It's beginning to look like . . .

Last Friday, Oliver and Margaret came over to "hang" out while Jerimy spent time with friends. What a great time we had. We ate pizza and cheesy bread and then began the process of decorating our Christmas Tree. In just a few short weeks Oliver has begun to use a toy to walk around or should I say "run" around.

What fun to see a little one so curious about things around him. He ran down the hallway to check out the back bedrooms to see if there was anything interesting. Morfar closed all but the door to the computer room. Oliver, smart little one he is, knew that him and Mormor had played a game on the computer and ventured in the room to see if the game was still there. Sad to say but I can't even remember the website him and I had played a game (matching colors) on the week before.

As I opened the box of Christmas decorations, Oliver came over to "help" out. There were so many things to see and touch. I actually think it was just the fact that there was a big box that Mormor allowed him to pull things out of that intrigued him. I only wish he could talk and tell me what he was thinking. He was so curious and fun to watch as he discovered each new Santa or sock or whatever it was that Mormor took out of the box and let him hold. If you check out Margaret's blog you can see pictures of Oliver helping Mormor and then Morfar under and around the tree. What fun to share something that we do each year and see it through the eyes of someone fascinated by all of the bright lights and pretty colors.

Thanks Margaret and Oliver for coming and helping put up and decorate the tree.

Give Thanks in all things . . .

God tells us to give thanks in all circumstances. As I look back over this last year, I am counting the many blessings that he has given me. We have made it through a few downs as well as the ups but He is ever faithful and provides for our every need.

Gary and I have 4 wonderful daughters married to godly Christian men. We have 2 grandchildren that can melt our hearts with a simple smile or reach. Both Gary and I have jobs that are providing for the needs that we have. We have a home that we can live in without concern for the cold. We have cars that take us to visit our children. We have clothing to keep us warm in the winter and cool in the summer. We have food or enough money to purchase food to keep us nourished. AND we have a God who loves us more than we can even imagine!!

Our wish for you is to have a wonderful time with family or friends this Thanksgiving. And as you eat from the bounty of what has been provided, remember to thank God for all he has done for you this year.

Sleep Study . . . Are you supposed to sleep?

This is for all of those who have ever experienced what they call a "sleep study". What, you might ask, is a "sleep study". It is something you do to help the doctor determine if you have sleep apnea or narcilepsy or any other sleep disorder.

First you go away from home to a center where the rooms look like "hotel" rooms -- well maybe a bit but do hotels have hidden cameras, microphones, and speakers where someone in another room can talk to you -- I don't think so. Once "settled" in your room -- meaning you put your PJ's (or whatever you are going to wear while you sleep), they come in and spend about 30 minutes attaching wires to you -- I think I had a total of 8 wires connected to various spots on my head, 4 wires to my face, 1 wire to my throat, 4 wires to my legs, and 3 wires to my chest. The wires are to measure various things via a computer located in another room. Pretty cute, huh?

Once you are all "hooked" up, they give you the box they hook the wires up to on a fancy neck strap so you can move around the room until it is bedtime. At that time the box lays beside your pillow as you "sleep". Hooked to that many wires on your head, I can truthfully tell you it was no picnic to "sleep". I must have, however, because they woke me up in the middle of the night to put on a breathing machine to see if I slept better. Let me just say that it was an interesting experience that I'm hoping I won't have to repeat any time soon.

If . . . then reasoning

This past week, Margaret sent me this e-mail "In “if . . . then” reasoning, you say to yourself, “If A is true, then B must be true.” She went on to say: "If (a) Jenny is a daughter you did not endure labor to have. Then (b): You will have married off and/or helped in wedding plans for five girls in less than five years. ('04,'05,'06, early '08, later '08)" Pretty impressive reasoning skills, I would say.

This past weekend we traveled to Waupaca, Wisconsin to witness the marriage of Jenny (who I have called my fifth daughter) and Jarred. It was a beautiful wedding ceremony and an enjoyable time of gathering. From the time that Debbie (Jenny's mother) called to tell me about the upcoming wedding until Saturday, I have helped Debbie work through and plan some of the events. (Like her, I have planned and orchestrated wedding plans from afar and sometimes the task seems undaunting and overwhelming.) We had many conversations as I tried to encourage and help in whatever way I could. Saturday was all about the final result. So many people were involved to make it a happy time for the couple, family and friends.

Congratulations to Jenny and Jarred and may God bless you as you begin your married life together.


P.S. Debbie you made it!!

A Bloom . . .

On one of the trips Laura and I took to Hawaii before Laura got married, she bought a Plumeria stem to plant when she got back to Minnesota. Once planted, she faithfully watered it and watched as nothing but a stick seemed to grow in the pot. We waited and watched and nothing seemed to happen. THEN . . . the stick began to grow taller and taller with lovely green leaves. Laura got married and moved to Hawaii but left the plant for me (the one who kills plants) to tend and care for. I brought it in for the winter and watered it but alas last winter all of the leaves fell off. I panicked and watched as the plant again became a stick in a pot. (Little did I know that it was suppose to do that during the winter as I found out online later.)

Spring came and brought warmer weather and I decided I would put the lovely green stick out of doors and see what would happen. After all, if it remained a green stick I would lose nothing and when it rained I wouldn't have to worry about watering the stick. WELL, as temperatures began to warm up and the stick caught the sunlight, leaves again appeared and the stick again took on life. As the summer wore on, I began to notice a change -- there was something more than leaves growing on the plant. WOW, did that mean I would have plumeria blooms for the first time? I watched and watched and watched and watched and it seemed to change but nothing looked to me like a bloom. I began to loose heart and the weather began to cool. Again I was forced to bring the plant in doors to keep it out of the cold.


In late September, what should appear before my eyes but a plumeria bloom. YEAH!! It lives!!! The picture isn't very good but you can see the pretty yellow bloom (and it smells good, too). Now my goal is to keep the stick alive until next spring to see if by chance we can get two blooms from the plant. Maybe even split the plant and make two plants as it suggests on the information that I got from the internet.