I am thankful for....

For the last 30 years one of our family traditions has been to ask each person at our Thanksgiving table to think of things for which they are thankful and then to write their list on a paper turkey feather.   We skipped a few years when we were traveling but still have an impressive number.  Some are written in Spanish, some in a small child's printing. From family and friends, short or long, all are  precious.

We have some fun ones from our little kids.  Like the year that little Johnny was thankful that '3+3=6'.  Or Scott's gratitude that Daddy was fat!  Matt was pretty consistent with being thankful for snow and snowboards and skateboards.  Mary was very eloquent in her gratitude for her family and their unconditional love.  Scott always expressed his love for horses and soccer.  John knew that he loved Monica 7 years before they were married.  

Among the most treasured are 3 from our parents.
 Grandpa Lewis, "I am thankful for the quiet calm of old age that gives me the chance to reflect on the undulations of life without the threat of recurring seasickness" 2001

 From my mother, "I am thankful for my wonderful family, my daughter, son-in-law and four 'great' grandchildren, for our happy times together, and our love for each other and our love for our God." 1993 

From George's Mom, "I am thankful for the gift of life, my testimony of Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, for loving parents, for my righteous husband, Walt, and four children and our daughters-in-law, lovely grandchildren, a good home, my kind neighbors and friends."

I love that this year we added Isabella who was thankful for her Mommy and Daddy, Grandma and Grandma, Uncles Matt and Scott, Mary and Baby Jackson, and for Isabella!

Now that I too am in the 'quiet calm of old age', I realize more than ever the things for which I am most grateful.  And I know that they are not 'things' but people!

Numbers

Today is my birthday and I am 66 years old!  Wow! I'm closer to 70 than 60.  I don't feel old even though the mirror tells me that I am.

This is the card George gave to me!  Made me laugh!

All day I have been thinking about that big number - 66!   I have lived on the earth for 66 years!  And it has been wonderful!

Here are some other numbers of my life.

• I graduated from Lonoke High School  48 years ago.
• Transferred to BYU 46 years ago
• Got married 44 years ago
• My children are now 41, 38, 34, 31
• My grandchildren are 1 and 3.
• I've lived in 10 states and 3 countries
• Visited 99 countries and 45 states
• I've been a member of 9 Wards (church congregations)
• As an adult we've lived in 12 different homes. 
• 4 in Colorado
• 2 in California
• 3 in Idaho
• 1 in Oregon
• 2 in Barcelona
• I've had 4 surgeries
• Gone on 6 cruises
• Made an innumerable  numbers of friends all around the world
• Plus I've had  innumerable numbers of moments that have taken my breath away. 

I still believe this to be true!  The best is YET TO BE!

Happy birthday to ME!

Dinner Time Fun

I love being back in Eagle, Idaho!  I always envied my friends in Portland who enjoy Sunday dinner with their kids and grandkids each week.  Now I have that same opportunity!  Monica, Johnny and Isabella come over every Sunday.

This last week we celebrated Chinese New Year.  According to Chinese mythology in our family we have 2 rats, a snake, a monkey, a ram, and a rabbit.

Rats are quick witted, resourceful, versatile and kind

Snakes are enigmatic, intelligent and wise

Monkeys are sharp, smart and curious.

Rams are calm, gentle, and sympathetic

Rabbits are quiet, elegant, kind and responsible.

Not sure how accurate these descriptions are.  John and Monica are rats.  I am a snake.  Matt is a monkey.  George is a rabbit and Isabella is a ram.  

Whatever....we did have fun celebrating the Year of the Pig.

I love my paper dragons.  I bought them from a funny little man with 3 or 4 super long chin hairs....like maybe 12 inches long...he was selling the homemade dragons just outside of the dam museum on the Yangtze River.  I later learned that they were made out of cigarette papers!  Oh well!

Orange chicken, veggies, egg rolls and rice were on the menu.  Followed by some wonderful almond cookies and fortune cookies too, because they are fun, even if not traditionally Chinese!

Monica quickly learned to use her chopsticks with ease.  Isabella used them for drum sticks and to jab into her food but she is so cute who cares???

