The Office

     This past weekend, My Love and I spent some time at my Grandparents' house. Saturday evening, Luke, Jordan, Grandpa and myself found ourselves down in Grandpa's office. Now, the word office doesn't really conjure up the right idea of what this room truly is. It is a mix of museum, antique store, and curiosity shop.
      On the walls and shelves of his office are years of memories. Pictures, cards, letters, and random and quirky gifts he has received from his children, grandchildren, and friends over the years. One thing that particularly stood out to me was the long stick that was carved to somewhat of a point that he had hanging on the wall. I picked it up to look at it and realized that it had writing on it. In my Grandpa's distinctive script it had the memory of the stick scrawled on it. My Grandpa then proceeded to tell me the story.
      Apparently, one day when my brothers were young he had taken them down to the crick. My youngest brother Mick had decided he was going to catch a fish and so he had sharpened that stick to use as a spear. I remembered the day as he retold the tale. On the wall above that was a pinwheel from Luke's and my wedding. On the bookshelf he had the Christmas gift I made for him years ago, a walnut shell cleaned out and turned into a mini treasure chest with a tiny rolled up piece of paper inside. If I remember right, it had a Bible verse on it. As well as the many memories, my Grandpa has a bookshelf full of Bibles. Brand new Bibles just waiting for someone who needs them. My Grandpa is like that, he believes that word of God with his whole heart and has a passion for sharing it.
    Grandpa's room is special because it is a room of memories. Pictures, letters, photos, objects, all kept because they are snapshots of time. Reminders of the beautifulness of life.

"We don't remember days, we remember moments." ~Cesare Pavese 
“Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.”~L.M Montgomery

A Christmas Adventure

     Last night, my love and I returned home after a week of being gone. Having someone stay at your house to stoke the stove and feed the turtle while you are gone is the way to go! We returned home to a hot supper and a cleaner house than we left. Thank you Kristina! This year, our holiday travels had us passing through 5 states, including Minnesota. Last Wednesday we headed down to my parents for Christmas. My entire family was home and it was so good to see my brothers whom we haven't seen since last Christmas.

                               My parents: Rohn and AmyJo

                                                   Lydia

                                          Jesse

                                          Jordan

 

 Mick and his fiance Payge 

While we were at my parents, Luke helped my Dad install the door on the bedroom that had been remodeled awhile back. They did a lovely job. Before they got it all closed in, I wrote a time capsule note and stuck it in the framework. 

 The finished product, minus the trim.

      Saturday, we headed West to spend some time with my Grandparents. My Grandpa used to build model airplanes. He said that Luke could have them so we took a trailer with us and loaded it up. Some of them are not finished so Luke is looking forward to getting creative.

                                  My boys. I love them!

    Sadly, the next leg of our journey was due to a funeral. Luke's Grandpa Alvin passed away so we headed to Nebraska for the funeral. Despite the fact that it was a funeral, it was fun to see everyone and Luke got to show me his grandparents' home. The place of childhood memories. Also, since we were heading to Nebraska, my brother Jordan journeyed with us(He lives in the Western part of the state). It was so good to road trip with him once again. I miss that boy!

      Our journey home took us through South and North Dakota. And now we are home and I am looking forward to life getting back to normal. Merry Belated Christmas, almost Happy New Year and a delightful Wednesday to you!

"In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future." ~Alex Haley

December's Goodness

     December is such a lovely time of the year. Winter is upon us, but it is fresh and exciting(unlike how I sometimes feel about winter in February).  It's a season of cookie baking, memories, lights and friends. I am getting pretty excited about this coming week. My love and I will be heading south to spend Christmas with my side of the family. My brothers whom I haven't seen since last Christmas will be home and I am really looking forward to it!
      Around the beginning of the school year, I received an email from a place called Studentreasures. They offer "publishing" for class projects. I signed up and they sent me a complete manuscript kit. So, my kids and I began the process of writing a group story. We went through all the parts of a story, voting on what direction we wanted our story to go. Then we began writing and finally illustrating it. Just before Thanksgiving break we packaged it up and sent it off to be published. Well, this past week the box of our books finally arrived, the excitement was high! I must say I was quite happy with the results.  The Mythical Amazon River Adventure By Mrs. Williams 3rd and 4th graders.

     For awhile, I have wanted to get white Christmas lights to string around the perimeter of our living room. Luke found these and I think they have quite the magical effect.

I was blessed the other day when a friend gave me a brand new winter coat that she had but it didn't fit her.

    Today the loveliness of the Christmas season was fully experienced with a cookie baking party. I particularly thought it was adorable when we set the giant roasting pan of caramel puff corn off in the corner right at toddler level. The kiddos thought that was a grand set up. It was like the watering hole of toddlers.

Irindee

 Mara

 Kristina

 Mara and Emily

 Katy and Nettie

So much loveliness. Happy Saturday!

“Love is God. Love is divine. Love is an act of God.”~ Lailah Gifty Akita