Christmas Memories

As the Christmas season is about to end all we are left with are pictures and memories. I would like to share some of them with you, the memories that is. I have yet to learn how to put pictures onto this blog.

On Christmas Eve I took Ethan to his first church service. It was the Children's Mass at my parent's parish. I actually love this Mass and go every year. I love watching the children, and I love the music. Ethan was extremely well behaved. He is very curious and takes all the sights and sounds in. He watched everything and everyone. He stayed in my arms almost the whole time. There was this cute little girl just a couple of weeks younger than Ethan. She was staring at him and cooing. She kept trying to get his attention. She eventually did. He watched her for a few minutes. She was smiling he was very serious. Then he turned his head and his attention went to other faces and people. As my mother and I watched this scene we giggled. Then came the icing on the cake. I got to bring my grandson to the alter to have him blessed. It was a privilege and an honor to be the first to introduce him to God and bring him for his first blessing. I hope I will have many such occasions in the future. I was told in the past that Jesus must have been around 8 or 9 months old when the wise men came to him bearing gifts. Seeing how Ethan was with others makes me think of how Jesus may have been when the Wise Men came. How he would have looked at them and cooed and giggled.

I mentioned in that past that Ethan tried to talk and have conversations. This has temporarily stopped. I was told because he is teething. He has two tiny pearly whites on the bottom gum. He does love to be held and it is so wonderful to see him look at me with adoring eyes. He doesn't seem to have much trouble being passed around from one person to another in the family and when he is in a good mood he sometimes goes to the friends.

As far as opening presents, he doesn't have that quite down yet but he does love paper. It was fun to watch him tear it up :). All in all we all enjoyed the wonderful week together. I can honestly say I really miss my little guy and I miss his parents too. My other son and daughter-in-law will return to their home tomorrow. I will miss them both very much but I look forward to meeting the child they are to have in June. I am lucky my daughter is still with me for another couple of weeks.

The Best Christmas Ever

The time has finally come! Christmas is here and the house is filled with family. But the Christmas treat is having my grandson here. We had another wonderful experience today. We were blessed to see a live ultrasound of our new unborn baby. My other daughter in law is pregnant now. She is at 14 weeks yesterday. We took my mom with us. She had never seen anything like that. The new little one was very active.

The meeting between my mother and Ethan was a very emotional moment. No not for Ethan but for my mom. She started to tear up. As I sit here and write this, she is in the living room having a blast with that little stinker. Let me tell you how spoiled he is. He will not eat store bought apple sauce in a jar. It must be freshly made. Guess what his mom is doing right now? lol

Ethan is a riot. He still can't crawl but he gets around with an army crawl. Let me tell you his crawl is pretty fast too. He is so enjoying the attention. There are 9 adults in this house at his beck and call and we all enjoy playing with him. He laughs more now than he used too. I just love sitting around watching him and of course holding him and hugging him and kissing him. I guess the greatest thing of all is that he will come to me. He recognized me right away.

There will be more coming up as the days go on.

Christmas time with a baby in the house.

Christmas is almost here.

Again I don't know where this is going tonight but I felt I had to write. I went to Mass tonight, Yes, I worship in the Catholic Church, and the deacon gave the "sermon" or whatever they call it now. I found it very interesting because I felt he was right on as to what I have been feeling all week. This is the first Christmas in years where I have felt an unbelievable amount of joy and peace. You might say that I basically have it all, I have much to be thankful for. I have a wonderful family a grandson a grand baby on the way, my husband and kids are employed, I don't have to go out and work, a warm house etc. I am extremely grateful to God for providing all these things to me but it has been more than that. Since Advent began I have actually felt Christ's presence. You have to understand that I don't feel that often and every Christmas for quite a few years I have not felt that at all. I honestly don't know what has changed unless it is me. I know I won't always feel this way but I am enjoying this feeling at the moment. The deacon told us that Jesus is the reason for the joy. I have been studying a section of the psalms this year and they have made it very very clear that God is truly with us always, that he cares about everything we do, that he protects us and watches over us. What is different is that I am truly trying to take this to heart especially the Trust in Him statement. I have become frazzled several times in the past couple of weeks but I have told Him that I trust him and have truly tried to do that and I guess he honored that by filling me with joy. This is not the joy of excitement for Christmas though I am because I am expecting all the kids to come, but a peace that surpasses all understanding. As the deacon told us Joy begins with the letter J as does Jesus. Jesus and joy go together. I liked that.

I have also found a peace in having everything finished early though in the past everything was still done early and yet there was no joy. I have found great joy in going to church on Sunday. That too doesn't always happen. I want to thank my God for this joy and hope that he will give me this peace even as the house settles down and the children leave.

I sit in front of the tree in the evening and look at the manger. I think of my grandson as being the age of when the wise men probably found Jesus. I have been told that it took them several months from the moment they saw the star till the day they found him. I have had time to meditate on the shepherds that saw the star and went to that manger and saw the baby. I have thought about being one of the shepherds and how cool would that be to see that star and find a baby. If I found that baby what would I say? What would I do?

On that note, I say goodnight. More will come as the family arrives. I believe that this is meant to be a very special Christmas that will be unique. No other Christmas in this family will ever be the same with the same joy and peace as this one. Thank you Lord for this special gift.

Grandchildren What A Blessing!

As I was waiting to fall asleep last night, I was thinking about writing in the blog today. I had the most joyous encounter (if that is possible with a 7 month old over the internet) with my grandson. I wanted to write it down because I then print this blog and will show it to my little one when he gets older. I want to treasure and remember all these special memories of him. Last night I saw him again on internet video. He turned 7 months yesterday. So I started to sing him Happy Birthday and he looked up at me on the computer and started to sing too. Oh my gosh how cute is that? Let me tell you it made my entire day. I couldn't stop smiling the whole evening.

I know I told you that Ethan means strong and he is mentioned in the Bible in 1 Chronicals 15:17,19. But what I didn't realize till a few day ago, when my other son happened to mention it, was that Ethan was also a musician (percussionist) in King David's band. He wrote Psalm 89. It talks about the reign of David and the great things God has done. It praises God. It is interesting that God showed me this before I heard my little grandson sing. It warms my heart

even more.

At the present time I am studying the Psalms of the Assent. I just finished Psalm 127. It talks about the joy of children and what a blessing they are from God. Vs. 3 Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. I have been blessed with three and the greatest blessing of all is the frosting on the cake, the grandchild.

Let Me Tell You About My Grandson 3

It isn't easy being a long distance grandmother. The trip from Utah to New York is very long. Flying isn't as much fun as it used to be. But it's all worthwhile when you have a smiling little face at the other end.

Ethan is getting cuter by the day. He has quite a personality. He is 6 months old now and he knows he is boss. He knows how to manipulate and he not only has his mother but also his dad wrapped around his little hand. He doesn't have to cry for very long to have someone run to his side to pick him up. I confess I did the same thing while I was there. He is very loved and he has two great parents and he knows it and knows how to take advantage of that. Babies learn fast!

He hates wearing clothes, (what baby does after all there was no such thing as clothes in the womb) and his favorite time of day is bath time. That comes in the evening before bed. As soon as he is in his little tub he will kick his feet and splash all over the place. He is fun to watch. He doesn't like his face washed.

