Christmas Day

 After our traditional meal of 'Breakfast pizza', cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate, we started opening presents.

Only food photo was this one of all the 'fixins' for the hot chocolate. Mini chocolate mint chips were a particular favorite this year.

Several of us were the recipients of 'functional art' from Matt's business - Transmigration Woodworking.

Scott got a utility knife, which comes in handy for his work in Portland.

For George who has a dish of ice cream almost every night - an ice cream scoop

And I got one of his high quality pizza cutters.

Cady got a corkscrew and bottle opener.

Aren't they beautiful?  Who knew that skateboards had such nice wood?

Nice jackets, new crocs, a wonderful book, Messi vs Ronaldo - One Rivalry - Two GOATS

Such thoughtful gifts all around! 

Johnny and Monica got a gift card for Cheesecake Factory and a kind offer from me to watch Isabella while they went out to eat.  She was having none of that though, as she LOVES Cheesecake Factory!  You can see how thrilled she was!

The uncles gave our pink loving princess the perfect coat.

And she also got pink roller skates!

And some skating lessons....

Isabella was thrilled when she opened a gift bag to find a new I-phone.  We reuse our gift bags and George had actually gotten ME a new phone but he failed to notice the "To: Isabella - From Grandma and Grandpa" on the other side side of the bag.  She wasn't too disappointed!!!!

I know that presents are not the most important part of Christmas but they surely are fun!

 

 

Driver of the Year

Our Johnny has certainly caused us happiness.  

He was a darling little curly headed boy and now he is a handsome man with a family that I adore.

Since 2020 he has delivered for Amazon.

The other night when I was chatting to Isabella she told me that her Daddy was the 'best Amazon driver in the whole of Boise.'

She's not the only one who thinks so.

Amazon tracks a lot of information about their drivers....delivery speed and accuracy....whether you drive the speed limit,...how close you follow other cars....number of complaints or compliments from customers...how you take care of your van...

Based on all of that, John was selected as 

DELIVERY ASSOCIATE OF THE YEAR.

Now he is entered in a national competition for the best 8 Amazon drivers.

His boss said that based on his numbers, he has a good chance!

Wouldn't that be awesome?

Still it's fantastic that his hard work is being recognized!

Our John certainly causes a lot of happiness!

 

 

Train Up a Child

Proverbs 22: 6 reads, "Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart from it."

I am so glad that Isabella's parents are giving her experiences like this.    

On several of the hottest days this summer she sold lemonade at a stand just off the greenbelt in Eagle.  

The money she made was donated to Make A Wish to 'help children who are sick'.  

$176!

I am proud of her parents for their work to enable this little girl and her gentle, giving heart to make a difference in the world. And I'm thrilled that Isabella was willing to donate the money she had earned.

I love Isabella, John, and Monica so much.  And I'm grateful to have them in my life.

A Day in the Mountains!

 George's sister Karen came to visit for the weekend and we decided that an excursion to the mountains would be a perfect way to spend Saturday.

Matt recommended a hike on a ridge up above Blue Lake. 

Amazingly beautiful scenery!

I am not sure if everyone in the group would have agreed with Matt's assessment that this was an easy hike but I do believe a 'good time was had by all.'

Grandma and Isabella selfie!

Thanks to Pinterest, I had a couple of games for her to play.  One was a regular scavenger hunt and the other a color hunt.  Both were fun and entertaining.

We even found enough snow for a snowball fight!

At one point, Karen decided that going ahead and climbing over the log that blocked the trail would be too hard for short little me!  She didn't remember that telling me I couldn't do something is like waving a cape in front of a bull.  

There is more than one way to forge ahead!

On the way back I did go over the log.  Where there is a will there is a way! 

And we made it up another ridge to see the view before turning around to go back to the cars.

George loves to take photos of me taking photos.  It's his favorite hobby! And I do give him ample opportunity to pursue it. 

 I think both Karen and Monica will research the trail before going on another 'easy' hike with Matt!

But they were good sports!

After the hike, Matt took us to a secluded spot with ready made fire rings and built a big fire.  We enjoyed personalized tin-foil dinners.  Our 6 year old enjoyed a hot dog and had plenty of help cooking it.

As the fire burned down to coals, there was lots of game time.  George aced the new ring toss game on his first try.

