Sorry...no pictures >:-(

"picture" this!!.....


You're :( sick :( , want to sleep all day, but you can't...
You're hungry and Beef Sirloin-tip canned soup sounds just right, with extra peas and broccoli...


You take it ALL out of the microwave and your sleeve catches on the edge of the micro door...






And the WHOLE BOWL FLIPS UPSIDE DOWN AND FALLS ONTO THE KITCHEN RUG SCATTERING EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE -- all of it on the floor -- and it flew more than 11 feet away, getting on chairs, table legs, rugs -- ME!!!! -- and Julian's shirt that was hanging 2-1/2 feet UP and 11 feet away!


The dang bowl just hit and exploded!!


NOW ON THE TOP OF THAT - I remade the soup, only there was only chicken left....mmmm not what I wanted -- AT ALL!!

Happy New Year, folks...is this a bad omen or just finishing the rest of a crummy year -- and opening the door to good things to come...mmm????

I'm not hungry, anymore at least :-) and the floor got mopped :-)

I did something very scary today ':-o

Today, I had to go to Clark Community College to meet with the director of the Displaced Homemakers course. I drove to Clark College, parked, walked inside, found the correct office and signed in. Ms. Merritt was busy so I had to wait a short time. Then she called me into her office, we talked, she told me what I would be learning during the course and then had me fill out some paperwork and a short personal assessment in the computer lab. Then I was done...I did this ALL BY MYSELF :) I didn't have to have anyone hold my hand.

The weirdest part for me was that I'd been on that campus many, many times in the course of the last 15 or so years - but always as a parent, a chaperon or a spectator, for choir and band concerts and contests. This time I was there by myself, for myself. whoo ;)

After we were finished, I went to my car and started hyperventilating. Then I cried...I did it, I DID it, and, I DIDN'T DIE!! The tears were big fat ones and flowed very quickly. It's the first time in my entire life that I've done something good that is only and completely for myself -- and I did it all by myself!!!

Woohoo! And I'm a part-time college student...this class actually earns me 6 college credits! I've been a wife and mother for the last 33 years, with no work experience and no college -- I'm doing it! :) The 4-week class starts on Jan 20th -- scary...

I know that Heavenly Father lives, and he loves me too -- he held my hand through this day...The Lord walks beside me and helps me through my fears...I did it :)

I have a "calling" :)

DOES ANYONE WANT TO GUESS???

For those of you not in my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this just means that I've been asked to do something....teach a class (from 18-mo.-olds up through adults), lead music, organize something.....any number of jobs..

Come back next week, and I'll tell you what it is :)

P.S. It's supposed to be kept 'secret' until I've been sustained by the membership of my ward (congregation) which won't happen until next Sunday, Jan 4th....

And then the following Sunday, Jan 11th, I'll be in Singapore, collecting all my personal belongings and moving them back to my home in Vancouver (I'll be gone from Jan 8-15 for that)

soooooo.....stay tuned for the unveiling.....I'm happy :)

A Christmas Wish from my Tata...and me...

...Merry, merry Christmas;
Merry, merry Christmas;
Deedle, deedle, deedle......

Merry, merry Christmas;
Merry, merry Christmas;
Deedle, deedle deedle :) :) :)

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

...Especially when you've beaten all snow records since 1968 (OH!! :) Apparently, this is the highest snowfall on record for the month of December here - EVER!)-- And "they're" looking to see if this corner of our wonderful, marvelous earth has beaten all recorded records for the amount of snow in one season -- now it's actually been 2 or 3 storm systems that have come through here, but it's been continuous, with no more than 6 or so hours between snow falls..

Wonderful, marvelous, the everlasting snowfall, it's all pristine :)

Shoveling snow!

Tim shoveling underneath his car...


See the ice shelf - a 3 inch layer of snow, a layer of ice, and more snow...


Look at the level of snow on the fence line!!!! We added about 1/2 of that from shoveling the driveway!...That fence is above waist-high...


I shoveled that part - between car and fence, behind car, out into the street - phew! ow, my aching back :)


Julian got into shoveling, too!

