Christmas Holidays, excluding New Years

K so with the passing of my Dad, I haven't done much blogging at all. But now that life should be getting back to normal with none of the holiday parties to contend with I might find some time. LOL. So we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas at my sister-in-law's and Douglas's Brother's in Ft. Worth. His parents were there as well, so it was quite the group. John loved going up and down their stairs. He has become the big climber. I can't even leave little step stools out, but I digress. I have to say that Douglas's and his Mom's warnings of how many presents there were, were right. LOL! It took the kids all morning to get through unwrapping and they started early! As a matter of fact I don't think my older boys have ever awaken at 4:00am because they were so wired to do Christmas. I think it's been years since I've seen that much excitement. I wonder if Lil Red be that wired? Anyways it was so much fun. I really enjoyed myself. We arrived in time for Christmas Eve dinner which included some of my Sister-in-law's family, so it was a huge event and had plenty of yummy food. Including fudge made by both my Mother-in-law and Sister-in-law. Talk about the right kind of comfort food!Oh my which kind will I eat first? And boy did I ever eat that fudge! Shame on me, lol! I loved my Sister-in-law's tradition of writing down something your thankful for before opening a gift. They have a book that they keep everything in. I was wondering if they saved it and read it on Thanksgiving or did she just keep it where it was available to peruse? We played games and went to visit Douglas's sister who also lives in Ft. Worth. We left the day after Christmas to make it back to pick up my older boys from their Dad. We then proceeded to have an extended gift giving Christmas. My older sister and her large group of 7 children and husband had been on the way down to surprise everyone for Christmas. They had quite the harrowing journey from Idaho through the snow and bad weather. What you have to understand is that they haven't been back for a visit since they moved there approximately 5 years ago. So it was a very big deal. Well, there family had had gifts sent to there family from Santa Clause and these presents had been packed to bring down to open on Christmas. Since these gifts came from other sources my sister and her husband had no idea what was in the packages. Since their visit was a surprise to me, I had already planned to have Christmas present opening at my parents house the day after Christmas when I picked up the boys. And you have to understand that I am a planner. I like to have some sort of structure to our trips, so that I feel that we didn't waste the time ending up doing nothing. But that's me :)

So when I got to my parents house, not only was everyone gone except my younger brother, because my older sister's family was being sealed to their adopted nephew, but two of the boys presents had been opened and claimed because I had labeled them From:Santa, To:the family. LOLLLLLLLLL! That's what I get for labeling that way even though the boys don't believe in Santa anymore. In my defense, that is the way I distinguish between what is for the whole family and what is for an individual :P So the boys were just told that those had been there gifts as well because I just didn't feel like re wrapping :) Then they opened certain gifts that were meaningful only to our family. And then as other people came home they opened the gifts from them and gave the gifts that were to that family. My older sister ended up spending the night at her Father-in-laws that night because with us staying there they felt there wasn't enough room. So the boys gave their gifts to that part of the family the next day after the funeral. And then in all of this broken up Christmas we forgot to do stockings, so I just gave them to them when we got home after church on Sunday. The funny thing is that even with all the weirdness of my Dad dying 2 days prior to Christmas and doing gift exchanging and giving in sporadic parts, even continuing after Christmas.....It is one of the best Christmas's that I remember. I had managed to surprise my husband with a fixed garage and the boys and I followed through with a commitment to get it cleaned and organized before the end of the break. It is very hard to surprise my husband ;)

The boys were very grateful and excited about all their gifts and didn't complain about the lack of expensive gifts. But most of all we were constantly surrounded by family. And we saw so many throughout the holidays. There was also the gift of my Dad's missionary coming to his funeral. Wayne, lives in Utah, but when he found out about Dad's death he felt he should be there. He shared the story of events leading up to his going on a mission and then being able to convert my Dad. It was story that I think my whole family appreciated during this trial of our faith, to show that Heavenly Father has been watching out for our family for a long time. During the holidays I had many special moments, in which I reflected and called and shared with my Dad, memories that I had of him influencing my life for good. We also had the opportunity to surprise my Mom and Dad by caroling at their house and bringing them treats. It was a long drive for a Monday night that was still a school night and Amadeus gave up his band concert, but

I was so glad we did. It was the last time that my kids and I saw my Dad alive. And I could tell that our visit made him happy. He really enjoyed watching Lil Red's antics. And Amadeus played his trumpet a little and Dad did his best to sing along with us the Christmas carols. I think that was Christmas day for me. It certainly was the highlight of my holidays, and I'm grateful to my younger sister and her husband for being flexible with their Monday night and going with us, and also for my husband for uncomplainingly driving that long distance after a hard day of work. He is so great during times of stress and trial. So anyways, the pics above are from the Christmas Holidays and hopefully I'll get to New Year's tomorrow. Quick note, I don't have a great deal of pics from Christmas. My memory card was full and I didn't have a new one. Also BIG news! John started walking as of right before Christmas. He had been taking two steps here and three steps there, but seeing all his cousins walking around and trying to get away from my Little brother's new puppy, well...he decided he better start walking! Also in case you didn't hear, we had a bit of snow down here the week before Christmas. Isaac took the picture of the car. It was just enough snow to be pretty and leave a light dusting. I must say that the Christmas lights looked beautiful with the snow falling around them. Usually are snows are in late January or in February so that is something I've never seen before. I definitely count it as a blessing this year.

