Thought that I would give you a quick preview of our Christmas, 2009! I'll do more later...

Let's entertain more...

Another thing that happens (and has happened for the past 35 years of our marriage) at Christmas, we talk about entertaining more at Christmas. Out in Washington, I have begun to create annual events.

Last year I had several of the ladies of the church over. These are the saints of the church who are my mentors. They age with grace and love and they show the love of Christ and the passion for Him and His ministry is amazing. We couldn't do it just one year...it wouldn't be a tradition. So we had it again this year. Helen told me that she was already looking forward to coming next year...Lord willing...(Helen is 96 and one of the most amazing woman I have know.)

We have been involved in a small group out here and for the past Christmases we have had a soup supper at our house. I make 3 different soups each year and try not to repeat one. It has become a favorite time for our group...
One of the soups this year was the Snowman Party Soup...and it was the favorite. That surprised me because we made dungeness crab bisque...which was my favorite but everyone liked the little snowman...

All of these events and the carolling at the nursing homes, the funeral home Christmas pot luck, and general shopping, running to the outlet mall with a friend...all were traditions that make the holiday season full and exciting. Traditions...like getting Christmas socks when you come to our house during Christmas...could become commonplace and unexciting...for me...these traditions, because of the people, are events that I look forward to each year.

Just wanted to catch you up on our month...more to come...you know what they say...the best is yet to come...

The month in review...

T'was the days after Christmas and the quiet seems loud, All the presents have been opened and family have gone home.
It has been an amazing Christmas month with so many wonderful times with friends and family.

The month began with a trip to Seattle with a group of dear friends.

The DWIPS (Dangerous Women In Progress) set off on the train to see Seattle and this year...

White Christmas at the theater...I think 6th Avenue theater...

this year, Sue couldn't go so we adopted Anne and she did just fine with the rest of us, and didn't seem to be embarrassed when a man from another car came back to our car because...he HEARD women talking...ooooooo

We laughed and enjoyed the gift that God has given us...a friendship based in Christ and forged in love.

Barb, Anne, and I were the quiet ones...believe me...we were little church mice compared to the other ladies...

Anita, Peggy, Pam, and Phyllis were the ones who created the ruckus...after all, the man kept coming back to tell them jokes and didn't even notice the church mice across the isle.

White Christmas was wonderful. I loved the singing, the dancing, the story...what a kick off to the Christmas month.
God has given this gift to me and I am so thankful to Him for allowing these strong women in my life to challenge me on a daily basis.

A quiet reflection...

There are certain things that I can predict will happen every year during the Christmas season:
* Steve will always say we started too early to decorate
* There will be certain events that will happen:
~ The Moles Ladies brunch, the Small group soup supper,
~ the Saints' brunch (those are the wonderful ladies in our church who have inspired me and given a picture of what grace looks like),
~ Christmas caroling at the nursing home with the funeral home (this event drives Jane nuts!) This year we did a new assisted living group AND the old nursing home called and asked when we were coming to sing for them. Not that they don't have great groups come to sing, but one lady told us that we were so good...let me just say, we are not. This year as we waited for our pianist to arive I played Mary had a little lamb on the piano...with chords.
* I will usually try to shop in one fell swoop...I was almost done
* Our DWIPs will go to Seattle on the train
* Steve will laugh at Home Alone 1 and 2 like he had never seen it before

Traditions are becoming moreand more in this "new" place where we live, but ever since I became a believer, there is always a morning that I am overwhelmed at the presence of God. Today was that morning. It was quiet, Steve was upstairs asleep and I began my devotions. I always ask questions when this time comes about.

Jesus, did you know as a toddle that your feet and hands would be pierced? When did you realize hat you were the same God who, with His Father, spoke the heavens into place? As a child, did the depth of the love you had for me, wrap its arms around you? Did you ever become overwhelmed with the inevitable? Did you know that you would have to rely on a teenager to take care of you? What did you know?

Did Mary fully realize what her heart would have to endure? Did Joseph, quiet Joseph, realize that he would be a figure in he nativity set, but we wouldn't know a lot about him? Did he get grief from his friends and family because of their situation? Did Mary and Joseph realize that they would have to move away to protect their precious gift from God?

Yes, ever Christmas, I am overwhelmed by the presence of His glory. The submission of the King. The love of the Father. The willingness of a teenager to be the handmaiden of God. I am overwhelmed...because, He gave His life for me 33 years later. He loved me. He wanted me to be obedient, submissive, willing, and overwhelmed in His presence.

Merry Christmas. Think on the story of Christmas...it is a glorious love story filled with His overwhelming presence if you allow Him to invade your life.

