Thoughts This Morning

It’s 6:35 AM December 25, 2009 and I can’t sleep because I have developed a bad sore throat and cough. I am sitting here in our little cottage living room with the tree lit and the presents neatly tucked under it. I have perused the blogs of my children seeking to make connections this morning. Reading of Sarah’s 14^th birthday, cookies being made at Christy’s and reviewing the “Night Before Christmas” being read at Emilie’s by Papa.(which, by the way, he was so happy to get to do again!).

I marvel at all the Christmases gone by as beautiful memories flood through my mind. Where do all the years go? How did I get to be this old and why am I so suddenly on this end of life? Being a grandparent is so much fun and has its own rewards but I miss being the Mom. Praying about gifts, making those gifts and convincing children that what they really want is what I am making! I miss planning the Nativity play and watching everyone participate. I miss the fun of decorating my house so that all can feel the “Christmas Spirit”. I miss having to tell the children that they have to wait until Dad gets home from his paper route to see what Santa brought. I miss “Christmas at Ground Zero” blasting through the house to let us know that they are awake!

I miss all of those sweet, smiling faces as they take turns opening gifts and hugging each giver. I miss the feeling of accomplishment as they are excited about the things I have made for them. Barbie Houses, doll beds, play houses, doll clothes, dresses, and games, all because God helped me to provide for them by helping me to grow and develop talents. I miss praying over gifts that would be impossible to obtain that I knew they wanted and then having the Lord open the way to make it possible.

I am thrilled to see so many traditions carrying on in the family, watching each grow in their own talents and blessing the lives of their children with their own traditions but there is an ache in my heart as I realize that my time is past and I must find new focus to make Christmas what it needs to be for me. It can never be the same again so it must become different and therein is my challenge!

I know that somehow the Lord will help me to grow into this new phase of my life just as he has in the past. It will be interesting to see what next Christmas brings!

Sister Time!

My Sisters and I got together for our annual Christmas exchange. The snow caused us to delay it from an overnighter on Saturday night to a lunch get together on Wed.
As I went over Afton Mtn I stopped and took this picture.




Connie gave us all red scarves! We had fun exchanging gifts and, of course, we gave each other more cardinal memorabilia! We always have such a great time when we get together and we all look forward to it.
We ate at a great Italian Restaurant that is owned by one of Kathy's former student's Moms. She gave us all free deserts. We were really full!

The Christmas Spirit

Let's all remember the reason for Christmas!
I love you all.

The Christmas Spirit

Snow!!!

Here are some pictures of the record snowfall that fell yesterday and today!

Emilie and Logan's HouseOur House with the dorm in the background. 40 students are stranded here. It looks like some may not even be able to get flights out until Tuesday.

Our little house. You can get an idea of the depth by looking at the road.
It is supposed to be cold and clear the next few days and then maybe some more snow for Christmas. The authorities have asked people to stay off the roads for the next few days so that they can get things cleared up. I'm hoping things will be good by Wednesday so I can get together with my sisters!

Snow!!

Today was the last day of classes for students and our annual faculty/staff Christmas party. It is always such a wonderful spread of food and we sing and just have a nice time. Tommy and Jack were there with Emilie and Logan so that always makes it special. As we were leaving it began to snow.
Tomorrow I was supposed to go to Richmond to have sister time. Each Christmas season my sisters and I get together to exchange gifts (uaually things with Cardinals on them!) and have a "pajama" party. We just eat and talk and get to know each other better. I look forward all year to this time but today it is snowing...hard. They are expecting between 18 and 24 inches to fall so I won't be going anywhere tomorrow!

I really love snow but not TODAY! I'll post some pictures when it stops.

Ward Christmas Party

Our Ward Christmas Party was last Saturday and we chose the theme of "Christmas in old Nauvoo". We were planning for 250 people but an activity at the Middle School had to be rescheduled because of snow and they changed it to our night so we lost a lot of families. We had lots of food left over so the young married students are stocked for a while! We had a great time and people seemed to really enjoy themselves. We set the food up in the Relief Society Room so we could feed everyone more efficiently.


