I just had to wish you all a Merry Christmas

As we read the words below and contemplate what they really mean, it is overwhelming!  Wish I had the ability to have the song play along with it, but alas, that is something I have not learned to do.
   
   



Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will one day walk on water?


Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?


Did you know
That your baby boy has come to make you new?


This child that you've delivered
 Will soon deliver you.



Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?


Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will calm a storm with His hand?


Did you know
That your baby boy has walked where angels trod?


And when you kiss your little baby
You've kissed the face of God.




The blind will see
The deaf will hear
The dead will live again
The lame will leap
The dumb will speak
The praises of The Lamb





Mary, did you know
That your baby boy is Lord of all creation?


Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will one day rule the nations?


Did you know
That your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?

This sleeping child you're holding is the Great I Am


   
   
   

May the true joy of Christmas
be with you throughout the year.

Christmas Eve, 2008, is history!

As you know from the previous post, we were in the middle of a huge snowstorm on Christmas Eve. It was finally decided that we would meet, as usual, at my sister and brother-in-law's home for our buffet supper and gifts. (my nephew and family picked me up with chains on their pick-up)

We got there and were greeted by our hosts......


Shortly after we ate, the children began opening their gifts and a police car pulled up front....and soon another one joined it. It was my nephew and his wife, both on duty, but with a dinner hour to spend with the family. .....and so, with their arrival, we were complete!

(Can you imagine having to dress like that for work??? They wear bullet-proof vests under their shirts--it all looks pretty heavy and combersome to me!)

They had some WONDERFUL news to give us! They opened a gift and pulled out an OSU baby outfit! They are expecting a little boy baby June 16!!!!!!! This news created quite an uproar in the living room!! The shock and surprise…..

for they were adament about not having kids…..

Well, God has other plans for them!!!!! We are SO excited, to say the least! I am so thrilled that my nephew, who is a tender-hearted, gentle giant of a man, will have his own little baby.

He thinks he is too old, but age doesn't seem to matter any more. He is 45 and she will be 38 when baby comes. They will do just fine. They will have to adjust their life style, but it will all be worth it.....and they will come to realize that in time.

And so our night ended on that most happy note and we made our way home through the snow. My son, Jonathan and family came out here for the night. After stockings and breakfast, a little visiting, and just a happy, laughter-filled morning, I made a little lunch and sent them on their way, as it was snowing hard again. They live an hour's drive south of us, so needed to get on the road for home. Just one problem, they couldn't get their van out of the snow.

So after some digging, some pushing, and patience, they were on the move for a very good drive home without incident!

It was a happy time for all of us. As I age, I so love the time spent with family and realize what a blessing they all are to me. I am so grateful for our rich heritage given us by our parents and grandparents.

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!

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!!)