He is starting to eat solid foods and he loves his applesauce. He also eats sweet potatoes and while he was there he tasted grapes from his aunt and his naughty grandmother (that would be me) put a little vanilla ice cream on her finger and he liked that too. He was going to start pears after I left.

He rolls over by himself now but he does not crawl yet. He can sit up but hates being on his belly. So he will sit starting at the toy in the distance. He will try to reach for it but not far enough that he will fall over on his belly. If he is put on his belly he will do his best to roll over. On the other hand he wants to walk! If you stand him up he is all excited and can almost stand up by himself. He can sit in his big round bouncy chair and bounce up and down for hours. This chair has music. When the music flips on he will bounce to the music like he is dancing. In fact, I think he will be a good dancer when he grows up. But best of all I love his conversations. He will look you straight in the eyes and start babbling. Of course the only two distinguishable sounds are ma and da but he is having a conversation. From time to time he will stop and if you respond he will continue talking. I just so enjoyed listening to him from the moment I got there till the moment I left. All these things will remain in my heart. I look forward to Christmas where I will see them all again.

Changing the subject I did have an interesting time on the plane. They now have internet. It is not fast enough to play computer games but certainly enough to surf the web and I chat with friends. I was able to have a free taste of this on the way to New York and it was really fun. I hung out on my computer till the battery ran out.

Quilts Quilts and More Quilts

There have been books (other than how to...) written about quilts. I have never read any of them but I think I am beginning to understand why it makes me think so much about my life. Maybe God inspired women to make quilts so he could teach us things. This past year I have put together 4 quilts I think. I wrote about one of them in a previous blog. My best quilt was the one I made for my grandson. It is the most beautiful piece of work I think I have ever created. I felt so incredibly satisfied with it that I kept thanking God for the inspiration, the equipment etc.

But it is the quilt I just finished that made me think the most. This quilt was quite a learning experience. It is by no means a perfect quilt. I am not a perfectionist and will never be. This quilt was a kit as most of my quilts are (other than the baby quilt). Though it is a square, it is built on the diagonal instead of straight up and down. So you build from the corner down. It makes sewing it a bit more difficult because it has a way of stretching out of place. The top came out pretty nice considering I didn't use a walking foot, like I should have. I didn't want to just leave the top plain. I wanted to embroider this quilt. I decided it was too big to machine quilt it by hand so I found a lovely machine embroidery that would fit in the square. I must say it was quite a challenge to center the three layers in the embroidery hoop to machine embroider it. There are 69 squares in this quilt. Anyway, many of the squares are not centered perfectly. Then I picked another pattern for the rectangles. Again not all of them are centered either. To make a long story short, the short sashing is bunched up with the little string of embroidery and the large sashing has a most beautiful design but isn't perfect either. Yet, I would look at the quilt from afar and think it was pretty cool and as a whole not bad, actually pretty. I then thought about myself. I am like that quilt. I have so very many flaws. I am just like that quilt, bunched up in some areas and definitely not always aligned in God's will. There is so much for me to improve on and still learn. Yet, God looks at this quilt that is me. He sees the flaws but he looks at the big picture. He sees the quilt as though it was perfect and he loves me anyway. He loves me like the person who will receive will love it because that special person will know how hard I worked on it and how much love and passion and frustration went into making it.

Breckenridge

We are now on the second part of our vacation. I am presently in a room full of people so let me see if I can actually write this in a coherent way. My husband arrived in Denver on Sat. morning. He had been visiting his family in Ohio. We left Sat afternoon to here to Breckenridge. The only disadvantage I see here is lack of consistent internet but other than that this is a lovely place and we are all having a great time. We are in a three bedroom condominium walking distance from town. I have yet done much looking around in town because we have been so busy doing other things.

I think I mentioned I have a bucket list. Yesterday, I was able to cross one item off of it. We all went White Water Rafting. We took a beginners trip and had a really good time. We learned the basics and were out for about an hour and half at the most. We wore wet suits, jackets, helmets and a life vest. It was quite cool and the water was freezing. Now if they could just figure out a way to warm the water........

Today's activity was a bicycle ride. Our tour so to speak started near Vail. We picked our bikes and the company drove us to the top of the trail. We rode down. They made it sound as though there was no exercise involved, but it turned out that once we passed the town of Copper Canyon it was relatively flat. We actually had to do some work with the pedals. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. We stopped in a couple of places and took pictures. When I was a young girl I loved riding bicycles and I kept remembering those times. I feel a sense of freedom as I ride alone with the breeze on my face. The weather today was perfect and so was the day.

Tomorrow the outlet malls? lol

4th of July

Our vacation this year consists of coming to Denver to visit my son and daughter-in-law.  I must say Denver is much nicer a place than New York.  It is a beautiful, clean city.  Though the weather these days is rainy the temperature is comfortable and my daughter and I are having a great time.

Today was particularly fun.   We went to the arts fair.  You have to understand that the week prior my daughter, her friend and I went to the arts festival in Salt Lake City.  Though it had improved much from about 10 years ago when I went last, Denver's art festival was much more fun.   It was much bigger with more of a variety of artists.  I was particularly intrigued with one booth.  The artist at this both created small quilts and purses.  They were made of applique but different from the usual applique.  She used a different technique which is difficult to explain.  My understanding is that she laid all the pieces down and sewed it all together with free hand embroidery.  But it looked different than any applique I had seen before.  I was intrigued.

We spent some time at the mall where I bought I Life for my computer had delicious barbecue for dinner and went off to the fire works display. 

I love color.  I love bright bold mixtures of color and light.  Seeing fire works live is one of my favorite things to do.  We were right up there close and personal.  There was fun music in the background.  Fireworks make me feel like a little girl again.  Watching them reaches into my heart and sole like nothing else does.  Fireworks with fun music is an incredible experience for me and I had forgotten how much I enjoy it.  I tried to capture it in pictures and on video.  I love my new I phone.  The video I took with it I though was impressive.  The kids will have to teach me how to post it on Facebook.  All in all this was an absolutely wonderful day.  

Nature Around Us

Good morning all.  Another beautiful sunny day.  Spring is over and summer has slowly crept in. This is the time that goes by quickly.  The next two months will fly by and then the rush and struggle of the Christmas season will be upon us once more.  I have a lot to say about the Christmas season but I will leave that for future discussion at another time.

Summer comes complete with lots of action.  As I look out the window these days I see some very happy flower plants.  That would not be the roses and lilies that have been clobbered by the deer lol , but the peonies and other flowers that the deer don't enjoy munching in.  There are two Grouse (they are big black and blue birds that have a horrible screachy sound ) and a couple of little squirrels clobbering the cherries on my cherry tree.  Outside my bedroom window there is a nesting Robin.  The robin is definitely my favorite.  She sits there all day long.  From time to time she will leave the nest but for very very short spurts.  I have wondered what she thinks about all day.  Sometimes I see her get up and look inside the nest.  Probably checking to see if her little eggs are ok.  Then it looks like she moves them around with her beak.  Watching her take such good care of her little ones fills me with joy.  God often talks about how He takes care of his creation.

