Christmas 2009

Here is a slide show from our evening with the Whites and the grandchildren.

Enjoy!

Christmas Eve 2009

Some Images from Christmas '09

Unexpected, record snowfall in Wichita Falls. This is the side of my brother's house.

Adrian is getting the hang of Christmas presents this year. He still needs just a little encouragement to rip into the pretty paper.

Andrew could care less about presents - just keep his tummy full and his bottom clean!

Treasure continues to amaze us, sixteen months after being diagnosed with cancer. She attacked her new toy with twelve-year-old gusto!

Merry Christmas to all. Now I must get out of my jammies, into the shower, and dressed for Christmas dinner at the Moza's!

Treasure's Christmas Gift

I brought a shopping bag of Christmas gifts from a dear friend home after church. She had some little bags in it with small gifts for my grandchildren and one for Treasure. So after we had settled in from lunch I proceeded to put each of the gifts under the tree - these were the first ones I had put out, thinking I was keeping temptation out of Adrian's way.
Well, no sooner had I gotten them all out than Treasure came looking and sniffing at the bounty laid before her. Unbelievably, she went straight to the sack with her name on it, pulled it away from the rest and began the task of uncovering her present! I ran quickly to get my camera and record her adventure - something, I might add, she has never done before! Here is the sequence of events as they unfolded.

First, she pulls it away from the tree and other presents.

Now she is earnestly into the task at hand.

Out comes the tissue paper...

Got to rip that sack open a little more...

She doesn't see that her little package is lying outside the sack!

But with a little help from her best friend Murphy, success is seconds away.

She ran up the stairs so fast I had to run to catch up with her and caught her rounding the corner.

Next stop was in the closet, hidden away from any attempts to remove her booty!

So, thank you, Auntie Jo, for the thrill of victory over the tissue paper and a yummy chew bone that should last a season!

Andrew and Ludee

Andrew is two months old in this picture, taken last Tuesday. At his check-up with the pediatrician he weighed a whopping 11 pounds, 8 ounces! That's almost three pounds from his birth weight! He is still a really good baby. And Adrian is starting to show a little pride in his baby brother. He will take me over to Andrew in his car seat and say "Baby An-du!" Since I am the prominent picture-taker around here, I thought I'd show off a couple of rare photos of Andrew with his Ludee.

"What big eyes you have, little boy!"

All curled up like one of those Anne Geddes babies!

Photo Scavenger Hunt

My niece, Barbaranne, who lives in Pennsylvania, recently joined a Photography Club. She is not only an avid photographer, but a very good one and serious about her hobby. The other day she presented a challenge on Facebook for all of her camera-loving friends, to go on a "scavenger hunt" through our stored photos and come up with something for each of several categories. I found that to be so much fun I thought I'd modify it and do something similar on my blog. So.... if you are game, let's go on a scavenger hunt!

For each post I will present five different categories and post my own pictures. You take the categories and hunt through your files and post your own pictures. If you like, I will link your post here so we can enjoy all the photos. Here is the first set:

1. Something "artsy"

We saw this mosaic at one of the shops at LaVillita when Kate was visiting.

2. Flower

This little bee was hot-to-trot for these pretty blue flowers, somewhere in Ireland.

3. Window
We couldn't resist an experiment with this mirror in a store window in Dublin.

4. Landmark

The Liberty Bell! I had to wait 64 years to go see this emblem of freedom.

5. Blue

I was fascinated by this category and remembered the amazing light display at Longwood Gardens last Christmas.

Okay, your turn. Even if you don't participate here, I hope you enjoy my photos and are inspired to "look outside the box" when photographing your next vacation. There is much creativity to be found, if you only dare to look for it.

Sixteen Months

Treasure had her appointment with Dr. Earl yesterday. Each time we have a recheck, I count off two more months of her life that I didn't expect to have. On the 28th of December it will be exactly 16 months since the first vet gave us her diagnosis and prognosis. We are continually amazed at the tenacity of this little Westie. She really lives up to her reputation.

So, the appointment... First, she weighed in about a pound lighter than last time - not a good sign except that yesterday was one of her "fasting" days. She does that periodically. So I wasn't too concerned. When Dr. Earl came in the exam room the first thing he noticed was her eye. Just in the last three days the cornea of her left eye flared up again so she is back on some prednisone drops, a little stronger than before. The eye had been clear for four or five weeks. Her right eye is fine with just artificial tears every day.

Next up was her ultrasound. As usual, both the technician and Dr. Earl commented on what a perfect patient she is during the exam. After looking at the tumor from all angles, Dr. Earl is satisfied that it has grown less than a millimeter and is still self-contained. That's wonderful news. When we discussed her frequency of urination he asked how she was doing with her meds. She still tolerates the cancer drug, but has rejected the antibiotic for two months. He has changed that to another med in hopes that she'll handle that better. Often a bladder infection will occur and this is more a precautionary measure.

