January 3 & 4, 2016

Chilly Sunday & 

Beautiful Monday

January 3 & 4, 2016

My Christmas trees are still up!

We woke to a chilly morning Sunday, but we were both up early.  Ron wanted to go by the hospital to check on his mother.  He left to go see her while I finished getting ready.  Class was good.  We had a nice bunch and a good lesson.

The worship service was good as the pastor and music director were back in their places after some time off during the holidays.

After church, Ron returned to the hospital and I came home to have some lunch and then napped much of the afternoon.  About the time Ron came home, saying his mother was now at home having been released from the hospital, I was headed out to run a couple of errands.

I needed to get milk, bread, and ice, and to pick up a couple of items at another store.  Once home, I did some laundry, some dishes, and a little cleaning.  It was late when I went to bed, but the last thing I told Ron was that I needed him to get me up as soon as he got up Monday morning.  That is not what he heard...

Monday morning, Ron woke me as he was ready to leave for the office.  I had an early doctor's appointment, so I had needed to be up earlier.  I hurried and got there on time.  There is a new Nurse Practitioner at our doctor's office.  I think she is probably a good Nurse Practitioner, but I hated to see that the previous one is gone.

The Nurse Practitioner was inclined to change one medication, but since I was to see the heart doctor the next day, she wanted me to see what he said.  After the visit, I went to the office and worked on the end of the month/end of the year things.

I left the office a little early to go to the bank and to Sears.  I also went to the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions, but they were not ready.  From there I went to Mom's house.  Two of my cousins are in town visiting and they were at Mom's.  They are close to my age, but a little younger.  I always felt cheated on cousins.  Daddy was an only child and Mom only had one brother, so his children were my only cousins.  Thankfully her brother had 4 children, so that left me with 4 cousins.

We had a good visit and it was great to see them and spend time together.  What a treat.  At home, I fixed my supper and then did some work on the computer before going to bed later than I had intended.

January 1 & 2, 2016

Special Times With A 

Couple of Granddaughters

January 1, & 2, 2016

One of the two quilts in progress

Jeff and Barbara's two oldest girls are a joy to have as house guests.  They have been taught to answer "Yes, Ma'm," "Please," "Thank you, Grandma", etc.  Their parents have taught them respect for their elders.  Of course when they keep thinking they need to help me up out of a chair, I really feel old.  Usually they share sleeping on the couch.  They finally had to admit that they have outgrown being able to do that.  One is a still sleeper and the other tosses and turns all night.  The oldest decided to sleep in the recliner and let her younger sister have the couch.

About midnight on New Year's Eve, I left them to go to sleep.  It turns out they were awake for hours!  So they slept until about 10:00 Friday morning.  We had breakfast and then they started sewing and watching the Rose Parade on TV. 

This granddaughter would make a card and then sit down and 

write a note on it to someone, before making the next card.

 

They alternated working on their quilts and on the note cards.  We did not leave the house the entire time they were here.  We just sewed and watched Christmas movies.  The girls had so much fun.  They made good progress on their horse quilts and I am very impressed with their work.

The older granddaughter wrote on this one, a thank you 

note to me for having them come for the weekend.

Ron was gone most of the time, staying at the hospital with his mother while the doctors and hospital were trying to get his mom to go to a rehab facility.  I think all her effort kicking against the system strengthened her and by Sunday, they decided she was strong enough to go home.  (I am getting ahead of myself.)  Ron's sister had arrived on Thursday night to stay for a while to help out.

 This is the thank you note I received from the younger of the two girls

 

We had easy meals so we would not have to leave the sewing for long.  Again they stayed up late, but not as late as the first night.  The next morning we had a quick breakfast and returned to sewing.  The older of the two helped me make some of the beds with the clean linens after a house full of guests.

 The days were filled with happy smiles

 

It was a cold, rainy, windy two days and the girls also enjoyed watching the birds.  I did go out briefly to fill the bird feeders.  They always enjoy spotting the birds.

This Black-bellied Whistling Duck was sitting in the tree in the rain.

It was hard for me to stay a step ahead of the girls.  