Speaking of creation I miss my little grandson.  My daughter-in-law had to go back to work. My heart goes out to her.  I know how difficult it is to leave little Ethan all day long.  God created us to take care of, watch over and protect our young ones like that little robin in the nest.  But I also know that God will be watching over and protecting the lovely lady to who taking care of him and Ethan will always be happy to see his mom when she gets home.  I was able to see Ethan on internet yesterday.  He has grown so much since I last saw him.  You should see how he holds his head up by himself now.  I haven't seen him laugh yet but I know he smiled at me. He looks directly at the computer screen now. 

On that note I encourage you to take the time and smell the roses if the deer hasn't gotten to them yet lol and when you do think about the great beauty God has created for us.

Let Me Tell You About My Grandson! Part 3

My time is almost over and I will be leaving for the airport soon.  Sigh I will miss being here though it is good to get home.  I must admit that I miss my sewing machine, but not that much. lol

I have some more things to share about Ethan.  I honestly don't remember if I wrote any of this already and I don't have time to look back and read what I have already written since it is almost time to leave but here goes.  

Ethan loves his swing.  His swing has a little mobile with rainforest animals the circle around his head.  He loves sitting there watching them but only for a limited amount of time.  I think he gets bored after awhile but who can blame him.  He is very very smart and moving animals have got to get boring after a while.  He has learned to drop his binky when he wants attention.  We are sure he drops it on purpose because then he cries and we put it back in his mouth and that is attention.  He will repeat this over and over again till he has permanent attention ie being held lol.  Told you he was intelligent!  Oh he loves lying in mommy and daddy's bed.  He always stops crying when they put him there.

You should see him on his belly.  He is starting to lift his head up.  He has really strong legs and with his legs he can inch himself forward.  He still needs to strengthen his arms.  He does get frustrated after about 15 minutes.  Oh and did I tell you he loves to dance.  I will pick him up and start to dance with him in my arms and he loves that.  He is so quiet and happy when I do that.  The best part he loves to have my nose touch his.  When I do that he gets a big smile and makes gurgling noises.  Yesterday he was staring at a stuffed bear and was making gurgling noses at it too.  See I told you we have conversations.  He is also starting to like it when I kiss his belly.  

The poor little guy has lots of gassy problems so his tummy hurts a lot.  When he really cries hard and pushes his little legs into a curl you know he is hurting.  He will be a great soccer playing someday.  I told you he has strong legs.  He can't keep socks on.  He will kick them off in minutes.  I didn't think that was possible.  I had to see it with my own eyes.  Also I watched him grow.  I am sure that he gained a wee bit of weight and grew a tiny bit while I was here.  He definitely looks bigger today than he did 4 days ago.

That is all I can think of for now.  I will be leaving shortly right back to my routine.  Luckily I will have the joy of visiting my other son and daughter in law shortly.  I am very very blessed to have such a wonderful family.

Let Me Tell You About My Grandson! Part 2

I will make these short and sweet because there are many distractions in my son's apt.  Right now there are two grandmas her me and the maternal grandmother.  She loves to cook and she is a fabulous cook.  Not my thing better her than me I must say.  She comes over and cooks for the kids often.  She will cook then food for the whole week.  Me I could fill their home with quilts if they asked.  Not as useful, I understand but it is what I enjoy.  I honestly wish I enjoyed spending an entire day in the kitchen but it would drive me nuts!

Ethan loves to dance.  I love to dance too so we have something in common.  When I dance with him in my arms he just leans on my shoulder totally content.  He loves to have his nose tweaked.

When you touch his little nose he smiles.  He loves his vibrating bouncy chair and his swing. He also loves going out.  He falls asleep in the car and stroller with no problem.

Ethan and I have had several interesting conversations.  He has communicated to me that his stomach cramps really bother him after he eats.  He tells me he loves me just by the expression in his eyes.  I have started teaching him how to say his prayers and started teaching him about the 5 piggys.  You know you the one that went to market and the one that stayed home....

He doesn't quite understand that so he doesn't smile at that yet.  He has told me how cool his hands are and how he loves putting them in his mouth when they are free.  He told me it hurts to scratch himself but he can't control his hands enough not too.  It really frustrates him that he can't communicate his needs and thoughts to us properly yet.  I told him not to worry that we will be patient with him and that in time he will be able to.  I have told him about all the exciting things we will do together when he gets bigger.  I told him about the zoo and the children's museum.  I started to tell him about how Jesus loves him and how as time goes on I will teach him all about Jesus.  I told him about all the great books I have at my house that we will read together when he comes over.  He told me how much he loves to sleep in my arms.  

I told him how lucky he was to have wonderful, loving parents and how I will always be there for him if and when he needs.

I must say that I had forgotten how difficult infants are.  I am glad I have raised my kids.  Being a grandmother is truly wonderful.  We can hold those little ones, play with them care for them but in the end they go home to their parents lol.  I often thing how wonderful it would be to be young again but honestly when I think about it long enough I realize I am glad I am just where I am in life and except for going back temporarily to change a few minor details in my life I am happy where I am.

Maybe this wasn't so short after all lol..........

Let Me Tell You About My Grandson!

Finally, I made the trip to meet my grandson Ethan.  I decided to make the trip when I received some pictures from my son in Denver.  It showed Ethan taking a bath.  The expression on Ethan's face looked just like his father when he was a baby.  I made reservations to New York within a few days of that picture.  The two weeks waiting for the trip seemed like forever.  I can honestly say that time can actually go by slowly even at my age.

The day finally came so here I am.  It didn't take him long to get to know his grandmother.  He learned quickly that she is sucker.  Ethan loves to be held.  When he is awake he stares at things and studies them.  He is starting to smile and he loves baths.  I think that is when I usually see him smile.  This evening I babysat and I put him on his belly for awhile.  That mat has a picture of an alligator on it.  He kept looking at the alligator.  Then there was a mirror next to the mat. He would stare at his image and smile.  It was so very cute.  I think I will save the rest for another day.  I am so tired tonight I can't keep my eyes open.  I pretty much held Ethan the whole evening and I must say there is nothing sweeter than holding a sleeping baby in your arms.  

Joy

Good morning to all on this bright sunny morning.  My house except for the closet are ready for summer.   The sprinkler is on, the air conditioner has been checked, the lawn fertilized and spring cleanup outdoors complete. Wish I could say I did it all but no I did none of it.  I am still waiting on the closet because I know that as soon as I pull out the summer clothes it will snow again.  Salt Lake weather is very unpredictable.  We have had snow in June.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon in my sewing room.  I think I mentioned my new sewing machine at some point in the blog.  A few weeks ago I finally attempted to embroider with it.  To my great disappointment it failed miserably.  I took it back to the store and spent about three hours there.  Not only did they give me a long private lesson and taught me a couple of new tricks, but also checked the machine.  It turns out that the bobbin case designed for the machine is slightly defective.  They had to adjust it so the embroidery would work again. I might have to readjust it to do regular sewing. There is a new bobbin case to replace the old one on back order.  Who knows when it will show up, but at least my machine works now.  So yesterday I decided to attempt another design.  I bought designs that when finished and put together create a children's book.  I started with the elephant.  This design also has a little bit of machine applique.  I even used fabric that wasn't the best so if I messed up I wouldn't feel like a total failure, but if it worked out I could use it.  To my great surprise and joy it worked perfectly!  I was so very very excited. I was so excited I couldn't even contain myself.  When my machine works it works so beautifully it is unbelievable.  On top of that I sewed another row onto my quilt.  I had a real sense of accomplishment.  I thought about joy yesterday.  The joy I experienced was short lived as all temporary and artificial highs are.  The true joy,  the one that lasts is the result of loving God.  Only through Him can true happiness occur.  Only when I am right with Him do I have that constant feeling of contentment.  It is a different kind of joy.  It is more a joy that comes from peace in knowing I am right with Him.

