build the Lords kingdom on earth.

I am ever grateful for my family! A wonderful husband, children, grandchildren and the spouses are the joy of my life. Grateful for other close family members in my childhood and present day that live far away but always in my heart. Love the opportunities of family reunions bring us closer. My heart smiles with the happy memories!

I am grateful for service given and service received and the feelings it brings.

For the sun that shines, rain that falls and even the storms that come. For the glorious moon and stars at night. For the seasons each one bringing such beauties to behold.

I am grateful for challenges and adversities that come our way. They build our faith in God and strengthen our character. It gives us hope after the storm that there is a God in heaven that loves us and is there for us! Grateful for the faith of others and examples they set for me.

Grateful for friends who share are happiness and sorrows and gives us a shoulder to lean on; and there for me.

Grateful for a living Prophet on earth and other leaders in our church who give us constant encouragement in these days of trials and tribulations. Gives us faith in ourselves. Hope of a better life when times get hard.

I am so grateful for so much and they can never all be listed. What I don't list I remember with fondness and it warms my heart. I just marvel at what my Heavenly Father has given me to enjoy! I hope everyone has the best ever this Thanksgiving...............love always Mom

Fall Foliage Train Trip

Last weekend, October 4Th, we went on a train ride of the Fall Foliage north of Elgin Oregon ( about 125 miles from home or 30 minutes from Enterprise Oregon). It was a birthday present for my husband. We left home at 7 a.m. and arrived 15 minutes to 10 a.m. before it departed. It became an adventure we will not forget.

The train wasn't quite what we expected and I am not sure what we expected but I guess a little more modern train. It was very old, you even could smell how musty and old it was. When the train started it only went 10 miles an hour.....very, very slow! And the car we sat in was swaying side to side, once in while I could smell the exhaust from the engine up about 5 cars. It also rattled from time to time as it went along, not the usual sounds a train makes. The seats were very old and not very comfortable but we were on a train ride.

It went up the mountain about 18 miles and stopped at Kimmel for 10 minutes so the train crew could have lunch. Nothing there but this sign!

Then we boarded again to go backwards back to the station. We then had lunch on the train. Ralph didn't like the choices: turkey sandwich or chicken salad. He took one bite of the sandwich ( which I must admit it wasn't good) and just ate the fruit and brownie. I loved my salad. We had some entertainment too,an 80 year old man played the guitar and a gal played the fiddle and a guy played the guitar. They were pretty good too. And we had the scenery and wild life to see. We saw some bald eagles on the river and a brown bear running alone the hill side. And to make it complete Ralph and I saw a very still Black Cow very close to the train on the bank.

All in all it was a lovely ride and great view..........but we were so glad to find a real bathroom at Safeway. And a hamburger for us at St Joseph town.

Blessed Are We

We were all surprised and thrilled with my son's wife blog regarding a new arrival. It will be number four. We didn't expect this event to happen again, she said after her third it was the last. The desire was to great and they wanted another one, even though she gets so sick and she gets so uncomfortable at the end. I have to admire her sacrifice and it is a sacrifice..you just feel so AWFUL! I know how she feels!!! I got so terribly sick with each one....6 live births and 4 miscarriages. One of those I was flat in bed for 3 months.

I admire women today who have courage to have children no matter what the consequences to them bring and in a world that makes a large family hard to support. God Bless you Erin. I will think of you everyday and hope your sickness goes away soon. It is amazing when that little one arrives it was all worth it!!

Love to all my children and grandchildren!!

LIFE AT 60 ISN'T BAD!

Turning 60 this year I was a bit fearful! I remember when I was 20 and thought of growing older, what I would be doing and it's so far away? Well here I am and sooner than I thought. Time has gone by so fast...I can't believe September is almost over. Now at 60 I've decided it is not too bad. Some things I like about it:

1. There are times I don't sleep well. I can go a good 5 hours of sound sleep maybe 6 if I am lucky. I will hit the sack at 9 or so and can be wide a wake at 3 or 4 am in the morning. I have decided to take advantage and do something fun.....sew, scrapbook or get ready for work early and shop at Walmart. I can even get in a good book before work.
2. It is ok to take a nap if you need to....just gives you more energy!
3. No commitments, except work. It doesn't matter when dinner is on the table, no time lines.
3. I love going a movie in the middle of the afternoon ..... oh yes, love to leave work early and just go to a movie all by myself and eat a tub of popcorn by myself!
3. Love to see the grandbabies. (It is hard to fit that in right now with overtime at work.)
4. Enjoy and appreciate the world around me so much more. I take time to really see the full moon on a late summer night or when I go to swimming at 5 in the morning. The sunrise can be breath taking. I just take more time to really SEE AND ENJOY the world around me.
5. My health it great for 60...I may not be able to run but I can swim laps!

There are things I don't like as I get older:
1. Can't open a jar!!! How frustrating is that. I can see me in the future just going to the neighbors to help open a jar of pickles.
2. My husband and I are loosing our minds, or forgetting where we put things. It was so funny one day he blamed me for taking an important paper off the table. I picked of the manila envelope and asked if he put it in there. He insisted he didn't. Couple days later he found it in the envelope. I keep telling him we have to have patience with one another and our memories just not there all the time. (It gives us a great laugh later)
3. We move at a much slower pace. Can't have a race with the grandkids.
4. I guess the hardest thing to face, my hands just don't work like they use to do and that frusterates me.
5. Have to watch what I eat all the time.
6. Can't see as well...always looking for my glasses to see that fine print. Some day I will miss something important because didn't read the fine print.

Yes life is so different when the kids were home and there are times I remember when....but I am slowly liking this new period of FREEDOM AND AWARENESS. (now where did I put my glasses?)

HUSBAND IS ON A ROLL!!!

Now the yard is all planted with grass and growing great! My husband decided to work on this deck, around half of our home. When we first moved into this house he mentioned he wanted a deck off our bedroom with a hot tub. (I thought ya right!! He talks a lot and takes forever, hum, like the bathrooms are still in the remodeling job going on 6 years...he says only 4!?!? , no 6 but we do have at least a shower to show for part of the remodel job.)

Anyway, he is on a roll now building this deck and I am impressed! He had starting buying materials since last year, I thought I'd die when he came home with a huge load of TeX deck flooring on sale at Home Depot....it was in a pile under tarp all Winter and Spring. Then this last Spring he got more supplies and I kissed the remodeled bathroom good by for another season. Two piles of lumber sat in our driveway all Winter and Spring wondering if it would happen.

Then Labor Day weekend was the being of the deck. My daughter and her husband came from Spokane for the event, as well as my son and his wife who live in town. It took us most of Saturday to mark the spots for the post, and the kids dug it with a machine called an Alger. It took 11-12 inch holes to dig....the kids liked the experience. We also did some of the frame work onto the house for the deck.

Yesterday our Daughter Denise came from Boise to help us pour the cement into the holes and put the braces for the posts in the holes. We had to work very quickly before the cement dried. This is a big project and it will be a hugh deck sitting 12 feet from our house. It will be really nice when it is done! And lots of hard work!
It is really happening!!

LOVE THOSE VISITORS

Take a look at this:

Isn't this great fun!!! My son and his wife took a walk with the twins to our home and we gave them a great treat... yogurt popsicles. That is the best part of being grandparents you can do what you want and give them back all messy!!! (Our son didn't like that very much.) They are just the cutest and we love when they visit!