I didn't agree with the Chinese zodiac symbols but I love Matt's fortune from his fortune cookie.  Real wisdom in this one! 

Sunday night was the Chinese dinner and then on Monday night we invited Matt's good friends Zach and Jessica and their adorable children over for dinner and to decorate Valentine cookies.  

 Two 3 year old girls meant that we had lots of pink icing and lots of sprinkles.  Some of the sprinkles even made it onto the cookies!

 Isabella and Addie had lots of fun and had to hug each other good bye.  Then Addie looked at me and said, "You are old. Will you be my grandma?" I guess having three grandmas is a good thing!

I am so blessed to be close to family and that our children have such nice friends!

Where there is fire.....

What do you do when the beautiful Columbia River Gorge looks like the bottom picture instead of the top?  

When 32,000 acres are burning so near to your house? 

And people on the Washington side have this view of Oregon? 

You look like this on your morning walk!!!!!!
Funny that I read the air alerts that said it was to unsafe for children and the elderly and thought "that doesn't apply to me"....then it hit me!  I'm 64 so I am elderly.  My friend Kathy's husband is a doctor so he supplied our masks.  I think it helped, even if we looked dorky! 

Happy 64th!

Happy birthday to me!  Sixty four sounds so old....but I don't feel old. I recently found this photo of me on my 1st birthday way back in 1954.  It was taken at my Grandma Boyle's house in Lonoke, Arkansas.  The rabbit is a tall as I was! 

I remember when my mother shared this article called "A Very Weird Thing Has Happened".   We laughed at the old lady who had moved into HER house.  Well now that old lady has moved into MINE!

                                                   A Very Weird Thing Has Happened

by Rose Mula

A strange old lady has moved into my house! I have no idea who she is, where she came from, or how she got in. I certainly did not invite her. All I know is that one day she wasn't there and the next day she was!

She is a very clever old lady. She manages to keep out of sight for the most part, but whenever I pass a mirror, I catch a glimpse of her. And whenever I look in the mirror directly, to check my appearance, there she is, hogging the whole thing and completely obliterating my gorgeous face and body! This is very rude. I have tried screaming at her to stop it but she just screams back, grimacing horribly. She is really quite frightening!

If she insists on hanging around, the least she could do is offer to pay a little rent. But, no! Every once in a while, I do find a dollar bill stuck into a coat pocket, or some loose change under the sofa cushion, but that is not nearly enough.

In fact, I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I think she is stealing money from me! I go to the ATM and withdraw one hundred dollars, and a few days later it is all gone! I certainly don't spend money that fast, so I can only conclude that the old lady is pilfering from me. You would think she would use some of that money to buy some wrinkle cream! God knows she needs it!

And money isn't the only thing I think she is taking. Food seems to disappear at an alarming rate, too. Especially the good stuff like ice cream, cookies and candy. I just can't seem to keep that stuff in the house anymore. She must really have a sweet tooth, but she better watch it because she is really packing on the pounds! I think she realizes that and to make herself feel better, she is tampering with my scale to make me think that I am putting on weight too!

For an old lady, she really is quite childish though. She likes to play these really nasty games like going into my closet when I'm not home and altering my clothes so that they don't fit. Or, messing with my files and papers so that I can't find them. This is particularly annoying since I am an extremely neat and organized person. She fiddles with my VCR to make it not record what I have carefully and correctly programmed it to record.

She has found imaginative other ways to annoy me. She gets to my mail, newspapers and magazines before I do and somehow blurs the print so badly that I can't see it. And she has done something really sinister to the volume controls on my TV, radio and telephone so that all I hear are mumbles and whispers!

She has done other things like make my stairs steeper, my vacuum cleaner heavier, and all my knobs and faucets harder to turn. She even made my bed higher so that getting in to and out of it is a real challenge. Furthermore, she gets to my groceries before I get them put away and applies super glue to the lids, making it almost impossible for me to open them. Is this any way to repay my hospitality?

