I should have known that Christmas 2009 couldn't just be a normal holiday for the Lewis family! It started off great with all three boys home

We enjoyed a fun get together on Christmas Eve with good friends & lots of delicious food.

There were plenty of presents under the tree

including this guaranteed 'male' pleaser.

Our traditional Christmas breakfast was especially good.

We agreed on a Christmas afternoon movie.

Then we ended up here!

Why you ask? Well George started having severe chest pain so we went directly from the movie to the ER where they found blood clots in his lungs. He spent the next three nights in the hospital. He was not enthusiastic about having his picture taken in his hospital bed for my blog. I decided under the circumstances to humor him! He's home now and on medication so he should be fine.

How many more days until 2010? It has to be a better year for our family!

That decorator touch!

Look what Matt & Scott did to their formerly blah, boring white and black bathroom! I think they may have futures as interior decorators or painters!

Job!

Here is George just about to hit the 'send' button to accept his new job! We're happy!

For the first time in 34 years I no longer have a husband who works for Hewlett Packard! Now I have a husband who works for Celstream.

Don't even ask me what they do exactly! The job will be similar to what he has been doing for HP the last few years and he is excited about it. That is what matters! We might be moving to Portland, Oregon in the summer unless George is traveling so much that it doesn't matter where he calls home! He'll be going to India and to New York regularly! Yes I am excited about the frequent flier miles!!!!! New adventures!!!

Christmas Cookie Elves

I remember when these boys were teenagers and no longer wanted to help with the Christmas baking. They thought they were too old and too 'cool' for that. Now they want to bake everyday...all the favorites from their childhood! Sugar cookies & candy cane cookies! They call me with recipe questions when I'm out. And I love it!!!

One of the best parts is that the cookies are yummy as well as being beautiful! I'm keeping the good old American tradition of 5+ pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years!

YW Christmas Tradition

Today was our 3rd annual YW Christmas Lunch. We kidnap all the girls immediately after Sunday School (with the Bishop's permission of course) and bring them over to our house for a special lesson & lunch. We listened to a beautiful guitar vocal by our only senior YW. (Boo hoo...we'll miss you Kristen!) A Dad of three of our YW did a masterful job of introducing the theme for next year which is, "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." (Joshua 1:9) Another one of the Dads makes crepes for us each year so we get to enjoy those with ham and turkey and cheese sauce, as well as berry & banana crepes with homemade chocolate sauce & caramel sauce and lots of whipped cream! Some of the girls start with the dessert crepes! Isn't the saying, "Life is short, eat dessert first." Oh yes, we polished off a huge crock pot full of potato casserole as well. Talk about a yummy meal!

I can't tell you how much I love these girls and how much I enjoy being around them. I'm so blessed with this calling.

A Passage to India

George is in India for a job interview. No the job doesn't require relocating to India! Just trips there 2 - 3 times a year. I'm counting (and dreaming of using) the 'mileage plus' miles before they are even earned!

His first stop was Singapore which was 'all decked out' for Christmas!

Next stop, Bangalore, India! In George's words:

I took these out of the car window on the way to the office. The traffic pictures don't do justice to the absolute pandemonium on the roads. After doing it for a couple of days, it seems worse than I remember for Cairo.

The scaffolding is wood poles lashed together with ropes. No the job George is pursuing is not in construction!

Goodbye BC!

This has not been a good year for the Lewis Family pets! Our 16 year old cat BC passed away quite unexpectedly December 2. I took her to the vet to have her nails trimmed and she got extremely stressed on the table. We thought she would calm down when we got her home but she kept getting more and more agitated. When we had been home less than an hour she was no longer able to walk. George & I rushed her back to our vet where her distress continued eventually causing her death. From time of the nail trim to her death was about 1 hour 15 minutes. So shocking! The doctor's best guess is that she had clots in her heart and when her blood pressure went up, one left her heart and lodged near her femoral artery causing paralysis.

We've all been wondering if BC & Cirera are living happily together in heaven. BC didn't like the dog at all here on earth but if the 'lamb and the lion can lie down together' surely one cat and one dog can live together in peace!

George & I realized that this is the first time since spring of 1976 that our home hasn't had a pet! The end of an era.

Thanksgiving 2009

I'm thankful for Thanksgiving because of.....

• good food & family to enjoy it with me

• Karen's visit & help with the dishes

• ducks to feed

• a fun movie to get us in the Christmas spirit

• time to totally relax and watch football or soccer

• jigsaw puzzles to do together (well mostly Matt, Karen & George)

• the "I am thankful for...." feathers we have filled out for more than 20 years with such gems as "I am thankful for tummys & tickling & that Dad is fat & that 2 + 2 = 4"

Day #30 - Un Trio Celebrando "EL TRIPLE"

Here we are in our ridiculously expensive t-shirts celebrating Barca's (Football Club Barcelona - the professional soccer team) three titles from last year. I had to order them from the Barca store in Barcelona and have them shipped to a friend in the city since they wouldn't ship to the USA. My friend Brigitta sent them on to us. Thanks Brigitta and Francois!

