Heading Home

Tomorrow I leave to take my dad back home. What a crazy couple of months I have had. I was talking to Greg the other day and realized that this all began on October 3rd when I went to Boise to take care of my mom for her back procedure and I will be returning home from Astoria on December 3rd...exactly two months later.

I would love to say that I have been strong and not murmured at all during this experience, but that would be lying. I have shed many tears and dropped from exhaustion into bed many times throughout these past few weeks. Greg has listened patiently to me as well as my mom and sister. It has not been easy, but it has been soooo worth it. If asked again, I would do it again without hesitation. Crazy...I know. But what can I say? I love my parents and would do anything for either of them.

I know that one day I will look back and be so grateful for all that we have experienced together since that awful day I flew into Astoria to take care of him. I will miss staying up late watching movies, football, basketball and just talking. I will miss our "art session" of painting & drawing. I will miss just driving in the car together with the quiet comfort of just being together and not speaking any words. I will miss making him his meals and reminding him to check his blood sugar levels three times a day. I will miss his cats...well at least one of them ;) I will miss helping him put his coat on each day and taking him shopping. I will miss his stories. I will miss watching him shuffle along and waiting for him to catch up to me. I will miss eating milkshakes together at 10 pm at night and loving every sip of it. I will probably miss just about everything about these past few months and my home will soon feel very quiet and empty. How grateful I am for memories :)

I told Greg that after I arrive home on Friday evening I plan to come home, put on my jammies and stay in them until church late Sunday morning. Yes, I am very tired, but not too tired to be grateful. Thanks dad for letting me help you out :)

Game Day :)

Emma came home from school the other day wearing this shirt. Brave girl. One of her friends is an avid Utah fan and asked her to wear this at school last week. Funny. Our home is blue...true blue. At least the men feel that way. Honestly, I don't think any of us gals really care. Just give me some good football snacks and I am happy :)

Thanks

Today is Thanksgiving. How grateful I am for a day to remember to say "thanks". I was having a conversation with a friend recently about the holiday season. She mentioned that she wished that Thanksgiving would just go away and that we could dive right into Christmas. This made me a bit sad. How many people really feel that way? What a tragedy. Have we really become so busy that it does not seem important to say "Thank you" and acknowledge all that our creator has provided for us?

I read a great quote today on a friend's blog by George Washington (Thank you Rachel):

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor...Now, therefore, I do appoint Thursday, the 26th day of November 1789... that we may all unite to render unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection.

I hope that my Heavenly Father knows all that I am grateful for: My Savior, my family, my friends, my home...everything. As I was standing in line shopping for food for our family's Thanksgiving feast, I got a little teary eyed. I began to think of all the food that He provides for each of us. How lucky we are that we can fill our carts with anything that we desire. I am sure many people in the world do not share this luxury. Rather humbling when you think about it. I pray that I never take anything in this life for granted and that I never forget to tell my creator and all those who impact my life as well as my family's life - "Thanks".

Another Funny

The other day Emma and I were in the car. I turned on the radio to an oldies station. They were playing 80's music...you know...the music I used to listen to in high school and college. Sad. I'm an oldie :( Anyway, the song "Juke Box Hero" by Foreigner came on. I turned it up. After the song had played for a bit Emma asked me "Mom, what is a Juicebox hero? " Hee hee, that girl is funny.

Painting Again

This is my favorite picture of my dad. I guess it is probably because he is doing what I remember him doing most of my life..producing art.

I remember as a little girl going to visit him at Clatsop Community College down the stairs to the old Art Department. I remember the smell; paint mingled with cement floors. MMMMM...what a wonderful smell. I loved that smell. A few days ago I pulled out my watercolors and began to paint for the first time in many, many years. As I was preparing my paint pallet, I opened up a tube of paint and immediately I remembered that smell. Isn't it funny how a smell can take you back to a place and time?

My dad has been helping me begin my watercoloring again and I we have been having a great time. I had forgotten so many techniques it is sad. However, I am happy to report that I am a quick study and it is quickly returning. Right now I am working on a painting of an old building I saw in Kamas on the way home from a family outing. It is developing and I like it. I told my dad that if it does not turn out, I am going to paint and repaint it until I am satisfied.

What a great memory I will have someday of my dad giving me these "remedial art lessons" - ha! Even though this experience has had it's difficult moments, the good ones like this, seem to make it all worth while.

