Some pictures from the storm of '08!

This will be a collection from the Portland area with which to remember this storm! (The worst in our area since 69) Hopefully, I'll get some of my area. I live on the East side of town and we often get it worse here because we are closer to the Gorge.

This is my high energy friend's driveway. She shoveled this space so her son-in-law would be able to pull in when he comes to put on her chains so she can get out! Pretty good for a 72 year old lady!!

My friend's home on the West Side. She hadn't done her driveway yet!!

This shows the iced up trees.

And from my cousins' home on my side of town near Troutdale,
where the Interstate 84 has been closed for three days for a stretch of about 75 miles.
The car is nearly buried, but the U. S. Flag is flying proudly in the snow!
Notice the lamp pole buried in the snow!
Looking out from her kitchen nook window. It IS beautiful, but my oh my,
how a collection of snowflakes can stop an area dead in its tracks!!

My brother in law's pickup!
Brother in law, Bill beginning to shovel out the walkway.
He is making progress...
Look at the depth of the snow where he has cut into the walkway!
Poor old fellow. that was a lot of work!!


To be added, some pictures from my front yard tomorrow, unless it is all gone by then! (I wish)

Well, Surprise!! It didn't melt!

From my garage to the right front yard
To the left is my six foot fence with drifts
house across the street
hope this tree stays where it belongs
to the back yard--my poor geraniums--all buried in that drift except for one pot
I think my hedge may have bitten the dust.
No baths for the birdies today!
According to the weather reports, five more inches tonight!!
I'm waiting for a pizza to be delivered!! Hope he makes it!!

OH! The weather outside is frightful!!!!

My cousin's home above her family's farm in Troutdale.

One week ago today, we awakened to snow and ice and thus began our week! There was some type of snow, wind, cold weather all week long. Yesterday, (Saturday) we started getting snow in earnest. Along with the snow, came the East wind from the Columbia River Gorge....which caused drifts!

In looking out my bedroom window this morning, I see that I have a drift right up to the window sill, covering all five of my Azaleas completely! The trees are covered in ice for I forgot to mention that an icy rain fell all night long. We are still under 32 degrees, so it looks like it will stay for a while.

I am so thankful that:
my Christmas shopping is done
I am warm
my electricity is still working
my freezer is full of oven ready foods
my phone is working
many friends and family call to check up on me
I don't mind being snowed in
I have lots of things to do
this, too, shall pass

As we age, we become very protective of our bones that have remained in one piece, and for that reason, I have not left my house except for one hour during a calm, melty-looking day. I managed to finish getting all of my stocking stuffers, so I am so thankful for that. Other than that I have remained inside--not even going to the mail box. I have some braver friends who stop by and when they do they bring in my mail for me.

With this update from Oregon, I must close. I think my garage door is frozen shut....so even if I wanted to go some place, I couldn't get the car out!!

We are all hoping we can get to our family gathering for Christmas Eve dinner and opening of presents.

A friend of mine just wrote her reflections about being stranded up in her vacation home on Orcas island. She has a flair for writing, so it is an interesting read if you have the time.

I trust all of you are almost ready for this precious Holiday in which we take the time to honor and celebrate the birth of our risen Lord Jesus!

Odds and Ends

My tooth surgery is behind me and I was thrilled with the lack of pain!! Its been a great recovery--some bruising down my chin, but truly unremarkable for which I am soooo thankful!

Unfortunately, I've been down for eight days with my back....and so since I have nothing exciting to post about, I'm going to share some pictures of the Christmas spirit at my house---where I no longer do a big tree, but have groupings of pretties collected together. Nothing exciting like I have seen in some of your beautiful pictures...but its all I need for this chapter of life.

The entry way, looking down the hall.

From the entry looking toward the kitchen.

The pie tin in the family room with all of the little goodies, trains, etc.

The hearth holds joys from childhood with a large red tin of
Christmas books from over the years.

On the mantel is a catchall of hand crafted wood items.

The candy cane tree is a project from many years ago. This is the family room and all decorations are available for kids to play with, look at and explore.

Since son, Jonathan, was married eighteen years ago, we have the tradition of them sleeping overnight at my house and getting up together for stockings in the morning, followed by a Christmas breakfast. I try to make it festive and always have the table looking pretty. The following two pictures are from the breakfast tables from several years ago. and I have no idea why this suddenly began to underline!)This was the year of decorating with tulle--notice the light fixture even!