Thoughts of my Dad

My Dad died on December 22. I had been packing things that morning for our Christmas away from home, and so that I could go visit him for awhile with John before we left to go to Dallas. My brother called right as I was leaving to tell me that he had passed. I will miss my Daddy till we meet again in Heaven. And yes even though when I spoke about him to other people, he was Dad, in my mind he was always Daddy. I loved that I got to work with him for 3 and a half years while I was a single Mom. He was my #1 cheerleader during that time. As I struggled through the dating scene and one relationship would end, he would give me blessings and grieve with me that I was having so much trouble finding that someone that I could share an eternal love with. I remember after one particularly hard break up, he invited me to come sit on his lap and he just held me like when I was a little girl and let me cry. Good thing I was little then, lol, right now with having my baby weight I might not have fit! He often shared how hard similar trials had been in his life to help me remember that time passes and with it changes come and pain passes with it to make room for the joys of tomorrow. He taught me a great work ethic and I know he was proud of me. He believed in me and often showed his faith in me by investing in my future. He co-signed for me so I could buy my first car, during my divorce. He gave me the down payment on my home. It was 5 thousand dollars. For my Dad this was alot of money. I know he and my mom had plans for that money, but he gave it to me so that I could be out of apartments with my two boys and have a stable place with some room to live. He forgot later that he loaned me that money, but I never did. I am thankful that with the help of my husband I was able to repay the loan before he died that it might benefit him and my mother. He also had an answer for every question that I ever asked. It might not be the right answer, but he gave me one never the less. LOL. I remember the night I found out that he didn't always know the answers to my questions. I had asked him what a particular tower was for. He said it was a cell phone tower and proceeded to explain how it worked in detail. I said, "wow, really?". He laughed and said, "I don't know. How am I supposed to know?". Turns out though, he was right! That was something that went on my list to look for in a husband. Someone who had all the answers, even if he just made up something for me :)
My Dad was also so good with us kids when we were little. I remember being swung around as an airplane in circles. It contributed to my love for dancing. I love being swung around in circles and feeling as though I'm flying. He also let us ride on his back as he pretended to be a big bear, and I loved doing superman and being tickled by him. He was also a great teacher. Everything he learned that he knew to have value he turned around and taught. He wanted to make sure that economically each child's family had two skills that they could use to fall back on if one thing wasn't viable for a time. He taught me to tell the difference between dreams in which my mind was just working through things and dreams that were communications from my Father in Heaven. He also taught me that I do have a Heavenly Mother that loves me just as much as my Father in Heaven. I think the most important thing he taught me along with my mother is to never give up. To never stop trying. It has helped me to overcome many trials in my life. My Dad was not just a good man. He was a GREAT man. And we love him very much for it. I loved at the funeral that it was prayed for his children to be able to keep the commandments that we might share in that eternal reward with my Dad. So now I have two fathers that I want to show my love for by keeping the commandments and giving honor to their names.
The pictures below aren't many and many of them are fairly recent but most of my pictures are hard copies only and I haven't had time to scan them. But these have significance to me. Thank you Mom or whoever for uploading the two old ones up on the family site. The first is my Dad and my uncle who are twins. My Dad is the one looking askance at the camera. The second is my Dad in uniform. He was drafted for vietnam, and while he was never sent over, still had many stories of his experiences while in training. It is easy to see from this picture why my Mom fell for him. The next two are at a pool party for Isaac. This was the year before he found out he had cancer. We looked at these pics later and I teased him that he had looked like Boss Hog. He took the teasing well, lol. The next pictures are from my wedding to Douglas. I was so blessed to have my Dad alive and well enough to walk me down the aisle and to dance with me. I am so glad that he lived to see me married to a wonderful man that is very much like my Dad in many ways. He knew that I was happy that I was on my way to my own eternal family and that was very important to me. Infact the picture, heading my blog is he and I dancing. It was funny because even though he taught me to waltz, he'd forgotten how to do it. And I never knew what step he was doing so consequently I kept tripping on my dress. So one of my brides maids came and held up my train so that I could dance easier with my Dad. My sister-in-law, who was playing the piano didn't know how many verses to play and so she played three. Dad and I were dying by the end. We kept laughing about how we would have to strangle her later. But we never did, she is way to cool to strangle :)
The next picture in the slide show is of Mom and Dad and John and I (I was taking the pic) at one of Dad's favorite chinese places. This is a big memory for me. Lunches with my Dad. I loved going to lunch with my Dad. We would talk about so many things. It was wonderful to have a Dad that was never at a loss for words. The last two were of him at Father's Day this past year. We went out to eat with him, my Mother and Grandmother. He loved his Mom so much. I'm glad he got to spend extra time with her with the advent of me moving closer to her. I have to say in ending that his love for my Mom was inspiring as I searched for that special someone that would stick with me through hard times and that would cherish me for the person I am. Thank you Dad for helping me to be the person I am today and for always inspiring me to better heights.

