50th Anniversary Complete...

One of the things Claude really wanted to do was have a really good picture taken of the two of us on our 50th Anniversary. I fell and had to have my three front teeth removed in August 2019. I asked Claude if we could wait on the picture until after I had my new implant bridge in place. He understood and we waited. Then Covid-19 hit and that stopped a lot of things. In July of 2020, I finally had my implant bridge in my mouth. Claude had already spoken with Melanie Maurer, a friend from Church who is an excellent photographer. This was in 2019. She was happy to take our pictures and asked us to call her secretary to set it up. We had not done this with the teeth and Covid-19. I received a notice on Facebook that Melanie was doing Mini-sessions at Shaker Village on October 3, 2020. Claude and I were driving somewhere. I asked him if he was okay with me setting this up. I did it all from my cell phone as we drove. 

One October 3, 2020 we met Melanie at Shaker Village. We followed her instructions and she took pictures of us. We received the thumbnails of the pictures she took and replied with the ones we wanted in the sizes we wanted. Melanie had them to us in time to give a Christmas presents to our family. I have not posted these pictures so it would not spoil the surprise for our family. Now that Christmas has happened, I can post these pictures. 

The last picture is the one we gave to family. 

Claude and I would highly recommend Melanie Maurer Photography. She is such a good person and gently guides you to where to need to be and how you need to stand and what will make a natural picture. She is out of Lexington, Kentucky. We are truly happy with our pictures. 

Christmas 2020...

I left off on Christmas Eve in my last Blog post. I will start there.

Thursday, December 24, 2020 I took these picture just before the Marx family arrived. Claude was on the patio checking the brisket that was smoking in the smoker. I received a text from my friend, Laura, who lives in Frankfort. She sent me the cutest picture of bird tracks on their deck in the snow. I took these pictures to let her know how much snow we had on the ground in Sadieville at that time.

The Marx family arrived. They had no snow in LaGrange. They started seeing snow as they got closer to the Georgetown exit on I-64. There were several wrecks. The roads were slick. They made it here in good shape. Claude got the brisket buffet set up on the island and we enjoyed a good meal together. 

It continued to snow throughout the evening. Bailey and I went into the front yard to take some pictures of the snow there.

It was a lovely little snow. We probably only got a couple of inches but it was enough to cover the ground and the items on the ground but not have to shovel the driveway. 

We were at an interesting point this Christmas. This was our first year since the Mini's were born that we have not put out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. We are growing up! Bailey did bake cookie after she came over. But we didn't need to put any out for Santa. The other item was determining what time to get up to open presents. It seems strange to find they are okay with sleeping in a bit on Christmas morning. Which is what we did. 

Christmas Eve, Claude and I were in bed between 11 and 11:30pm. That is normal for us. I nestled down in bed and was so comfortable. I began to dose off. Now, I do this at least once a week. My body rests for 15-30 minutes. Then it thinks it has had this great nap and is ready to be going again. Ugh!! No, it wasn't being anxious to open gifts. It was a normal thing that happens to me. I usually go to the guest room with a book to read. Alas, Andie and Michael were in the guest room. What to do, what to do? I laid in our bed till about 2am. Then I really needed to get up and read. I found my book in the dark and quietly went into the living room. I took the pillows on the loveseat and plumped them up at one end so I could lay there and look at our Christmas tree. I just enjoyed letting my mind wander back through 2020 and all that happened in it. Then I thought about 2021 and what it might be like. I reflected on my family members and where they were at in their lives. It was such a peaceful time and way to reflect. Everyone was sleeping. The house was warm. The snow was falling outside. It was a beautiful bit of time. Eventually I got up and picked up my book. I could not read it by the light of the tree. I moved to Claude's end of our sofa and turned on the table lamp. I opened my Simple Abundance book by Sarah BanBreathnach to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I read these two chapters. 

The chapter for December 24th is titled "Here Is All I've Counted Splendid" and starts with a poem by Edgar A. Guest.

Write it down, when I have perished:

Here is everything I've cherished;

That these walls should glow with beauty

Spurred my lagging soul to duty;

That there should be gladness here

Kept me toiling, year by year...

