Holiday Celebrations

December is such a busy month. Not only is it Christmas but it is a month of many birthdays and Anniversaries in my family. Today is December 28, My oldest daughter and her husband were married 25 years ago today. There are mixed emotions about getting married at Christmas time. You are so busy doing Christmas, that the special time for you to celebrate your anniversary is sort of put aside until a later time. I know....I was married on December 14th. My mother, daughter, one granddaughter, 6 nieces and nephews and a brother have birthdays in December. Well my brother was fortunate enough to be born on January 1st but it is all in the same time frame. We have had other family members with anniversaries and birthdays but they are now the exfamily members. I have friends that were born on Christmas Day. That is special!!! You share a birthday with Jesus. They thought they never had a birthday though as they were too busy enjoying the excitement of Christmas.

Today I say "HAPPY ANNIVERSARY' to Dawn and Leslie. And "HAPPY BIRTHDAY " to Popcorn on the 30th. You know that I am going to be busy the next few days with all of my family coming home to celebrate these things. It is the time that we will have our "Holiday Celebration". We have so much to celebrate and a lot to be thankful for.

On the lighter side...When you are young, you have aspirations that never come to pass, as we age, we reminiscence of things that never really happened. And that my friends is the truth.

Have a Happy New Year and allow God to be an important part of you everyday.

Santa Remembered

This is a true story about me when I was almost three years old. I know it is hard to believe that I can remember something that long ago when I can't find what I had yesterday. This was such a traumatic thing that I didn't like Santa Claus for a long time. Santa always came to our house a few days before Christmas to see how we were acting and to be sure he had our wants on his list. We lived in a very rural area and electricity had not even came to the area. The year was 1947, so for all you young people, I have lived in a way that you cannot imagine. I remember my mother standing at the cabinet washing the supper dishes. We did not have water in the house either. My dad was in the barn doing the evening milking. This is what happened.


Santa Remembered

When I was nearly three years old
And christmas time was near,
My folks told me that Santa Claus
Would very soon appear.

I really didn't know too much
About this jolly old Christmas Elf.
But they told me he would bring some toys
For sister Patty and myself.

I wanted a new red wagon
And I tried to be ever so good
So 'Clanty Laus' would stop for a visit
In the Harmon Neighborhood.

He would come by and check us out early,
So much to my sisters delight,
One evening, he tapped on the window
And I never had such a fright.

This hairy, red face in the window
Was Santa--who I'd heard all about
"Go away and where is my daddy?"
I started to cry and to shout.

"Your daddy, "old Clanty Laus told me,
Is down in the barn milking cows,
I stopped for a quick visit with him
and he sent me up here to the house."

Now who was this guy in this red suit?
The one with the white flowing hair.
This surely isn't dear 'Clanty Laus',
Giving me such a bad scare.

Mamma wanted me to go and talk to him,
Patty thinks he's a jolly nice man.
I think that he is really quite scary
And would he leave just as fast as he can?

Ole 'Clanty Laus tried to be friendly
And said he thought he could bring
The toys that each of us wanted,
Then my sister started to sing.

The songs that we all sing at Christmas
Of Santa and the Babe' in the hay.
Santa asked me to sing along with her
I told him to "Just Go Away".

Then we all heard the reindeer start pawing
So 'Clanty Laus said "I must run".
And then as he left, Daddy came to the house
And said, "Gee, I missed all of the fun."

I can still see all of this in my mind today. Later, I sit on Santa's lap at the one room Harmon School. The next year, when Santa Came for his visit, I was prepared.

Happy Birthday Baby

 

Happy Birthday Andi. I guess I won't mention how many years ago we were so proud of our baby girl. We are still proud. Andrea is the one on the left, Grandma Dolly, who will also have a birthday this month is in the middle and Jaimie, Andi's beautiful cousin is on the right.

Have a great day today and know that you are loved.

Bring them Down

Isn't this just a neat picture. We were so blessed to watch them bring these "woolies" down from the high country. Summer was over and they were taking them to a different location for winter.

We had a small sheep herd at one time. The Rancher has tried about everything. We had 100 ewes and it was an experience. I am sure some of our neighboring confirmed cattlemen would never agree that there could be anything good about them. Our children learned a lot with them. One thing in particular was how to move fast when one particualr ram was around.

I never did care for mutton. I guess that makes me a true cattle rancher. They did bring us in a profit at a time when we needed it though so it was something we were thankful for.

The preditors soon learned when lambing season was and our years as sheepherders was short lived.