Just watched the ball drop in New York. It's 2005 there now. It was awesome to watch it and the fireworks from Baltimore and Philadelphia. Rob, Andrea and I loved those fireworks! Things have changed and fireworks have evolved.
I know it's silly, but I just want to thank God for all the lovely changes. Again, Happy New Year to all my j-land friends.
The sun is coming out and the rain is heading east as we prepare to enjoy the last day of 2004. Our friend Hank has headed to visit the ministry in Mexico and spend the New Year with them. It will be a very quiet family time for us at home.
I never make resolutions for New Year's. Impossible to keep, I just resolve to be the best I can be and love the Lord. That should cover it.
The rain has been heavy and has done a great deal of damage here in Southern California. A tornado touched down a few miles south and there is deep snow in the mountains and some in the foothills. Skiers are thrilled. We have much to be grateful for. Although the weather has been bad, we have our lives and the enormity of the tsunami overshadows the problems here.
As we drove home in the rain on Monday, I thought how very fortunate we are to live in this marvelous country. The roads are generally good, drainage as well. Emergency services, though spotty at times, are the best in the world. We are an affluent society in more ways than financial. No wonder so many people worldwide come to live here. I've experienced the other side of the coin myself and am happy to be back home. I miss the kids in Mexico and the work we did, but I find it hard to complain here. It doesn't matter whether we agree on politics, religion or a ton of other subjects. This is definitely the place to live.
Last Sunday we spent the day with our grandchildren (step-grands, but no less loved) and got to meet our little great-grandson for the first time. It was a thirll to behold Candace and her son! I remember her when she was still puny and now she's a mom! What a blessing. I've posted some pictures above. There are a couple of Andrea, of Rob with Hank (in the silly hat!), of Hank's girl Debbie, me and my great-grandson, the other grandkids. Again, I took a bazillion more than I've posted. It's a year of "firsts"
This has been a year full of wonder and trials. In 8 work days over two weeks, a group of volunteers from Minnesota built stages 2 and 3 of the ministry house. One of those days was spent digging out from the mud, but they walked in and worked anyway. Other volunteers came and painted, plumbed, drywalled and more. The kitchen now schoolhouse was built by volunteers and others drove 1200 miles to put on the roof, floors and windows. We got to be part of that miracle.
One of our kids got a terrible infection early in the year and nearly died. We slept little or none at all while we nursed him back to health. Praise God he got to go home to family in March. I cried, Rob cried, Luisito smiled.
With Andrea's adoption final, we worked to get papers to bring her to the U.S. We had no idea that our health problems would force a move for us all. It was a trying time for us, but with God's help, we weathered it. First Rob came to make a place for us, then Andrea just a few days after her visa was approved and finally I came two months after Rob left.
We have experienced such wonder as we have discovered our daughter discovering life in the best country in the world. Her eyes are being opened. Our eyes are seeing through hers and it's more awesome than words can tell.
Whatever the New Year holds, it can't compare to 2004. I am grateful for my new life here in the U.S. after 15 years away. I'm sure it will become commonplace for us soon enough.
It's wonderful to read other journals and "meet" persons from all over. This has been a great experience for me. I'm grateful for my new friends here. Because of homeschool, I don't get out that much and don't know many people here yet, but I've made a lot of friends online. Thanks, guys, for making me feel welcome.
New Year's Resolution for my pet? All we've got here are two birds: Dufus the famous Sun Conure and Oscar, the Cockatiel.
My resolution for Dufus is that for this year he promises not to try to remove all my neck moles with his beak.
My resolution for Oscar is that he promises to finish learning the song from Andy Griffith and Mayberry RFD.
Extra credit? They both have resolved for more crackers and better bathtimes!
Read my son's book yesterday, finishing it this morning. I gotta tell you: it's good. And it's not just prejudice, which of course I have. I've always enjoyed science fiction novels. I enjoyed this one as well. I have only one complaint. It ended too soon.
So this for my son, John Scalzi: thanks, son. And for all of you j-landers out there who haven't bothered to get a copy: What's the holdup? Go get it! If you don't know where, ask John.
Merry Christmas to all of you. We sent this picture and one of Andrea with Santa to people by mail. First time I've mailed out cards in I don't know how many years. It was kind of fun. I love the picture of Andrea singing in the Christmas play at church. She sang her heart out.
Truth is, she was so sick on Saturday that we thought we might have to keep her home on Sunday. Her eyes had that vacant, glassy look kids get when they are ill and we were concerned, so Robert said that maybe we'd best keep her in bed. She looked at him and said, "No, dad! I want to par-ti-ci-pate!". You can't know how hard that was for her to say until you've heard her speak English! We both laughed and decided if she could spit that out, she could surely sing. She was the star of the show! She smiled, looked at each person in the congregation and even got tears in her eyes once. The kid is a natural and just loves the Lord.
After the pot-luck, she went right home to bed, glassy-eyed again and ready to call it a day. I'm so proud of her I could just bust! I'm only putting in one picture, but I took 75! Most of them look about the same, so go figure.
This is a special time for Christians. It tends to be a time of reminder for me of the beginnings of my faith. I think of His miraculous birth and am in awe that God set this all up for us. It's also a time of memories that will never leave.
Each Christmas, my mother and her friend Kay would get together to wrap gifts. It wasn't like I do now - slap the paper and a sticky bow on - it was a real work party. The would get special papers, glue, glitter, sequins and ribbon on rolls. They made their bows which were all hand-tied. Their cigarettes would sit idly in the ashtrays and you could see the intensity in their eyes. Packages were geared to the recipient, nothing random about their work! They were incredible. Mom always centered the picture from the paper, matched the seams, etc. There was one I keep in mind - about the size of a piece of notebook paper in height and width - maybe 3 inches deep. The paper was blue metalic with Christmas trees on it. She centered the tree and shook white and silver glitter on the edges to make it look like snow. I think I was about Andrea's age or a little older and I just kept looking at that package. It was beautiful.
We also bought an advent calendar at church every year. Each little door that opened had a Bible verse to read for the day. As we shared those scriptures and the story and meaning of Christmas, mom and I were so very close. My sisters were grown and we were the only ones left. It was special for me then and a precious memory now.
I pray that we can make some precious memories for Andrea and that our grown children have a few that they will hold dear to their hearts at this time of year and always.
Happy Birthday, Jesus!
Trying to get my pictures into my FTP space is driving me crazy - thought I had it figured out - tried it - can't find the pictures anywhere! So after I stomp around the house for a few minutes, I'll do my next entry like I did the last - with You've Got Pictures. I don't like the box around that - so . . . AOL - couldn't you make this a bit easier for dummies like me?
Now don't say it - I've been to John's site - printed the directions and still messed it up. Krissy took me through it step by step and I still messed it up. I want more!!! I'm not patient. Why is it I can't just resize my pics where they are and cut and paste? Will someone tell me that? AAAARRRGGGHHH!
Well, it's finally done to almost everyone's satisfaction. robert and Andrea and I had finished or tired out or something and put all of Hank's excess Christmas stuff neatly back into the boxes. Then Hank came home in a fun mood, opened every box, emptied them, and stared to add to the decorations. It worked out pretty well as you can see, but what a mess was made in the interim!
I took pictures documenting the process, but couldn't bring myself to put up Santa with a noose around his neck (Hank was laughing and laughing - we weren't). The tree is full to overflowing, the clock looks so good, I might ask him to leave the garland there after Christmas. Of course, Andrea got into the action and truly enjoyed herself. It's nice for her to be the only kid this year. Most of the packages you see are for her. She knows it and is going crazy.
Isn't this fun?