Every thought and every act

Were to keep this home in tact. 

Sarah describes Christmas Eve as her favorite night of the year. She states her heart if full of gratitude; order had kept all the moving parts moving; a sense of harmony has emerged because she finally stopped long enough to balance work and family at least for the holidays; beauty surrounds her in the festive decorations; her home feels cozy; and joy has arrived with family and a festive feast. 

Sarah shares a legend that on the night of the Nativity, whoever into great snows bears a bone for a lost house, a wisp of hay for a shivering horse, a warm cloak for a stranded wayfarer, a garland of bright berries for one who has worn chains, a dish of crumbs for huddled birds, and sweetmeats for little children and leaves these gifts for the animals and people will be "proffered and returned gifts of such an astonishment as will rival the hues of the peacock and the harmonies of heaven". Sarah takes each of these items on a tray on Christmas Eve and places them on a stone wall in front of these house near the street. On Christmas morning she collects the tray and many of the offerings are gone. I love this tradition.

The chapter for December 25th is titled simply "Christmas". It begins with this quote from an unknown author: “If, as Herod, we fill our lives with things, and again with things; if we consider ourselves so unimportant that we must fill every moment of our lives with action, when will we have the time to make the long, slow journey across the desert as did the Magi? Or sit and watch the stars as did the shepherds? Or brood over the coming of the child as did Mary? For each one of us, there is a desert to travel. A star to discover. And a being within ourselves to bring to life.” 

I closed my Simple Abundance book and thanked my Heavenly Father again for helping me have this quiet moment during the night to be still and enjoy our Christmas tree. To read good thoughts that reflected how I was feeling. To enjoy the spirit of Christmas by myself for this one night. I was now ready to go back to bed and sleep until time for our family to wake up to the fun that is Christmas morning.

Friday, December 25, 2020 we awoke to find we had a power outage some time after I came back to bed and before we awoke. Clocks would need to be reset but we had power now. 

We began this Christmas morning as we always do...a family picture on the stairs. Usually I am taking this picture and not in the picture. This year, Hayden brought his tripod for his cell phone camera. He set it up and we took two pictures. One of all of us. Then one of us all like we are on a roller coaster ride. This is a statement on the year 2020!!

We received two photos of family in Muskegon, Michigan continuing the family picture on the stairs tradition. Aubrey and Nelson. Then the Ropers with Drew holding Emelia and Katelyn holding Raelyn.

Then it was upstairs to go through stockings first.

Andie had Hayden set up the television with a fire to open presents by. This is a YouTube of a dumpster fire. The longer it runs, the more they add to it. I took three pictures. In the first a book title 2020 is being burned. Can we get an "Amen"?? In the second they were roasting a roll of toilet paper like a big marshmallow. I didn't quite get the picture taken with the stick with the toilet paper on the end. The final picture has stockings hung on the dumpster.

This year I asked Hayden to hand out the presents for us to open. Here are a few pictures of present opening. These three are gifts given to us by our children. Claude opened the Marx gift first. It was a stylus for each of us to hang on our key chains. One of the areas of concern is people signing with the same pen at counters. With the stylus you can sign using a pen only you have used. No sharing of germs. The second is a book that Jacob gave us. It is a book by Paul Goble entitled "The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses". It is a Caldecott award winner. It is a delightful book. The third is from the Tyler's. It is a calendar to remember birthdays and anniversaries. From each month on the board you hang a chain of hearts or circles with the names and date on it of the birthday or anniversary. Really cool. 

Michael received two unique gifts from his family. Michael is an avid University of Maryland fan. The picture will eventually be of him in his University of Maryland jersey. Since they didn't have a good one of him in that Jersey, Bailey helped made a template so he knew what they were going to finish up after they get a good picture of him in his jersey. It will be made into on of those cardboard figures you see in the stands at a game. University of Maryland will put Michael's cardboard cutout of him in his jersey in the stands, take a picture of it, the players will sign it and he will receive that cardboard figure. Michael can't go to the games this year but he can pretend he was there in person. 

