Christmas Gingerbread and Children....

Family night at Grandmas....Shannon and Chelsea,Stephanie ,Spencer and three chefs made for a fun evening...Its amazing how their faces glow when they are enjoying what they are doing...Grandma was the photographer for this one....Enjoy this little video of the evenings events....

SNOW SNOW SNOW !!!!!!!

I don't know when the last time we had snow like this but I did think it was the year my dad passed away ...1990...I remember it was just before the gulf war and I couldn't find a plane or train...I had to go to nebraska by bus...Alan drove me to Bellingham in a snow storm and picked me up a week later in another snow storm...I was thinking about this and then on the news they announced that the last white christmas was in 1990...and I was right! It has been snowing here off and on since last wednesday and to this time I think we have had about 18 inches of snow...unheard of here in Olympia ...we are lucky to get an inch or two and then the rain comes and takes it all away,...My grandchildren Austen and Tanner have enjoyed a few days of sledding ..and I am sure will get a few more in...My daughter Chelsea flew home from Utah yesterday and managed to get here on the last flight before the airport shut down....we were soooooo grateful but it was a scary ride up there to get her and even scarier to get home..but we were blessed and arrived safe and sound....so grateful! Here is a little video....

Return of the Mask!

Several years ago 11 to be exact after the birth of our first grandson Jordan...His new mom requested that when ever we held Jordan we wear a surgical mask....in her defence I should add that Jordan was a difficult birth and was quite small...anyway when we held him we donned the mask..even though we thought it was a little over the top ( see pictures below)





















....Many years and children later every time Shelley sees pics like these she shakes her head in disbelief that she really did that....and we laugh over it.


Now to present day and birth of grandson # 11.....on December 4th 2008















At the time Rowan was born our five year old grandson Tanner had a terrible cough ( we thought the residual of a cold the previous weeks) As we took him to see the new baby...he started coughing at the desk going into the maternity wing and the receptionist suggested that Shannon go to the restroom where they keep a stash of surgical masks and mask Tanner up so the nurses wouldn't have issue with him seeing the baby.





These are what she found there...so cute ....so being the thrifty individual and being concerned for her new nephew and all the colds this time of year she took a handful to take home....thinking anyone who had even the sniffles was gonna wear one of these around Rowan.



With us desperately trying to keep Rowan from getting sick...with so many germs around...I think I now know how Shelley was feeling when she asked us to wear them and all these years later maybe I should apologize to her for feeling silly about the whole mask wearing thing. After having two grand children develop RSV as babies...maybe having masks on hand is not so bad a thing after all.......and when Shelley comes to visit the new baby...if she has the sniffles or a cold...she might just be asked to put on a mask.....and we can laugh over the whole thing once again....

Rain Rain Go Away

After returning home from a relaxing trip to Canada and visiting the grand kids and family I went back to work today. I did playground duty for an elementary school....the woman I subbed for's day starts at 7 am. So I was up bright and early or should I say dark and early....drove to work though lots of standing water.....spent three and a half hours in the wind and rain....it didn't let up for five minutes....watched kids get crazy in the puddles...many moms had to come with dry clothing today. Interestenly enough the sixth graders stayed under the covered play area. The only plus to the day was it ended at 1:30 and I drove home in more standing water....felt exhausted...went to bed ....woke up with a blinding headache and to find a leak in my kitchen ceiling which we are not sure where it is coming from....gratefully the rain let up and the leak was over my sink so it didn't cause anymore damage. Watching the news I realized there were many others who had a worse day than i did because of the rain....but I do wish and hope it goes away....but I am sure if it does it will only be temporary cause after all we do live in the green northwest...and green means RAIN!

Tagged!

I guess I have been tagged and am suppose to come up with seven things that people might not know about me and this could be really hard for me....my life is an open book and most people know all there is to know....so let me think,

7. When I was a teenager I sang with a companion named Derek Pelley in coffee houses, which were very popular at the time, the very hippie thing to do. I think at one time I even thought I might be famous some day....