A view of the tables& Trent and Rebecca's darling baby!
We had a fun singing time with the kids.
Sammy Taylor wrote a special story just to read at the party.
Professor Dransfield has a band called Scotty and the Beamers and his son has a band too. They performed for us together so we called them Scotty and a Beam! they did three really fun Christmas Songs.
The Taylor Family sang to us.
We ended things with a rather unique version of the Nativity. Brother Cluff read while the CTR 7 class did the drama!


Our committee was great and they had fun dressing as the citizens of Nauvoo.
It was a great way to start the holiday season!

Amazing Nashville

Papa, my boss John Brandt and I traveled to Nashville this past week for the the FSA (Federal Student Aid) conference. It was held in the Opryland Hotel and what an amazing place that is!! It reminded me somewhat of a Las Vegas casino with so much stuff under one roof! We attended workshops from 9 Am until 6 and then we ate and relaxed to prepare for the next day. All schools will be moving to Direct Lending from the Federal Government once the higher education bill passes (yes, all student loans will be owned by the government!) and so our school needs to get ready for the change. It was a lot of information in a few days but I feel much more confident now in our ability to adapt to this change. I was able to get a grant that mostly paid for the trip so that was nice for the school. John's wife, Sue, was with us the first few days but then went to Boston to take care of grandkids.
Here are some pictures of the hotel:


Papa loved the fish pond. The Koi would come right up and open their mouths expecting to get fed!

There were Christmas Trees everywhere so we took some pictures of them!


There was an amazing Nativity Scene outside!

Going back to our Hotel at the end of a long day!
On our last night in town we drove into downtown Nashville and ate at a fun restaurant. We drove past the Ryman Theater where the original Grand Ol Opry was and drove by the new one too. We enjoyed our brief view of "Music City" and were grateful for the things we learned.
The conference was a great experience and we are all ready to get back to work now!

Side trips

While we were at the outerbanks Papa and I took a side trip to Roanoke Island where we visited the "Lost Colony" theater. Each summer they re-enact what they think could have happened to the settlers who were left there. It is a beautiful little island but not a good place for a settlement.Papa in front of the Virginia Dare monument. She was the first baby born in the new world. No one knows to this day what happened to her. She has a great state named after her though!


On Saturday we left the Outer Banks and traveled to Virginia Beach so Seth and the girls could see his old stomping grounds. It is a great beach with a big wide boardwalk. It looks VERY different then in the days when I frequented there as a high school student! They have a light show on the beach in December so that is what you see in some of these photos. We left before it got dark. There was a great play structure on the beach for the kids to play on too!



On the way home from VA Beach we stopped in Williamsburg for a quick look at Duke Of Gloucester Street in it's Christmas Array.
On Sunday before church we took a quick drive up on the Blue Ridge Parkway and had the girls pose at the overlook to Buena Vista.
What a wonderful visit we had and how grateful I am for the time we got to spend together!

What a Wonderful Week!

I have had an amazing week! Seth and the girls arrived last Sunday and we headed right to Southern Shores on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. My sister Kathy had very generously offered us the use of her beautiful vacation home. I had time alone with Abrianna, Mercedes and Seth for Sunday and Monday.On Monday we went to the Corolla Light house and I even climbed to the top! On Tuesday we went to the Wright brothers memorial and learned all about the first flight. Later in the week we would return to both places with the family.
I absolutely love going to the Ocean and have missed it so much since leaving Oregon. For me the expression "I go to the sea to breathe" is true. I felt so invigorated just being there and then getting to share it with my family was amazing! Here for your viewing pleasure are some pictures!
View from the crows nest of the house. That's the ATLANTIC Ocean!




Emilie,Logan Abrianna and Mercedes braving the water.
The guys get ready to go in to retrieve the Frisbee!The guys go in..


The guys go out!The Frisbee!

Thanksgiving Dinner. Seth prepared the Turkey and the rest of us helped with the other goodies.

The Wright Brother's Memorial

That's Papa in the red coat!

Here are the girls touching Wilbur in the sculpture plane.Tommy sees Nanna! (great for my ego)


The Corolla Light House. Beyond this light house is where the wild horses are allowed to roam 11,000 acres freely. There are no roads, just beach. The horses were from Spanish shipwrecks and they have adapted to the coastal vegetation (but not man). They were having a fund raiser to help with the upkeep of the fences etc at the converted schoolhouse museum. Abrianna and Mercedes painted a horse for the cause.

All who were there. What a great time! I'll post more pictures later.