Christmas 2009

Sorry these pictures are out of order.....I started out good and then I accidently deleted some and it was all a big mess! Sorry!

What a nice Christmas....we began with a church service on Christmas eve. acknowledging the true reason for this holy season and then back home for turkey soup and crawfish soup with grandparents (two sets!) and "the kids" and the newest member and star of our family, Frazier, 51/2 mons. It is so fun to have a little one at Christmas time. It has been a very long time (27 years to be exact) since there has been an infant in our home for Christmas. Yes, it refreshed a lot of memories.

Next morning we slept in fairly late and Jim and I cooked up a great breakfast of waffles, bacon(thick and peppered), and scrambled eggs. We then got dressed and ready to open all the packages which had been accumulating under the Christmas tree. Josh, Randi, and Frazier, having opened gifts at Mae Mae's and Pop's were ready for round two. We spent over and hour opening gifts! We are so blessed.

Friends, Gail, Dan, and their sweet pup, Missy, stopped in to say howdy and meet Frazier. It is always so great to see them and I think they thought Frazier was pretty cute....and naturally he "took to" Miss Gail very well. She seems to be a baby magnet these days.

About 6 PM Josh and Randi decided Frazier had had enough Christmas for one day and headed back to Mae Mae and Pop's.

Went to bed about midnight and then the phone rang about 2:30 AM and it seemed our little one was "all stopped up". The festivities had worn him down and he had a head cold. I got out of bed to find the sonic humidifier we had used for Josh in similar situations. Josh ran in the house to get it and some Vicks and was off into the dark night. I prayed it would help little Frazier to breathe. It breaks my heart when babies are sick because they just don't understand what is happening to them.

Josh and Randi decided to stay in Ruston until Sunday and we were invited over to Jessie Mae and James's for REAL Louisiana gumbo....my Mom and Dad's very first taste! It was delicious of course. Josh and Randi stopped back over here on before leaving for Texas. Dr. Mark and Miss Helen came by to check on Frazier and insured us he just had a head cold and his chest was clear. They told them the dosage of tylenol he could take for his weight. That was sweet of them and it made Josh and Randi feel better and they decided they didn't need to rush him into the doc the next morning like they had planned. We are blessed to know wonderful people who look after us! (Thanks Mae Mae and Pop and Mark and Helen!)

We gave them two days off and then we packed up our clothes, the Nintendo Wii, some groceries, our dog, and headed to Jefferson, Texas. Jim and Karen, Randi's parents, who are living in Belgium, graciously invited us to use their lovely residence as home base for three days. We arrived Tues. eve. and ate dinner at Auntie Skinner's Riverboat Club. The crab soup was delicious....spicey! but delicious and planned to see the younger Andersons on Wed. morning for a tour of Jefferson's many quaint shops. We went to a BBQ place and another taste of Jefferson. Yum! It was strange to be there without Karen and Jim.....hope next time I am there they are there, too.

We enjoyed looking in the antique stores and Mom found some coke glasses she had been looking for. We also saw a silver tinsel Christmas tree for Randi, but it was very spindley and it was $250!! Nevermind!

We went home and played with the Wii (Josh and Randi are good at the hula hoop!) Randi made Swedish meatballs and a salad. Very delicous. Randi had Frazier on her hip for a good portion of the food preparation as he was getting tired of being passed around and wanted his mama! We ate and they hung out a bit and then headed for Longview. Another Christmas memory to file away.

Next morning we got up and dressed and headed for Longview. Josh, Randi, Frazier, Nama, and Papa and I went out for Mexican for lunch. Jim, Sophie and Gatsby stayed home. Jim's cold was getting the best of him and he decided to just rest and watch some football. It was a rainy day. We took Randi and Frazier home and Josh drove us out to see Eastman. He wanted his grandparents to see where he worked and I had never seen it either and it was interesting to see how big that plant is! Went back and watched some football....played with Frazier and fired up the grill for some porterhouse steaks. (Can't skip eating!) It wasn't easy grilling steaks in the rain.....Jim, Josh, and Papa did a great job as usual. It was New Year's eve. and we didn't even make it past 8:30 PM before heading back to Jefferson. The champagne would have to wait until New Year's day....GAME DAY. We were in bed well before midnight on New Year's eve! Yes, we are officially over the hill now.

Josh told us he wanted us to come early so we could watch some pre game shows he had taped about the Nittany Lions on the BIG 10 Network....so we set the alarm for seven. We washed sheets and made up the beds, ran the vacuum, turned the heat down, and cleaned it up in general. We wanted to leave the house in the pristine condition we found it. We got to Longview at 10:45 and got ourselves geared up for the game. Randi had so many treats for us to munch on! The black eyed peas bean dip was delicious. Then the Capital One Bowl came on and we were focused on the game. At times Frazier looked at us like he thought we were nuts because we got a bit loud. He'd never seen his daddy so excited and he didn't know what to think a few times. The game, played in the rain on grass....or should I say MUD ...was crazy! We were glad when Penn State kicked a field goal and won it in the last few mins. Talk about relief. Josh works with a lot of LSU fans and so do I, so we felt it was important to our sanity for Penn State to win it.

Once the win was behind us we spent a lot of time doting on Frazier...although that really is ongoing at all times. We never take our eyes off him too long. Even when football is on we have plenty of commercials and down time to play with our little buddy. Nama and Papa knew we were going to have to say good bye at some point and make our way back to Ruston, but it was tough even though we had been preparing for it all afternoon.