6. I am a qualified cosmetologist...not licensed anymore but qualified all the same.

5. I did the hair for three of my childrens high school musicals...Grease, Carousel, and Showboat.

4. Before I married my husband Alan I was engaged three times.....

3. I was born in North Carolina, but raised in Newfoundland, Canada. If I had been a male, even though I didn't live in the states for very long, I would have been eligible for the draft when I turned 18 during the vietnam war.

2. I am a published author. (To read the article I wrote, click HERE - scroll to the bottom article titled, "Michelle, Is That You?")

1.I didn't get my drivers license till I was 25 and pregnant with my third child....

I tag Shelley M and Angie P

Halloween Memories

When I started this blog I named it my memories because at this stage of my life I figured alot of what I might post would be my memories. Lately I have really been thinking about how fast time flies by. In February Alan will have been with the city of Olympia 10 years and we are in our tenth year of living here....then I was thinking how fast the last almost 40 years have gone by since the birth of my first child( sorry Craig), then 30, then 20 and last the past 10. In 10 years all of my children have left home. Since we have moved here three of them got married.. two of them graduated high school here... one left on a mission ...and started college....9 of my 10 grandchildren have been born...with one due in December. It seems to go by in a blink.

When I was Relief Society president a number of years ago my bishop Mike Ryan had a saying that he used all the time...I don't know if it was his or not...but it went something like this...".Our lives are so busy being caught up in the thick of thin things" I have always remembered that and somehow these days it has more meaning. This past week I have been thinking about past Halloweens with my children....how excited they would be weeks before planning what they would be ....and how sugared up they were for weeks after( I always wanted to dole out the candy till a dentist told me let them eat it all then brush their teeth.....very smart man!) I really am a slow learner by nature....any way I wanted to post some of my memories of this time...but it ended up being frustration because I realized I have misplaced the folder with Craigs childhood pics in it....so after many days I decided to go ahead anyway....( sorry there aren't more pics of you but I will keep looking) although the whole experience really did make me feel like a bad mother....how can you misplace your son's pics....

On the up note it did make me very happy looking at past Halloweens and made me look forward to this years pics......enjoy!

Canadian Thanksgiving

We are some of the many( I am sure )misplaced canadians, who get to celebrate being thankful ( holiday wise) twice a year. The Canadian Thanksgiving is the second monday in October( which by the way has always made more sense to me but whatever) and the American Thanksgiving is the last Thursday in November. So this past week I braved the expense and bought a turkey for my family( turkeys never go on sale here till November). Our family celebrated Thanksgiving on Sunday so we could attend an event at our church. You see there is more than one Canadian related family in our ward(usually one half of a married couple) and a few missionaries that have served in Canada...we even open the event to other wards and Canadian wannabees. We usually have anywhere from 40-60 people show up for a potluck dinner and a little entertainment...ending with the always popular singing of O Canada.

I love going to this event but it always leaves me a little homesick for Canada...although I am the American born part of my marriage,and the reason we ultimately live in Olympia WA.... but I grew up in Canada. Most of my memories are of Canada , I was married there, all my children were born there, ( two of them still live there) with all of Alan's family,( including my childhood friend and now sister in law...Valerie)and my really close friend Cindy is still there.

As much as I know the Lord directed us here to save Alan's life, we know we were suppose to be here without a doubt....I do miss it. I find myself wondering if we will ultimately be back there one day. I guess this year I am remembering our trip to Newfoundland this time last year ( after many many years away...32 for Alan to be exact) and being able to reconnect with my roots and that part of my life and family.

Thanksgiving whether Canadian or American always gives time to reflect on what we truly are thankful for and mine list is very long. I guess first and foremost the gospel of Jesus Christ...as if I had not been introduced to the gospel as a young girl I doubt the rest of what I am thankful for would have occured. It still amazes me to think the Lord extended his tender mercies unto me and that I listened and accepted. Next my husband, who always has loved me for who I am not someone he wanted me to become...and though I think I have mellowed over the years I know I was not always an easy person to live with....for reasons way to long to try to put here. I am grateful the Lord put him in my life. My childen ... who have brought me both incredible joy...and sorrow....but who have been exactly the teachers the Lord needed to send me ...to help me become what He needs me to be.... my daughter and sons in law....who are helping my children become who they need to be. Lastly my grand-children who have my heart....it is said often that we should have our grandchildren first...but no it is meant to be what it is... because grandparents earn their grandchildrens love by raising their parents...lol... They are all young as of yet and I am sure I will worry about them too in the days to come as they spread their wings and learn all about agency...but right now they just love me and I feel that love each and every day....I am thank ful for the things of life like food and a warm home too ...but they seem pale in comparison to the rich love of family....so suffice to say I am feeling very thankful...