Karen savored her first s'mores in a long time. I was able to find gluten free marshmallows at Trader Joes and gluten free graham crackers at Walmart.  Gluten free chocolate is readily available.

Great food in a beautiful setting with family!

What could be better? 

 Isabella had such a great day that she cried when it was time to go home.  She kept saying that she didn't want it to be over.

Love that little girl so, so much!

Come back soon Karen!

 

Orpha Lewis's 100th!

 On Sunday March 20th,  George's siblings organized a Zoom meeting tribute to their Mom on her 100th birthday.  Karen wrote a biography and Tammy put together a slide show of photos of her through the years.  It was a wonderful occasion.

The grandchildren shared their memories of Grandma. I love the tender thoughts that our children expressed.  Although her mobility was severely limited through all their lives because of rheumatoid arthritis, she taught them life lessons through her interactions with them, as well as her cheerful acceptance of her limitations.   Each of them was touched by Grandpa's tender devotion to her throughout her life.

Here are some of the family photos through the years.  I wish I had a copy of the family photo on the bottom so that you could see clearly that we were all wearing 'ugly sweaters' and didn't know it!

Tammy didn't marry until several years after her death so Mom didn't know the wonderful additions to the family of Richard's kids, our 'Bonus Family' as I call them! It meant a lot to me, and I am sure to Tammy, that they wanted to know more about Grandma Lewis.  And it is a tribute to the love they have for Tammy.

I learned a few things that I didn't know before.  In the years just before her marriage, she earned a Masters of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Retailing from NYU. I knew that. What I didn't know was that she was in the top 10% of students in her program.  The photo on the left shows the members of the honor society of her program.  Notice anything?  Yes she was the only woman, groundbreaking for 1949-50! The other photo is a newspaper clipping from her hometown of Spanish Fork, Utah.  A sort of 'small town girl makes good in the big city' story.

When are kids were little I asked her what she did to have such smart children and she quickly replied, "marry their Dad".  I don't think that is the entire story.  She gets equal credit in the 'brains' department.

George uses different word to describe his parents. The word that describes his Dad is 'doing' and the word that describes his Mom is 'being'.  One cousin described them this way.  Dad was providing and Mom was nurturing. 

Together they created a wonderful family!

After the meeting we enjoyed several of Mom's recipes

Lemon Pepper Chicken

GreenBean Casserole

Waldorf Salad

canned Peas

Rolls 

Toffee Torte 

All served on her stoneware that Matt inherited.

Then we sang "Happy Birthday" and her Great-Granddaughter blew out the candles!

Happiest of birthdays Orpha, Mom, Grandma!

45 Years

 Today is our 45th Wedding Anniversary!

On October 29, 1975, two kids walked into the Salt Lake Temple and when we walked out we were 
 MARRIED!

Our parents had driven from Arkansas and Chicago to share that day with us. And of course George's siblings, John, Karen and Tammy were there too!

Years later, just after George's Mom had passed away, Tammy told us that she saw her dad in a pensive mood and when questioned he remarked that he was thinking of their 'years of doing things together'.

That is exactly what I've been doing for the last few days as I've contemplated 45 years of 'doing things together'.

One of my favorite Kenny Rogers songs is called, 'Through the Years'.  I love the lyrics and they express my feeling as I reflect back on the years.

I can't remember when you weren't there

When I didn't care for anyone but you.

I swear, we've been through everything there is

Can't imagine anything we've missed

Can't imagine anything the two of us can't do

Through the years

You've never let me down

You turned my life around

The sweetest days I've found, I've found with you.

Through the years 

I've never been afraid 

I've loved the life we've made

And I'm so glad I've stayed right here with you

Through the years

I can't remember what I used to do

Who I trusted, whom I listened to before

I swear, you've taught me everything I know

Can't imagine needing someone so

But through the years, it seems to me I need you more and more

Through the years

Through all the good and bad

I knew how much we had

I've always been so glad to be with you

Through the years

It's better everyday

You've kissed my tears away

As long as it's ok, I'll stay with you

Through the years

When everything went wrong

Together we were strong

I know that I belonged

Right here with you

Through the years

I never had a doubt

We'd always work things out

I've learned what life about

By loving you

Through the years.