Christmas 2012

I've never had a two week period go so quickly in my life! 

It's almost a blur, but it was a glorious blur. 

Many of those days I was privileged to hold joy in my arms. 

I breathed in pure love and sweet innocence 

and felt on my cheek the silky strands of hope. 

I came away from this Christmas season full of faith in our future. 

A brightness of hope for the upcoming new year.

I think I'm getting a little glimpse of the insight that age and experience brings. 

(I must be getting old)

As I held and played with my grandchildren I understood the full circle. 

I had once held my children in a similar fashion. 

And then watched them grow and change, face challenges and sorrow... and joy. 

I witnesses and experienced the parents of these little ones becoming adults

 and watched them step into the shoes I once filled as a young parent.  

Interacting with these little ones I felt of their goodness, watched them making sense of the world,

 looking to those around them to be reassured that they were safe and loved. 

And strangely, it was easy for me to imagine them as teenagers and adults.

Today their view of the world is so simple and basic but also so accurate. 

Their parents have and are building a strong foundation for them in these formative years. 

A foundation that will carry them through the rest of their lives. 

It won't be long before they are spending more time in the world than at home. 

While the world can be a wonderful place, there is also much out there that will test and try them and cause them to wonder if they are cool enough, smart enough or good enough... and it seems the challenges they will face are only getting more intense.

But many, many years ago a pure innocent child was born to a virgin in a stable far away.

This child was loved and nurtured and taught by his parents who he really was. 

He lived a perfect life. 

He was willing to submit and be obedient to Gods will. 

Even though the world mocked and scourged him, he knew deep down who he was and what his mission on this Earth was, and he did not stray from it. 

Because He did this there is hope for all of us.

Because of this child born in Bethlehem we can be reassured that,

"God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face. Nor will he, so long as time shall last or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man or woman or child upon the face thereof to be saved"*

In this I feel immense gratitude and joy and hope.

I hope that I can always be part of that solid foundation that will help steady these children when the storms of life come... because they most surely will.

But they will be able to overcome because of the Savior.

*quote taken from Jeffery R. Holland. Read it all here

Let there be LIGHT(S)!

 

 

Thanks Jenn for your help and the awesome pictures!

Hmmm

Trying really hard to enjoy the Christmas season and not stress out.

Does "trying really hard" mean I'm stressing out?

Reframed and reworded:

Taking the season a day at a time asking my heart:
Is this really important?
Does this invite the spirit of Christmas into our home?
Is it causing me undue stress?
with moments of: "Will the kids be upset if we don't. Will I be? Does their opinion really count? If they are not happy will I be happy anyway? Are they willing to take over and make it work? Is there some kind of formula that can give me a definitive answer" thrown in for good measure.

Three stockings looks a little bare...

Listening to lots of David Archuleta - He sure can sing, I'm beginning to understand the obsession!, Celine Dion and a touch of Donny Osmond ("Mary did you know?") Christmas music.

Need to get the house decorated ASAP so we can hurry up and enjoy it before we have to take it all down.

Do the neighbors care if we are the only ones without lights on the house? Do I care? Do I care what the neighbors think? Do they care what I think? But I want lights on the house, I like lights on the house...

Gingerbread house? Gingerbread Provo Tabernacle? Gingerbread nativity.... but how do you do the people, they're kind of important... skip gingerbread this year?

Please ignore the lego man and his car...

We are giving family members a trip for Christmas... do I still need something under the tree? Does it count if I wrap a note with said gift and put it under the tree... is it worth the effort... will they think it's something else and be disappointed? Do I care of there is nothing under the tree?

some traditions will never go away

Is it fair to our still-at-home-in-high-school-child that she get the same your-gift-is-the-trip Christmas present as our married kids when family trips are usually already part of the deal when you are 16 or should I be doing some shopping? Is she missing out on important Christmas memories because she's the only one left at home? Do I owe it to her to continue to do all the things we used to do when all the kids were home or will she be Ok being part of the transition?

   







Nativity scenes... lots and lots of nativity scenes. The essence of Christmas.

 Especially when they provide evidence that little ones have been around.  

 Children always seem to understand what's most important.

Christmas Part 2

On Tuesday Mark and Christian began to take out the old swing set and get things ready to install the new one. Jenn and I joined another group as we took two vehicles to Tijuana to deliver supplies to three different orphanages. When Christian posts pictures of the swing set I will put a link here.
But until then I'll show you what Jenn and I did.