Okay, you guys!! I know that there is no "proof" that I actually did as much shoveling as I say I did, because the pictures don't show ME shoveling....but keep in mind that I'm the one behind the camera taking the dumb pictures. Tim and I spent over 2 hours EACH shoveling the drive way and unburying my car! You can see how much snow was thrown over the fence :)
And tonight --- we get more, then freezing rain, then rain....all before Christmas Day :) :) :)

I cannot express.....

...the love and kindness that is being extended to me at this time. My kids area amazing and my friends are so generous....My Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are so kind and gentle; indeed they send me angels...I will never be able to repay all the generosity that is being extended to me....thank you, thank you, thank you.....

and hehe! and I know that for some of you the snow is a real nuisance but for me it's a beautiful gift from God....the cold (yes! the cold!!! :), the family fun, the beauty and peace that it brings to my eyes and soul, the pristine cleanness...I love it all and more.... Merry Christmas....and God Bless Us, Everyone :)

Oh such fun!

This is our 'old' house -- it's a block away from where I live now -- it sure is boring looking ;) This house is the reverse image of my current home, but "mine" has a sloping yard and a new color, which makes it prettier to me :) The middle-roof section holds 2 BR and a bath, and mine also has an 'attic' room, which is over the downstairs master BR.


We went for a walk on Saturday and there was this sled out in the street at the neighbors...we walked up to the door and asked permission to play with it for a while -- they were very nice and said "sure!" -- thanks, neighbors!! :) Behind our 'old' home there is a small hill perfect for sledding -- we all did some of that -- wwwwwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Livvy having FUN IN THE SNOW!!!!:)

Julian can't get enough of this white stuff! He's out without a coat until we 'catch' him and make him put something on -- silly boy :)

It took Tim a full 30 minutes to scrape the ice off his windshield. My car, in the background, is covered with snow, ice and more snow -- so there is no ice on my glass - I'll leave it that way until I need to go somewhere :)

Oh, I forgot to mention....

...I think I told some of you about this but here's proof...

Last Sunday, after our first snow, the temperature dropped to about 16' -- My front storm door is really old (probably the original from the 1970's) and the old aluminum couldn't take the cold and stress anymore and all 3 hinges snapped off!!! groan! snap!....poof! gone :(

BUMMER :( ~~ except that now I can get a pretty new storm door that matches the new paint job on the house :) and it will cost around $400 for the door and installation! pretty good, I think :), eh?

...pretty, but bare?

A very busy day....

.....and it's still only 12:30pm :)


..."with a chocolate chip mouth, and a carrot nose and 2 eyes made out of floam".....he's a handsome snowlad, isn't he??


the wreath and arbor both add a nice accent, don't you think? :)
...bbrrrrrrrr.....

SNOW :) or >:)

These 3 photos are taken from my front porch just after sun-up...isn't it perrty :)

Okay, now.....I'm warning you!.........the rest of this post is UGLY!!!!! >:(

Livvy and my x-street neighbor -- notice suspicious tire tracks??? Evidence of an accident?!?!?!?

hmmmmm!! looks bad!

YUP!! >:( it's bad all right! Okay, we called 911, reported it and about 30 minutes later the county sheriff came out to THE TEENAGE KID'S house, talked to him, he admitted to 'hit & run"; they came over to my house, he apologized, gave me all his information, and promised to come repair it himself when it warmed up, and only use his auto insurance if he couldn't do the repairs himself. It looks bad, but it's only the wire itself that is bent - the posts aren't damaged. I'm not pressing charges, but now everyone knows that the kid's at fault and needs to suck up and be a....what!?!?...man?? boy?? It's an accident -- Headlines might read.... "Inexperienced teenage boy driving in wet snow skids into neighbors fence!!" Problem is he "forgets" to report it >:(

My Christmas House at Night....

Merry Christmas, everyone. May God bless you abundantly in whatever ways you need and may the Spirit of Christmas stay with you all the coming new year. God is real - He knows you, He loves you, He watches over you every moment...