I asked Matt & Scott how to explain what this means to Americans and they think there isn't really a way. They probably are right but I'll try. The first title is the "Copa", actually the Copa del Rey or the King's Cup. All the professional Spanish teams play in this tournament that lasts over the course of several months...kind of like if our President sponsored a Pro football tournament. "Lliga" is the winner of the regular season. Each of the teams in the top level play each other twice during the season and get 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie and 0 points for a loss. The team with the most points wins. Barca won La Lliga last year, fairly easily! Many people think that Spain has the best teams in Europe so winning La Lliga is a big deal. Then "Champions" is actually the Champion of Europe! The best teams from each country compete in another tournament during the year called, 'The Champion's League." A team qualifies by being one of the top teams in their country. Being the champion of Europe is quite a feat. It is a big deal when one club wins all three. Especially considering that this is the first time any Spanish team has won all three competitions in a single season.

Here is my original post when Barca won #3 title. bondia2000.blogspot.com/2009/05/fc-barcelona-triple.html

Day #29 New Moon

My friend and I drove down to Utah to see "New Moon" at midnight with her adult daughters. The verdict

• 10 hours in the car with non stop converstion solving all the problems of the world, country, ward and our families, if people would only listen to us - Terrific
• spending time with Anne's girls and grandchildren - Priceless
• experiencing the cultural phenomena of seeing women my age in 'Team Edward" or "Team Jacob" shirts....or my personal favorite, a shirt with "OCD - Obsessive Cullen Disorder" - Amazing
• listening to the squeals and screams as each star appears on the screen - Fun
• the movie itself - Cheesy, sophomoric, & at times boring!!
• the best part of the movie - Alice

I'm sure I have offended half of the world...sorry! I want a shirt that says, "Team Mike! Let's hear it for NORMAL!"

Will I see #3 Eclipse? Probably. Will I see it at midnight? Probably not! Harry Potter is worth loosing sleep, The Twilight series, not so much!

Day #28 - It is finished!

In the Spring of 2008 I started working on a family cookbook with recipes from my Grandma, Mother, Aunt Mary and my cousins on my Dad's side of the family. I went on a visit to Arkansas in September to do proofreading with my mother and get the rest of the recipes. My one week pleasure vacation turned into 6 difficult weeks after my Aunt Mary was diagnosed with leukemia as we all took turns taking care of her until her death in October. So nothing happened on the cookbook during that visit. Then the holidays came and a trip to the Inauguration and Hawaii so again I had plenty of excuses. In March I went to Arkansas to visit my mother for a week to finalize the cookbook and you know what happened, my mother suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. That one week trip also turned into a 6 week stay filled to the brim with all the myriad of things that have to be done after a death. Then I came home and faced George's job loss and all the stress that goes with that. More delays when my cousin's 38 year old son passed away from cancer in May.

I know you're thinking, "Excuses, excuses, excuses!!!" But, drum roll please, it is finished !!!! Let's hear the applause!

The "Four Generations of Good Cooks" is done. I love the way it turned out. I hope my cousins will too!

Day #27 - Happy Birthday Scott!

My baby boy turned 22 today! How did that happen? Wasn't it just yesterday that he ate his birthday cake like this?

Scott is:

• an awesome soccer player. All our boys are good but Scott earned 4 Idaho State championships, 4 years of Olympic Development Program play (a select group of Idaho players) & one "All Conference 1st Team" selection. One thing I am proudest of is how he stuck with the soccer in Spain even when he didn't understand Spanish. By the time we left he was a valued part of the team & had made close friends with the Spanish players . He also worked super hard and was persistent to become a Boise Nationals player. He endured the world's longest tryout to get that blue & white shirt & contributed much to the team. He was also Captain of his Eagle High team!
• a great cook. I love when he helps me in the kitchen. He is creative and comes up with some yummy stuff.
• staging his comeback as he attends classes at College of Western Idaho. I'm proud of that accomplishment.
• neat & organized. He got an award for that in kindergarten but lost some of his skill during the 'messy' teenage years. If I could, I'd give him the award again now!!!!
• loving to the animals. BC sleeps with him and Cirera adored him. He's given us all a ray of sunshine when he brings Jackson, his friend's dog to visit.
• a good friend. He has had a group of close friends since middle school and he is very loyal to them.
• no longer afraid of the wind. When he was little he overheard a man at church tell his Dad that the wind was so strong he almost was 'blown away'. We didn't think too much about it until Scott asked me, "Where is 'away'? Where do you go if you get blown away?" After that he wouldn't go outside and play if he could see a single leaf move in a tree. I started putting rocks in his pockets to hold him down so that he wouldn't get 'blown away'!
• the closest anyone in our family comes to being a cowboy! He has adored horses since he was just a little boy. In Spain he took riding lessons and can manage an English saddle with grace and skill.
• forgiving. He didn't disown us when he accidentally found out that we had accidentally and ignorantly eaten horse meat...TWICE!!!!!
• devoted to his favorite teams - FC Barcelona, the Yankees, the Broncos, and the Lakers! If the Broncos somehow win the Super Bowl he'll have a clean sweep of titles for all his favorites!