I don't even get any respite at night because more than once, her snoring has awakened me. It is very unattractive! And as if there weren't bad enough, she is no longer confining her tactics to the house. She has found a way to sneak into my car and follow me everywhere I go!

She has completely taken the fun out of shopping for clothes. When I try something on, she tries on the same exact outfit and stands in front of the dressing room mirror and monopolizes it. She looks totally ridiculous in the outfit and she keeps me from seeing how great it looks on me!

Just when I thought she couldn't get any meaner, she proved me wrong.

She came with me to get my driver's license picture taken and just as the camera shutter clicked, she jumped right in front of me! Who is going to believe that the picture of that old lady is ME?!

Falling for #33 and Meeting #34

Foster Guide Dog #33 was recovering from some health concerns at our home, just waiting to go back into training.  Unfortunately for me, his interest in other dogs was a bit obsessive.  A quick, strong lunge to make friends with a passing dog resulted in my ever so dramatic flight through the air and a not particularly graceful landing on my nose and knee. My walking companions were horrified at all the blood.  I was just thankful that I didn't break my wrist or nose or land totally on my head.  My neighbor had a similar experience with her dog that resulted in what they call a FOOA break - falling on outstretched arm.  She had to have surgery.  I decided to not complain too much about my swollen nose and wounded pride! 

I left #33 at Guide Dogs on Wednesday so he can continue his training but I picked up #34.  This handsome fellow (the one on the ground, not the one in the blue shirt!!!!)  is a working guide dog who is being boarded at the campus but wasn't enjoying life in the kennel.  While excellent care is taken of these dogs, there is no place like a home!  Even a foster home!!!  We'll have him for a couple of weeks.  George and I feel so lucky to have so many furry friends in our lives. 

Malaysia

Since George and are are trying to visit 100 countries before we are too old to travel, it was a no-brainer to cross the bridge to Malaysia when we were in Singapore anyway!

A ride on the metro and then on a bus, go through passport control and voilá a new country added to our list!

Unfortunately there really isn't much for a tourist to see in this part of the country but we felt a little funny just passing back into Singapore.  I noticed some signs for what appeared to be a mall so we went in that direction.  Indeed it was a mall - a mall for locals, not a tourist mall.  And it was all decked out for the lunar new year's celebration.

Lots of traditional foods for sale

and they were giving out samples.  There were some especially delicious almond cookies!

Best of all we got to see a demonstration of a lion dance which is quite common during the New Year's celebrations.  It is believed  that the loud beats of the drums and cymbals chase away the Nian or demons.  I just know how fun it was to watch these young boys in full dragon costume, one wearing the 'head' and the other the 'tail'.  They jumped from pillar to pillar with ease and perfect coordination.

 The pillars ranged from about 5 feet tall to over 7 feet.

 A couple of times there were fireworks...yes fireworks inside the mall!

Such a fun beginning to our trip! 

 George and I smiled at this group of youth!  I just couldn't resist asking if I could take their picture.  They willingly obliged!  One of the boys even went to hug me afterwards but then seemed to think better of hugging this old white woman that he didn't even know.

Shouldn't everyone feel like they are 'ABSOLUTELY AWESOME'!

Reserved Seats

George and I took advantage of the reserved seats in the metro in Singapore!

 We aren't disabled, pregnant or traveling with small children....that only leaves one reason for the seats....OLD!

I think we were both happy that when we were standing up in the crowded cars no one offered to give up their 'reserved' seat to us.  Maybe we aren't really that old!

A Christmas Laugh

Our ward took nativity pictures as part of our Christmas party.

They crack me up!

We definitely look more like Elizabeth and Zacharias than Mary and Joseph!

Last of a Generation

George's Aunt Barbara Lewis died last week.  She is the last of his parent's generation on his Dad's side.  Because George has been gone so much recently he wasn't able to go to Utah to attend the funeral so I went and I'm glad I did.  George's brother John couldn't go either so I got to spend a couple of days with my sisters-in-law Katherine, Tammy and Karen and spend time with many of the Lewis cousins.