The first orphanage was in a decent neighborhood, just past these blue gates. It was a small orphanage with about 18 kids who are all special needs kids. Some had obvious disabilities, others had AIDS.
Our second stop was further out of town. I never realized how hilly Tijuana is and I've never seen such steep paved streets. When we were downtown I was glad I wasn't driving but as we drove around trying to find the next orphanage...
can I just say that we drove on streets the make the steepest streets around here seem flat.
And narrow... don't even think about a u-turn, more like a 7 point turn all he time feeling like you are going to roll over.
This neighborhood was not quite as nice as the first. The orphanage itself was levels of cement and buildings on the side of a hill.
The two boys sitting down greeted us and offered to share their trucks with us. When I pulled out the camera they just wanted to see pictures of themselves. How I wished for "a bit of earth" for them. There was a small planter about 6" x 2' but that's it. Even with stairs all over and steep walkways a 26 year old young lady in a wheel chair lives here.
They dry their clothes by hanging them on the fence. Looking out towards Tijuana I could see a number of houses that had billboards for roofs. No wonder all the working billboards I saw were made from fabric stretched on to frames.

The last orphanage was on the other side of Tijuana. It was my job to use the map and get us there. I wasn't too worried and considered myself a pretty good navigator...
based of course on the streets being marked and stuff like that.

Originally the plan was to stop in Tijuana for lunch.
I watched and watched for the street we were supposed to turn left on.
On the map it looked like a major street...
then all of a sudden we were crossing the canal
WHAT????!!!!
We missed not only the street we were looking for but were well on our way to the other side of town. Oh well, good thing we brought trail mix and some granola bars.

We decided we might as well deliver the rest of the stuff and come back and eat. If streets were hard to find in the center of town, finding them on the outskirts proved even more challenging. We circled the area for a good hour before we finally found it.
We pulled up to this gate and I rang the doorbell. An adult and two other big kids came out to open the gate. We parked inside and they locked the gate behind us.
This was a sign of things to come. Older kids came out to help unload boxes of food, diapers, baby formula, blankets, school kits and hygiene kits.
After all was unloaded they took us on a tour of the orphanage. Everywhere we went steel gates were unlocked and locked behind us. It was strange. They had a few dogs and the whole place smelled like dog poo.

This is the boys dorms. Notice the bunk beds three high on the left. All the kids were locked in the kitchen/dining room while we were there. For many years the orphanage used these:
Notice the locks on them. Can you imagine trying to keep all those kids out of them with no locks? Feel free to try this at home. Someone recently donated a large walk in refrigerator to the orphanage so they don't use these any more. I was relieved for them. Could you imagine cooking for massive quantities of people and needing to lock and unlock fridge after fridge to get out the ingredients you need?
This is the nun that is in charge of the orphanage.
She showed us a statue that is her pride and joy.
It's Jesus as a child with his adoptive father Joseph.
It sits in the main entrance.

This was the poorest of the orphanages that we visited and in the poorest of neighborhoods. It also serves as a battered woman's shelter. It was dirty with trash on the playground. A few children came over to us as we passed through the dining room but we didn't get to play with them. I felt disconnected. Maybe it was all the bars, gates and locks. How sad to grow up on a place like this.

As we went through down town Tijuana to get lunch (at 3:00 pm) I noticed a statue of Abraham Lincoln in the center of a large round-about. He stands tall holding broken chains in his hands.
I'm sure it symbolizes freeing the slaves but I also thought about all the children growing up here with so little. One thing I was impressed with is that each of the orphanages we visited emphasized schooling. It provided hope that these kids may be able to take control of their lives someday, to break the chains of poverty that could bind them.

This just in...

A PS to yesterdays post.
And the latest gingerbread creation coming from my friend Christie.
AWESOME, INSPIRING and totally AMAZING!
Just like her.
See it in greater detail here.

Maybe I will whip up more frosting and add some finishing touches to ours...

It takes a family...

to raise a village....

a gingerbread village that is.

We've made gingerbread houses for Christmas for a long time.
The tradition started when we lived in Tucson. As a primary presidency we made baked and cut out gingerbread housed for each of our teachers using Glenda Wilkes' recipe and pattern and and then hosted a dinner for them and their spouses. After some sumptuous soup, recipe courtesy of Sharon Bell, we broke out the frosting and candy and got down to business.
It was so much fun. It was really interesting to watch the couples.
The guys really got into it. Builders had elaborate designs on the house itself while landscapers had relatively plain houses but fabulous yards.

When we moved from Tucson we made them as a family.
In past years we made one house for every two people.

Last year Amy and Jordan had their own house as well as Aaron and Celisa and a few more for friends and family that we invited over. I'm not sure we have ever done it alone... enjoying the process with friends is just as important as the finish product... well looking at our houses maybe it's more important.

