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".

Christmas Village

Our Christmas Village is all up now and I didn't even have to do it! Robert and Steven took over this year and they did a terrific job! I just added a few extras. It was so nice to let them take over because it is a lot of work. (I'm sure I'll have to take it all down and put it away in the boxes as usual in a couple of months!) It's always so fun to have up. When I went up to see it for the first time, there were a few new pieces that I hadn't seen before. Robert just can't stop buying them off of Ebay! I keep telling him we have plenty now, but he doesn't stop. I love the Christmas villages so much. It reminds me of a Christmas many years ago.

When I was a senior at Olympus High, one of my seminary teachers challenged us to do something nice for someone that Christmas season-- preferably something anonymous because it is more fun that way. I had been working at ZCMI in the Cottonwood Mall as Christmas help in gift wrapping so I had a fair amount of money to spend on my family with some left over. I decided to buy several little gifts like lotion, cologne, bubble bath and chocolates and take a gift each night during the week before Christmas. I chose to take them to an older widow who lived alone in a house around the corner and down the street about four houses from me. I knew her name and where she lived, but had never met her before.

The first night that I went, I waited until after dark, but I felt perfectly safe in my own neighborhood. And the fact that I was on a "secret mission" made the trip very exciting. I remember so well walking down the street looking at the Christmas lights decorating my neighbors' homes and the lighted windows and the stars shining in the clear sky. It seemed so magical to me and I think that is why I love our lighted Christmas village so much.

I arrived at Carrie's house and started walking down her long driveway. Her lights were on so I was pretty sure she was home. I set the first little wrapped gift down on the step in front of her door which was on the side of the house, rang the doorbell and knocked hard a few times just in case the the doorbell didn't work. Then I ran as fast as I could back up the driveway and hid behind the bushes, breathing hard and peeking to watch for her to open the door. It took a minute or so for her to open the door and call out "hello?" She then looked down, saw the package, picked it up, looked out again, and then shut the door. With a big smile on my face, I walked back up the street and around the corner to my house. I had such a good feeling inside and decided this "anonymous giving" was very fun.

The next couple of nights, I repeated this, sneaking out of my house each time. I waited until no one was around the front door, put on my coat, and went quietly out. And each time she came to the door a little faster, so I had to run faster!

Then the next night, with snow flakes lazily falling down, I put the gift on the doorstep, rang the bell and knocked, then ran up the driveway. But when I was only about half the way to my hiding place I heard the door opening behind me and a little voice calling out "who are you?" a couple of times. I had been caught! I kept running, though, and turned behind the bushes, but then I felt like I needed to go back and talk to her. So I walked down the driveway back to her door. I told her my name, where I lived, and told her that I thought she knew my grandmother who also lived in the neighborhood. She was very nice and invited me to come in and sit down, which I did. We talked for a few minutes-- about what I really don't remember. She thanked me for the gifts and gave me some candy. I wished her a "Merry Christmas" and walked back home, again with a smile on my face.

I found out that Christmas how fun it is to give, especially anonymously, but I was also glad to be able to meet Carrie and talk with her, too. Then she didn't have to keep wondering who her secret gift-giver was.

Looking at our Christmas Village now brings back memories of that Christmas which really stands out in my memory because it was so magical to me.

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I have so much to be thankful for. I love my family and friends dearly and I am so thankful to have them all in my life. I'm thankful for my home and church.

I'm thankful for my eyes. The fact that I have very terrible eyesight has always made me appreciate the fact that I can see at all. There are many people that live in total darkness. I am so glad that I can see this beautiful world that has been created just for us. I love the trees and grass, flowers and mountains, and all the wonders of nature. I also love art and architecture that men have made. I'm thankful for the amazingly fun hobby of making art of different kinds. It is so great to have that creative outlet.

I'm thankful for my ears that can hear the wonderful sounds of nature: the birds, crickets, thunderstorms, and the ocean waves pounding against the beach. (I wish I could see and hear that a little more often!) I'm also very thankful to be able to hear music which I love so much. I enjoy so many different kinds of music. My CD collection is quite an eclectic assortment as you can tell from my playlist here. I have a little piece of heaven when I am working (really playing) in my craft room listening to music!

I am thankful for this time of year when we think about other people a little more than ourselves, when we can enjoy the excitement of this magical season, and remember what is really important in our lives.

There are many crazy things going on in the world today, but life is great when we count all our many blessings and be happy with what we have. Yes, I'm very thankful today.

Sweet Baby

Cason is 3 weeks old already and he has changed so much since the day he was born. It's great to have those sweet newborn baby sounds in the house again. Even his crying isn't very loud. He really is a good baby.

Baby Cason

Cason Daniel was born on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 at Alta View Hospitol. He weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz. and is 21 inches long. What a cute little guy! Danny and Courtney were supposed to call the hospitol that morning at 7:00 to make sure they had room for them to come in so they could start her labor since she was 10 days past the due date. But at 2:15 that morning her water broke and labor pains started, so they got to the hospitol at about 3:00 and Cason was born at 12:51 p.m. that afternoon. We are so glad that he is finally here! How great it is to have a newborn in the family again! They came home from the hospitol on Thursday afternoon, and this grandma loves to hold him!

Is this a happy face or what?!

A new family!