The antibiotic presents a new challenge for us - getting it into her stomach! I can bury it in her food and she roots it out and leaves it in her plate! So this morning I tried the "peanut butter" approach and she found fifty ways to swallow peanut butter and leave the pill! Finally I was able to mold it in a piece of cheese and, unless she spit it out later, that seemed to work. This pill is touted as "beef-flavored chewable", but I've yet to see a pill that can outsmart a Westie!

Here it is, 9 a.m., and she's had her pill and eye drops, and now she's taking a Westie nap beside me. And I'll continue to marvel at my little miracle dog this Christmas, much more than I ever allowed myself to consider just sixteen months ago.

Santa Pictures

It's time for Santa pictures so I met Meredith and the boys at North Star Mall for a visit with St. Nick. Andrew was so snugly warm in his sling, napping next to his Mama's heart.

(These pictures are backwards, so bear with me as I explain each one.)

After interacting with Santa, we rolled the stroller to a pretty spot by the Christmas tress to get a picture of Adrian in his festive Christmas sweater.

Andrew is oblivious to the man in the red hat so I was able to snap a cute picture before he knew what was going on!

Adrian, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with the kind old fella and Mommy helped make the experience more bearable. Actually, I like the picture with all three of them.

Here, then, was the first attempt at getting the Santa picture.

So, Barbaranne, it doesn't matter if it's in Texas or Pennsylvania, there may be a Santa Claus, but nothing is going to convince Adrian to be happy about it!

The Un-Snowy Day

After much hype and "winter watch and warnings" this week, we were to have an inch of snow fall on San Antonio today. Not surprisingly, it didn't happen! Although, right after lunch, as Meredith was leaving the house, we did see some flurries of snow, but we also saw the sun at the same time. That was really bizarre. All was not lost, however, because Meredith and I redeemed the time by making Christmas cookies. And, of course, my camera was close by, just in case.

Here is Andrew on the seventh-week anniversary of his birth. Last Monday he weighed a little over ten pounds! I think Meredith is going to have two tall sons.

The piano tuner (and repairer) came this morning to see what could be done for a dropped pedal on my piano. As you can see, Adrian was very curious about the strange man lying down under Ludee's piano! Eventually he went in the room and sat in a chair to watch.

Always a novelty at my house, the stairs lure him up to the second floor. He has perfected his safe descent by bumping down each step. He's getting really good at it too.

I thought it was time I tried to get a photo of both the boys, figuring by now it's pretty safe to capture them together (with Mommy's help, of course.) Adrian wasn't too keen on the idea at first, thinking it would be more productive if he could just get hold of his ball behind the chair.

Meredith finally got him to give his baby a little kiss! He gets pretty exuberant, though, and Andrew looks like he's saying, "Help me, please! I've had enough kissing!" I'll remember this moment when Andrew is pestering Adrian in a few years!

So, no snow today, but lots of cookies were baked and decorated. And Murphy came by as did Uncle Pat. For a while, the house was really chaotic, but peace reigns again - for a while!

A Couple of Cuties

I finally got the bug to clean up my Christmas ornaments and decor. Meredith gave me an opportunity to bless another family with some of our bounty. So yesterday I pulled out every box and bin of Christmas stuff from both the hall closet and the storage shed out back.

Whew! I tried to organize the boxes so that today I could sit down and empty out everything, go through it all, and sort it out for distribution. One of the things I found was this little red baseball cap that just charmed the sox off Adrian! Now, with the red one and another we brought him from Canada, he has "two 'ats"! Isn't he cute in his hat and rugby shirt?

And here is our growing little man, Andrew. He is just over six weeks old. I can't believe how the time has just flown by. Of course, I get to sleep all night too, so time might be a little slower for Meredith! But here he is, all snuggly and warm with a smile on his face. Must be having a sweet dream about his Mommy.

There you have it - a couple of cuties who came by to see Ludee.

Celebrating Hannukah

Today was the last day of our Bible study on the Fruit of the Spirit, learning to live beyond our selves. This has been a wonderful ten weeks of looking at each of the nine qualities of the Spirit found in Galatians 5. At the end of the study we can summarize each of the fruit in this way:

1. Love never fails.
2. Joy cometh.
3. Peace rules.
4. Patience waits.
5. Kindness tenders.
6. Goodness does.
7. Faith fights.
8. Gentleness bows.
9. Self-control stops.

I have said before, and it bears repeating, that the most valuable lesson I learned is that I will never be able to exhibit those qualities in my own strength. They are qualities of the Spirit and as such can only be exercised by yielding to the Spirit. I am only a vessel through which God can communicate His character, so long as I am willing to yield.