Last year I saw the above village on Amy's friend Kirsten's blog. (You should really take a closer look, it's amazing!) I decided then and there that a village would solve our problem of having too many houses sitting around with no where to put them. So this year I did a quick internet search of gingerbread villages to get some ideas before I cut out pieces for our very own village:

Complete with pond and stream... although they turned from blue to green when I got the syrup a little too hot and it scorched.
(Blue +yellow=green)
It has a church, two small houses and one tallish oneThe houses themselves are not very decorated because we ran short on frosting
and, well, I was too tired to make more....

We also forgot to put lights in the buildings and around the town... oops

Here is Santa ice skating on the frozen mossy snow (coconut) covered pond just past the bridge over the stream.

It was fun to do and I think it turned out fairly well but

I guess I should have looked at the Curtis' it a little closer before doing ours.

I don't know that our village or house will ever look that good.
I guess it gives us some room for improvement next year.
Maybe we'll try one house like my friend Christie
or maybe not... we'll see

Christmas Multitasking

Need Christmas presents but also want to do something kind for some else?
I may have a solution for you.

John Jones, his wife Emily and their little girl were in Utah visiting family.
On Thanksgiving day John when caving with some friends at Nutty Putty Cave.
This is a small cave not far from us.
My boys have been there with our scouting group and school friends.

John never came home. You can read the full story here and here.
John is just older than Aaron.
He leaves behind a young widow, a daughter and baby due in June.
My heart goes out to them.

Now about the multitasking.
A kind woman has set up an internet auction here.
All items are donated and the proceeds go to the John Jones Memorial fund
Or you can donate directly to the fund itself.
Either way everyone wins.
Our prayers go out to the Jones family
and hopefully a little than just prayers.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

...somewhere but not so much at my house yet.

Our recent redecorating makes our "old" Christmas stuff seem
well... old.

I gave up on putting up lights on the house when I spent hours last year getting the strings of lights working only to have them not work when we got them on the house.
Talk about frustrating.
This year we are going for the wreath and candle in the window look.
I think I will spend time updating the inside this year
and maybe implement this on the outside...
Christian offered to do it... we just have to see which neighbor has the best lights so we know which way to point the arrow.

I'm not sure where the original picture came from
or who to give credit to
you've probably already seen it
but it sums up my feelings about house lights this year.

Out with the old, In with the new

On December 26th we loaded up our trusty van and braved the snow for our trek

to the sunny land of Arizona.

Our usual 10.5 hour drive time was not to be.

Delayed first by the snow.

Next by a long wait at Hoover Dam.

(It was a Dam detour slowed by Dam construction)

Sorry, I digress

And finally somewhere between

Wikieup and Wickenburg Arizona late that night,

Our van sputterted and came to a halt on a lonely hill.

The stars were beautiful out there in the middle of nowhere.

A tow truck loaded the van, with all 7 of us inside, onto the back of it's large bed and took us and the trailer for a $300.00 ride into Wickenburg where my parents met us with a car and truck. We emptied the van and finally arrived in Mesa some 16 hours after we left home.

Ruby was amazing!

(Another picture shamelessly stolen)

Monday we heard that our van had breathed its last breath and would not be making the long journey back. When all was said and done I must admit that none of us were very disapointed. That van had lived a good long life and it was time to move on.

Sooooo,

We spent our Christmas vacation shopping for used cars.

A fruitful vacation don't you think?

May the van RIP.

A last minute Christmas request

Don't worry, it won't require any money or trips to the store.
First let me share with you an excerpt from an email we got from one of Mark's cycling team mates. He is in the Air Force and recently left his wife and 6 (I think) kids behind
for an special assignment in Afghanistan.

I think most of the stress of being here is wondering if things are okay at home. I have included an updated narrative of what things are like here below. I know it is long, so don’t feel obligated to read it. The clock is working for me with each passing day, and I can’t wait to get back to the family and the team, ready to race late May! It is “ghetto training” over here, but I’ve had to be creative before. It is dirty, stinky, and war torn. My pedal stroke may be square for a while after getting back, but the cardio should be okay

My hope is that each one of you and your family have a pleasant holiday season. I am grateful for small things here, but I think what means most are family and friends. You guys have been very good to me…….thanks.

