Snow, Snow, Snow!

OK, I think we have enough snow now! It snowed most of the day on Christmas and most of the day yesterday. Now the sun is shining and it is really beautiful, especially since I don't have to go out in it today! The streets are finally cleared. The news said our area got about 20 inches, which is a lot of snow! Yes, we had our White Christmas, and if it were up to me we wouldn't have any more snow (at least not this much) for the rest of the winter. But I know it's not up to me and we do need the water!

More Christmas Village

These are the overflow village pieces that we put on the top of the piano. I really like these houses, too! And yes, like my sister said, I would like to shrink myself down and walk through the village! Wouldn't that be fun?!

Sweet Grandma Ridd

Even though she has been gone for many years, I think about my Grandma Ridd quite often and I found out that my sisters also think about her often. At her funeral, I found things out about her that I hadn't known before. I found out that she loved trees like I do and that one of her favorite poems was "I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree..." I love that poem, too. I wish I had known that while she was alive and that I could have talked to her about it. I also wish I hadn't been so shy growing up and had talked with Grandma more and gotten to know her better.She and Grandpa lived just a few houses down the street from us, which we loved. What a wonderful, talented grandma she was! I love her dearly.

I made a collage with a photo of my grandma when she was in 8th grade. The background is a painting that she did in her 70's and the collage includes items that represent her trees and gardening that she loved. I reduced this on the computer and made necklaces for each of my sisters and my mom for Christmas. Fortunately, my sisters' and mom's necklaces don't have a bubble in the resin right over grandma's forhead like mine shown here!

Christmases Past

Robert and I have talked about how much we miss Christmas when our 5 kids were little. We always woke up before the kids did on Christmas morning and just lay in bed waiting for them to come in and get us up. When they finally came in and tried to pull us out of bed to go open presents, we got up, pretending to be very reluctant to leave our nice warm bed!

One year we got out of bed when we heard the kids start to stir. Robert put pillows under the covers to make it look like we were in there, and we hid on the floor on the other side of the bed, waiting for the kids to come in and try to find us. They were surprised to find only pillows in our bed and it didn't take them long to find us on the floor. We all got a good laugh about it!

Another year, Robert and I did the same thing except that we hid in the closet. It took the kids a little longer to find us that time!

A few years later we added on the garage and family room to our house. Our Christmas tree was then upstairs. One Christmas morning after Robert and I woke up we tiptoed as quietly as is possible on our squeaky floors down the hall and up the stairs before the kids woke up and listened to them wandering around downstairs trying to find us. They eventually figured out we were upstairs where we had turned on the Christmas tree lights. It was always tradition that Robert and I had to go up first and turn the lights on before the kids came up in age order- youngest to oldest. Each child picked a spot to sit on the couch or a chair with their stocking and then Robert passed the presents to each of them. They each ended up with a big stack of presents by them. Then the youngest child got to open one gift of their choice while everyone watched. Taking turns, they each opened their gifts so everyone could see what they got. After the kids had opened all their presents, it was mom and dad's turn. We know lots of people who just let their children start tearing into all their gifts at the same time, which is what Robert and I did in each of our families when we were young. But we liked the idea of doing it one at a time so we could enjoy the moments longer, otherwise Christmas is all over in a couple of minutes!

It's very fun to think about those great Christmasas we had in years past, but we also love our Christmases now with our grown-up children and our sweet grandchildren. We love them all so much more than I could ever say. They mean everything to us and we are so glad that we have the gospel in our lives and the great blessing of being a "forever family".