My new house during a "snow storm"

If you've lived in the Pacific NW, you know that our snow storms are very few and usually very light....this is the 2nd storm of the season and you can see just how "severe" it is. They predict a BIG storm to come in...tomorrow??....but they did that for this "storm" hehe!

Anyway..it's still pretty :)

Green....TaeKwanDo

Julian had to work HARD for 3 hours to earn his green belt....

Master K tempts him by showing him his belt....he still has to break a board - this time he chooses to kick-break it....

Yeah!! successs....watch the video... mmmm...well, when I figure out what went wrong the video will be up - it's really cool!

Selected nativities in Vancouver

So many beautiful ones, so many cute ones, so many elegant ones...here's a small sampling....
glass frogs...

american Indian....

Bethlehem....

elegant eggs...

yep! it's Veggie Tales :)

Matrushkas....

painted wood....

scultured....

For Brenda Kunz....

....go to http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/brendakunz and leave her a message! :)

wow! Heavenly Father makes us all take little "life adventures" doesn't he!??!

I want to send some back though, eh??!?

Nativities and traveling

I went to the Vancouver Stake Festival of the Nativities tonight. It was wonderful...I got about 25 pictures or so...I'll post them soon....there were many beautiful one. Did you know that there is a Veggie Tales Nativity set??!!! I want it! :) There were hundreds of wonderful nativities - some quite simple, some very extravagant, many from other parts of the globe and all of them beautiful.

I went to the Fort Vancouver Tree Lighting last night, too. I saw my Georgie play in the Army Band...they used to be named the 104th Division Army Band. I guess the 104th Division has been dissolved...so they are now called the 204th Army Band. It was fun, with carolling and candle lights and some interesting talks and stories. I got a couple of pictures of this, too. Lynnette and her mom came, too, and we stood and watched and sang together. I will spend Christmas Day with George and the family at Church's. I'll get to spend Christmas Eve with Tim, Livvy and the boys and then they will go to the Heilmann's for Christmas Day. It should be fun - Lynnette makes the BEST orange rolls on earth! yum :)

I am going to travel to Payette, ID tomorrow (well, today I guess - it's after midnight) to visit Ginger for a while. A few days. Then when I return (or maybe while I'm away, some, too) Livvy, Tim and the boys will decorate up the house a bit. We'll go cut a real tree next weekend.

Oh - I got a visiting teaching route - Tacha and I saw all our ladies this past week - Joyce, Della and Betty - such good friends and such good comfort. I found out that Brenda Kunz has luekemia - such a shock! She has a blog, and I will post the address, when I get it, for those of you who know her and want to keep up on how she is doing. I hear it's not the worst kind of luekemia, but not the simplest, either. I'm sure the whole family will appreciate prayers on her behalf.

Have a good week - happy holidays -

Oh Yea, Ana? :) :) :) hehe

Listen to my new quote of the day --

"Dogs come when you call...........Cats have answering machines"
(found on a bumper sticker on a 'rat trap' car)

hehe! ya gotta own pets to really enjoy this!! It ABSOLUTELY true!!

By the way, Ana --- I LOVE your quote -- LOL LOL LOL :) :) :)

Spread the Word.....

....the word about Puzzlekins, that is! I met Vicki Lewis while living in Singapore. She is married with 3 kids. She and her husband, Jake, have literally traveled the world, before and after kids. She is such an amazingly talented artist. I wish I had a picture of her Matrushka dolls...I've got a 10-piece Nativity set that she painted for me while we were both in Singapore. It will be worth A LOT of money someday, as her name becomes even more famous.

But I degress ;) Here are pictures of the two puzzles that she has designed, created, cut and painted all by herself. Then she found a company to produce them for her, in mass, and the products are wonderful! They come packaged in a plastic zipper sleeve for storage, too. I bought mine at Target.com --- for the present they are only sold online, but she hopes to have them sold in stores and she's working on a 3rd puzzle, too. I love mine (and so will the grandkids...hehe)

This is what you'll see on the outside.... (there is this pirate ship and another one is the house)

then you take it apart just like any puzzle, and there is another whole level of play on the backside of each piece -- like playing house in one dimension (or pirates, as the case may be)