Blessed Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving holiday was happy and blessed. Rich was on call for work but fortunately there were not many emergency repairs. So he was able to be home with us most of the time. Thanksgiving morning was so wonderful and mellow for us. I baked my favorite sweet potato dish to take over to Rich's folks house and then I put together my annual Thanksgiving arrangement. I went to out the front step and selected the smallest pumpkin. Rich cut it open for me and cleaned it out. I put a plastic liner inside it and place wet oasis in it.
I used the floral picks below and placed them in the lid of the pumpkin. I use 2 or 3 depending on the size of the pumpkin.

I put the picks in like so. I put the wired end in first making sure they are very secure.

I select my flowers. I bought a large bunch bouquet of mums and mixed flowers at the store.

You must also have a little munchkin to help by playing with the left over flowers!

I place the pumpkin lid in the oasis, tilting it on the side. Then I begin to place the flowers in the wet oasis.


I keep adding flowers.

I put in the final flower and place it on our table. It is ready to go!


We had a really yummy meal at Rich's folks house with all the traditional dishes. We couldn't stay long after dinner because Mary was cutting her back molar and was very tired. She fell asleep on the way home. We are truly thankful for all the Lord has given us!

Two Blankets

Mary loves her pink fuzzy blankets, especially when she first wakes up in the morning. Here is the video or you can copy the link below into your browser to view it. Have a wonderful day! Elena

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Precious

This morning as I drove out of the garage with Mary in her car seat, headed for the bank and Michael's, I thought, Wow I have such a precious gift of life sitting in the back seat. I think that thought was precipitated from a short event earlier in the morning. I was back in our bedroom after Rich had left for work and making the bed. Mary wanted to get up on it as soon as I pulled the bedspread up and placed the pillows. She was still in her little fuzzy pink sleeper and had her soft pink blanket it her clutches. She laid on her tummy crosswise on the bed and I laid down still in my night gown across the bed beside her. She thought that was great. She put her little face right up to mine and I could feel her sweet little breath on my face. I rubbed my nose on hers and this brought a peel of giggles. She is such a sweet and happy little thing. She then lay down her head and said she was sweeping (sleeping) and closed her eyes and pretended to snore by making a little snorting sound. We lay there for a few minutes then I thought of the things I needed to do, so we got up and I lifted her down off the bed and went about my morning chores. After I drove down our driveway and thought of how precious she was in the back seat, my mind drifted to yesterday when I was reading a blog that I look at every once awhile. I don't read it regularly. It is written by a young mother who has 3 beautiful children and she tells the story of losing her 4 child shortly after birth. The child was a little girl with several severe birth defects and the doctors were amazed that she even lived in the womb. There are these beautiful pictures of her and her husband and 3 children with the little baby right after birth. Evidently they had a professional photographer there to chronicle the few short hours of this little ones life. I was so amazed at her strength as she told of this tragic event. As I was thinking about this on my drive to the bank this morning, I thought of how I would feel and I momentarily slipped myself into her shoes and this most overwhelming sorrow filled my soul until the tears streamed down my face. I couldn't help it. I thought wow, if that were me, I wouldn't even be able to take a normal picture. I know my eyes would have been swollen with tears and my groaning from my sorrow would be uncontrollable. Like I said, I admired this young Christian woman's strength. I gasped and yanked "her shoes" off my feet. I had to get rid of that pain. I finally shook it off by the time I got to the bank. I just remember the day that Mary was born. I was in so much pain but as soon as I seen her beautiful little face my heart jumped for joy! All the months of my worry at times and wondering what my little one would be like were over! I just thought how precious life is!

Papa and Grandpa?

I just love the toddler age as little ones begin to talk. They say the cutest things and some times they get things mixed up. My mother-in-law has been trying to get Mary to say Grandma for a long time. Mary is very happy to see her whenever she comes with lots of smiles and squeals but she has not called her anything for a long time. She said Mama at 7 months of age and said Daddy shortly after that. Then I think around 18 months she started calling Rich's dad, Papa. We would try and coach her different times to say Grandma or Nana but to no avail. Yesterday, his folks came by and picked Mary and I up and we went to a fairly new Walmart Super store that I had not been to. We had a lot of fun shopping, then we went to Carl's Jr for lunch. Mary and I had a great time. When we got home, it was Mary's nap time and she was very tired. His folks brought in all my stuff as I was getting Mary settled for her nap. When she realized they were going she got really upset. When they kissed her goodbye and closed the door, she went into wales of dismay. She sucked up her tears for a moment and looked at me and said, "Where Papa and Grandpa go? I felt bad for her because she was so sad but I couldn't help but chuckle at her. It doesn't matter how many times I correct her, she still calls Rich's mom, Grandpa! I know it is just a faze she's going through but it's just so funny, because his mom has tired so hard to get her to call her Grandma:)