The Marx family has loved the Simpsons before there were any Marx children. This year they are having a painting of the Marx family in the rolls of the Simpsons. Michael was very happy with this gift.

I purchased cinnamon rolls from the Coyne children like we did last year. Those were baking in the oven while we opened gifts. I iced them and we were ready for Christmas breakfast of cinnamon rolls. So very yummy. 

Claude was baking a ham for dinner. But this year we had less time with the Marx family than usual. I did purchase a puzzle. Usually that goes on the table after the big meal and stays out until it is done. This year I purchased a 1000 piece puzzle and Michael was ready to make a puzzle with me. We cleared the table before dinner and managed to finish this one before everyone went to bed. Andie helped a bit also. I love this puzzle tradition and am grateful Michael will keep it with me.

While we were making the puzzle, Michael asked me if I was having trouble with the internet. I checked my cell phone and it was having trouble. Michael had Hayden check his phone and he was also not getting internet. The Marx family uses Verizon. Claude and I use AT&T. I did have a Facebook post from our next door neighbor on the neighborhood Facebook page asking if others had cell service. This post was from earlier in the day. It seems we all had service at some point but now no one did. No one in our home had service at all. Our neighbor also uses T-Mobile and it was not working. At some point in the morning, we lost all cell service. I tried to send Jacob a text to let him know our cell phone wasn't working. I couldn't send texts. When I tried to call Jake, I received a message on my phone that only emergency calls were allowed. So most of Christmas day we had absolutely no cell service. 

Claude's ham dinner was excellent. 

Saturday, December 26, 2020 we had the morning with the Marx family. Then they headed back to LaGrange. We had cell service and I realized I missed the nursing home trying to call me Christmas afternoon. Ugh!! Claude and I determined we would curl up in front of our television and watch some more of Season 4 of Northern Exposure. 

Andie sent me this lovely Nativity that suits 2020 really well.

Today is Sunday, December 27, 2020. We have viewed Sacrament meeting via Zoom. We watched the two PowerPoints I gave to Claude for Christmas. One is the PowerPoint I prepared for our 50th Anniversary when we were to all be together for a family reunion in Ohio. The second was a PowerPoint I made for Claude of pictures of just the two of us over the past 50 years. It was really nice to go through those pictures and remember our lives well lived. 

Plodding Forward to Christmas...

Sunday, December 20, 2020 we went to the Georgetown Ward Christmas Activity. We left early enough to get dinner in Georgetown. Claude parked us in the Kroger parking lot area with our car facing southwest. You see, this year we are experience a Christmas Star. This is actually the planets Jupiter and Saturn coming so close together they appear as one bright star. This is called a conjunction. The last time this happened was in the Middle Ages. The best time to see it is the Winter Solstice on December 21st. We have been having cloudy evenings and this night was a bit more clear. We watched the sky as the sun went down and then Claude spotted it first. Even with only our eyes we could see that there was a bright star and another behind it that was fainter. Claude did have binoculars and we looked through them. We will try again tonight. We drove on to the Church after seeing the star and took the second picture from the Church parking lot. So much fun!!

We arrived at the Church and drove thru the parking lot. We were given a set of instructions telling us where to drive. It included some songs to sing while we waited at the four stops we would drive to. We were also given a brown paper bag with food to enjoy while we ate.

The first stop was also in the Church parking lot. It was Samuel the Lamanite. We were given a link on Facebook to a video. You watched a reading on the Facebook video while stopping to see Samuel the Lamanite. Then you pause the video and drive to the next stop.

The second stop would be the shepherds and was at the Parret's home. The shepherds were standing by a little fire. We started the video again and listened to it as we watched the shepherds. What to our wondering eyes should appear...but an angel stepping onto the roof and the shepherds turning to watch and listen to the angel. Oh My!! Someone's teenager was having a lot of fun being an angel on the roof. 

Pause the video and drive to the third stop at the Allen's home. Here we watched the wise men. We watched the video and I took this very, very short clip of the most rocking wise men you ever saw in your entire life. The Allen's work with the young adults in the stake and clearly these were young adults having a rocking good time being the wise men. Gotta love it.