We have started but....

it isn't the trees that excite me...we have many of the trees up, some decorated, we have lots to finish. but when we sit in our family room, it is this little (and still not complete) corner that excites me...why? It's a little cupboard that Steve made for our daughters and their rocking chair. Am I wishing they were little again? Have I popped my cork? Do I have bats in the belfry? Nope...this little corner reminds me that our house will be filled with people at Christmas. And who will use this little corner? Why, Simon and Mazie of course!!! I'll update you when it's done...complete with Simon and Mazie. The Tengesdals (all of them...Jon, Betsy, Simon, and Mazie AND Carl, Betty, and Jerod, AND Joy and Issac AND Issac's mom, Pixie) are coming for Christmas. Is there possibly a down side to this excitement????? Yep! Andy and Jane can't join us!

Merry Christmas...not yet?

Oh Yesssssss...................today we begin to prepare for our family coming....Steve is so excited...okay, I am supposed to be truthful...he's really not. He has this thing about waiting...not me...it is time to deck the halls....and it gives me a break from studying....

We brought a soldier home today...

We brought a soldier home today

The streets were lined with people

The flags were everywhere

Overhead, helicopters flew, 3 for news teams and one black hawk helicopter

Steve went to the airport with the hearse

The family greeted their 22 year old son and brother and uncle

killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan last Friday.

There were tears, no cheers.

When the hearse began to go down main street,

a holy hush filled the crowd...

He came home to almost everyone in the county...there to support his family.

His brother told me...

Aaron would have been overwhelmed

He was so shy!

Praise God we have men and women who are serving in the military,

protecting our rights...

we can have our small group Bible study here tonight because the freedom they have long protected.

Our service men need our prayers and our support.

Father, thank you for protecting our men and women...Jesus bring them home safely and alive. Father, we do not need to bring these young men and women home the way that Aaron came home today. Support the families right now. And Jesus, help Aaron's family feel your loving arms them this week. Strengthen them and hold them. In your name. Amen

It brought the war closer today...because

we brought a soldier home today.

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Hmmm...5 years...already?

Five years ago...I wanted to take a look back...

Steve and I were living in the same house that we had lived in for 29 years...

We lived in Bismarck, ND where I was born and spent 50 of 54 years...

Betsy was a couple of weeks away from having Simon..

Jane was doing her practicum in Salt Lake City..

Andy and Jane were dating...from a distance...

We had gotten a call from Bellingham, Washington to come out for an interview...

Jane met us in Seattle and traveled to Bellingham with us...

we came out...over Veteran's Day.

Five years ago....

Steve left for his interview and Jane and I spent the day driving around with Allan

Carol, Steve's sister, had to teach that Monday...

Jane flew back to Salt Lake and Steve and I talked

We talked...cried...giggled...and talked.

Steve was offered the job...we prayed about it...had been praying for quite a while...

We talked to our girls...we prayed...we talked to each other...

we prayed...and we accepted the job...

On the way home...I told Steve:

I have been thinking about how we are going to tell my mom and our small group...

He asked me how it went...

I looked at him...and said:

It didn't go well for any of them....

5 years ago, we accepted a job...but it was more than that...

we moved away from family...

we moved away from my mom,

we moved away from Betsy and Jon...

We moved away from Simon who was 6 weeks old...

we moved away from Jane and didn't realize that she felt abandoned

we moved away from friends...

What did happen when we said yes to God 5 years ago?

He moved us and stretched us.

He affirmed that we were following Him.

Did we miss the people that we were leaving? Yes.

Are there times when we fell soooo far away from family? Oh a hundred times yes.

Do we know, still, that we are where God wants us? YES

5 years ago...we said yes to a job.

but it was more

5 years ago we said Yes to God

and He has continued to be faithful.

Road Signs ... for LIFE?

When Steve and I were traveling this weekend, we saw all kinds of road signs. My favorite was Slide Zone...Caution. Washington just had another slide which covered a road with 30 feet of mud and rock, changed the course of a river, and cut of the residents living in the area. Some of the houses are still in jeopardy because the slide is still moving...weeks after the initial slide. Hmmmm...do we want to drive this road? We were on the coast and also Tsunami warning signs posted. So if there were a tsunami...we had cliffs on the other side of the ocean...hmmmm.

Anyway, my mind went right to road signs in our daily walk...like:

CURVES AHEAD

Watch out...you are going to hit a curve in your life that will be difficult

Turn back...you are going the wrong way...turn around...this will only cause you pain and suffering

Slippery road ahead...once you start this behavior, you are on a slippery slope and it will be hard to get back up to where you want to be.

How about...Dead End...you are going nowhere and you need to turn around and follow My lead.