Granddaughters

My dad has 3 granddaughters. All 3 were the first born and they have some interesting things about them, that I didn't notice until after my daughter (the 3rd granddaughter) was born. The 3 girls names are Sherri Lynn, Maranna Lian and Mary Ellen. Mary's name is a combination of Maranna and Sherri. They all have L's and N's in their middle names. They were born 14 years apart. Mary was born on Maranna's 14th birthday but she was born in the same year pattern as Sherri. Sherri was born in 1978 and Mary was born in 2006. If you look on a perpetual calendar, here, you will see that 1978 and 2006 are the same year, with the dates and days of the week being the same. The last thing is their musical interest. I have pictures of all of them at the family piano that became mine as I spoke about in my former post entitled, "My Piano". Sherri didn't play the piano but she did like music and played the trumpet all through high school. Maranna plays the piano very well and also plays the clarinet in her school band. Mary is only 2 and really loves music and loves that piano. So they all share the love of music! I just thought that was so neat. I kind of like trivia and details, so it was cool when I realized their similarities. Have a great day! Elena

Yummy!

Yesterday was a long day for my hubby. He and another guy had to drive to Brookings to deliver and install a Taylor Ice Machine to a customer over there. A few days earlier his co-worker gave him some homemade smoked salmon! So, I thought I would surprise him and make a macaroni salad. I boiled 2 cups of salad macaroni for 10 minutes, drained it and added 1/3 cup minced smoke salmon, 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion, 1 large Roma tomato finely chopped, 1-2.25 oz drained can of sliced olives, 1 - 7 oz drained can of sliced mushrooms. For the dressing I used equal amounts of Mayonnaise and Ranch dressing (about 1/3 up of each) and then added 2 tablespoons of Lawry's herb and garlic marinade. I mixed all together thoroughly and then put it in the frig for until it got cold. I then cooked some chicken thighs in the slow cooker. When Rich got home, I had the salad and chicken for him. He loved it and it made his day!

I am also sharing some cute pictures of his folks. In October they had their birthdays. His mom turned 80 and his dad turned 84. They were back visiting family in Oklahoma, so when they returned we took them out to dinner at a local fish house. The food was great and we had a lot of fun. Mary just loved when they brought out the cup cakes with candles. She got to help blow out the candles. The waitress took their picture with the restaurant's special fish hat. We are so blessed by having his parents living close by!

Bye Bye Mommy

"Bye Bye, Mommy" were spoken to me by my 2-year old with a big smile as I put her down in her Sunday School classroom. You may think that is not a big deal, but coming from a little girl who cries when I go to check the mail or take a shower and daddy is watching her, is a big deal! She loves her daddy and gets over it quickly, but she is just so attached to me she doesn't want me going anywhere:) I don't work out of the home and she is our only child. Last month we changed churches and started putting her in class instead of having her with us. She made a beautiful transition, but I always set her down and made my exit without trying to make her notice my leaving. The teacher said she didn't get upset during the whole class time and really enjoyed herself. Well, last Sunday there was a new teacher and another little girl, named Madeline. She was crying at the top of her lungs! So, I was a little apprehensive how Mary would handle it. As soon as her feet hit the floor, she turned around, smiled and said, "Bye bye, Mommy!" She looked at little Madeline crying and walked right up to the teacher! My heart was so blessed as I walked out and went with Rich to service. I am so happy that my little girl loves Sunday School. The teachers and other workers in the children's ministry there are so sweet and the place has such a wonderful spirit about it. I continue to pray that Mary's heart will always be drawn to church and fellowship with other believers and that her walk will always be close to our heavenly Father.