We love our Scott David Lewis and are so happy for all the fun he has given us over the last 22 years!

Day #26 Just Because!

Ahh...to be in Hawaii. It is cold today and I know its just going to get colder! I'm glad I have the memories of clear blue water & sunny skies & ocean blowholes!!!!

Day #25 BFIS

This is an old picture but one that brings back so, so many memories. When we lived in Barcelona our children attended the Benjamin Franklin International School. BFIS had a few portable buildings that looked more like a traditional school. However, the office, cafeteria, and many classrooms were in this old villa. When you walked into the building there was a grand staircase up to the 2nd floor library and computer room. The main way that students went from the basement cafeteria to the 2nd floor rooms & the 3rd floor classrooms was a narrow spiral twisty staircase that would never ever have passed safety inspection in the US! There was also an enclosed fire escape on the outside of the building so the kids were safe! You can also see the terrace on the roof. Students didn't go up there much as far as I know!!!

During the years that we were a part of the BFIS family there were approximately 300 students from nursery to 12th grade at the school. About 1/3 were American, 1/3 Spanish, and 1/3 from 27 other countries. Our children had friends from Korea, Japan, India, Sweden, Columbia, Italy, Turkey & Holland as well as Spain and the US. The student body was so small that Johnny once said, "We recognize everyone's backpacks". That was true!

So many of our family's wonderful memories are from our 5 years at BFIS. The year we went we had a 2nd grader, 5th grader, 9th grader, and 11th grader. Mary and Matt are both alumni of BFIS. What a fantastic experience that international school was for all of us, not just the 4 children! It was an important part of our lives in Barcelona!

Day #24 - A Walk by the River

George took me to lunch & we went for a walk on the greenbelt by the river. The little squirrel seemed to pose for us! I love the contrasting colors in the other picture. Looks like Christmas to me!

Day #23 Wasps?

During our photography class field trip our teacher thought this was a wasp nest. When George looked at the picture he said, "Must have been some big wasps!" So is it a bird nest? Anyone know for sure?

Day #22 - Veteran's Day

Thanks to all our military heroes who have protected our freedoms in the past and continue to protect us today. Let freedom ring!

Day #21 - Young Women Birthdays

Our Presidency makes a memory scrapbook page for each of our YW on her birthday. The pictures are from camp so the girls almost never like the way they look but I think they are all beautiful! I hope when they look at them they'll remember the good times we have had and also the theme for the year. "Be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." 1 Timothy 4:12

Day #20 - Contented Cat

Here is the one and only member of our family who is convinced that a dog-less house is a good house!

Is there a blue eye reduction button somewhere? She is 16 years old. I think she has cataracts.

Day #19

Something about the variety of textures in this photo appeals to me.......

Day #18 - The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water,

and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Wendell Barry

Happy Birthday Matt!

A few things about Matt on the occasion of his 29th birthday!

• When Matt was a little boy he wanted to be a 'garbage truck guy' because they got to ride on the OUTSIDE of the truck.
• He knew there was a difference between an alligator and a crocodile when he was about 2 but he couldn't remember exactly how to differentiate so he called both animals a 'crocolator'!
• Matt has a lot of musical talent that he keeps carefully hidden. He played the piano beautifully and surprised us by singing a solo at a Ward talent show one year.
• He got 2nd place in a Sonatina piano competition and take it from me, his unbiased mother, he should have won!
• His gift for languages took off in Spain. He speaks Spanish expertly and picked up Catalan well enough to work at a little bar in St. Cugat, the town where we lived outside of Barcelona.
• Matt is like his Dad. Anything that he decides to do, he does well.
• Among his many outdoor interests...hiking, rock climbing, camping, river rafting.....
• But his greatest and truest love is snowboarding!!!
• He doesn't really use a ski pass much because he prefers out of boundary wild scary stuff...at least scary to his Mom!
• I knew we had created a skiing monster when he wanted to skip kindergarten to go skiing.....later he changed to a snowboarding monster!
• Matt loves to go fast and is a daredevil.
• He also has a sensitive side. When he was 3 he went to a birthday party. After he got home he told me that he had gotten hurt at the party. I asked him if he cried and his response was, "My face wanted to but I didn't let it."
• He loves to read & now he reads novels in Spanish.
• Matt has amazing artistic abilities.
• Another of his passions is Football Club Barcelona! He is a true fan!
• Matt has more friends in Spain than any of us. He spent time with the families of his Spanish friends and they all loved him! He loved them too & not just their mountain & beach houses!
• We're so glad to have Matthew Walter Lewis as our son. He has brought joy to our lives & also has given us a few grey hairs and wrinkles. With Matt life is never boring!