The Deer and the Dear

The title of this blog will have to wait as I really don't quite know where I am going with it this morning.  I don't write often because I have to feel inspired to write.  That usually happens when I am on vacation.  It is difficult for me to write in my natural habitat because life is so routine and as a Household Manager (Homemaker) life because a bit boring and it is difficult to see outside the box.  

Outside the box at this moment there is a cherry tree in full bloom and many flowering plants trying desperately to grow.  There are the lilies and roses among others trying to make their way to the surface.  But there is danger lurking all around.  The danger is the deadly deer.  I know you will want to laugh at this but trust me my roses and my lilies are not laughing at this time.  I hear their cry of terror when the deer come out.  Yes you think those sweet delicate looking animals with those cute ears and those big eyes are really innocent, but they are not.  They sneak into the unsuspecting yard.  They look around and they find their feast.  They go over to it and destroy it.  They eat the poor innocent new buds of the flowers that have just come up.   Then they see me in the house.  They know I am there and they stare.  I know what they are thinking.  They are daring me to come outside.  I go outside.  They continue to stare me down.  I am only a few feet from them and they continue to stare.  The look is not innocent.

They know what they have done and they know I don't like it.  Then they turn around and run out of the yard.  Yesterday, my husband saw a baby buck just sitting outside on our grass.  He looked so sweet and innocent.  My husband wouldn't let me go outside to scare him away.

Last week I saw a dead deer on the side of the road.  He was hit by a car.  Well one down and don't know how many more to go.  

On the exciting part of my life there is my little Ethan.  He is three weeks old now and getting cuter every day.  My son has been good to me.  Several times a week he calls me on I Chat and shows the baby to me.  I actually saw him with his eyes open a couple of times now.  Last night he didn't want to keep his little gloves on.  Who can blame him.  I would want to see what my hands look like too and of course there is the thumb.  He probably wants to suck on his thumb.

He managed to remove one of his mittens but he daddy put it right back on him and he began to cry.  Can you imagine how frustrating it must for that little one.  The reasoning for the glove is to keep him from scratching his face.  I love the way my son cares for his son.  I know they are both such good parents but it is fun to watch my own child be a parent.  I am so proud of him.  I only wish I had known how to appreciate child development when I had them right near me.  But God is now allowing me to see and appreciate the miracle of growth behind the scenes.

I must say that if I stand back and take time to smell the roses (when they are there) I am in awe of God's creation.  He is so good to us and through His creation He is reminding us how much He loves us.  Both the deer and our dear loved ones are to be loved no matter what they do because Jesus loved us first.

Spring is here or is it?

The calendar says it is spring but mother nature does not seem to agree.  As always, in Salt Lake City she seems to want to delay it.  I have seen the crocus try to show off their beautiful flowers only to be crushed by the incessant snow.  On a bright sunny day when the temperature attempts to peak above 55 F, I have heard the birds congregate on one or two trees chirping their hearts out, only to be silenced the next day by another storm.  I too know how it feels to go out one day and feel the warmth of the sunshine only to wake up to a road covered in snow the next.  Sigh.  I believe that this year we may go from winter to summer in a week.  Maybe that will happen in May or June or possibly even July.  But luckily this spring the sun is coming from a different place.

Yes, let me tell you about Ethan.  If you don't want to hear my baby stories time to leave this blog now lol!  The more I see him the more I love him.  They say that grandchildren and grandparents have a special bond, a special understanding.  I believe it.  My grandmothers and I did.  My grandmothers cooked better than my parents.  My grandmothers gave me toys and chocolate Easter eggs.  My grandmothers defended me when I got blamed for stuff.  Yes and what happens and grandma's stays at grandmas just as the saying goes.  I also see that bond between my children and my parents and my children and my mother-in-law when she was still alive.  I know this will also happen between Ethan and I.  

The internet is the greatest creation.  Invented by God I am sure for the good (and bad) of his people. God knew when he inspired the creation of the internet that is would be used for the great joy of the grandparent.  There is nothing more wonderful than seeing little Ethan live in video I chat.  Well I did lie, seeing him and holding him in person would be better.  But I don't have that luxury so God blessed me with internet.  I have seen my little grandson several times. He looks like and angel when he sleeps.  He has the most beautiful face ever.  I watched him in my sons arms.  As my son put him over his shoulder, little Ethan just curled up in his arms and pulled his little legs up under him as if he was still in the womb.  I have not really seen his eyes open yet but I did see him stretch once and try to hold his little head up.  The name Ethan means strength and that little guy is strong for sure.  I also saw him stick his little tongue out.  My arms ache to hold him.  But I also remember being a new mom.  I remember being so tired that having anyone around other than my husband and my own mom was a total effort.  If I thought I was truly needed I would be on the next plane to New York.  But until then I will hold back patiently and just thank the Lord for a wonderful son, a most wonderful daughter-in-law, a healthy grandson and the INTERNET!

Spring is here or is it?

I'm a Grandmother!

Yes, the day finally came.  Little Ethan Michael has joined our world.  I wasn't totally conscious when I was called the morning of the fourth.  It is my understanding little Ethan took his time coming into the world.  She was in labor over 24 hours. But do you blame him?  There he was wrapped in a warm little place and then be pushed into a a freezing room.  It is kind of like being in a nice warm bed with the heating blanket on and having to get up into a freezing bedroom in the middle of winter and with snow falling outside.  I say the bed is better! lol  

The first pictures that were sent to me were of him just barely out of the womb.  Poor little guy he looked a bit distraught but he is definitely the cutest infant boy I have ever seen next to my own boys of course.  He looks a lot like the child I dreamt of all those nights before.  Only difference is that he had more hair in my dreams. I would give anything to hold him in my arms and tell him how much I love.  The pictures don't seem to come fast enough.  I am hoping that within the next two days or so I will see him on I chat.  My thoughts are a bit scattered at the moment.  When I look at pictures of that little one it is hard to believe he has a little part of me within him.  

By the way the name Ethan means Strength.  I pray that I can teach him to have love the Lord with all his Strength and to teach him what it means to be strong in the Lord.

 

Waiting Expectantly

This will be short and sweet.  As we await the birth of this new baby we wait in great anticipation.

