A Walk in the (Palmetto State) Park...

As we get ready for another big winter storm here in Iowa (5-8 inches forecast--we'll see what actually shows up), I've been enjoying looking back at the photos Adam took while we vacationed in Texas.

It seems like such a long time ago!  How nice it felt to be able to just walk outdoors without having to put on boots, coat, mittens, scarf and ear muffs (and still feel cold!).  Catherine and Aaron always come up with great things to entertain us. This one was about an hour's drive from their home-- Palmetto State Park, a location where Aaron had gone camping with the 11-year-old Scouts.  There was a nice winding, 4-mile trail, with a small section of palmettos (hence the name), and Texas woodlands--no leaves on the trees, but the grass was green!

Elley and Alice did their own version of the "Sisters" fan dance and had more fun than Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye.  My favorite moment was provided by Alastair.  He came running back to where I was walking, zigzagging around aunts and an uncle to race into my arms and give me a big hug.
Then he was off again, looking at FIRE ant hills, or trying to keep up with Connor and Brenna.

We found all sorts of ways to liven up the walk. 

Kevin found a prickly pear cactus with a fruit on it, and ate it.  

Yes.  He is still alive.

We all had a great time, walking off some of the Christmas goodies we'd all been consuming!

Oh, the chocolates and the cheeses!

And Lily thought it was heaven--a whole world of new smells.  She's actually a pretty good traveler, as long as she can be in my lap or by my feet. 

Can you spot who took the second family photo?

Thanks again, Sullivans, for such a fun time!

January in Iowa...

January is such a time of cocooning--cold weather outside, cozy home inside--time to read a book, watch a movie, start a new cross-stitch project, work on church callings (organize the materials) or do some home-updating.

All good things, just not exciting to write about or show.

So I'll  show the weather first.  Yes, we have plenty of snow. And cold.

And I'm happy with my new camera--nothing fancy, just an updated point-and-shoot Canon A3100.  More compact.  MUCH better battery!

And it even did a good job with a night-time photo.  

(I liked the pattern the landscape lights made on the snow).

 

We had a missionary transfer, with our fun Sister Whitbeck leaving us, but before going, she had to show what happens when you mention to the people writing you that Iowa is cold and you wear scarves a lot--with Christmas coming up.  

Be careful what you ask for--27 scarves!

And finally, some home redecorating.  We got a new sofa-sleeper for the family room downstairs (with memory foam on the mattress--very comfortable), so we moved the old one to the fireplace room...

...added a bookcase, scrounged up some lighting, and now we have "The Library".  

It's a place to escape to--to read a book by the fire, or just sit and enjoy some solitude.

(Special thanks to Lily for modeling).

It is a room that now has a purpose instead of being a room you just walk through.

We love it!

4 inches of snow...

Kevin and I were joking this morning, 

when he called from China, 

about his great ability to be out of town 

whenever we have a snow storm.  

He has been able to miss out on 

almost every snow-shovel opportunity.  

Since December was the second snowiest month 

on record, that's saying something.

Of course, I got to miss one of those storms as well 

(we were in San Antonio)

and the missionaries got to do all the shoveling.

This snow is very small, dry flakes.  

As I was cleaning off the deck,

I bumped one of the stair railings, 

and the snow just slid down and off the end. 

Snowman-making snow this isn't!  

It's a good thing we don't have mountains here to have 

to worry about avalanches.

Much to Elizabeth's dismay, school was not 

even delayed this morning.  

After all the days out last year, 

most of which were unnecessary, 

it seems that a higher standard is being applied 

as to when school is called off.  

Sounds good to me.

I was wondering...

Yesterday I actually got the Sunday School lesson reading done before church (thank you afternoon meeting time!).  I found myself more deeply engrossed in the story of Luke Chapter 1 than I can remember ever being.  With Christmas just over, and with 50+ Christmases behind me, I HAVE heard this story before.  

So maybe it is because of my experience in being an older mom, but I began to wonder, 

why was it necessary for Elisabeth to be old, and previously barren.  

What influences would that bring to the rearing of the prophet, John the Baptist?

Would she be more tender?  More pragmatic?  Would she be able to set aside, because of her wisdom, the worldly conventions that sometimes press upon us in the rearing of children?  What am I not understanding here?

And then we have Mary.

Obviously, since she needed to be a virgin, having a young woman for her role as mother of the Savior sounds right.  But if having the wisdom of advancing years was a benefit for raising John, why not have a woman who was an "old maid"?  Yet here she was, probably around 16 or 17, untainted (or naive--in the eyes of the world), and pure.

In my limited understanding, it makes sense for Mary to be young, in the same way it was necessary for Joseph Smith, the prophet of the Restoration, to be young--she was unspoiled by the world and open to being taught from On High.  And I would have to assume that she was tutored, either by the Spirit, or with heavenly messengers, to prepare her, teach her, and support her through all the coming trials.

So why wasn't Elisabeth a young woman as well!

I would love to hear any insights you might have!

Ah! Christmas Memories!

I'm having a hard time readjusting to "normal" life.  Yes, our Christmas vacation was that good.  We ended up leaving a day earlier than planned to miss a monster storm moving across the U.S. (and we're glad we did), although that meant arriving in San Antonio in the middle of the night, or rather, early in the morning (3 a.m.).

Somehow, once we were up and enjoying everyone, we weren't too tired.

Deborah and Adam arrived from NYC about noon that same day, and the party was on.

Christmas brings out all the excesses, and sugar is definitely one of them!  Grandma Mildred sent us some of her candy rope, which we used to decorate a 3-tiered silver serving dish Catherine received as a wedding gift  11 years ago, but had never used.  As soon as one candy or cookie disappeared, there was more to take its place.

And now we're all swearing off sugar.  Excess leads to that!

Being with the grandkids was a great part of the week.  Putting together puzzles, small and large,

playing games like Mexican Train, Deborah's special version of Rummy, Rock Band, or other video games, going to movies, and even some shopping were all enjoyable.  

We found out that Adam is great at puzzles--must be his artistic training in photography.  

And we enjoyed putting together the nativity story.  Some participants were more willing than others.   Alastair was having none of being a wise man, until Grandpa became one too.  Brenna was thrilled to be the obvious choice for Mary.

 And Aaron was a good sport as always and played Joseph.  Even Lily got a part--as a lamb brought by the shepherds. Alice was an angel.  Elley was the innkeeper, complete with turban.

 There was also a lot of music.  We brought Deborah's old violin and the girls' violas, and there was often someone playing Christmas carols or preparing for Connor's baptism.

One of my favorite times was Adam on the violin, Deborah playing harmony on a viola, Alice or Elley on the other viola for a lower harmony, and Kevin improvising on the piano as they played through Christmas carols.l

 The other excess we indulged in was cheese.  There were some specialty cheeses Aaron had purchased at Thanksgiving that hadn't been opened so we brought them along.  I also found some great English, Irish and Danish cheeses at Aldi .  Deborah & Adam brought an aged goat cheese from Brooklyn.  It became the nightly tradition to have a bedtime snack of cheese and crackers as we stood around the island in the kitchen, laughing and enjoying the witticisms of Aaron, Adam, Deborah, and Catherine.

It made for some strange dreams, but a great memory!