 There was such a variety in the cards

Saturday late afternoon, our son brought the two oldest boys with him to town so they could all get haircuts and when they finished, they came to get the girls.  They had lots of cards to show off and take home with them.

Two sewing machines going at one time.

 

Jeff and the boys stayed for a while to visit and it was good to hear about the Winter Boy Scout camp they had attended.

Fun times and great memories!  I am so glad they 

could come and have fun at Grandma's house!

Sometimes, mistakes are made and out comes 

the seam ripper, but there were no complaints.

December 31, 2015

New Year's Eve

December 31, 2015

Texas Roadhouse 

With three little peanut eaters

The holidays had been so jam packed with fun, family, food, and friends, that I had really had very little time with the grandchildren.  The two oldest girls had been wanting to start sewing on the quilt kits I had bought for them last summer.  I decided that the long New Year's weekend would be a great time to get started, so I had texted their mother to see if I could have the girls for a couple of days.

Jeff and Barbara were married on New Year's Eve 22 years ago.  They have found it hard to really celebrate on New Year's Eve since it is often a time of alcohol related celebrations which they don't do, so they seem to end up staying at home many anniversaries. 

Two silly big girls

 

We decided to meet in Harlingen at Texas Roadhouse Steak House for an early supper on their anniversary and we would bring the girls home with us and they would be able to pick up their boys who would be returning from Winter Scout Camp. 

Sewing gets underway

 

It was a cold, drizzly night and we had a long wait for a table, but we were able to do a lot of visiting in the waiting area.  Dinner was delicious.  My steak was super and everyone had a good time as we ate and visited.  Timing worked out just right even with our one hour wait for a table and 1/2 hour wait for food, the scouts arrived just as we finished supper (they had eaten on the road).

During supper at the very noisy restaurant, I used the new Cochlear Wireless Microphone and found it to be a tremendous help in talking to our daughter-in-law during supper.

Jeff's family headed home minus the two girls coming home with us.  When we got home, the girls were ready to start sewing.  I showed them a video on Facebook that I had seen which showed how to decorate note cards with cutout fabric pieces.  They got excited and started making some.

It was late when they went to sleep, which allowed for a late start to a new year the next morning.

December 27 - 30, 2015

The First Half of the Week

December 27 - 30, 2015

Two of our sons with their wives

 

Usually when David and Diana come for a visit, they leave after lunch on Sunday, but this time they needed to leave Sunday morning.  We were so glad to have had them here for a visit.  We were sorry Diana's nephew and niece could not be with them, but Dave texted after they got home to say the children loved their gifts and that their trip home went well.

Ron had gone by the hospital before church and then came to teach his Sunday School class.  After class he went back to the hospital and spent time with his mother before coming home to join us for lunch.  In the afternoon he returned to the hospital as did Stephen and Kristina.  I spent time cleaning the house and working on the last bit of finishing on Stephen and Kristina's quilt.  Joe spent time driving around town to areas where he had worked as a summer missionary.  I did get in a nap while everyone had scattered.

Monday, we had to return to work.  Joe planned to leave to meet a group going to work at a children's home in Mexico.  He had discovered that he had broken out with shingles while here.  Shingles are not contagious from the person with the shingles, but Ron and I had been putting off getting our shingles shots, so Joe's case reminded us that we should not keep putting it off.  I went to the office late.  The entire week turned out to be slow at the office.  We had talked in years past about closing for the week between Christmas and New Year's Day and maybe next year we will.  There was very little going on.  I had paper work to do, but that is about all.  Stephen and Kristina spent the evening with my mother visiting and watching a movie.  After work, Ron and I went to get our shingles shots.  (I had no reaction to mine, but Ron developed a huge welt where he had gotten his shot which lasted for days.)

One evening, Kristina and I made a cherry pie. 

 She wanted to know how to make the lattice work top.

 

Tuesday was about the same except I took the afternoon off to cook some of Stephen's favorites for supper.  His favorites are about the same as mine.  We had Swiss steak and scalloped potatoes.  After supper, Jeff, Barb and the 5 younger children came for a visit.  The two oldest boys were attending a Winter Boy Scout Camp in the Texarkana area.  They wanted to spend time with Stephen and Kristina before they left Wednesday.