Well, today, we celebrated our personal Hannukah. Hannukah is Hebrew for dedication. Paul informs us in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 that, once we have believed in Christ for eternal life, our body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit and is no longer ours. We do have a choice, however, in how we present that temple, whether to ourselves or to God. It is our desire, collectively as our study group, to dedicate our "temple" as a spiritual offering to God and to yield ourselves to the outflow of the fruit of the Spirit. May we now faithfully go forth and bear much fruit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Gal. 5:22-23 Amen.

Your Tax Dollars at Work

Back in September the city crews were out on Vance Jackson, putting in sidewalks on both side of the street, from Wurzbach all the way to Jackson-Keller. We remarked at the time that this seemed very wasteful, as the curbs were very high and the sidewalks were certainly precluding any future widening of a very busy street. In fact, the curbs at the entrance to our neighborhood were dangerously high and threatened cars that turned the corner too sharply. But there was no stopping progress, especially when "stimulus dollars" were involved.

Just as the new walks were finished, and I'm saying immediately, like the very next day, the two-year South Texas drought broke and the heavens opened up and rain came down on Clearfield and Vance Jackson! And it rained and rained and on Sunday morning this is what we had to drive through to get out of our neighborhood.

About sixty feet to the left of our street there is a drainage ditch that collects and carries rain water from several subdivisions into a creek about a half-mile away. Before the sidewalks were put in, our rainwater naturally flowed in the direction of the ditch and we rarely had water built up this far. But now, thanks to our stimulus dollars, we not only had an artificial lake, but all the silt and sand from the construction. Once the water receded we had a mudflow!

Here is the city's solution to the overflow - a nice trench, aiming the water right into our street. I'm sure I was not alone, but I took lots of pictures and emailed them to our city councilman and asked what could be done. In just a day or so I looked down the street and observed about a dozen men all standing around the corner looking at the trench! Reminds me of the joke, "How many engineers does it take to change a light bulb?" I digress.

Here we are in the middle of November and two days ago I heard some major "construction noise" and looked out to see this:

Apparently the twelve men looking at the trench decided to do something about it! There is a large sign on Vance Jackson proclaiming this a $1,536,000 "pipe bursting" project! Oh my. All I know is that they have been ripping out all the sidewalks from our street to the top of the hill where the water used to run into the ditch. And they have now made a very deep trench which I assume will be fitted with some big pipes to carry the water somewhere.

Meanwhile, this is what we are left with today and just last night the weatherman predicted major rains and flooding for tomorrow and Friday! Just what we need. This project is problematic of so many things our government has been doing. They get some money to spend and jump into a project without looking past the completion to the consequences. Then the remedy becomes more costly than ever. Will we ever learn?

Four Weeks!

It's hard to believe that our little Andrew Graham is already four weeks old!

Although most of the time he is eating or sleeping, he's also beginning to be aware of his surroundings and will try to focus on whoever or whatever is near by.

After a satisfying meal there's nothing better than a good, long snooze

- for Andrew, Adrian and Mommy!

Fall Colors

It's here! The cool nights we've had for the last two weeks have caused some leaves to change color in our neighborhood! Of course, most of the trees in our neighborhood are Spanish oak and they don't change color. So when I walked up to the house this morning and saw the brilliant golden leaves on my Chinese Date tree, I got all excited. This is the most "color" I'll get.


Another indicator that Fall has arrived is the ripening of the berries on my holly bushes. The migrating birds are going to find these soon, and then they'll be gone. But they sure do bring some bright color into the flower beds.

As I looked around, though, I saw signs of confusion. After a long, hot and very dry summer, the rains came in September and October and caused much of the flora to think it was spring. So we have more flowers blooming now than we had all summer. I have several pink Gerbera daisies blooming by the mailbox.

Speaking of pink, this salvia has sweet, delicate little flowers dancing on the tips of its branches. I guess it really appreciates the warmth of the sun during the day, as well as all the rain we've been blessed with since September.

The orange lantana is also in bloom, right along side the crepe myrtles which have dropped their leaves already. It's been a very perplexing predicament for my plants.

Gentleness, the Eighth Quality

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23

I have so enjoyed getting deep into the qualities of the fruit of the Spirit over the last eight weeks. I feel as though we have walked through the catacombs of God's Word to discover and broaden the definitions of each of these words. Beyond definitions, though, I have discovered the source of the power to unleash these qualities in my life.

This week we looked at gentleness and examined three aspects found there: submission, humility, and teachability. We learned that gentleness, or meekness, is not the same as weakness. Rather, it is the power and strength created from submitting to God's will. One of the greatest examples of this kind of submission is found in the Apostle Paul, who changed from one who persecuted the church to a man who suffered persecution for his Savior.

