Scenes from a Christmas

 It's Christmas Eve and pretty quiet in the house right now, so I've been going thru some recent pictures.  Tomorrow night family will be here around our new dining room table.  Watch for more pictures then :)

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keto cranberry pound cake

I had so much fun decorating the lanterns this year.  This one went to my friend Cathy.

Oceanna's sweet little face.

Betsy & Kyle opening their gift from Grandma Peggy

Christmas Eve weather was so beautiful, perfect for smoking a bunch of ribs for tomorrow night's dinner.

V's vintage Santa sleigh and reindeer.  The boys always loved these.

Tucker, the new puppy at Rachel's house

The new hawk ornament is in memory of Judson.  And I found the red ornament from 1989 where he wrote his name.

Yesterday out of the corner of my eye, I saw a huge hawk landing in this tree in our neighbor's yard.  Once he was in the tree, it was hard to see him; he was perfectly camouflaged. I'll be watching for him again.

This little tree was made by Larry Green's mom, sometime around 1990 I think.  Mark and Larry were good friends and fishing buddies way back in our early McFarland days.  The little picture is of Judson and Warren, the year they both found letter jackets under the Christmas tree.

 Looking back, last year's Christmas was so hard.  We are thankful for moments of joy this year.

 Speaking of moments of joy,   new pictures 

of our little Oceanna, are instant hits of bliss.  She's one week old today.

Oceanna Rae

 She is incredibly beautiful and I can't wait to get to know her.  We are so blessed.

Christmas House 2019

Waiting on a Baby

We're still waiting for Jennifer and Isaac's baby to make its entrance into the world, so I went looking for some pictures from Isaac's birth.  I couldn't find the ones I was looking for, but these made me smile.

Isaac

I never think of Isaac looking anything like me because he looks so much like Clayton.  

But when I saw these, I can tell we're related!

Isaac's mom

 Thanks to Clayton for writing these notes in his baby book.

 Isaac's baby is taking after him already.  Isaac was born a full month later than expected so there was lots of waiting involved back then. They assured me that he wasn't really a month overdue, we just miscalculated the due date.  Whatever our new baby's birth date, we're going to be so happy to see him--or her!

Angel of Hope

My sweet friend Pam had Judson's name put on the Angel of Hope wall at Washington Park.  It was a beautiful candlelit ceremony with a few songs, prayers, and a reading of the names of those remembered.  It was a little chilly, but actually good weather for the season. It was sad, but so touching and we loved it.   We were glad to have Rachel with us too.

Pam knew how special this would be to us;
her daughter Emily's name is also on the wall.

 

 My picture of Judson's name on the plaque is blurry here, I'll have to take another one. So many names there, it's hard to believe so many have lost children.  But I know that Judson is okay now, that he's still with us and watching over us, and waiting til we all get to join him on the other side. 

A excerpt of a post from a facebook group for grieving parents:

 ". . . I shifted my focus (to) the fact that my precious son is blissfully happy and loved beyond comprehension. Every day. I stopped thinking about me and started thinking about him, and only him, and where he is now. I focused on the fact that I too will be with him one day forever. . ."  

I am so grateful to other parents who are sharing what they are going through and how they are coping--including my friend, Pam.

Thanksgiving 2019

Our second Thanksgiving without Judson.  It seems like everything is divided into before he left and after.   We will miss him forever, but we're grateful we had him as long as we did.

Another blessing we're so so grateful for--Isaac and Jennifer are expecting their baby any day.  We wish they lived closer but they are living in beautiful country.  Love these pictures they sent to us.

 

From a land far far away, a favorite Thanksgiving memory.

This table wasn't thanksgiving but it looks like it could have been--it was in October, just two years ago.  We had a wonderful time that day, it  made my heart so happy to have both Judson and Isaac there, Betsy and Kyle and Rachel, Mama and PJ and Jeff, Laura and Charles.   It wasn't long after this that Patti's burned.  They just reopened in their new building.

This year's Thanksgiving table, the first in this new house. 

Some things don't change.  Skye still loves turkey and she knows there's a good chance V will give her another bite.

 

This year's turkey, cooked in the Nesco. 

 First time ever the cheesecake didn't crack.  Must be the new oven.

Three different mini-cupcakes.  Kyle was impressed they were all keto.  Of course :)

Kyle built a 3D dinosaur puzzle.  I didn't get Betsy's picture, but she read some of their favorite books from way back when--the Alexander books--both the Very Bad Terrible Day and Used to Be Rich Last Sunday, If you Give a Moose a Muffin, and Round Robin.

And just like that, Thanksgiving 2019 is another memory. 
Hug your peeps real tight.

Things That Happen in 11 Years

 Our Betsy girl is 11 for a couple more months.  

She's grown up so much, and she's beautiful inside and out.

And I'm thankful to have shrunk a little since way back then too.  One thing I haven't always been so thankful for are all those wrinkles that have come home to roost on my face and neck.  But I went to see Terminator Dark Force with Betsy this weekend and saw Linda Hamilton once again play that badass Sara Conner.  She obviously trains and has great muscles but she absolutely RockS those wrinkles.  

Linda is my age, 63 yo.  I'm putting her picture on my mirror to remind me that with the right attitude, wrinkles can make you look even more badass. #channelingmyinnersarahconner

October Report

 We made it through the first anniversary of Judson's passing.  We miss him terribly, but we are thankful that we had him as long as we did and that we have Betsy and Kyle and Rachel here with us to love.

 And Tami has been gone a whole year too.   I wish she had been here to help me thru this last year, but still I talk to her everyday and I know she's been by my side. 

I love this picure of Isaac.  He's in the middle of finding something to mine in that wall behind him so he's in his element here and looks so happy. 

My mama shot through her cardiac valve replacement surgery like a rock star.  It was amazing to be with her and with PJ to celebrate how well it went!

We got to go to Mrs Grae's greenhouse again :)

We planted this Winter Orange Japanese Maple in the back yard.  It just glows with the late afternoon sun.