There are many signs that we could apply to situations in our lives...

Stop what you are doing...it is not good and will not produce happiness. It will only cause you grief and pain...

Many times, I sometimes feel that my sign looks like this one:

People-- friends, family, the church, coworkers, and a flurry of ads in the media tell us...do this... go here... no, go here...stay away from there....go this way....buy this...don't buy that...vote this way...vote yes...vote no....

And the voices don't help us to make clear decisions. And I went back to my original question. Why isn't there a clear path for us? Why can't I silence the "voices" and just hear a clear voice? Then I remembered a verse in Isaiah...You see, our signs don't have to be confusing or blurred...we need to silence ourselves to hear His voice.

"O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.

How gracious He will be when you cry for help!

As soon as He hears, He will answer you.

Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction,

your teachers will be hidden no more;

with your own eyes you will see them."

When we cry for help, the God of the Universe, the Great I AM, Creator, Redeemer, and Savior and Friend will hear you...and He will answer you...

And about those directions...this is my favorite part....because we do not need to be confused

by the signs that are around us....

"Whether you turn to the right or to the left,

your ears will hear a voice behind you saying,

'This is the way; walk in it.'"

We do have a guide. We have someone who will make the road signs clear.

We just need to quiet ourselves before Him and listen to what He is saying.

"This is the way; walk in it!"

Fall bonding...a new experience

Each fall, we would pick a Saturday and get the girls up out of bed and announce that it was fall bonding day. We would go to the pumpkin patch, enjoy the trip up river road looking at all of the colors, walk in the crunchy leaves, and end up in the Mandan soda fountain for sodas and lunch. We heard groans...a lot! But as they got older and left home, they began to plan when they could come home for fall bonding. Now, with them being so far away, they have begun their own fall bonding experiences...So...the only thing we could do...is continue the tradition with a twist...just the two of us...


It was Steve's duty day and so we got up...okay, not real early but it felt good to sleep in. We packed our suitcase and headed out. We had planned on taking one ferry off of Whidbey Island but it was not available so we headed for the Edmond's ferry. Crossed over to an island, crossed a bridge and ended up in Port Townsend. There, we stayed in a mansion...ate in a castle...watched a sea lion watch us...ate in a 50's cafe. We went to a light store with amazing lights and antiques.

The "boutique hotel" that we stayed in, the Starrett Mansion, thought to be haunted...but no one showed up in our bedroom that night... was beautiful. It had a floating stairway that engineers still do not know how it was made. (Fun fact...the builder was the town's funeral director!)

We drove around Port Townsend and saw the Castle. We went in and found out that it was a private home until the early 1900's and then an order of the Jesuit Priests moved in and created a seminary...now, a motel. Original woodwork and beautiful stained glass windows...and the food was very good...

Our boutique hotel did not have television so Steve and I sat in the drawing room by the fire place, reading. During the night we opened the door and listened to the waves crashing on the shores all night. The next morning it was beautiful. We traveled up the coast to Neha Bay which is at the very tip of the Washington peninsula. We stopped along the way, walked on several beaches, and went through old stand forests.

It wasn't the pumpkin patch and we missed our kids...but it was an amazing time...and we were only about 4 or 5 hours from our home. In each new phase of our lives, we find that God continues to bless us with things that we love...in a new and fresh way.

If you have never had a "fall bonding" day in your family...plan one, it is a fabulous day. Find a fun spot, check out the leaves, and then just take the day to relax and see what God has planned for you....

Studying...Serenity...Silence

Friday, Steve had a workshop in Oak Harbor. I went along so we could go out to eat with friends after the workshop. I brought my books and my computer and headed to the nearest Starbucks. I traveled all along the "coast" of Oak Harbor which I had NEVER seen before. I really wanted to just study and be able to look out over the water because...I found it is that scenery that energies me and I just really love the salt water. All along the water, there were restaurants, but no coffee shop with the serene view that I was after.

So, I went to the Starbucks where I had been before and got my coffee and settled into the comfy chair ready to spend the day there...


HMMMMMMM....let see, something wasn't right. The music, yep the music was way too loud. Concentrate...your kids can block this out...try....try....try....NOPE...couldn't do it. So I asked a gentleman sitting in the other comfy chair (which was way too close for me when I sat down...but I figured I would outlast him)...if he knew where the Library was. He gave me directions and off I went.

I went to the "Quiet Please Reading Area" of the Sno-Isle Library. The room was quiet but it was what was behind the blinds that made my heart sing....I(that is the Library) was up on a hill and overlooking the marina.