Our final stop was at Bishop Johnson's home. The Christmas tree on their front porch we were at a few days before to get cards to help families in need in our Ward. This was the Nativity portion and we listened and watched the Facebook Video.

Our activity complete we headed for home. We looked for the Christmas star again when we got home and were pretty sure we saw it. By this time the sky was full of stars so it was a bit harder to be sure. We had a great Sabbath Day!

Monday, December 21, 2020 we were feeling a little discombobulated. We don't want to start any big projects because it is so close to Christmas. The Marx family will come Christmas Eve at dinner time and leave Saturday in the early afternoon. We went over our grocery list to be sure we had everything on it. Then drove to the Church to pick up a stack of Christmas letters left there for me to deliver to the nursing home. We drove to the nursing home and I left a treat bag for Papa and the letters for residents who are not getting much mail this Christmas. Then Claude purchased me a biscuit. Yeah!! Then he did his grocery shopping so we hopefully don't have any more of that to do until after Christmas.

We came home and put those groceries away. Then outside when the sun was going down to see if we could see the Christmas Star in Sadieville. I came to my sewing room to get some little items off my to do list. I determined I would try and Blog each day until the Marx family comes. Then I can Blog about Christmas after they leave. 

This is a picture of the Christmas Star in Sadieville.

Tuesday, December 22, 2020 we opted to take residence on different floors of our home. I stayed upstairs for the most part. Claude took the basement. 

I did such fun things with my day as cleaning four bathrooms, filling my cars tires with air, doing the laundry, reading my book, working on my Kleenex box cover, balancing Papa's check register and setting up the new one for 2001, and the list goes on. 

Claude woke up with the desire to watch Sho-gun. This was a television mini-series many years ago. Claude really enjoyed it. I had problems with the beginning when a shipmate was boil alive in water after being shipwrecked. Ugh! I just can't handle that. Claude has always enjoyed this set of DVD's. But since we traveled to Japan and saw two of the places in which this movie was shot, he really enjoys watching for those places. He colored in his coloring book while he watched. He paused once to come up to refresh his ice water. I took him a sandwich for his lunch. And, he came up and gathered trash and got the garbage to the curb. It was a good day for both of us.

In the evening, I went to the mailbox to leave a letter from Papa. One of our sweet neighbors left us a Christmas card and an ornament. 

I also received an eMail from the Red Cross. It seems our son, Jacob, made a contribution to them in our name for Christmas. This is such a thoughtful gift and so appropriate particularly in 2020. We were both very happy Jacob did this. He is a good son.

Christofer Christensen has made a donation in honor of Claude & Sandi.

This donation will bring hope and help to those in need. Thank you for being my rescuers on so many occasions during life. Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 23, 2020, I started my day by doing the ironing. Then I came downstairs and wrote a letter to Papa. I also researched and found a talk with a quote I was looking for. I set up the letter to go to our missionaries on Sunday with this quote and also included it in my letter to Papa. I will share what I wrote to the missionaries here:

I came across this powerful quote from then Elder Russell M. Nelson. I have put it in my scriptures with the Doctrine and Covenants verse. I felt strongly impressed to share it with you.

“You were taught in the spirit world to prepare you for anything and everything you would encounter during this latter part of these latter days. That teaching endures within you!” (Elder Russell M. Nelson, Jan 10, 2016, "Stand as True Millennials") 

D&C 138:56 Even before they were born, they, with many others, received their first lessons in the world of spirits and were prepared to come forth in the due time of the Lord to labor in his vineyard for the salvation of the souls of men.

It am forever grateful my parents raised me in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am grateful for the Gospel taught and my understanding of who I am, where I came from, and where I am going. It literally affects all of my life, my choices, my ability to deal with difficulty, my enjoyment of so many things life has given me in the way of experiences. So hearing this quote, then going back to find the talk in which it was given and reading it again, made a beautiful feeling of the Spirit in my heart this day. So very grateful for my Savior and my Heavenly Father. I am very blessed.