This must have been when the children were small, as
I am using the everyday dishes!

This is my current dining room--not yet set,

but it will be beautiful for Christmas morning!

This is one of my favorite rooms, for I love how the sunlight dapples into the room!

The Angel Caper

I never come to the Christmas season without remembering the year we made angels which was many years ago.

As my teaching partner and I sat down to plan out our Christmas project for our two classrooms of third graders, one of us had seen this beautiful angel and we decided to tackle it!! It seemed doable, and fairly inexpensive since it was mostly made of things around the house.

We began collecting for our magnificent project!!

old sheets, doilies, odds and ends of trims, old panty hose

We supplied the cardboard needed, as well as the styrofoam heads and the spray paint. We also bought a large spool of white crinkle type paper ribbon.

Finally the day arrived to begin the project. Friday afternoons had been set aside for working on this project. Our mother helpers came to help. (We couldn't have done it without them!)

We began with our forms, which were made from cardboard half circles rolled into a round pyramid looking thing. That was the easy part. (as I look at the pictures, I forgot to add that the arms were taped to the cardboard form before the actual work began.)

Next.......each kid got a nice square of donated sheet...and then the fun began!!

We dipped the sheet pieces in buckets of Elmer's glue and water and squeezed it out, and began draping it over the cardboard form.

The mess was beyond description--oh! I forgot to say that we did it in the cafeteria and we had Joyce, our cook, breathing down our necks not to leave a mess!

Suddenly it was time for buses, so each kid took their wet, draped angel and we found places all over our rooms to sit them to dry. After the kids were on their buses, my teaching partner and I went back to the cafeteria and scrubbed tables, benches and floors, until it was spotless. We were quite afraid of our cook, whose bark was really worse than her bite, but we had a healthy respect for her.

Besides we were well brought up girls whose Mothers had taught us to clean up our messes!

We worked on these angels for several Fridays....

And one day it was time to spray paint them gold! We did that after the kids went home as that was more than third graders could have or would have, handled well!

The next Friday, we added the bows and a little Christmas bling, and they were complete....and truly works of art. No two were the same.

We looked at each other the day they took them home, all wrapped and ready to present to their families and said, "NEVER AGAIN!!!"


Then we began to run into future parents in the hallways, and they always stopped us and told us they could hardly wait until their child was in third grade as they loved the angels we had made!! Then we had to break it to them gently, that it was a one time project!!

Several years later I had a Holiday Craft Sale in my home and one of the things that I made was fourteen of those angels!! That was absolutely the last time I ever did angels! My two that I had made with the students hung around for many Christmas' until I gave them to my daughter, Tammy, when she got her first apartment about five year ago. I was happy to part with them and she loves them!!

Here they are as part of the mantle collection at my old house many years ago.

In counting backwards, I figure that we made these about twenty eight years ago! (No wonder I forgot they had arms!!)

The $3500 Dollar Tooth!!

In August, I had the first of four appointments for a root canal. The crown finally went on the middle of October and everything seemed fine, until about 4 weeks ago when that tooth became very tender. I kept thinking it would go away. It didn't.

Long story, short version, Monday, after a referral to a specialist, I am having dental surgery which entails an incision below the roots and a cleaning out of the bone to try to get to the root of the problem. He says it will not improve on its own. (sigh)

I am NOT looking forward to this procedure. Last Monday as I walked out of the specialist's office, I was terribly upset....and scared. When I got in the car, I was trying very hard to think of something about this situation for which I could be thankful. I begrudgingly decided I was thankful that I had the money to pay for the surgery! (Certainly, not my idea of how I want to spend my money!)

So now....the tooth work will have totaled $3500 after Monday! I certainly hope there are no more teeth waiting to explode! If there are, I'll never get to cruise again!!

Because I cannot take narcotic pain pills, the dentist explained that it will be uncomfortable for 4-5 days. I'll use ice packs. My hair dresser today told me to take an ounce of Vodka every four hours and I wouldn't feel any pain!! She has the answer to everything!!

I am trusting that the outcome will be successful and there will be no infection with which to deal.

