Wednesday, December 30, 2009

LET IT SNOW..for a little bit

One thing I love about the Willamette Valley, is all the weather men on the local news get so excited when they think it's gonna snow..."think" is the operative word. They start showing news reports about all the sanding trucks, tires being chained up on Tri Met, and what to do if there are school closures. And then...no snow. More often than not it happens like it did yesterday. All of a sudden it just starts really snowing...No warning...nothing...just snow...We got about 3 inches...and Portland and surrounding areas??...It came at rush hour, they had about 5 inches and it was an absolute mess. No one was prepared. Why....Cause the weather guys on the news...had no idea it was coming.
When we had the new windows put in, I said it would be cool to stand in the kitchen and watch if it ever snowed. It was. At one point Rich, Nicole, and I were just leaning on the counter, watching it...Wish I had a picture of that!! I love when it snows, for one reason you can't tell we desperatly need a new roof!! Next year. This year was about having a new kitchen..with new windows....so I could see snow coming down...

Saturday, December 26, 2009

'Cola and Grandpa

So.....I got a nice new little camera for Christmas....but it was the last thing I opened...and it took awhile to charge the battery. This is my one and only picture of Christman morning, 2009
Nicole and her 95 year old Grandpa Frederick.....How cute are they!!

Christmas Miracle

I was having a tough time realizing that only Nicole would be home for Christmas. I was grateful for that, but sad knowing it would be only the 3 of us and Rich's 95 year old Dad. Christmas has always been special to me. I love to decorate and to do presents and to bake....I love the festivities both secular and of course religious. But most importantly I love the idea of family coming together. One of the biggest heartbreaks I have had to deal with, at this point in my life, is to have none of our children, grandchildren, or even much family close by.
The closer it got to Christmas this year the more sad I became. The thought of going to Church the Sunday before Christmas was going to be hard. I would have to go alone as Rich goes out to the Prison on Sundays. In my prayers one night I asked Heavnly Father to please help me not to feel so alone and help me to relaize the importance of being at church the week before Christmas. It occurred to me the best gift I could give the Savior was to be at church and to show my gratitude for the blessings all my children and grandchildren receive constantly in their lives. I mustered up and went. It was difficult sitting by myself and seeing so many of my friends of the past 25 years with much of their families sitting with them. But the Sacrament meeting was beautiful as was the Choir. Off to Primary I went, confident I would be OK...however as almost all the children went up to be part of a Nativity, one of my long time friends (who is also a Primary teacher) had her adult son to play the guitar for the little ones to sing Silent night....The tears started....I thought of my grandchildren and then the profound feeling of loss for several things in my life.....almost in that same moment I felt a tap on my shoulder...The little gal behind me quietly asked."Do you and Rich have family coming home for Christmas..." Through my tears I told her "no." She quickly replied that this was the first time they would have no family close by either. She proceeded to share with me they had made it matter of prayer as to who they could invite to share dinner with..."someone who who would need their family as much as they would need a family." Both her and Kacey agreed that if the "Fredericks" had no family coming we would be the ones!! I couldn't believe it...Janica and Kacey are one of the neatest little couple in our ward. I had taught their son Ryan in Primary last year and loved him. Rich and I have always adored Kacey and Janica. They are funny, spiritual, and always so willing to serve.
We had one of the best Christmas's ever....They gave us the gift of children and grandchildren...and we were the gift of parents and grandparents! This little Christmas miracle help to remind me; that as children of our Father-in-Heaven He does understand our heart aches, as well...He hears and answers our prayers. The dinner!! Janica for only being 28, is an amazing cook. It was all so yummy and so entertaining with little kids!
The "grandchildren", Braxtin, Akalia, and Ryan
Janica and "Mom."
"Dad" and Janica

Janica and Kacey...the best part of this picture is..Kacey is bent way over and Janica is on her tippy toes....He is 6ft 4inch and she is 5ft 1 inch...Too cute....She shared that for the first time the other day, Kacey relalized she always stood on her tippy toes to kiss him....To which Kacey qucicly replied..."maybe she should kiss him more often and he would know these things." cute..cute...cute



Thursday, December 24, 2009

I have to send out a big "Thank you" to Sarah, my cute little daughter-in-law who helped me pretty up the place...

Thanks Sarah for marrying Jeffy, for having Sean....and for HELPING ME!!!
I think I have got it....You create a blog...and then you must register it...Another problem is to try and go back over everything you've done in 6 months to play catch up....So I am starting fresh and will add as I go along....