In the afternoon I received a call from Jessie at Signature Health Care. Jessie is the Social Worker. She is supposed to contact me quarterly and we review how Papa is doing and any concerns I might have. It was good to talk with Jessie. Usually these conversation include other nursing staff. Not this time. With the virus it is all hands on deck and Jessie was doing the calls alone. I asked about their plans now with regard to a resident getting Covid-19. There have been three residents that did test positive. Jessie tells me they kept one at the Georgetown facility. The other two were sent to Fountain Circle in Winchester, Kentucky where they have a Covid-19 wing in their facility. All three residents are well now and testing negative. If Papa were to get Covid-19, he might stay at the Georgetown nursing home or he might go to Fountain Circle or he might be transferred to a hospital. This all depends on how he is doing and if there are other residents with the virus. In none of these situations would I be allowed to visit him unless it was an end of life situation. However, if Papa just took a turn for the worse with something other than Covid-19, I would be allowed to be with him in the nursing home as I was with Mimi. This has been my big concern all along. It has been since March 7th that I saw Papa in person. My hearts desire has been that, when he passes, I could be by his side like I was with Mimi. I have no control over that. But it is what I truly desire. At least now I know that, if Papa has something other than Covid-19, I can be at his side to some extent. He won't be alone. That gave me great peace of mind. 

After this phone call, Claude and I jumped in the Jeep and headed to Georgetown. There was the promise of absolutely awful weather for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Very cold. Some snow that would make the roads bad to drive on. I wanted to fill Papa's birdfeeder and take his Christmas gifts to him. I wanted to do that on Christmas Eve but now did not want to drive on those roads. Jessie told me they would hold Papa's bag of Christmas gifts until Christmas Day for me and give it to him then. So we were off to deliver Papa's Christmas gifts to Glen at the nursing home and fill that birdfeeder.

We would also take the time to walk at Moss Park. The clouds were threatening but we thought we could get around the loop before it came. Alas, we got caught in a light shower about half way around. We stood under some trees along the path to wait it out a bit. Claude turned and realized we had a beautiful rainbow behind where we had just walked. It was actually a double rainbow. I posted these pictures of the rainbow on Facebook with the caption "Hope springs eternal". 

In an effort not to add any leftovers in the fridge before Christmas, we had dinner at Jimmy John's. 

In the evening I had a Zoom meeting with Pres. Hill to get the interview for my temple recommend. Now it just has to be mailed and signed and then mailed to me. Yeah!! I really don't like being without my temple recommend and it expires December 31st. 

Claude and I curled up to watch side one of the first DVD for Season 4 of Northern Exposure. 

Thursday, December 24, 2002 is Christmas Eve. Today we spent the daytime finishing up things to be ready for the Marx family to arrive in time for dinner. I changed the linens in the guest room, baked a chocolate/banana cake and made a banana cream pie for Christmas desserts, put away all the things on my nest of a loveseat that I leave out for me to work on, got my shower and am catching up the Blog. Claude has the brisket going and it smells so good. We moved the smoker to the patio which is basement level with the upper deck over it. We are to get weather and we thought Claude using the smoker there might provide him and the smoker a little protection. 

When Claude brought in the mail, the newspaper had a front page story about Debra Kumar. She is a friend from Church. How cute is Debra? She really loves story telling. She is very theatrical. She has a gorgeous voice. Being Mrs. Claus is right up her alley.

Time for an embarrassing confession: Claude's back is hurting him again. He has started doing the exercises he was given before. We think this change in weather could be exacerbating the situation. He did his walk on the treadmill and came upstairs asking where I kept the heating pad. I went to the guest bathroom linen closet and there was our heating pad right where I put it. However, there was also a box with what looked like a new heating pad that was touting maximum heating ability. I brought it out and suggested Claude might want to try this new heating pad. He opened it up and this is what he found!!

Ugh! Just, Ugh!! I'm really not sure what happened here. When I handed Claude this box, I truly thought it was a new heating pad that had never been opened. I thought maybe I got it when I cleaned out Papa's apartment. Turns out, someone gave us these lovely barbeque sauces and they were put away as though they were a heating pad!! Won't be long till we are both ready for the home ourselves!