The whole family is in on it.  The parents are preparing the house for him.  The family and friends are all pitching in buying everything this child could possibly want and need.  Everything is being organized.  This little unborn baby boy has put a bunch of people in motion and he doesn't even know it.  He doesn't know how much he is loved and wanted already.  He doesn't realize how many people are just waiting anxiously to meet him and love him.  He doesn't know he has two parents who are moving earth and sky to prepare for his needs. I realize this isn't the Christmas season.  But I have been thinking a lot about Jesus's birth.  We don't move earth and sky to prepare our hearts for him.  We don't wait expectantly like we should for his birth.  As Easter approaches and Jesus prepares to die for our sins , have we told him we are sorry?  Have we told Him we love him?  We don't spend as much time thinking of the sacrifice he made on the cross for us.  We don't even think about the fact that soon He will come again in his glory.  Our our hearts prepared to receive him in our final moments?  We don't know the time, or the place we will be when our time comes to meet him again.  I need to be as prepared for the coming of my Lord as I am for the coming of that little boy I call my grandson.  For the little baby boy I already love so very very much.  About one more month to go and he will be here among us.  One more month to go and Jesus will rise again for us all.

The Making of a Quilt

God has blessed me with many gifts.  I am a lucky woman.  But as I get older I realize that they aren't necessarily interrelated.   Let me explain.  He has gifted me with patience to do crafts. When I was in High School, I hand embroidered a tablecloth for 12 and 12 napkins.  Not only did I carefully embroider it all, I also did a fancy hem all around the edges.  I still can't believe I finished it.  When I was waiting to move to Utah I did a very elaborate counted cross stitch of a fall forest scene.  I had three small children then.  The cloth was 18 or 24 count which is very tiny. Again I don't know how I finished it.  It is definitely a masterpiece.  

Now you need to know the cross stitch was a kit.  The table cloth was virtually a kit.  I was in Italy one summer and my aunt took me to the store bought the cloth the pattern and the thread.  She ironed on the pattern and proceeded to teach me how to do the elaborate hem.  Then I was on my own.  I have tried many different crafts but have decided that quilting and machine embroidery is what I will settle on and try to perfect with the years I have left.  My eyes are getting a little worse each year and I can't see well enough to do the tiny stuff.

I know this was a long introduction unrelated to quilting but I am getting there.  As I get farther into quilting I realize again that kits are the way to go unless I am doing one with machine embroidery.  I have discovered that though I am pretty patient with a project I don't have enough color sense.  I can see what looks good in the end.  But it is the fine differences that I don't see until someone else puts them together.   Take blue for example.  There are hundreds of shades of blue.  The shade depends on how much of another color is mixed in to it to make it a particular shade.  Red and blue go well together if the right shade of blue and the right shade of red are put together.  I opened a quilt kit the other day and decided to make it.

I was overwhelmed by the many different fabrics.  They all didn't match.  The colors were so different I had no clue how I was going to put them together.  I started making squares.  None of them looked good.  I went into a panic.  I asked God why he didn't give me color sense as a gift. I think His answer was "I gave that gift to two of your friends".  So I proceeded to call one of them.  Unfortunately,  the timing was not good with one but the other was able to join me.  You should have seen her go.  It did take several hours but it was amazing how she had a knack for putting those squares together.  She tried to teach me and I kind of caught on.  I was able to put a couple together successfully.  I will now take the time to sew them all together and finish it.

If you insist on a point to this story, it is that we are not meant to be alone.  God mixes his gifts so we can work together to create something.  I had a lot more fun doing the project with my friend than I would have alone. 

One Of Those Days

Have you ever had one of those days when you wish you had never gotten out of bed?

Well this is one of them for me.  Thursdays are my favorite day of the week because I most of the time I try and treat myself to just doing what I enjoy.  But today all my well laid plans went array.

I had laundry to do which is no big deal and I have a massage this afternoon which helps the back pain.  My plan was to do some quilting and do some things on the computer.  That is when all the problems started.

Though the internet is working in the house and my husband's computer works just fine neither of my two computers were able to receive internet.  Our internet name just dropped from all three of my computers and I couldn't add them.  This is very frustrating to me.  I tend to flint from one thing to another.  I can focus on quilting for so long so I take a break check something on the computer and and go back to the quilting.  I will chat with one of my kids for a few minutes on AIM and then go back to the laundry.  This is one of my distractions.  So when I can't use it my day is turned upside down.  So today was one of those days!

Home Again

When I am at home I don't write much because everything seems so routine.  But I wanted to mention a couple of things.

On the way home from Lake Louise there was a lady at the airport.  She had been in our hotel while we were there.  She told us she was 74 and she came out to Lake Louise to ski.  She loves to ski she said and her husband hates it.  So every year she goes to a ski resorts alone just to ski.  I want to emphasize the word alone.  I guess what impresses me the most is her age.  I for one only enjoy traveling alone if there is someone on the other end I want to spend time with for example a friend or family member.  Though I have gone to a couple of sewing retreats that lasted three to 5 days.  But will I still be able to or want to do that at the age of 74?  

I finished the book Plain Truth.  It taught me a lot about the Amish Culture. I truly admire those people for how strong their faith is and how hard they try to truly live what they believe. The book did have a twist at the end that I kind of suspected throughout the book.  I think I watch too much tv.  Mike and I always try to guess who committed the crime and one of us usually figures it out about half way through.  

I have started to learn how to use my sewing machine.  I hope Bernina has another retreat within the next couple of years that I can go to.  That is the place where I learn the most.  Going to the sewing classes 45 minutes away is quite a chore.  I have a couple of quilt kits to work on so I may do that as I wait for Baby M to come.  M is the first letter of his middle name.  That is what I have been told.  I think I will work on his quilt after I meet him and get to know his personality.  Not sure yet.  I have been asking the Lord to inspire me.

The Bucket List

For those of you who don't know this movie it is about two elderly gentleman that were given a second chance at life from cancer.  They decided to write a list of things they wanted to do before they died.  I really enjoyed the movie and thought a bucket list would be a great idea though I don't think I would accomplish it all before my death.  But the last two days I did two things that I might have put on the bucket list if I had thought of it.

Yesterday was a lot of fun.  A kind lady from the conference Mike went to volunteered to drive us to Banff.  This is a small ski town and it reminds me a lot of Park City but it's downtown is much smaller.  On the way there we went up a gondola to the peak to see the view.  It was very very cold so we didn't stay long and then at the bottom there was a Hot Spring.  Now I must tell you that bathing in a  Jacuzzi is not my favorite thing to do.  This was a very different experience.  We did bring our bathing suits.  The water did not smell of chlorine or sulfur, though there was sulfur in the water.  Before you went outside you actually entered the hot spring with your feet so you could gradually get used to it and also you weren't so cold outside.

It was delightful.  I think we were in there about a half hour before we came out.  I really enjoyed the experience because I had heard many things about bathing in hot springs and had never done it.

We then went to Banff.  We ate lunch and we shopped for a few souvenirs and returned to the hotel.