Cake with one piece unfrosted by special request.

On Wednesday, Stephen and Kristina slept late and enjoyed supper leftovers for "brunch" before packing their car to head toward their home.  They had a stop or two to make on the way.  It had been so good to have them here.  It was their first visit since before they got married.

That evening we met our friends the Lawlers for supper and had a nice visit catching up on the holiday events in both families.  They had traveled to spend time with their daughter's family.

December 26, 2015

You Never Know 

What a Day Will Bring;

Didn't I Just Say That Recently?

December 26, 2015

My new wireless Cochlear Phone Clip

Everyone was tired on Saturday, following Christmas Day.  I was up early and the house was quiet, until Ron appeared in the kitchen dressed and ready to go somewhere.  Ron had gotten an early morning call from his mother saying she wanted him to come take her to the hospital.  The general weakness and aching she had been feeling the previous few days, along with a cough, had worn her out.  Ron spent all day with her in the Emergency Room.  It turned out that she had pneumonia.  The doctors said it had been caught early and they were admitting her for a few days.  It was early evening before they had a room for her.

As for the rest of the family, a few did a little shopping.  There was an exchange or two to be made and it was just a restful day; for most of us. Diana and I went to the hospital that afternoon to check on Ron and his mom and to take some things to Ron that he needed.  They had his mother on oxygen and had started antibiotics.  She was breathing more easily.  Ron spent the day on his cell phone updating the family here and elsewhere.

 New Cochlear Wireless Microphone

David spent time in the evening working with me on the new Cochlear Wireless Phone Clip and Wireless Microphone that I purchased on my last trip to Houston.  It took a while to figure everything out, but they work well.  The phone Clip is super.  I am now able to handle phone calls a lot better.  The sound goes straight to the Sound Processor, and is so much clearer.  I am only using it with my cell phone - I think that is the only way it will work.

The new pieces of equipment were expensive, but I think they will be worth it once I really get used to them.  At this point, I am still just using them with a few people, but I don't think it will be long before I try them with others.  The wireless microphone took a little more getting used to, but proved to be a great success one evening the next week.

Joe Schmidt

 

We had an additional visitor arrive.  Joe Schmidt came to spend a couple of days with us.  About 33 years ago, Joe and six more young men lived with us for a couple of months in the summer.  Well, actually they lived in our house, but part of the time we were away on vacation.  They were summer missionaries at our church and we enjoyed having them in our home.  Joe spent the next summer here also as a summer missionary, but lived at my mom's since he was in a staff situation with the team and the other boys were staying with us.  Over the years we have had several visits from Joe as he is now a Baptist Student Ministry director in Commerce, TX at the college there.  He stayed with us through Monday morning.

I am so sorry Ron missed out on spending the day with our children, but I am glad he was free to be with his mom.  He is quick to go when she says she needs him.  We are so thankful she called and dealt with the pneumonia early.  Her last experience at the hospital had not been good and I was glad she did not fight going.  The ER staff was great.

December 25, 2015

 Joy to the World 

Christmas Day! 

December 25, 2015

What a great day of celebrations we had all day long.  I was up early, and started baking.  It was after 10:00 before the young adults were up.  The ham went in the oven and then we opened gifts.

For our morning celebration, it was just those staying at our house: David and Diana, Stephen and Kristina, and Ron and me.  We had fun opening stocking gifts and then the other gifts. 

There were lots of very nice gifts exchanged and I think everyone was delighted with their gifts.  Diana usually asks me to buy yarn for her.  She likes trying out new styles and colors of yarns and enjoys my selections.  She was working on winter caps for the Academic Decathlon team she works with at her school.

 This is the Christmas quilt I had been working on for Stephen 

and Kristina.  I actually finished it a couple of days later.

It took a long time to get all the food ready and loaded in the car, along with the gifts, to take to McAllen to our son Jeff's home there.

Dave likes sea horses so his wife gave him one.