The drive home seemed very long for some reason. Jim and I were feeling pretty badly with our colds. I feel sorry for "the rents" sitting here listening to us coughing. Nama has avoided a cold so far and Papa had one that lasted just a couple days. Maybe I will take the flu shot next year like they did!

Saturday was non stop bowl games....really enjoyed the Old Miss/Oaklahoma State and the Texas Tech/Michigan State games. I took tons of cold meds, used salt water, and drank a lot determined to get rid of this infernal cold! Today has been more of the same. Jim drove Mom and Chuck to the movie theater to see The Blind Side and I proceeded to take down the Christmas decorations and Jim cooked a meatloaf that we had when they returned from the movie.

And now here I sit coughing.....and praying I feel all better by morning...dream on! I will be facing about 120 7th graders on Mon. so I better be well!! Mom and Chuck are leaving on Wed. for PA. ......where it is much colder (hard to believe) than it is here.

It will be a huge let down when they leave!

December 24 is Special to Us

I remember Christmas Eve. 1979....there was snow on the ground, but it was calm and pretty.

It has been a long wait but they "rents", as my sisters call them, are here. We have been planning this trip for months and they have been chomping at their bits (I haven't seen any bits), to see their first great grand, Frazier. Yesterday they met him and here are the pics to prove it.

Frazier was in such a good mood....all smiles and just contented. The only time he gets a little cranky and fussy is when he wants to eat, but then don't we all :) .

Even though Frazier doesn't really do all that much at this point, he is just endlessly entertaining. Every cute sound and every cute expression is mentally recorded. None of us can keep our eyes off him....I had almost forgotten about that magnetic quality.

Tonight is our Christmas eve. soup supper. Tonight will be turkey soup (made with the turkey we had yesterday) and crawfish soup...an all time favorite of mine! Randi's grandparents will come after church, too. For about six years now we have spent Christmas eve. with Randi's parents and her brother and they are in France for Christmas. (Her parents are living in Belgium for a few years.) It will be very strange without them and it will not seem like Christmas eve. without them. We will miss Ross, Karen, and Jim.

On another note it is Jim's and my 30th wedding anniversary and that is hard for both of us to believe.

Happy Anniversary, Jim! I love you.

Lord, Give me Ears to Hear

Just up in the night thinking.....dangerous right(?), but my thoughts are turned to the Lord and thinking about how good he is to me. I am so blessed....and I certainly don't deserve it. I am also rejoicing for the answered prayers I witness all around me.

So what am I thinking? Well, I have come to the conclusion that instead of thinking (sometimes turning to worry), I need to start praying ...and then listening.

Sometimes when I am praying I find myself trying to bargin with the Lord and I don't believe that is what we need to focus on. I want to do more listening because I need to hear from HIM! I know how sustaining those Words are.

There are times when I felt like I could fly when I knew I had actually heard from heaven and the God of the Universe loved and cared for me! ....so why would I not do more listening? Crazy isn't it? Well, I guess it is because sometimes my heart is heavy and I have requests that only He is able to solve...and I am self centered and so very impatient.....and let's face it, talking is just easier and it seems to be what most people think of when they say prayers. Also, I also fear I will not hear anything and my faith won't carry me through that dry place.

Don't doubt I will keep seeking an answer to prayers....keep knocking as the scriptures instruct us to do...but I am also going stop and meditate on His words more and focus on all His attributes and then LISTEN for His voice.

Ok...I am rambling and redundant, sorry. But listening, trusting.....as in TOTALLY trusting just doesn't come natrually either and I guess I needed a little self pep talk. And as trite as this sounds.....this is such a wonderful time of the year to practice focused listening as we are ever mindful of the Lord's greatest gift of all, Jesus.

Bring on the Holidays

After two roller coaster weeks Jim and I are finally coming back to life. We've been under the weather (to say the least), then well, then sick and for now, about 95% well. We are now wondering what exactly we've had. One doc in our area attributes all of it to the swine flu while another says it is just the seasonal "crud". The doc told Jim it was not the right symptoms for "pig flu", but when we saw the list on the internet we disagreed. No, we have not had super high fevers or been as achy as some, but we have had low grade fevers and some aches and also all the fun that goes with a head/chest cold....coughs, sneezes, and watery eyes. (The watery eyes deal was really getting to me!!) Anyway, I have not dared quit the Musinex. If you have not used this miracle over the counter drug, it is just amazing how much better you can breath while taking it. I tried going all day without it yesterday and ended up having the most embarrassing coughing jag at WalMart! I may never quit taking that stuff after that. I was waiting for someone to throw a net over my head and cart me into the back of a van headed for the TB sanitorium.

Jim kept plugging along and I have not missed any school this whole time. I nearly did last week, but I think enough other people were out I couldn't get my phone call through to tell them to get a sub, so I just gave up and went in. I never went in with a fever...seems those always popped up during the night. Aspirin, Musinex, and Alka Seltzer Plus have been my mainstays, but We also tried some Sudefed and various other cough syrups and cold pills I found in the medicine cabinet. I washed my hands obsessively and cleaned the tables and desks with Clorox wipes. Thankfully, there is a sink in the my work room so I didn't have to run down the hall just to wash my hands. As far as I can tell nobody has caught it from me and for that I am thankful! So now Jim and I say, "Bring on the holidays!"

Thanksgiving

Here is a sweet picture from our Thanksgiving visitors....or to be more exact the day after Thanksgiving. Just thought this was a sweet pic and wanted to share it.