Thankfully, the house is decorated and the Christmas music is playing nonstop. I think I will take my ice pack and just sit and soak up the pretties in the living room and lose myself in the Christmas music!! (and try not to think about the wrapping and shopping that still needs to be done!)

The White House Ornaments

The White House historical association sells a White House Ornament every year that is dated.

In 1990, my Mother began our collection by giving them to each family yearly. When she was called Home in 2000, my dear sister continued the tradition until we each now have a nice grouping of them. I put mine on a small tree for the holidays. I have sixteen of them--two are missing.


Here are two of them that I took close up for you to see. They come beautifully boxed, with a pamphlet telling the history of the President who is commemorated. They have had historical presidents so far.


My Mother loved beautiful things...and she especially loved anything with gold on it. She was always excited to see what the new one looked like. We have enjoyed this tradition for the last eighteen years.

For a sneak preview of the 2008 ornament, you can go to the website, highlighted in the first sentence of this post.

Four Fabulous Days...

Well, Thanksgiving is over for this year. It is always a wonderful day to reflect, to remember past Thanksgivings, and the joys of family. We were only seven this year, as it was the 'in-laws' turn for most of the kids.

Grandson Elliot, came Thursday evening after his day with his other grandma. He stayed with me until Saturday morning, as he wanted to get home for the 'Civil War' party his parents were hosting to watch the Oregon/Oregon State football game. So, the stay was short, but we got in a couple of episodes of 'The Waltons', got him a hair trim, visited and laughed together, and in general had a great time! (Elliot brings energy, no matter where he is!)

I flew around here, cleaning up for my next guest, Nicolas, who drove himself to my house. This was his first drive clear to my end of the city, so he was quite pleased and I was thrilled to have him. We played games...and then we played games....

Our pastor and his wife called Sunday evening and wanted to know if we would be up to playing some games! Of course we were, so they arrived with their son who is Nick's age. They even brought a pizza, some yummy fruit and we ate together first.

We played ROOK. I hadn't played it for ages, but it was a game we were raised on in my home! It was known as "Christian Bridge" in my young days, as we weren't allowed to play with regular cards. (go figure!)


If any of you ever played ROOK let me know. Our company last night played it pretty different than I had ever played it. My Dad insisted on keeping it just like the rules. Last night we played ONE high, and the ROOK card as the highest. I won't even bother to explain how we partnered up! It was a raucous evening. We sure had fun!

The game in the picture is at least 48 years old, as I found the names of my first two foster girls on a paper in the box and they came to me in 1960, which was also my first year of teaching. Ahhhh, the memories of the hours we enjoyed playing games!

visitors

Yesterday at church, we had a young couple and their five children passing through Portland on their way to Medford to celebrate Thanksgiving with an Auntie of theirs. This young couple are relatives, but we don't see them very often as they are busy running a large Bible Camp in Montana, year round.

So........as I sat two rows behind them, I had a good view of them and their children. And I thought of their rich heritage in the faith. I thought of their Christian work and the lovely children they are raising for the glory or God. I thought of the old, old hymn,

Faith of our fathers.

and I teared up with gratitude and thanksgiving for this young couple who are striving to live their lives as they have had it modeled for them, first by their parents, and by Godly grandparents and extended family. How blessed they are.

For, you see, this young man is the nephew of Jim Elliot and his sweet wife is the niece of Elisabeth Elliot. What a heritage!

Faith of our Fathers living still,
In spite of dungeon, fire and sword;
O how our hearts beat high with joy
Whenever we hear that glorious Word!



Faith of our fathers, holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death.

Faith of our fathers, we will strive
To win all nations unto Thee;
And through the truth that comes from God,
We all shall then be truly free.

Refrain

Faith of our fathers, we will love
Both friend and foe in all our strife;
And preach Thee, too, as love knows how
By kindly words and virtuous life.

Grandparents

If anyone has read my blog much, you will know that I adore my grandchildren and love being a grammy! Someone sent me the following and I had to lift it from
my email and deposit it here because I think it is so precious. I hope
you will bear with me...and if your are a grandparent, you will
know why I enjoyed it so much!

Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting. ~Author Unknown

What a bargain grandchildren are! I give them my loose change,
and they give me a million dollars' worth of pleasure. ~Gene Perret

Grandmothers are just 'antique' little girls. ~Author Unknown

Perfect love sometimes does not come until the first grandchild.
~Welsh Proverb


A grandmother is a babysitter who watches the kids instead
of the television. ~Author Unknown

Never have children, only grandchildren. ~Gore Vidal

Becoming a grandmother is wonderful. One moment you're just
a mother. The next you are all-wise and prehistoric. ~Pam Brown


Grandchildren don't stay young forever, which is good because
Grandfathers have only so many horsey rides in them. ~Gene Perret

When grandparents enter the door, discipline flies out the window.
~Ogden Nash

Grandma always made you feel she had been waiting to see just
you all day and now the day was complete. ~ Marcy DeMaree


Grandmas never run out of hugs or cookies. ~Author unknown

Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our
hearts forever. ~Author Unknown

If I had known how wonderful it would be to have grandchildren,
I'd have had them first. ~Lois Wyse


My grandkids believe I'm the oldest thing in the world. And after
two or three hours with them, I believe it, too. ~Gene Perret

If becoming a grandmother was only a matter of choice, I should
advise every one of you straight away to become one. There is
no fun for old people like it! ~Hannah Whithall Smith


It's such a grand thing to be a mother of a mother - that's why the
world calls her grandmother. ~Author Unknown

Grandchildren are God's way of compensating us for growing
old. ~Mary H. Waldrip

You do not really understand something unless you can explain
it to your grandmother. ~Proverb



An hour with your grandchildren can make you feel young again.
Anything longer than that, and you start to age quickly. ~Gene Perret

The best baby-sitters, of course, are the baby's grandparents. You
feel completely comfortable entrusting your baby to them for long
periods, which is why most grandparents flee to Florida. ~Dave Barry

I wish I had the energy that my grandchildren have - if only for
self-defense. ~Gene Perret

Grandmother-grandchild relationships are simple. Grandmas
are short on criticism and long on love. ~Author Unknown


Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do.
Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of
little children. ~Alex Haley


Grandmother - a wonderful mother with lots of
practice. ~Author Unknown

A grandparent is old on the outside but young on
the inside. ~Author Unknown

One of the most powerful handclasps is that of a new
grandbaby around the finger of a grandfather. ~Joy Hargrove

It's amazing how grandparents seem so young once you
become one. ~Author Unknown

If your baby is 'beautiful and perfect, never cries or fusses,
sleeps on schedule and burps on demand, an angel all the
time,' you're the grandma. ~Teresa Bloomingdale


Grandparents are similar to a piece of string - handy to have
around and easily wrapped around the fingers of their
grandchildren. ~Author Unknown

What is it about grandparents that is so lovely? I'd like to say
that grandparents are God's gifts to children. And if they can
but see, hear and feel what these people have to give, they
can mature at a fast rate. ~Bill Cosby

Grandchildren don't make a man feel old; it's the knowledge
that he's married to a grandmother. ~G. Norman Collie

My Alma Mater

Tucked away in the hills above Santa Barbara, Westmont College thrives with a beautiful campus, neighboring many magnificent, stately mansions, many built during the 1920s. I was a student there for my freshman and junior years of college. I loved every minute I attended!!

So it was with real sadness, I heard about the fires and the destruction to parts of our lovely campus. Below are two pictures which are representative of the structure and surroundings of the campus before the fire.

A friend sent me this email today which describes the scene on campus.

"At Westmont College the air was dense with smoke and the scent of burning pine. Flames chewed through a eucalyptus grove on the 135 acre campus and destroyed several buildings housing the physics and psychology departments, a dormitory and at least one faculty home, college spokesman, Scott Craig said. "I saw flames about 100 feet high in the air shooting up with the wind just howling," he told AP Radio. "Now when the wind howls, and you've got palm trees and eucalyptus trees that are literally exploding with their hot oil, you've got these big, red-hot embers that are flying through the sky and are catching anything on fire." Hundreds of students fled to the gym where they spent the night sleeping on the floor. Some stood in groups praying; others sobbed openly and comforted each other. Beth Lazor, 18, said she was in her dorm when the alarm went off. She said she only had time to grab her laptop, phone, a teddy bear and a debit card before fleeing the burning building. Her roommate, Catherine Wilson, said she didn't have time to get anything. "I came out, and the whole hill was glowing, " Wilson said. "There were embers falling down."