This is Alan and I , Austen, Tanner donning our Canadian hockey jerseys to go to our potluck

Canadian Thanksgiving.. ..

We tried to get Gavin in the picture too,,,with his Canadian shirt but we couldn't get him away from his newest obsession with trains....

These are my beautiful children...all be it a few years ago( Shannon is pregnant with Austen) but I don't have many pictures of them all together...so some of them will be happy with this picture and some may not....Just wanted people to see what I am thankful for...

Its Harvest Time Again!

Today was a grey gloomy day....but it was Conference time...and we got comfortable to spend the day in front of the television being taught by the general authorities of the church. Alan had picked our ripe tomatoes on friday and I knew they needed to be taken care of.

So in between sessions I started cutting the vegtables to make salsa...Alan started peeling tomatoes. I must say my canning has cut down dramatically since the kids have been gone from home. Several years ago we came upon a recipe for salsa that we love...but I think the key is growing your own tomatoes....so every year about this time we start making salsa...the only drawback about growing your own tomatoes is you have to do the salsa in batches as the tomatoes ripen.....So we managed to make about a dozen jars this go round. Canning is hard work but I always love the feeling I have when it is done and sitting on my counter...This year I have done peaches , a little jam, pear sauce, now salsa( with more to come) and Iwill be doing beets soon. I have started storing the jars above my cupboards and I look up there with a great feeling of satisfaction. The salsa has become well loved by both alan and my co-workers and friends and it makes great christmas gifts.... so we will probably continue making it for a few years yet....My house smells amazing after it is done...except chelsea always thought it "stunk"

As we watched Conference my heart was touched many times..as it always is. It somehow always seems like they are talking to me personally as I am sure it does to everyone watching. I guess that is how the spirit works. I often find myself thinking "oh this is my favorite talk" till the next speaker and then I think no this is my favorite...I think they are just all my favorites.

I thought about Craig, Emily, Shelley, and Chelsea as they are all there in Salt Lake...knowing they are being spiritually fed...just like I am ....but being right there has something special to it...that is why so many people make there way there this time of year. Right now I just feel grateful...grateful to be where I am,,, grateful to have tomatoes in my garden so I can can salsa...grateful to be able to worship how I want...grateful to be able to see conference on my television....grateful to have a knowledge of the truth....just grateful....

Utah Memories

Well I have been home from Utah for a few days...all I have now are the memories and some pictures. Chelsea called the other day and said she was going to the temple with a friend and I must say I did feel somewhat envious and wished I could be going too.
Temple Square is an amazing place...with a wonderful spirit. I never went there as a non-member and as I sat there and watched tour groups going through....I wondered what do they think? How do they feel? One day I said to Chelsea I couldn't be a non-member and live in Salt Lake...I think I would find it too confusing....and she agreed with me.
The blessings of the gospel are everywhere...it doesn't matter where you live...I know that. The Lord blesses according to how not where we live....but I would be lying if I said this week didn't have me wishing to live there.... or at least someday serve a mission there. Chelsea told me if she meets someone from there she would like to get married in the Salt Lake Temple and I can't think of anything nicer than having my whole family there for a few days to attend a wedding.
I am grateful to have had this experience, for my testimony of the restored gospel, for special feelings and whisperings of the spirit that once again testified of Christ and His love and concern for us as His brothers and sisters. I am grateful for my husband and children and grandchildren that have chosen( so far) the better path....that someday we may all dwell with the Savior once again....


Here is a little video of my experience in Utah I hope you enjoy it. I sure did!