It is difficult to describe the surroundings, but the land is rugged, war-ravaged, and totally lawless. I think this is perhaps one of the most dangerous places on the face of the earth, and any straying from the confines of the installation subjects you to thousands of mines and the real potential for kidnapping and death. The war effort is in full force. The military machine grinds forward, non-stop, 24/7. I am attached to the 101st Army Airborne “Screaming Eagles”, and am part of the Combined Joint Task Force 101. You can visit the website at http://www.cjtf101.com/ Despite what the liberal and biased media reports, I live and see what we are doing daily. Our Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) are busy getting running water and electricity to people who live in remote villages ravaged by poverty and disease even though they (our teams) are under constant fire and IED attacks. Tuberculosis, Malaria, hepatitis and other diseases are rampant and the teams vaccinate the little ones and provide both medical and dental care. Unfortunately, the Taliban doesn’t want us here and want the people under strict Islamic law, which is remarkably oppressive. We build things, they blow them up. We build schools, they blow them up. Life has little meaning here for these people and the average life span of the male is only 43 years old. The infant mortality rate is among the top 2 in the world. Along with our attempts to rebuild the infrastructure of the country, those who are picking up arms to oppose us are dying quickly. Our special forces are some of the best in the world and if you go into the website above, you can read about their craft. Everyone, no matter how steeled, is afraid of the IED (improvised explosive device) that the enemy has perfected. It is a terror weapon that can’t be beat. Because we have hundreds of locals who work on the installation, I am constantly wondering when an infiltrator will breech the base security and blow himself up in our chow hall where several hundred people are at any given time. Our only defense against it is a good offense---stopping those who are emplacers, makers and trainers of IEDs. Our kids are dying as well. It is real. My very first night here I couldn’t sleep (still can’t) because my body wasn’t adjusted yet and I lay in my bed wide awake at 0200. The “giant voice” (a speaker system that announces mortar alerts and so forth) suddenly comes to life and announces that there will be a “fallen comrade procession” beginning at 0305. We have thousands of troops here and out of respect when a soldier falls, everyone lines the street, no matter what time, to pay our respects. It was sobering to see an old Toyota 4-wheel drive truck come down the road with an aluminum coffin draped with the flag in the bed of the truck along with the guy’s buddies, wiping away tears. That is someone’s brother, son, father, uncle or other in that coffin. He was killed by a suicide bomber near a checkpoint at one of our FOB’s (Forward Operating Bases). We rendered a slow, deliberate salute in honor of the ultimate sacrifice as the casket was enroute to be loaded by the honor guard and flown to the states. Who knows what awaits his family on the other end. All of us are resolute in prosecuting the war. What happened on 9/11 was no different than what happened on Dec 7, 1941. It is just a different enemy that fights a different war. We have the most capable, smartest, and motivated military on the face of the earth. We will keep coming as long as it takes….

Unfortunately, I cannot elaborate on what I do here, but I work with the enemy every day, face to face. The experience is so over the top that at times it is surreal. It is an enemy that I respect a great deal due to his culture of warfare forged over the last 30 years of steady conflict. It is hard to believe that the 9/11 attacks were planned and trained for not far from us here. The culture drives the war fighter here. If you are their friends, you have a friend for life and they will give you everything they have. Conversely, they are a people who hold grudges that last generations. Vengeance is always to be exacted and the culture is organized by tribes, Klans, villages----similar to the “Hatfields and McCoys”. This won’t ever be changed by the military. Some of the fighters are extremists, some are conscripted against their will, some are fighting for money offered by Iran or Pakistan, disagree with the Government, or simply to feed their family etc. Killing is something they are good at doing. We typically work 10-12 hrs per day, 7 days a week. I am proud to serve. We enjoy what we have because of the soldier and the flag represents everything we stand for. I wish parents, spouses, children and the general public knew what sacrifices were being made rather than the junk shown on the news that depicts us as invaders/occupiers that are killing people indiscriminately. They would be sobered. Tragically war is, as they say, Hell, and it is always the women and children who suffer the most. Nobody wants to be here and there is some level of constant despondency, but we all believe in what we are doing. The military family also pays a serious price and I appreciate all the support you have offered to Camille and kids.

Steve

This is my request.
As you gather your families around you this Christmas season.
Please pray for Steve, for his family and all the men and women
who give so much to make this world a better place for mothers, fathers and children everywhere.
We are so blessed... let's not forget them.

What we've been up to

Just a few photos that I stole shamelessly from
Amy's and Christian's blogs
with the exception of the pictures of Celisa and Olivia,
(I took those for her and Aaron and never gave them to her)

So... this is what we've been up to: Ginger bread houses.

Me and Christian

Mark and Jenn

Jordan and Amy's - check out the cool bridge

Aaron and Celisa (and Olivia)
Enjoying this sweet angel

Short visit with my parents.
Watching Olivia grow!

No pictures of studying, the funeral, decorating for Christmas, aerobics, going to class, doing laundry or the like
although these have also kept me busy
you'll just have to use your imagination...
(be nice in you imaginings)

That is all.