So bathing in Hot Springs would be one of those Bucket experiences but today what we did was icing on the cake.  We went Dog Sledding!  The dogs were wonderful.  I think 9 dogs pulled the sled.  They were relatively young dogs and mostly female.  The female dogs weren't always cooperative and "professional".  But isn't that like us females even in the human state?  During the ride our tour guide was telling us about the different dogs and their personalities and how they train the dogs.  One dog was so sensitive that every time the driver/tour guide yelled at the girls in the front he would get upset and lie down.  It was hysterical.  These were very friendly dogs and they loved on us.  We also got to take turns driving the sleigh for a short distance.  It was definitely a wonderful experience and wouldn't have traded it for the world. One more thing to scratch off my bucket list. :)

A Baby and A Sleigh Ride

Kind of strange for a title isn't.  But those two gave me big smiles.  Last night at dinner we sat at the table with a couple that had a little baby girl.  She was three months old and was three months premature.  So at three months she was very tiny.  Must have been the size Stephanie was when she was born.  Stephanie too was tiny.  This little girl was absolutely beautiful.  I had the honor of holding her for a about half an hour.  When I talked to her her eyes looked straight into mine.  She seemed to be listening intently to me or at least interested in me.  She had the most beautiful big eyes and the tiniest perfect hands with the tiniest perfect fingernails.  She fussed a bit when she got hungry, but she never cried.  I then put her on my shoulder and very very gently rubbed her little head.  She fell right to sleep.  What female doesn't love to have her head rubbed.  I believe that is why hairdressers exist.  Women just love to have their hair and heads messed with.  Well she wasn't any different.  I wonder if baby boys like it too.  I can't wait to find out.  My grandson should be about 2 1/2 lbs and 15 inches long by now.  That is what info says.  Anyway, holding that little one really made my day.

Today, still too cold to ski and Mike still in meetings we decided to go on a sleigh ride during his break.  The sleigh was drawn by two horses.  The young Aussi girl who directed the sleigh, was delightful.  Of course we were bundled in our ski clothes.  It is 10 F today.  We had two wool blankets covering us.  The ride took us to the end of the large Lake Louise.  We saw the most spectacular site.  We saw a frozen waterfall.  It was absolutely beautiful.  There was someone trying to climb it too.  If I can figure out how to post pics when I get home I will post a pic of that waterfall.  The ride took one hour and we had a wonderful time.

It's Still Cold Brrrr........

In this hotel there is a lobby are above where we have regular internet without plugging in ethernet.  The connection in the room is not too bad, but I am hoping it is better up here.  Unfortunately the problem is that it is quite noisy.  There are two different meeting here.  So it is a bit hard to concentrate.  Bare with me if my thoughts are a bit scattered.

It is still very very cold here.  I honestly don't remember ever being out in cold this sever.  I know I have felt cold skiing.  The top of Snowbird can be quite intense but still nothing like what I experienced yesterday.  We wear a helmet now.  My head has never been cold in the helmet but yesterday my head was cold.  Even with toe warmers and hand warmers my hands and feet became so cold I could not feel my toes and thumb.  It was so beautiful at the Sunshine Resort but because of the cold I could not enjoy it.  After my first two runs I had to go in.  Did another three runs and I had to go into the lunch area again.  Finally I just told Mike and his friend to go ski without me.  I didn't want to hold them back but I didn't want to ski.  Actually the skiing I did was quite lovely.  There were a few icy spots but otherwise delightful.

The ride to the resort was interesting.  Do you know they have bridges here for the animals to cross over from one side to the other of the freeway?  Doesn't that sound funny.  How do the elk know to use it?  They Canadians also have put fences along the tree line to convince the animals to use the bridges.

Today the temperature has not changed.  It was snowy off and on so I spent the day indoors.  I went to the gym did about 45 minutes on the treadmill.  I love to listen to my Christian music. There was no one else in the room so I started to sing one of my favorite praise songs with the I Pod.  I was about to really belt it out and raise my had in praise and some people walked in.  I was so disappointed I couldn't stand it. Oh well.  I left shortly after. lol I then proceeded to  look around in some of the hotel stores.  My grandson has the first and only souvenir.  I bought him a book about polar bears.  I will look forward to reading it to him when he visits me someday.  I would like to collect some books to keep around for the children.  The baby is at 29 weeks today.

On the Way......

After a week of packing (yes this one took more thought than usual), I still forgot to bring a hat. There is always something.  It was a long trip here to Lake Louise, but it could have been longer.

We took a plane to Calgary.  That was only two hours but it is a 3 and a half hour bus trip from Calgary to Lake Louise.  We landed at 1 thirty.  The bus was at two o'clock.  Mike had us signed up for the 4 thirty bus because the bus employee had told Mike that going through customs would take too long and we would miss the two o'clock. Customs on the other hand was empty so we were at the bus place with all our luggage by one forty five.  They told us that their bus was full and there was no way we could get on.  They directed us to a restaurant in the airport.  I asked them to please let us know if someone didn't show up.  Again I say my God is merciful kind and loving and 5 minutes after we parked ourselves in the restaurant the bus people came to get us.  Yea!!!!!  We arrived at 6 thirty. 

 Not only were we in awe of our surroundings but the hotel is beautiful too.  We have a window overlooking the frozen lake.  The mountains are just beautiful.  The ski resort is 20 minutes away.  Banff, the nearest town is 45 minutes away.

There is ice skating on the lake and we arrived in time for the last day of the Ice Festival.  There are about 10 ice sculptures outside.  The artisans are giving 3 days to create these sculptures and so they are mostly working right in front of you.  They can work all night if they have to.  So we had the chance to watch some.  The sculptures are beautiful and we took lots of pictures.

The food here is wonderful but the coffee has lots to be desired.  I miss Starbucks!  It is also very cold here.  We were going to ski today but the temperature of -14 F changed our mind.  We went outside for three very short walks and we went the pool.  The pool and hot tub are indoors so I didn't mind going for a swim.  They have a small but adequate gym.  It's good to have internet.  

Snowbird Days 5 and 6

Yesterday I woke up in pain.  Though the day was absolutely gorgeous I opted to stay in and spend the day with Stephanie.  Mike left about noon and skied for a few hours.  Stephanie and I went over to the center to buy her a book to read.  She is such a fast reader.  Then we came back to the room and I went to the gym and spent over an hour there.  The exercise felt good and it did not strain my leg too much.  Honestly, after that fall on Wed.  I didn't think I would ever want to ski again.  While Stephanie read I played on the computer a bit.  Sometimes the quiet days are the best.  Sally Jo and Keith came back up last night and today everything was different.

I was scared to go out today.  The day again was absolutely beautiful, clear and sunny.  Today I got my ski legs back.  I was able to keep up with Mike.  My rhythm was good.  It is amazing what a heavy dose of Ibuprophen right before you start skiing will do.  There was no pain.  I felt comfortable and had an absolutely wonderful time.  Today I am sorry this is our last day here.  

Snowbird Day 4

If this blog is not totally coherent please know that we have just come from a Sushi meal with Sake.  Sake is Japanese wine by the way.  Ok I do have a weakness for Sake and Sushi and they go very very well together.  Ok, so this was an interview dinner.  Mike and one of his coworkers were interviewing someone for a job.  Stephanie and I had the joy of enjoying a great mean lol.