 

In the early afternoon we went to Jeff's house and they had things about ready for our family lunch.  The food was delicious, and the family being together was great. 

The tree at Jeff and Barb's

After lunch, before dessert, we gathered around the tree for additional gift exchanges.  There were so many wonderful gifts and the children all enjoyed their things.  They had a good time and spent much of the afternoon playing with their new toys.

The spread for lunch

 

The adults spent the afternoon visiting and sharing the things going on in their lives.  I love to hear our guys together laughing and there was a lot of laughter all day.

Later in the afternoon, just before dark one of our granddaughters and I went out to the field behind the house so she could feed the horse.  The horse belongs to the brother of the man who owns the field, but the children feed it for him.  They are learning what is involved in horse ownership. 

Early evening we had some leftovers for supper and several of the young people decided to go to the movie of the new Star Wars film.  Some had already seen it but wanted to go again.  Later Ron and I headed home and the movie goers came together a couple of hours later.

Late in the afternoon, the grandchildren decorated cupcakes and made little decorations that looked like mugs of hot chocolate, out of marshmallows and little candy canes.

Hot chocolate mug decoration on a cupcake

 

It was a good day and I think everyone enjoyed being together a lot!

Our granddaughter feeding the horse.

December 23 - 24, 2015

Pre-Christmas Preparations

December 23-24, 2015

The last week has been so busy that I am a little over a week behind on my blog entries.  The holiday celebrations were great and I could not have asked for them to be any better.  I guess the only thing that would have made them better would have been to have the one son and his wife here who could not come this year and to have had Diana's niece and nephew with us, also.

Every year or rather every holiday, I tell the kids that I will take what I can get in terms of their visits.  If they can only come for one day, I will enjoy the time we have and do all I can to help them enjoy that time to the fullest.  It is a long trip for a couple of the boys and their wives.  For one it is one long day of driving and for the other it is two days each way of driving.

 Gift wrapping

 

Wednesday we went to the office as usual and it was quiet all week.  People were spending their money on Christmas and not on locks and keys.  I had paper work to do and Ron had a couple of short jobs to tend to. 

There was still grocery shopping and gift shopping to finish and gift wrapping to do.  I left the office early on Wednesday to finish some of those activities.  I have to admit that I was shopping until almost the last minute on Thursday.  This year I was very disorganized in the gift giving area.  Our son in Dallas and his wife are having some remodeling done on their house and I knew they didn't have room for "things" this year, since most of their things are in storage while the remodeling is being done.  It wasn't until Christmas eve that I found out something that his wife wanted, that they could handle until the remodeling is finished.

 Gifts started piling up under the Christmas tree.

 

Wednesday evening our son and his wife from Dallas arrived late, and we had held supper for them.  This was their first visit since their wedding.  It was so good to have them here and they were able to stay for about a week.

 Diana, David, and my brother-in-law, Jim at Christmas Eve supper

Thursday, I spent most of the day in the kitchen when I was not shopping.  I was preparing salads and desserts for Christmas dinner at our son's home in McAllen.  I baked pies and cookies as well as making homemade candies.  I had a ham to bake for Christmas dinner also.

Ron's mother was not feeling well and he kept checking on her as he could.  She was not planning to go to McAllen with us but I had hoped to get a meal to her.  She said just to bring leftovers from McAllen.

Our son and his wife from San Antonio arrived Thursday afternoon and supper that evening was at my mom's house.  She had a meal of Mexican food for us as is tradition for so many in South Texas.  We had tamales, beans, rice, chips and dips, as well as salad and dessert.  Our daughter-in-law Diana's aunt and uncle joined us for supper at Mom's.  They are newly retired, and were spending a little time at South Padre Island, so they were invited to join us for festivities. 

Diana and her aunt and uncle

 

We all had a great time at Mom's and it was good to all be together.  Our son and his wife always spend Christmas eve with his wife's family, but Christmas day with us.  That arrangement works well for me!

What a busy two days I had!  So many things to be done and things I wanted to do.  Having family with us is the high point of the activities and of course celebrating the birth of our Savior is the most important part of the whole Christmas season.