We are as ready as we are going to be to have family arrive and spend two nights with us. In light of the virus and how it is truly limiting family get togethers, we are very grateful we can do this little bit with family. The grid is on the fridge telling us what we planned to eat. We know food was purchased to make these items. If they need to be tweeked, that is fine, we know what ingredients we have to work with. Andie is making a pecan pie for Michael for Christmas dessert. He likes to put chocolate chips in his pie so I told Andie she could make that one. 

Claude has the smoker going and we have a light snow falling. It is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas on our hill in Sadieville.

I shall close this Blog and will Blog again after Christmas. Merry Christmas to All!!

Finishing Week 3 of December...

Here we are again on a Sunday afternoon Blogging. I will start this Blog entry with a bit of really good news. In June 2021 our fourth great grandchild will be born. Now that all the family knows, I am happy to reveal this baby will be a boy!! That will give us two girls and two boys. The Roper girls is very tickled they will have a baby brother to play with. This harks back to my own childbearing days. We also had two girls and a little boy. 

Friday, December 18, 2020 was a fourth Christmas Date. We love to go to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra in December each year. With the corona virus, there will be no live performance. But TSO created a program they could stream and you could purchase a ticket to watch it at home. I purchased a ticket for Claude and me. Then we were talking and thought Jake might enjoy it as well. I asked him and suggested it would be part of his Christmas present. He was happy for us to do that. We purchased Jake a ticket to watch at his home in Michigan. 

Friday started out getting a few things done at home. We left the house at 3pm for a Georgetown run. We walked, dropped a treat bag off for Papa and filled his birdfeeder. Then we dropped off a treat for the Noe family. Claude drove us to Formaggio's to pick up our curbside order of individual pizzas and Caesar salads. This was bittersweet. Formaggio's closes permanently after this weekend. Claude chatted with the young girl that brought out pizza to the Jeep. She has done this several times before and I believe she recognized us. Could be that bright green Jeep. Claude told her how much we were going to miss Formaggio's and how much we appreciated their being there for four years. I do believe the old guy's voice broke a bit as he thanked her for their service. We sat in the parking lot to eat. 

We drove home with a stop at the Coyne's to pick up our cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning's breakfast. We also dropped off a treat for the Coyne family. While Claude picked up the rolls, I sat in the car and ordered Jake pizza and Caesar salad to enjoy with his TSO experience. Then we pointed the Jeep toward Sadieville and returned home. 

Funny side note: I sent Jake a text earlier to be sure what kind of pizza he wanted this time. He sent me a text saying he wanted mushroom and minced garlic. Then he sent me a second text saying when he started to text 'mushroom' his autofill suggested 'minced garlic'. Clearly he and I have done this before!!

We got home and set up the lap top and logged in to TSO. We were ready to view our evening date experience. There was a pre-show viewing of the members of the TSO family telling us each Merry Christmas. Then a little after 8pm the program began. It was fun to watch them on television. We missed all that up-close-and-personal experience with the fire bursting out of places and the walkways overhead moving around as the band plays on them. Jake sent us a message saying he really enjoyed the experience. It was his first time watching TSO. I suggested we now need to get him to a live performance. It is loud and it is rock and roll, but they are excellent musicians and they put on an amazing performance.

Okay, when we got home we opened the door from the garage into the house. It was open for a little bit as we brought things in. Then all doors were shut, the Christmas lights were turned on outside, the lights on the Christmas tree were turned on, we were about ready to settle in. I walked from our bedroom into the living room and was sure I saw something fly across the room. I have floaters in my eyes and I thought maybe it was one of them. Claude could tell by my pause as I came out of the bedroom and the look on my face that I saw something. He looked at me and said, "Did you see a bird too?" Oh My Goodness!! There was something. I put my Kindle on the breakfast table and walked back toward the laundry room. It flew out again into the windows of the breakfast room. Claude got up when I let out a little bit of a scream. We found the fly swatter to help extend the length of our arms to guide the bird towards the door. We opened the front door and the door from the living room to the deck. We managed to corral the bird into the living room under an end table by the big red rocking chair. Then it flew out and into the dining room. I told Claude I needed a picture. I took two and then we positioned ourselves to herd that little bird out the front door. Sure enough, it flew into the entry way and out the front door. Yeah!! This was a new experience for us. We did have the doors open and a stray dog was in our breakfast room one time. We also had one summer that a mother bird made a nest in my front door wreath. She laid eggs and hatched them and I have video of the last one flying away. We had a mouse crawl into our outside HVAC unit and make a nest. It chewed a wire and died. We had to replace the unit. We also had a squirrel that climbed the utility pole in the back yard and chewed the wires up there ending with no power on our block for a bit. So, we are not without animal experiences. But a bird in the house, this was a first.