It was a beautiful day on the slopes.  The sun was shining.  It was reasonably warm and the wind was a bit less than yesterday.  My problem began with a very bad shot of pain down my leg before I left.  I suspect it might have been the sciatic nerve on my right leg.  Lets face it, my back is out for sure.  I ignored that first sign and went out to ski anyway.  The weather report told us that the Mineral Basin side of Snowbird was open.  Mike couldn't wait to get in there and said we would have fresh powder since it was closed for two days.  The problem is he forgets that strong winds change the equation.  Strong winds equal hard icy conditions and terrible skiing.  I reminded him of that but the warnings were ignored.  So we go to the top.

First run down we go to a spot where he yells stop.  He is in front of me.  By accident we ended up in a cliff area.  We had to climb back up hill.  I had my first shooting pain down my leg.  I prayed at that point and asked God to remove shooting pains down my leg until the day was over.  God is so good.  He did answer that prayer and though there was some muscle pain the rest of the day no more shooting intense pain did I have to endure. 

We climbed up the mountain.  We got to a safe place that I could come down easily.  Then we went to the easier lift.  The young man that was being interviewed is a very very good skier.

Mike was torn with staying with me and going with him.  Stephanie was kind enough to tolerate the easier terrain and she skied with me.  Mike went off with the young man.  Mike's cell phone does not work reliably up here like my cell phone does. We split up and my leg was ok on easier terrain.  But we did discover that I was right.  Strong winds equal choppy icy snow conditions.  Stephanie got tired of the easier runs so we compromised and decided to go to the other side.  Mike and the interviewee had the same thoughts.  Mike tried calling Stephanie and I and couldn't get through but God brought us together at the lift at the same time so we left that area together.   I so praise God for his planning.  I know this was not a coincidence.

We went to the other side of the mountain and the snow was better but my leg continued to bother me though I had no more shooting pains.  At one point, I fell and I felt the pain.  The leg was strained.  I decided it was time to quit so I did.  Left the slopes at 2.  It was hard to give up early but I figured that maybe if I rested the leg today I could ski tomorrow.  God is good and he sometimes must help us make difficult decisions.

  

Snowbird Days 2 and 3

Weather report yesterday cold and snowy with some sleet.  Sun tried to surface but was not around for very long.  Today cold and sunny with winds up to 40 miles per hour at the top.  Mineral Basin was closed.  The skiing was obviously better today than yesterday and we stayed out much longer.  Yesterday there truly were vision problems and that made skiing very difficult. Mike said that if we stayed by the tree line there would be less fog.  The fog was so thick in places you couldn't see more than a couple of feet in front of you.  Sally Jo and I were not quite sure if this was correct.   I do know that at least we could see the trees and that did help guide us.  At that point I had to trust Mike because he was at least a beacon in the fog.  If I followed him I could see where I was going kind of.

Sally Jo took a lesson yesterday.  I am not sure if there are internet rules for blogs as her instructor did identify body parts in the lesson.  I will take a chance.  If you are reading this and are prudish please skip the rest of this paragraph.  Ok here goes.  This is from an all woman's ski lesson with a female ski instructor.  Keep the nipples straight pointing them downhill, push the bush and unclamp the virgin.  Let me tell you just hearing it improved my skiing lol.  We did get a good laugh out of it too.

We had a truly good meal as Sally Jo's husband Keith brought up barbecue.  It was delicious.

We had a great time as Sally Jo has a wonderful sense of humor.  After dinner we went to the game room and played some fuse-ball and air hockey.  I was the worse and I think Stephanie did the best. 

As I said today was a wonderful ski day.  Over the years in skiing with my husband I have learned a variety of things.  One of them is think carefully before following him.  I have a trust issue when I get to the top of the mountain.  Ever since the fall I have become somewhat scared. I am afraid of steep and speed.  I was getting more comfortable with the speed today but the steep made me freeze with terror.  I chose not to follow Mike in certain places and it makes me sad because I used to follow him to more places.  Twice today I had to sidestep downhill because when I hit the steep I froze.  When I freeze I just can't turn.  I used to love the the run Madam Annie.  Of course Annie can be questionable at times.  Somedays her moguls (tits as we call them) can be reasonable and the run is fun.  We went to Madam Annie today and she freaked me out totally.  She seemed much steeper than usual and her tits were huge!  Sidestepped down that slope too.  Well the day is ended and I plan to get a good nights sleep tonight. 

Snowbird Day 1

The newspaper said there was no snow predicted for the whole week.  It was a bit disappointing, because skiing of fresh snow is delightful.  As usual the Newspaper was wrong, at least for this area.  We met the morning with not only snow mixed with sleet, but also very strong winds at the top.  The visibility was awful and the sleet stuck to the goggles so it was quite a chore getting down that first run.  From time to time I would have to stop just to scrape the sleet off the goggles.  They should invent defrost goggles lol.  On top of everything we had a friend with us that couldn't ski well.  He fell about 20 times trying to get down the mountain.  When we suggested he take a lesson he kept saying no. He has taken one ski lesson total.

The afternoon was a marked improvement.  God blessed us by sending the sun for a few hours.  The skiing was perfect.  There was that bit of new snow and it was a bit warmer.  We had a delightful time.  A total of 6 runs for the day had me wiped out and sore.  Yes, I did bring the heavy duty bottle of Ibuprophen.  I have to tell you that I am still very cautious on the slopes.  I have become very afraid of speed.  It has been two years since I broke my leg and the thought of hurting myself is not appealing.  As I was expressing this to an on line friend yesterday afternoon he reminded me that fear is not from God and I should just go out and enjoy His creation. Will try to do better today.  After all I do ski pretty well.

The only other downer is that the internet up here is really unreliable this year.  So it is frustrating to have down time and not be able to do what I enjoy.

We do have several friends up here who come and go.  Yesterday we had SallyJo's family.  SallyJo works with Mike and she has a delightful family. Sandra too came up last night.

Today was sleep in day for my family.  SallyJo got up early to take a lesson.  Her husband had to go back down for work this morning but will come back this afternoon to ski.  Weather at Snowbird is again cold with light snow.  We will see when we get out this afternoon what the visibility will be like.  I will stick to easier terrain especially if can't see well.

Preparing for Snowbird

Snowbird is a ski resort where we have a time share.  Every year for the past 10+ we have come here.

We used to ski a lot as a family but now we basically ski one week a year and depending on the weather here it might even be only a day or two.  Good weather is predicted this year so we might ski the whole week.  This is the time when God surrounds me with his angels because I cry for help several times a day.  I am surrounded by angels so as I don't kill my husband when he takes me down areas I don't want to be at.  But enough of that you might hear more about that as the week goes on.

This year part of my preparation for Snowbird was having to hem a pair of jeans.  Now you know I quilt and have sewing machines so you think this is probably an easy small insignificant chore.

Let me explain.  I don't do alterations.  There is a reason.  They are boring.  The problem is that my favorite pair of pants to wear this time of year are flannel lined jeans.  They are warm and I am always cold.  They are not easy to find and the only two stores that carry them that I am aware of are Eddie Bauer and their competitors.  Because of my age I can't think of their names.  It doesn't really matter because they are just catalogue and I rarely order from them anyway.