We discovered that humility, according to examples from Scripture, is the "correct estimation of ourselves which results from a correct estimation of our God." John the Baptist was a great example of a man familiar with humility. From before his birth until his death at the hands of Herod, John knew that his ministry would never eclipse that of Jesus. His own assessment of himself is found in John 3:30 in which he says, "He must increase, and I must decrease."

Finally, we learned the third aspect of gentleness, which is teachability. One who had a teachable spirit was Apollos, a fervent disciple who was taught correct doctrine by Priscilla and Aquila in Acts 18. Another was David, who learned the hard way to read God's instructions before setting out to transport the holy ark of God. You can read about his experience in 1 Chron. 13. Sometimes we must face severe hardship when we resist constructive teaching.

Jesus presents us with the most valuable picture of gentleness as He washed the feet of His disciples the night before His death. His answer to Peter's boasting was gentle. And please note that He also washed the feet of His betrayer. At the end of the washing He said to them (and to us), "Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." (Italics are mine.) John 13:16-17.

Go forth and do likewise.

More Cuteness

Adrian was full of cuteness this morning. He watches Sesame Street every day and one of the programs was all about wearing hats. So Adrian was showing us how he puts on this hat and then just as quickly tears it off his head and slings it to the floor!

He was having a ball and had his Grandpa, especially, in stitches over his antics.

Look closely and you'll see he has just enjoyed a blueberry muffin. When he says "muffin" it sounds like he's saying "Murphy", so we told Graham he was saying "uh-hah muffin!"

(Uh-hah is his word for uncle.)

Oh, my goodness. How much cuteness can you take? I was snapping pictures so fast my camera finally said "busy" and told me to slow down! It was very hard to pick just three of the more than forty that I took. What fun!

Three Weeks Old Today

This face is a reflection of happiness and satisfaction!

Translated, that means a full tummy and a clean diaper.

Andrew is three weeks old today.

Some Thoughts about Faithfulness

The seventh quality of the fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness. In our study this week we observed God's faithfulness, then the faithfulness of man. We learned that keeping the faith is sometimes hard and that Satan desires to destroy our faith through fear and doubt.

One of my favorite pictures from the gospels is that of the father of the demon-possessed son. He was brought to Jesus and told Him the problem and said, "If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." To which Jesus answered, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." My favorite part is the father's tearfully honest answer, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief."

The more we know God, the more we can truly believe Him and His ability to act on our behalf. But just because God can, that doesn't mean He always will. Genuine faith walks steadfastly with God for the pleasure of His company, not for His results.

Here are a couple more thoughts that I gleaned from Beth's study this week:

• Why did God put His Holy Spirit in us? God expressed His faithfulness to us in Christ, and Christ expressed His faithfulness to us in the Holy Spirit. And only through His Spirit can we, in turn, express our faithfulness to Him.
• Revelation 4:11 proclaims (in the old King James) "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou hast created all things and for Thy pleasure they are and were created." Our calling is to please Him, and without faith it is impossible to please God.
• Our entire lives are lent to change. But who He is will never change. (see Heb. 13:8) As He reveals Himself to you, His heart remains the same. His faithfulness flows from who He is. To please Him, our faithfulness must do the same.

This whole study has been such a blessing. One thing I have grasped from it is that all nine of these qualities must flow through me from the Holy Spirit. I no longer have to work at being loving or kind or faithful. It's not up to me. I am just an earthen vessel, indwelt by God's treasure (the Holy Spirit) so that the "excellence of the power" may be of God and not me. (2 Cor. 4:7) Praise Him!

(Living Beyond Yourself, Beth Moore)

Snuggie

Have you seen these?

Snuggies are all the rage these days. I noticed that this year's "model" even comes in your favorite football team logo! But that's not what caught my eye this year.

No, Snuggie has come out with a Snuggie wrap for dogs!

As soon as I saw this, I knew I had to conspire with my doggie-loving, more-over-the-top-than-I friend, Lois, to get Snuggies for our dogs. Her poodle, Jefferson, and Treasure go to Bible study every week and enjoy being loved and petted by all the ladies there. Jeffie is a clothes horse and comes dressed in wonderful costume every week. Treasure, on the other hand, prefers the au-naturale apparel, counting on her good looks to catch Jeffie's eye.

Now, I ask you, is this a happy dog?

Bless her heart, this was the sixth try at a happy picture. And I think this is as much "happy" as I'm going to get. But I'll take my camera to Bible study this week and maybe Jefferson can lift her spirits enough for me to catch them both in their Snuggies with happy faces!