All Good Things Must Come to an End

Well I am writing on my last night in Utah., I took a tour of welfare square today and the sister missionary who took us....told us we should write down our feelings about being there today. For me it was awesome. I had been to Deseret Industries there before but had never taken the tour, I think all members should do it once to really know where your fast dollars go to. How much good is done and how many lives are changed just by donating that little money from two meals a month. There is a special spirit on Welfare Square and I truly know that the Lord has his hand in what goes on and is accomplished there. I took the tour with young man,his sister and grandparents,. he is entering the MTC tomorrow to go serve a mission in Montreal, Quebec and very excited to get started. They were a lovely family and we enjoyed our time together. Imagine my surprise when I saw them again at the temple this evening.
Being a ten minute walk from the temple is definitely something I will miss when I go home. It has been nice to just go whenever I felt like it or when Chelsea was in class or working. Tonight I feel very grateful to have had this time here., To spend time with her and really see some of the workings of the church, to deepen my testimony and feel the spirit that abides here., I love how the church takes care of this place...temple suare and the surrounding area is so clean.
I spent several minutes yesterday just watching a young girl "vacuming" the reflecting pond i never knew you could vacum a pond but I do now...today when I got to temple square there was a man in a bucket putting christmas lights on a tree.....when I got backfrom welfare square some three hours later ...he was still in the same tree.....so when you watch the christmas devotional and see all the lights on temple square think of all the man hours it took to do that! I know I will.
I have always loved to watch people and temple square it a great place to see people from every where. There are all languages being spoken .....it is fascinating to just sit and watch.,
So it will be hard for me to leave tomorrow....especially leaving chelsea I have enjoyed being here with her,,.,although she is very busy....the time spent together has been precious to me...but I do miss alan and I know he needs me to come home....back to reality...but I hope someday we can serve a mission here or just spend a season being here ......I am grateful.

The Most Amazing Sabbath Morning Ever!

The Most Amazing Sabbath Morning Ever!

This morning Chelsea, Myself and her room mate Jessie got up and got ready to go to the tabernacle to see Music and The Spoken Word....the tabernacle is like a ten min walk from their apt. As we were walking over and passing the conference center we noticed that every one was going into the conference center. So we asked and sure enough the program was being broadcast from there this morning.

So we went inside and found pretty good seats and realized that the dress rehearsal was already going. Very quickly we realized that this wasn't just an ordinary broadcast. For the past two nights there was a concert at the conference center featuring..metz0 soprano Denyce Graves and baritone Brian Stokes Mitchell....and they were special guests at this broadcast. We were pretty stoked as we listened to the dress rehearsal and realized that we would get to hear them twice.,.,.can I say amazing...just doesn't cover the incredible performance. As I was watching and listening to Brian Stokes Mitchell...I kept thinking I have seen and heard him before but where? It isn't like I attend operatic performances on a regular basis if ever.The last song they performed was from the musical Ragtime...and Like a bolt of lightening it hit me!

A number of years ago our son Craig and his wife Shelley had treated us to tickets for a performance of Ragtime in Vancouver BC and he was the main lead....I was so excited to hear him again.

Then it was getting time for the live performance and the usual announcements we being made....the choir was getting back to their seats when everyone in the congregation stood up and we quickly realized that the Prophet Thomas S. Monson and Elder Henry B. Eyring were entering the hall. I was close enough to actually see them and was filled with much emotion. and surprise

The performance got under way and I must say the choir and performers were absolutely outstanding....enough to take your breath away. The orchestra from temple square were also performing.The spirit was incredible and the tears started to flow. And then before you knew it it was done....the cameras turned off and we all stood and applauded those who performed. and yet we were in for more

President Monson and other dignitaries came on to the staging area. President Monson gave a few short words where he talked about Tiny Tim from the novel A Christmas Carol especially where he arrives home on sunday morning after attending church with his dad. His mom asks if he was good and his dad replies he is always good. Then Tiny Tim says he enjoys being where they talk about Him who made the blind man see and the lame man walk( my interpretation) In the end of his short remark...President Monson looked to the audience and with tears in his eyes he said." I say as did Tiny Tim " God bless us everyone" .... I think at that point I lost it. They then presented the performers with teddy bears dressed in tuxedos that when you pressed their paw it played a song from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They had the peformers turn and face the choir ......who then sang to them" God be with you Till we meet again" Did I say I lost it,.,.,..even more then! Then President Monson greeted them ...and hugged Denyce Graves who by this time is in tears trying to maintain composure.