Picture Memorial of Dad

Fencing movies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-wToYUC1Vo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcke0VZQZa0

K this is the only way I can figure out how to do this. Click on the links and you can watch their fencing bouts. The second one is Amadeus's bout and the first is Isaac's. But I think that's mentioned in the video. LOL

Fencing excitement

We just had a very exciting weekend, prior to Thanksgiving. The boys just fenced in their first tournament this year and did very well! In this first video, you see Isaac's first match. He won all his matches with the exception of two in direct elimination against the girl who was that national champion for Y10 (which is the age group he is fencing in). Even though she beat him in direct elimination, she did not beat him in the first round. So he still beat her in one bout! I wish I had recorded that bout! Wah! But as a mother I was so nervous. I thought my son was fixing to get slaughtered. The other contestants had been excited when another boy managed to get three touches on her. You have to get 5 to win. So she had been unbeatable thus far. He decided to just have fun with it and was doing some crazy foot work and he won! He gained himself a cheering squad that called him crazy feet. The girl's dad then went over and started coaching her on what to do in the direct elimination. I think that is totally wrong but oh well! My son still took first place for the Boys Y10 and second all around!

In this second video you see Amadeus, he was fencing in the Men's Epee. I highlighted that for a reason. Amadeus's skill level is in the Y14. However the Y14 was fenced on Sunday and we don't participate in those. So he decided to fence in the Men's Epee so that he could still get some experience under his belt. His goal was to get a touch against everyone that he fenced with and to win one bout. The contestants started walking in , and he turns to me and says, "can we pretend I got sick". That was before they started warming up. They were huge, and they were fast. However, he sucked up his courage and he went out to fight his Goliath's. And he almost completely achieved his goal! He got a touch against everyone he fenced except one boy who is 17th in the nation, and that almost noone gets a touch against. and he came very close to winning one bout. He got 4 out of 5 touches. That's pretty amazing! I am so proud of both of them. Isaac has made a committment to be more committed, lol. And Amadeus, knows what it takes to play with the big guys now. So he can really focus and be ready to make the transition at the end of the next year when he will transition out Y14. Hope you enjoy the bouts! Oh and the top picture is of Isaac with his trophy. And yes I know that I used their names all through out this post but I always forget when I'm videoing, so I give up :P Okay I can't get the videos to upload. So stay tuned, I'll have to try the Utube thing. I've been trying to upload these video's for two days! Aaargh!

Peace On Earth

I just had to put this new picture as the blog Title picture. I have been thinking a great deal lately about that line, "peace on earth". Growing up in a warring world that is full of conflict and strife, will make any child lose there faith in the potential of the Earth to achieve peace. But as I heard those words sung in Joy to the World a couple of weeks ago, I thought of Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality when she is giving her acceptance speech for her award. She had been cynical of the pageant participants and made fun of there constant line of wanting "World peace", she then with tears in her eyes and fanning her hand in front of her face says, "and I really do want world peace". It is a very funny moment and not meant to be profound but I think it is. I believe that deep down those that are trying to live their lives keeping the commandments at their core want and wish for, "peace on earth". But like in "I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day", we think "there is no peace on earth". But I have found over the last year that there can be. We each can achieve peace on earth for ourselves as we trust more fully in our Father in Heaven and the Savior and work on keeping an eternal perspective. The more people that we help to achieve this, the more peace on Earth there is. And we can also find hope in Christ as we look to his second coming, knowing that with a ruler that is righteous, and who has the proper eternal perspective that we can achieve a more peaceful habitat. I could go on and on but the point is that we should not let ourselves be cynical, we should work on achieving what we can, knowing others are doing the same and trust in God and our Savior to make up the difference in their own due time. I am so thankful that despite the World not being at peace, that I can find peace as I accept the atonement in my life and allow it to change my perspective and set me free. I hope your Christmas this year brings you much peace and joy.
Love to all,
LMSS

Finally Time to Blog :)

Okay there will be a series of posts after this one. I have been so busy with my Dad being very sick due to his cancer and Thanksgiving and planning a Jr. High dance party for the boys school. Then there is the everyday stuff such as watching Lil Red that has left me no time for blogging but much has happened so today I will try to get it all blogged and shared. The video attached is of my Little sock monkey at work, literally! LOL! Enjoy