Aunt Barbara was truly 'one of a kind'.  I think the motto for her life could be, "everyone in the world is a potential friend....and when someone becomes my friend they are my family."  Sunday 'Cousins' dinners have been a tradition at her home since George and I were at BYU in the 1970's!  Cousins were defined as 1st cousins, 2nd cousins....36th cousins and their roommates, potential marriage partners, someone you sat by in class....anyone and everyone was made welcome and fed by our gracious Aunt Barbara!  

Years ago we were at Aunt Barbara and Uncle Ben's home for a 4th of July celebration.  An unknown car pulled up in the driveway and Aunt Barbara called out a cheerful greeting to these people that she had never seen before in her life.  Actually they were lost and looking for another house.  Aunt Barbara gave them directions to the home they were seeking and then added, "But come on in.  We have plenty of food."  And she meant it!  They would have been welcomed and loved!  That is just how she was!

Tammy included this in her weekly family letter:

 My parent's generation were an amazing generation of people and it is sad to see them go. I miss their influence, values and common sense. 

My Aunt Barbara’s funeral was lovely. My cousin, Jim was putting together her life sketch on election day; so he sent out an “Exit Poll” to the extended family to gather memories and thoughts about Barbara. He did a great job incorporating all the comments into a picture of her that he and Linda shared. Aunt Barbara was a character, and had a fun way of expressing herself in a way that never offended. People she didn’t particularly like were “stinky”, or she would wish them well by saying, “bless their black little hearts”. And when someone had been teasing her in some way, she would say, “I love you too”. And she did. We always knew she loved us. My other cousins Lew, Greg and John all talked, and the common themes in her life were love, service, and joy – mixed in with memories of her great food. John talked about his 5 year old self asking his mom every day at lunch to “tell me a story”, and even though she couldn't talk in her last days, he wove in what he saw around her room and the stories of her life that it told. Beautiful funeral, beautiful people. I am grateful it gave us an excuse for me to hang out with my sisters. 

Thanks Tammy for expressing our feelings so well.

And for Cousin Julie in Rome - here are a few photos I took of the extended Lewis Clan.  We missed you Julie but were glad we got to visit with David and Kathy and Fred!  Fred is a very handsome young man!

 Richard and Tammy, Mary and her son Taylor, Lew and Grace, Linda, Greg and Kathy, Kathy, Karen, Katherine, Louise, me and BJ!

Tom and Sheryl and Ralph 

Greg and Karen and Tammy

 Lew and Karen and Tammy

 Elaine and Joyce

 Lew and Grace and grandson Walter, named for George's Dad

 All of Lew and Grace's family

So happy to have been a member of the extended Lewis family these last 39 years!  My life has been blessed by my  association with this talented, intelligent, unique, fun bunch!

Prom

I noticed this sign in our Albertsons recently…….

Too bad we already have concert tickets that night!  Well, I think George is glad to have an excuse not to go to the Prom.

Golden Friends

You know the song

Make new friends

But keep the old

One is silver 

And the other gold!

When you live in a small town and attend a small school you get really close to your classmates.  That is especially true for the Lonoke High School Class of 1971!  We have had reunions at least ever five years for the last 40 years!  These two ladies can take much of the credit.  They work tirelessly to keep us 'golden' friends!

 I seriously don't remember when I didn't know Pam Cordell.  She lived down the street from me and I know we started playing together before we even started to school.  Shelia was one of my very best friends too, although she didn't move to our town until later.  When I see them now I still see those little girls and feel such a rush of thankfulness for our friendships.

During my recent visit, Pam and Shelia got a whole group of us together for a girl's reunion!  Love these ladies!  We look pretty good for a bunch of 60 year olds!  Or course, you see 60 year olds….I see high school girls and am filled with memories….riding around, Beatles concert, marching band & majorettes, proms and dances, football and basketball games and cheerleaders, making fudge, spending the night together, boys we liked, yearbooks, classes and teachers and always talking and talking!

Friends are the most important ingredient in this recipe of life!

One of our class cheers was "We're the best class under the sun.  We're the class of '71"  True even now - 42 years later!

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