God is so good. I was able to study. It was silent (well almost. there was one older gentleman who HUMMED the entire time he was there.) but most of all I had the serenity and peace that I needed and I felt refreshed. And an added blessing, I finished another assignment.

I took most of the pictures from the library window. I got up and was ready to go to pick up Steve at the workshop. As I walked out, the mist had increased and the view was even more beautiful. Of course...cameras and real life do make it a bit harder to capture the beauty....

It always is such a blessing when God gives us what we desire and not what we deserve.

Praise His Holy name....and praise him for studying...serenity....and silence...PLUS...the ocean!

Cameras...pictures....wonder?

Have you ever tried to capture a picture of a spider's web?

What about a double rainbow? A hummingbird? A child's secret smile?

Have you ever seen the wonder of fall with the myriad of colors and taken a picture --only to get the picture back and it falls flat?

How do you describe what a fresh blueberry tastes like?

-the beauty and splendor of that last rose in the garden?

-the joy of knowing you will be with family soon?

The spider's web disappears in the foliage; the rainbows melt into the sky. The hummingbirds are a blur of flight; the child's smile vaporizes in the moment it takes to push the button.

There are so many wonders in our world that lack the words to describe and our inability to capture their essence.

This past weekend, Steve and I drove to Canada for the day. We saw beautiful color, torrential rain, dark gray clouds, and didn't take a picture. There are some things that just need to remain captured in our minds. These are pictures that remain in our hearts for years...the color may fade but the circumstances that surround them...keeps the color alive.

This weekend, we didn't take pictures. We just had a great day. How I praise God for the wonders of His creation and the ability to enjoy it. Our Creator God...He has given us so much...and we have so much to thank Him for. Praise His Holy name.

Who is God?

That is the question that we discussed in our first class last Wednesday. After the 2 1/2 hours of "defining" God...I am humbled by a God who is indefinable and indescribable being interested in the concerns that I have in my life. He is the Creator who is actively involved in creation and intimately involved in the lives of His children. He is above all things and in all things...When you even begin to grasp who God is...it is only a minute fraction of who He is and that is overwhelming to me.

He is unchanging, forgiver, loving, healer, sustainer, creator. There is nothing that your eyes can see or ears hear that He did not create. And our eyes only see the big picture...because inside every creation there is a world of unseen creation there. Scientists are trying to get to the basic components of matter... and what they will find is the very fingerprint of God.

Said Good bye to the Oregon coast and headed north...

We reluctantly said good bye to the Oregon Coast and headed toward Portland.

We have a trusty little GPS that we fondly call...Maggie....so, we put in my nephew's address and were confident that we would end up at their house...

Little Maggie took us SOUTH...and we were headed (because we finally got out the map that is always in the car) to McCoy, Oregon....

Perfect Photo op...unfortunately, McCoy isn't big enough to have a "Welcome to McCoy, OR" sign outside its town limits, we had to settle for a picture of McCoy standing pointing to McCoy road...

Maggie, you added at least 2 hours to our trip...not so much fastest, Maggie!

We had a great time and hated to see it end as we dropped Jane off and headed North ...we loved the coast! God's hand is so evident everywhere we looked. His creative genius continues to amaze me.

Highlights from Oregon....

We went to Oregon to celebrate Steve's 62nd birthday...

We had dinner on the beach at Lincoln City...

This was the view from our table...I left the glasses in the picture just to show you what we were looking at during supper of AMAZING fresh fish!
We went to the Sea Hag, Depoe Bay, for lunch

Watched Seals beg for fish...and sadly, they were ignored....

Took a picture of the Pirate's Cove for Simon...

Watched them cleaning crabs...yes that is a BUCKET full of Dungenous crabs and fresh from the ocean is the best!!!!

Watched the waves crash on the shore...

loved the little seaside villages...

Childhood desires ... obsessions...realized.

Glass blowing has ALWAYS fascinated me. We would have to stop in the mall in Bismarck when they would have their demonstrations. You know the booth...it is filled with glass cats, whales, dogs, and my favorite...Cinderella's pumpkin carriage (guess which one I was really fascinated with?)
So, when we were driving to Depoe Bay the first morning that we were on the Oregon coast, there was a shop that boasted "BLOW YOUR OWN GLASS"

We stopped and made an appointment.

We did it ALL...first we had to load the glass and add the color

We had to turn it and fire it and turn it...

then we had to blow the glass....Jane blew....

I blew...

We both had fun as evidenced by Jane's laugh...

After it was shaped the way we wanted it...it was tapped and a bottom was added and then it went into the cooling oven for overnight....
the next day we came back and picked them up...

Here is Jane's bowl....

And here is mine...


As for the bucket list...Check that off the list! We both loved it and Steve enjoyed watching us....