Closing Another Chapter

Today was our ward's annual Primary Program and also Emma's last program. Kind of sad. Another chapter closed. No more children in Primary Programs. We are on to better and bigger things, perhaps grandchildren in Primary Programs? (No, this is not an announcement - ha!).

Emma told a touching story about a modern day miracle that our family experienced. She made me cry. Jenni, Tara, Greg and Cordell cried too. At least I had company. What a sweet, tender spirit she has. I am glad she is ours :)

I came home from church today and immediately changed into my pj's...it was that kind of day. I was wiped out and didn't really care that it was only 3:30 in the afternoon. Greg shook his head at me, but who cares? Seriously, I am not going anywhere and if I had my way, I would have gone to bed right then. I had Tara snap a picture of Emma and myself so that I could remember her last day as a a Primary Program gal.

Quiet and Simple

These past few weeks I have not had much time to myself. Anyone that knows me realized that I love my daily walks. With my dad needing my care, I have not really had many walks lately and I miss them. While on my walks I do a lot of thinking and clearing my mind. It is great therapy for me. I miss my "Be Still" time.

When I was in Astoria with my dad I spent a couple of hours by myself driving around the old countryside by my childhood farm. I stopped the car at one point and got out. There is nothing quite like quiet in the country. All I could hear were cows mooing periodically...nothing else. Nothing. It was wonderful. When I got out of the car the stillness really had a impact on me. Having lived in a city for the past couple of decades I had not realized how noisy it really is. I all at once realized how much I miss the sound of "quiet". It was very soothing. It made life focus into perspective once again.

The pictures above is of a farm I used to ride my bike past many times as a child. I love the simple country life. I have told my mom many times that I am just a simple country girl and I really do not need a lot of fluff in my life. I like simple. That day as I stood looking at this barn I realized once again how much my heart aches to embrace the simple things in life. Simple things like quiet all around me...clean air to breathe...appreciating God's creations...family to love and be loved by...simple yet important things.

Meet Sam

This is Sam. He weighs 40 lbs...yep...40 lbs. He is one of my dad's two cats that came with us to Utah. I think I am falling for this guy. Every morning he sits waiting for me outside my bedroom door. As soon as he sees me he instantly starts to purr and rub his head against my leg to tell me "Good Morning!" How could anyone not respond to that?

My dad took him in as a stray that came to his sliding glass door every day for a couple of weeks looking for food. He has an injured ear and my dad felt sorry for him and one day opened the door and let him in. I think that I would have done the same. My dad told me tonight that he thinks that Sam is in love with me. Guess what? I love him too :) My dad also told me that when he can't take care of him anymore, he wants me to have him. Sure! No problem. I would not want him anywhere else. Sam Williamson...kind of has a ring to it...don't you think?

A Friend

Over a year and a half ago, Emma had me help her submit a story to "The Friend" magazine. She wanted to share a story for the "Trying To Be Like Jesus" section. I had her write it, then I edited it, snapped a photo of her to submit with the story and then uploaded it into internet land. We looked for months to see if it was to be published with no luck. We actually had forgotten about it until the other day.

Emma received a phone call from a cousin telling her that there was a picture of her and a story in "The Friend" magazine for November 2010. Surprise! It finally showed up! She was excited and it was kind of funny to see how much she has changed since the picture was taken. I guess good things really do come to those who wait :)

(I tried to link and copy the page from online at lds.org with no luck...oh well...)

Boo!

Another Halloween has come and gone. They seem to be flying by faster and faster each year. We had a nice Halloween...quiet and enjoyable. The day started at Emma's school where they held the annual Halloween Parade. This is my last year attending a Halloween parade. As I was sitting waiting for it to begin, I realized that I have been going to these for 18 years...holy cow. The picture above is of Emma with some of her friends as she marched by our spot. Jenni and Tara joined me in marking our families end of this tradition.
This is Mr Bezzant. He is doing great and back to teaching. I was really happy to see him. He is a good dude.
Oh Casey Ann...I just love you. You always make me happy. As she walked by us she was chattering so much that this is the only decent picture that I got of her. That girl is funny.
My friend, Marja, is an aide at the school and she went all out and dressed to kill. I loved it and had to snap a picture. Pretty spooky...huh?

Josh dressed up as a Sumo wrestler and it was (as Josh would say...) "epic". However, he did not want any pictures taken of him, so I do not have any to post. Just imagine a very round, diaper clad, young man and you should be able to create a pretty accurate mental image.