It was pretty much over then...the performers left and President Monson came off the stage greeted a few people, waved and then left the building...Did I say it was the most amazing sabbath ever! Then we walked out into the foyer and a group of sister missionaries were singing hymns and one of them was from my home ward! I walked out into the sunshine thinking I am the luckiest person ever to have been here this day and to have the priviledge of the experience I just had., I have had the best time here in Salt Lake, as I sat in the temple yesterday I felt like if I could be here...live in the housing complex where the missionary couples live ( near chelseas)
attend the temple all the time...I would ask for little more.

Cold Season Already....Come on!!!

I can't believe his third day in kindergarten my grandson Tanner came home with a cold...and guess what? Now I have it! Gratefully it is just a cold not a flu bug or anything....just a stuffy head.but I really don't have time for it. I am leaving in five days on a much deserved( I might add) holiday going to see my daughter in Utah...So I am hoping it goes as fast as it came.

I really do hope this is not a taste of what is to come...

I hate winter...I hate short days and long cold nights.....I AM NOT A WINTER PERSON!!!

Summer Really Is Over!

I am a substitute paraeducator for two school districts ...so I work when school is in session....usually September is a very slow month for work as most educators don't want to start using their personal time right off in September..sooooooo
I thought I had a whole month left to finish doing what I had planned to do all summer ....and didn't get around to...I am the world's worst procrastinator...
Yesterday I got a call from a woman I substitute for quite often....due to a shift in staff and illness...she needs me to work for her starting today till October 3rd at least( with a break in there when I am going to visit my daughter...which I had already planned).....So guess what?
Another summer has truly come and gone without me accomplishing my goals...one would think I would learn from these experiences right? Not this hard headed Newfie.....oh well it was a good day and I did get some really good reading done....

The Last and The First

All my girls and even my daughter in law have started blogging ...after enjoying their blogs for quite some time..I started thinking about creating one of my own. I was still resisting when I had an experience last night that made me feel this was the way I should go. So my title..the last because I am the last to sign on and the first because this is my first blog.

Now for the whole experience.....

A few days ago I signed on to view my youngest daughter Chelsea's blog...in her about me she listed she was the youngest of six. For a brief moment I thought she had made a mistake...for a very brief moment I forgot....for the first time in 27 years.

You see on August 13,1981 our fourth child, a son was born, he lived but a few short eight hours. They never found a reason for his death, his heart stopped shortly after he was born and it took them twenty minutes to start it again, he was rushed to a neonatal unit and passed away six hours later. We had not intended to call him after his father but in his passing felt it appropriate to call him Alan Frederick after his dad.

Needless to say it was a very difficult time for our young family...but back to Chelsea...Chelsea who has never forgotten. Chelsea was born almost four years later and in between our daughter Stephanie( who kept me sane) was born. Chelsea never knew her brother in this life but always talked about him ( once she could talk) and when ever we would visit his grave she would lie herself across his headstone and sob. She did this from the time she was a toddler and before she could talk and was told about him. We always felt that she must have had an incredible association with her brother before she came here. Eventually it became so tramatic for our family that we stopped taking her. I know that when she got older there were times she went there without us...and I know she has never forgotten.

In 1981 it was before the day that they realized it was theraputic for mothers to hold their dying babies... so I never held him...never kissed him,,,just touched him through the opening of his incubator before they took him away. Now they take pictures and keep them on file but they didn't then...no pictures ...just memories.

Back to the experience....last night it occured to me that August 13th had come and gone this year and I had forgotten....now if someone had told me that I would have a year when I would forget..I would have said NOT EVER! but I did. We were getting ready to go on holidays and it came and went without a thought or a tear...which had never happened before. Last night I was thinking about all these things and wanting to write them down in my journal.... I searched and searched and to no avail I could not find my journal...all the time a little voice saying...." you need to blog this" So after a sleepless night of thoughts and many tears....late but tears all the same...for my son who would be 27 this year...I said okay I will blog this...maybe someone who has a fresh loss in their lives needs to know that maybe someday life will take over and for a brief minute you will forget... like I did...but today I remember .