Saturday, December 19, 2020 I slept in. Really slept in. I had this feeling that there was pressure on every point in my poor old body. It ached and I stayed snug as long as I could. When I woke up, we agreed to another Saturday at the movies. We would watch "Christmas Vacation", "Home Alone", and "Santa Claus 1, 2 & 3". I worked on my Kleenex box cover while we watched.

At one point Claude went out to get the mail. He was pleasantly surprised to find that his Mike Rowe face masks had arrived. The purchase price is given to the Mike Rowe Foundation which provides scholarships for people to trade school and technical colleges. 

Saturday evening Claude tried a new recipe. It is supposed to be a version of a pastie. (Pronounced pass-tee) This is a dish we had in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and really liked. They serve them with ketchup or gravy on top. We tried both and preferred the ones with gravy on top. The dish was very good, particularly the filling Claude made to go inside the pie crusts. It was a yummy warm meal on a cold evening.

Sunday, December 20, 2020 we enjoyed a Christmas program prepared by the Music Chairman in our ward, Allison Hovermale. It was really nice. After, we wanted to watch the Luke II video with the Amy Grant song "Breathe of Heaven". I thought I had that on my laptop. My laptop was upstairs still from watching TSO on Friday. I checked and could not find the Amy Grant music. We own the CD. I took all of our CD's and downloaded them to my laptop. Amazingly, Amy Grant's CD was not in my music. The problem is that my new laptop does not have a CD drive. Claude's does. We found the CD and I used Claude's laptop to download the CD to his laptop. Then I eMailed all the songs to me and set up a file for them on my laptop. I really like being able to play our CD's from my laptop when I am working in my sewing room. Grateful I now have that music on my laptop as well. Claude put the DVD for Luke II on and I played the Amy Grant song Breathe of Heaven. We enjoyed it so much we watched it again. This is something that really brings Christmas into our home for Claude and for me. 

This evening we are going to the Church. There is a drive-by activity tonight. We'll go and check that out. Hoping the weather clears for them. 

I have been sharing Christmas stories I have saved over the years with Papa in my daily letters. My hope is it helps him to feel Christmas a bit. I don't know if it is working. But I will keep doing it. One of the stories I shared was "The Christmas Orange". This is the story we shared with the Noe's and the Coyne's with some oranges for Christmas. I used to share it each Christmas with my seminary class I taught in Maryland. I would buy one or two of those big candy oranges that are segmented and dipped in chocolate. We would read this story, eat our oranges and share Christmas thoughts and feelings.  Here is the story:

The Christmas Orange

David was a young boy who lived with nine other children in a meager orphanage in southern England.  There was always very little to eat, and in the winter months it was seldom warm, as fuel was very expensive.  But at Christmas time there seemed to be a little more to eat, the orphanage seemed a little warmer, and, of course, there was The Christmas Orange.

At Christmas each child received an orange.  Just a simple orange, but the only time of year that such a rare item was provided.  They would save it for several days just admiring it, feeling it, loving it, and then finally smelling it one last time before they would carefully eat it.  Sometimes it would even dry out before it was eaten as each child would try to savor the Christmas Orange just a little longer.

This Christmas Day, David had been disobedient and the punishment for his crime was the loss of his beloved Christmas Orange.  David was devastated!  He had waited all year for the sweet smell and tangy flavor of this Christmas Orange.  His pleadings and promises were all denied and David spent Christmas empty and alone.