The Wedding Dress

My wedding dress is very special to me as it reminds me of that wonderful day that I married my husband. I loved wearing it and feeling the wonderful emotions of joy knowing all my dreams had come true! There is a very interesting story on how and when it came into my possession. It begins in 1992 when I was living in Southern California and was taking a position of secretary at my church. I was replacing the current secretary because she was getting married. Shortly after I took the job, I attended her wedding. She asked me to help and one of my jobs was to fluff out her wedding dress train as she made her grand entrance to the church sanctuary. As I lifted up the train and watched it float to the ground and saw the light pick up the beautiful sequin and bead work on it, I fell in love with it. I stood there thinking, if I ever get married I would love to have a dress like that! Well... a few years passed and I received the sad news that this girl's marriage fell apart. To her surprise and sorrow her husband left her. We were in shock. She was living in Washington D.C. at the time. A few years after that in April of 1997, her mom called the church office and told me that her daughter wanted to sell her wedding dress. There was no hope of reconciliation with her husband and she needed some extra money. Her mother wanted me to advertise at the church that it was for sale. My heart took a jump. I asked how much is she selling it for. I knew she had paid over $1500 for it. Her mom said she wanted $600. I wanted that dress! On my lunch hour I went to her folks home and tried the dress on. It fit me perfectly, I fell in love with it and bought it! The only problem was that I was not engaged or even had any prospects of marriage! I took it home in its beautiful gold box and placed in the top of my closet. I took it out every once and awhile and dreamed about wearing it someday! Then I moved several times and even came into some financial hard times and heavily contemplated selling it to make some money. But, I just couldn't. Four years after purchasing it, my husband came into my life. During the year that we dated, I came to find out that the timing of my purchase of the dress was profound. My husband had been living in Las Vegas, Nevada and had a belief in God but was not commited to Him and for many years had a distant relationship with the Lord. In April of 1997 (the month I bought my wedding dress) He made a strong commitment to the Lord and became very active in our church. It was a huge crossroads in his life and it changed him so much! The night he proposed to me and we were standing on our favorite beach at sunset, I told him that I had my wedding dress and I bought it the month he moved to Oceanside! Isn't God good!

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My Piano

My piano is a black upright, made by Wurlitzer. It is a well made piano with a bright sound. My folks purchased it in 1966 and I was 6 years old. My folks had moved into the home my father built a few years before, and my mom wanted to have a nice piano that her daughters could learn to play on. Her mother was a concert pianist and she had grown up on beautiful music. She did not have an interest to play but she did love to hear it. My sisters and I all learned to play but we did not have the talent of our grandmother. The piano is my favorite instrument and I can listen to piano music for hours, it just takes me souring into daydreams of flying and being free. I wished I could just sit down and play anything and pour my soul into it, but I just didn't have the talent. I took 5 years of lessons and I learned to play by music and I did enjoy it. I would comfort myself that some day when I was in heaven, the Lord would give me the ability to play from my heart and not need notes to read.

One day when I was a teenager and playing the piano in our living room, my mom came up to me and told me that when I got married that I would get the piano. I had no idea why mom chose to give me the piano and not my 2 older sisters, but she did. Little did I know that it would be 25 years before I would be married! Many events would occur before that happy event of my union with my husband. My dear mother passed away, I moved to California and my father sold our childhood home and divided up the household furniture amongst all 4 of us kids. I was living with my sister at the time. She had the piano up until I moved out into my own apartment. Then the piano traveled around with me for the next 7 years. Most of the places I lived were too small for a piano, so I would leave it at a friend's house or in storage. After I married it traveled with us to several places and finally back up to Oregon with us in 2005. My poor piano was so out of tune and ragged around the edges. I was glad I still had it and I polished it, cleaned up the brass fixtures and had it professionally tuned. I placed it in our living room and played it occasionally.

Our precious gift, our little girl, was born in 2006 and from the early months of her life she loved hearing music. When she started walking we blocked off the piano. A few weeks ago we put down a new carpet in the living room and let her have access to the piano. She went running over to it and began to press the keys gently with a big smile on her face. So, I sat down with her and pulled out some Christmas music. I played Silent Night, Away in A Manger and It Came Upon a Midnight Clear. Each time I finished the song, Mary would smile, clap her hands and say, "Yeah!" She would add in her little toddler playing as I played. When I was finished playing I put the music away and she said in her cute little 2 year old voice, "Thank You, Mommy!" A couple of days ago my oldest sister came to visit. She started singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star to her. Mary loves that song. A little bit later, Mary stood in front of the piano and started to sing, Twinkle, Twinkle. She stopped ran over to me and said, "Mommy help!" She pulled me over to the piano and said, "piano" and started to sing, Twinkle, Twinkle. She was singing in tune too! I realized that she wanted me to play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star on the piano. Now she goes over to the piano and hits the keys randomly, but in the right rhythm and sings Twinkle, Twinkle! I tear up a bit as she does it. My little girl loves music and she wants to play even though she just turned 2 a few days ago! Each day we sit on the piano stool together and "play". I am hoping that she will have more talent than I, but whatever her talent or ability is, I am so happy that she loves the piano and has fun tickling its ivory in her little toddler way.

Me sitting at the piano in 1966.

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Two Candles

Two years ago today our baby girl was born! We went to Starbucks to have a little celebration!

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