December 23, 2014

“Blessings of Christmas”

 

1)      Holiday greeting cards and letters so that “no old acquaintance should ever be forgot.”

2)     A white Christmas and the fun filled chance to make angels in the snow.

3)      Watching the awe and joy in my three year old grandson face, cuddling the newest grandsons and anticipating the arrival of one more in the April.  Their presence helps me to believe that the future is indeed bright.

4)     Sharing the magical holiday movies of my youth.  They make us believe miracles can still happen.

5)     Classic peppermint candy-canes moments; stirring them in hot chocolate, hanging them on the tree and finding a few broken ones to eat.

6)      Christmas fashions that never seem to go out of style: little girls in velvet dresses, tinsel headbands, Rudolph antlers, sweaters and more.

7)     Family to remember Christmas’s past with and build new holiday memories.

8)     Nativity sets, Christmas pageants and Christmas concerts:  They help remind us to keep Christ in Christmas.

9)     Special friends who add so much to our lives throughout the year. Even those that we have never met that we connect with daily on social media.

 

And finally, LOVE.  For without it, this world wouldn’t go around.

 

My wish for you this holiday season is that you will remember your own Christmas blessings.

 

Love

Lisa

December 16, 2014

In my living room sits one of my favorite chairs…..a rocker that belonged to my Mom.  This rocker has a long history to it. My Grandfather Syme bought it for my Grandmother Syme (my mom’s mom) when they were first married and it was one of the pieces of new furniture they bought in their short married life. You see my grandmother died at the tender age of 22 years old, leaving behind my mom, who was only 18 months old. My mother was raised by her mother’s parents and family and my grandfather remarried.  There is more to this story but I won’t go into it at the moment. 

 

This rocker  doesn’t really match my living room and it has been reupholstered a couple of times but it has good bones to it. I remember as a child growing up, laying this rocker on its side so it could be part of the blanket tents that my brothers and sister would build.  Just a couple of weeks ago I found a picture in a scrapbook that my Mom had given me, a few years before she died, that has my Grandmother Buchanan (my dad’s mother)  rocking me at 2 weeks old in this old rocker.  It started me thinking that this rocker was probably one that my grandmother used to rock my mom as a baby before she died and I know that my mom rocked me and my siblings in it and now I hold and rock my own grandchildren in it.  It has been around for a long time.  It is my favorite place to curl up and read a book.  It holds such great memories for me.

 

 

December 9, 2014

16 days to Christmas.  Are you all ready?  Are you one of those people who are all ready by Thanksgiving or are you one of those that procrastinate until the last minute?   I have been known to be one of those that procrastinate and save the shopping for Christmas Eve some years, risking the chance that the boys would not get what they asked for.  I would spend hours running from store to store looking for the gifts  and then I would spend all night after the boys went to bed that evening, wrapping gifts.  I would be stressed, grouchy and just wished for the day to come and go. I didn’t get to enjoy the holiday at all.  But it was my own fault.  I decided  a number of years ago that I was really going to work on simplifying Christmas for my family so that we could all enjoy it.  It wasn’t easy to change old habits but I kept working at it and it got easier every year.

 

We really needed  to be ready early this year since our son was expecting a new baby at the beginning of the month and we have a daughter in law graduating from BYU-Idaho on the 19^th and we will be taking an out of town trip just before Christmas so we needed  a game plan…. so I complied my lists and started early this year and guess what?....I am ready for Christmas!  Gifts are bought and wrapped, packages and cards are sent, and I have made one batch of frosted sugar cookies and will probably make one more batch before the big day.  If I am feeling really ambitious I may even try to make the fudge that my mother in law used to make.  Michael loves it but it is real fudge and I have not had much success with it.

 

It feels good to be done and this year there is a different feel in my house. I am not the grouchy, complaining, stressed out person that I usually am. It seems more peaceful and calm.  I have been able to enjoy the decorated tree, watch some of my favorite holiday movies, cuddle with my Hubby and snuggle with my new grandson.  It is nice to know that with 16 days left, even if I don’t get to the fudge, that we are ready for the holiday. For once in a very long time, I am looking forward to Christmas.

 

December 3, 2014

It was a pretty exciting day yesterday with the arrival of our second grandson, Sawyer.  I think my daughter in law said it best….I am smitten with him. He is the first of three grandchildren that we are going to be blessed with over the next few months. While we were all together for Thanksgiving last week my sons asked me what we were going to do next year with three more grandchildren running around and my reply was, “just love and spoil them, of course!”

 

I have decided that being a grandma is probably one of the best jobs in the whole world. It is all of the fun without some of the hassles.  I love being a mom but there is something special about being a grandma.  As a grandma you get to have a special relationship with your grandchildren.  As grandparents you get to “anti parent” as my children call it. When Mom and Dad say “No” there is a pretty good chance that grandma and grandpa are going to say “Yes” unless it is dangerous to you.

 

As I cuddled Sawyer in the hospital last night I was remembering my own mom and the relationship that she had with each one of her grandchildren.  She made each one of them feel special and took the time for them.  That is the type of grandma I want to be.  My oldest son remembers her teaching him to drive, because I couldn’t handle it.  LOL!!  My middle son remembers her taking him for 7-11 slurpees after his allergy shots that I couldn’t leave work to do and my youngest son remembers walking to her house after school for her homemade chocolate chip cookies.  Grandparents are great for filling in when parents can’t be there.

 

I will admit I got a little teary eyed as I held my newest grandson last night and I realized how much he brings to our family and how much we love him already.