Although its been 58 years since my freshman year in college, many of my life's fondest memories originate in that little college which has grown and flourished over the years.

Thursday and Thankful!!

I woke up on Saturday with this cry on my heart.

"Make haste O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me O Lord!" Psalm 70:1

Today, I am almost pain free and I am so thankful! I am moving, made a card in the night when I couldn't sleep, and feel like dancing!! Since Saturday, I pretty much didn't move anything I didn't have to, in order to avoid the spasms and pain.

Today, I am rejoicing--life looks good again. I'm looking forward to productivity. I am thanking God for this new day.

In October, I rejoiced all through the month. I had 31 pain free days. It was marvelous!! I got so many things done.

I had company for dinner--twice!

I did some cooking for the freezer.

I was active around the house.

I went out--shopped, had lunch with friends, and had a great time.

I didn't have to miss church.

I was joyful with the blessed relief.

I didn't wear my tens (electric stimulater) machine for ten of those 31 days!!

That's a record!

And so I am thankful for every day I had in October....and looking forward to some wonderful, great days in November, now that the first six are history!

Today I am rejoicing in answered prayer.

Oh taste and see that the LORD is good, blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Psalm 34:8

I AM BLESSED!

The Election

Hear what John Piper has to say.

I KNOW WHO I AM
I am God's child (John 1:12)
I am Christ's friend (John 15:15 )
I am united with the Lord (1 Co r. 6:17)
I am bought with a price (1 Cor 6:19-20)
I am a saint (set apart for God). (Eph. 1:1)
I am a personal witness of Christ. (Acts 1:8)
I am the salt & light of the earth (Matt 5:13-14)
I am a member of the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27)
I am free forever from condemnation ( Rom. 8: 1-2)
I am a citizen of Heaven. I am significant (Phil 3:20)
I am free from any charge against me (Rom. 8:31 -34)
I am a minister of reconciliation for God (2 Cor 5:17-21)
I have access to God through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18)
I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6)
I cannot be separated from the love of God (Rom 8:35-39)
I am established, anointed, sealed by God (2 Cor 1:21-22 )
I am assured all things work together for good (Rom. 8:28 )
I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit (John 15:16 )
I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph. 3: 12 )
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13)
I am the branch of the true vine, a channel of His life (John 15: 1-5)
I am God's temple (1 Cor. 3: 16).
I am complete in Christ (Col. 2:10)
I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3).
I have been justified (Romans 5:1)
I am God's co-worker (1 Cor. 3:9; 2 Cor 6:1).
I am God's workmanship (Eph. 2:10)
I am confident that the good works God has begun in me will be
perfected. (Phil. 1: 5)
I have been redeemed and forgiven ( Col 1:14).
I have been adopted as God's child (Eph 1:5)
I belong to God

Out of Commission

Down with a bad back. Hope to be back soon.

The Strawberry Jello Recipe by Request

Some have asked for the recipe for Saturday's Jello I was making for the church potluck. It is a recipe from my Mom, who often left out little direction details...but it went together well and was a smashing success at the potluck.

Strawberry Jello from Mom

3 three oz. pkgs. strawberry jello

(I had to use 1 and 1/2 six oz. boxes because I couldn't find
the little 3 oz. boxes at my store.)

It is important to use only 3 oz.

of the second box!

3 cups of Boiling Water
3 ten oz. pkgs frozen sweetened strawberries (again had to use 2 pints)
1 16 oz. can crushed pineapple
3 large firm bananas diced

3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup cream cheese

Dissolve jello in 3 cups of boiling water
Add strawberries, stir until strawberries are thawed
Add pineapple
Stir in bananas

Pour 1/2 mixture into 9 x 13 pan (I used a large soup ladle to be sure to get even amounts of fruit and liquid)

While that is setting up in refrig, leave remaining half on counter.

Mix together 3/4 cup sour cream and 3/4 cup cream cheese
Spread this over mixture that is chilled (from refrig) and pour other half of jello over the sour cream mixture and chill

Garnish with left over cream cheese mixture. If Mom made it in summer, she always had some fresh strawberries to garnish the top.

Enjoy!