As the night ushered in, David could not sleep.  He was constantly reminded of the loss of his beloved Christmas Orange.  There was no hope or good will left in this cruel and orangeless world.  So alone in the darkness David started to silently weep at this cruel misfortune.  And somewhere, there in the darkness a soft hand reached for his and quickly placed in it an object.  The giver of the object disappeared in the darkness leaving David with the sweet smell and sticky feel of an orange.  This was a special orange.  This Christmas Orange was made of nine carefully divided orange segments from nine other oranges--nine other highly coveted oranges that would be eaten on this night instead of several days to come.

The story I shared today is really touching as well. Here it is:

God works in mysterious ways...

This is a first-person account from a mother about her family as they ate dinner on Christmas Day in a small restaurant many miles from their home.  Nancy, the mother, relates; 

We were the only family with children in the restaurant. I sat Erik in a highchair and noticed everyone was quietly eating and talking. Suddenly, Erik squealed with glee and said, "Hi there."  He pounded his fat baby hands on the high-chair tray. His eyes were wide with excitement and his mouth was bared in a toothless grin.  He wriggled and giggled with merriment. I looked around and saw the source of his merriment. It was a man with a tattered rag of a coat, dirty, greasy, and worn. His pants were baggy with a zipper at half-mast and his toes poked out of would-be shoes. His shirt was dirty, and his hair was uncombed and unwashed. His whiskers were too short to be called a beard and his nose was so varicose, it looked like a road map.  We were too far from him to smell, but I was sure he smelled.  His hands waved and flapped on loose wrists.  

"Hi there, baby; hi there, big boy. I see ya, buster," the man said to Erik.

My husband and I exchanged looks, "What do we do?" Everyone in the restaurant noticed and looked at us and then at the man. The old geezer was creating a nuisance with my beautiful baby. Our meal came and the man began shouting from across the room, "Do ya know patty cake?   Do you know peek-a-boo? Hey, look, he knows peek-a boo.”  Nobody thought the old man was cute.  He was obviously drunk.

My husband and I were embarrassed. We ate in silence, all except for Erik, who was running through his repertoire for the admiring skid-row bum, who in turn, reciprocated with his cute comments.

We finally got through the meal and headed for the door. My husband went to pay the check and told me to meet him in the parking lot. The old man sat poised between me and the door. "Lord, just let me out of here before he speaks to me or Erik," I prayed.  As I drew closer to the man, I turned my back trying to side-step him and avoid any air he might be breathing.  As I did, Erik leaned over my arm, reaching with both arms in a baby's pick-me-up position.  Before I could stop him, Erik had propelled himself from my arms to the man's. Suddenly a very old smelly man and a very young baby consummated their love relationship. Erik, in an act of total trust, love, and submission laid his tiny head upon the man's ragged shoulder.

The man's eyes closed and I saw tears hover beneath his lashes. His aged hands full of grime, pain and hard labor-gently, so gently cradled my baby's bottom and stroked his back. No two beings have ever loved so deeply for so short a time.  I stood awestruck. The old man rocked and cradled Erik in his arms for a moment, and then his eyes opened and set squarely on mine. He said in a firm commanding voice, "You take care of this baby." Somehow I managed, "I will," from a throat that contained a stone. He pried Erik from his chest unwillingly, longingly, as though he were in pain. I received my baby, and the man said, “God bless you, ma'am, you've given me my Christmas gift."

I said nothing more than a muttered thanks. With Erik in my arms, I ran for the car. My husband was wondering why I was crying and holding Erik so tightly, and why I was saying, "My God, my God, forgive me." I had just witnessed Christ's love shown through the innocence of a tiny child who saw no sin, who made no judgment, a child who saw a soul, and a mother who saw a suit of clothes.

I was a Christian who was blind, holding a child who was not. I felt it was God asking...."Are you willing to share your son for a moment?" when HE shared His for an eternity.

The ragged old man, unwittingly, had reminded me, "To enter the Kingdom of God, we must become as little children."

Author Unknown

Merry Christmas Week to Everyone. Do what you do that brings the Christmas spirit into your home. We will do the same in our home.