Normally, I order petites from Eddie Bauer but I happen to be in their store.  They happen to carry the right size, they happen to fit and they were on sale what more can a woman want right?  Problem was they were to long in the legs.  Well, I couldn't resist the other advantages so I bought them anyway.  Normally, I would take them to a friend who is a seamstress to have them shortened but I did not have enough time.  Snowbird was less than a week away so I decided that if Stephanie can hem her pants, a creative person with great machinery can hem hers too.  Short cut was all I could think about.  So first to cut them to size.  I was smart enough to realize my fallibility  so instead of three inches I only cut off two.  Then I attempted to serge the edges.  Ouch, I couldn't even remember how to thread the damn thing.   Ok after a half an hour relearning how to thread the serger and got the stitch right I attempted to serge the seams.  It did not work well because the serger cut in places that were not right.  Then I tried to do it on the sewing machine.  I realized that with a lining the usual hemming way would not work since the hem would become so thick.  So I finally ripped everything out and did it the right way. The right way is too hard to explain only that the inside and outside get sewn together right sides and mesh happily together.  What took me two hours plus to do could have taken me less than an hour had I not tried to take the short cuts.  Ladies remember this lesson.  Do it right the first time and it is easier.

Ok this next paragraph has nothing to do with Snowbird preparations. This has to do with observations about men and woman.  It had to do with the TV show NCIS.  I will spare you the story line.  All I will tell you that the murderer and reason for murder were definitely thought of differently by Stephanie and I and Mike.  Mike had a black and white view of the murderer and Stephanie and I saw shades of gray.  Mike would have convicted the murderer and Stephanie and I would have said not guilty or leniency if on the jury.  The more I have observed and listened to men speak and observed and listened to woman,  I have truly come to the conclusion that most men are black and white and most women see shades of gray.  I always thought that it was just my husband who was black and white.  I am very gray and have been criticized for this for years.  Now I respect that this is an estrogen trait that God has blessed me with for it fills me with the gift of tears, intuition, passion and other traits that compliment my progesterone counterpart.  Now,  I do want to tell you that I am grateful for Mike's black and white attitude for it compliments and completes me and helps me in my emotional states for he is my rock and I am his waves.

Back to the lighter side of life.  Snowbird is one of those vacations that being close to home can make it a disadvantage.  We do not always concentrate as hard in what we need to pack.  Every year we tend to forget something important.  I have been known to forget my socks, my ice skates,  my hairbrush and hair clips.   This year Mike forgot his underwear lol.  He is finally getting old enough to forget so I no longer feel so bad.  I am usually the flakey one in the family.

Luckily there are enough of us going up and down the mountain that someone will with permission (if it is not a family member) enter the house and grab what is missing and bring it up.  This year Sandra (Stephanie's best friend is the chosen one).

A Week into Jan 2009

This new year has already begun to speed by.  My grandson is at 26 weeks now and in only about 12 now he will join the rest of us.  Now I must say that 12 weeks sounds a lot shorter than three months.  April 15th is the due date.  As I think about it the excitement mounts.  He can now hear things outside the womb.  He can open and close his tiny eyes.  He has eye lashes too.  I wonder if he will have long eye lashes like me.  I wish he could hear my voice.  I wish I could tell him what a wonderful little boy he is and how excited we all are to see him.  That will come in time.  

I am so grateful to have Stephanie here at this time.  She has relieved me of many of my weekly duties of driving my parents around.  It has aloud me to schedule other things that I don't normally do otherwise during those days.  I was able to get the carpets cleaned, get the dreaded dentist out of the way, spend time at baby stores and shop, and generally relax and de stress after the holidays.  I have been able to finish two wonderful books.  Of the two, I think I enjoyed Snow Angel the best.  It was written by Jamie Carie.  I read it rather quickly.  I started a book about Mary Queen of Scotts last night.  I have also spent a little bit more time on my game the past few days and have really enjoyed myself.  As soon as this month is over I have a stash of sewing projects to work on.  I finished a burp bib this week and would like to begin a special quilt for my grandson.  I don't know yet what theme to make it.  If any of you out there have any suggestion I would be happy to hear.  This month will be hectic as I have two ski trips.

I love going out of town.  Being in the mountains and the ocean fill me with a certain peace I don't have anywhere else.  When I look out over the them I see God's mighty power and His awesomeness.  

My grandmother lived in Genoa, Italy.  The area is a little hilly and when I looked out of her apt. window I could see a hill called Mt. Moro.  I told her when I grew up I would live on a mountain.  Little did I know that when I grew up God would allow me to live half way up a mountain.  God knows our hearts and if we look deep enough, he does give us the desires of our hearts.  Unfortunately, sometimes we don't always know what our heart really wants.  On that note I hope to write from the slopes. 

Happy New Year

The excitement of the holidays is finally over.  This is the first time in this new year that I am alone in the house.  Its time to reflect I guess.  Maybe reflect over the past few days at least or at least talk about it giggle.

We had our New Years Eve party again this year.  We were a couple of families short but still had a good time.  I got my friends Shirley and Doreen to dance a few dances to The Beach Boys.  I really enjoyed dancing .  Dancing is my favorite thing in the world to do.  Unfortunately, it throws my back out of whack and a visit to the chiropractor becomes necessary.  While the chosen few danced, a few others were in the kitchen playing cards with the family card shark.  You would never believe that a cute little old lady like mother would win most of the time.  She is the family card shark.  You should see her with the card game Machiavelli.  She will take hours looking at the board, switching the cards around and driving us all crazy in a very funny way of course.  And then she wins.  I bet she would clean up playing poker in Vegas if she knew the game well and was given a chance lol.

Well the dreams have become interesting.  I have started dreaming about my grandson.  Of course, he is the cutest little boy on the face of this earth but that is besides the point.  Even unborn he has thrown my life upside down.  The other night I dreamt that at 8 months he was talking.  He wasn't just babbling but repeating words right and left and then putting them together to form short sentences.  He was definitely a little genius.  I have had other dreams but that one was the best :).

These dreams are probably due to the many trips I make to baby stores.  Stephanie dragged me into the Carter outlet store again on New Years day!  Ok, ok she didn't totally drag me.  I really thought I would get off the hook with that shopping trip.  I told her that if we got the tree put away on New Years day and it was early enough we could go to the outlet mall.  We always take down the tree on New Years day.  Never in the world did I expect that she would stay up till 3 am after the party to take down the tree.  Never did I expect to have to leave the house to go shopping on New Years day.  So I guess I got what I deserved.  I do try to keep my promises!

So into the Carter store we went.  The sales were unbelievable.  Yes, Yes I did spend quite a bit of money sigh.  I am trying to put together a layette.  We found a few pieces of clothing with soccer balls but the best was this little soccer rattle.  It had several things the baby could do with it.  We of course found a Christmas bib and today I found a Thanksgiving bib.  Oh, did I mention I went to Baby's R Us today.  No, I wasn't dragged.  I actually went on my own.  Spent an hour in there.  I wanted to buy out the store.

Did I hear you say that maybe I was going to speak about reflections?  I think I'll have to pass.

All I know that the anticipation of my grandson coming into the world is my greatest joy.  I do think everyday of what he will look like and what his personality will be like.  I thank God and praise Him for the opportunity to experience this.  I can't wait to be a part of it all.

I have no New Year's Resolutions so I have nothing to break.  I do want to spend more time with my sewing machine but that is all.