The Hour of Your Mission Has Arrived - Almost!

 We received our mission call in November and knew we would be leaving in early March . That seemed like a LONG time away but now it is here.  We fly to Utah tomorrow, spend the weekend with George's sister Tammy and go to the Missionary Training Center on Monday!

On Sunday we spoke in church.  All last year I taught Primary, which is like children's Sunday School.  I love these kids so much.  I asked if they could sing my favorite song and they did.  I am glad they sang after my talk and not before.  Their sweet voices singing about The Tree Of Life definitely made me tear up.

Our dear friends Rinda and Brent drove up from Salt Lake City to be with us. 

Last night we were 'set apart' by our Stake President.  He gave us a special blessing invoking God's richest blessing on us.  So many of my fears were alleviated and much comfort as well as admonitions given.  I will forever remember how I felt when hands were laid on my head.  The spirit was strong. I definitely felt blessed!

Next we put a pin in the map to show where we were going. 

Took us awhile to figure out exactly where Piura, Peru was!

But we did!

Today we said goodbye to first Matt

And then to John

Isabella and Monica didn't want to come over to say goodbye.  I think that they thought it would be too hard.  

Tomorrow it will be telephone goodbyes to Mary and Scott.

This IS going to be hard!

So thankful for Zoom and FaceTime and WhatsApp.

Our loved ones won't seem so far away thanks to technology.

Broken Wrist

 Remember George's car accident way back in October?  

He was very lucky to walk away with only minor injuries, or so we thought.

5 weeks after the accident, when his wrist was still hurting quite a bit, he went to the doctor.  This x-ray showed that he had broken a bone in his wrist.  It is not uncommon for such a break to not show up on the x-rays taken immediately after an accident. Six weeks after his wreck he finally got in to see an orthopedist who put on a cast. Luckily no surgery required.

Everyone loved signing his cast!

Thanks Matt for the idea.

We think it makes a fashion statement.

The arrow actually starrted out as an ink dribble but I turned it into an arrow that points to the exact spot of the break.

Now with a little more luck, it will be healed so that he can swim when we go on our cruise in a few weeks.

Christmas Traditions

 Christmas traditions are important to me.  That's probably one reason that I have a ridiculous number of Christmas decorations.  Some of them my Grandma Boyle made before I was born, others I remember from my childhood, still more from the time when we had little kids plus so many from our trips. I collect nativity scenes and also try to get a tree ornament at each destination. I love them and find joy each year when I get them out.

Traditions of things that we 'do' are even more important.  During my growing up years, all of my Daddy's family came to our house for Christmas Eve.  First we went to our different churches for a Christmas Eve service and then all my aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents came to our house for eggnog and good food.A few years  after I was married the electricity went out during the party.  Unsure what to do with a crowd in a dark house, a new tradition of singing Christmas carols together was born!  Funniest of all, we sang 'The Twelve Days of Christmas" with different people taking each verse.  My Daddy's sister, Maudie, always sang, '3 French hens' and although she could not carry a tune, she was quick to laugh at herself and that just added to the fun. After Maudie passed away, we never sang again because it was just too painful. George and I did renew this tradition when we lived in Spain by inviting all our friends over for food and carol singing on Christmas Eve.  

Our George Lewis family traditions have evolved over the years.  When the kids were little, we acted out the nativity story and also read 'The Polar Express' and of course left out cookies and milk for Santa. 

Our children all have sweet memories of first Grandpa Walt Lewis and now Grandpa George Lewis reciting the Harrison R Merril Poem

'Christmas Eve on the Desert" 

They remember all the years as little children when they didn't understand the poem at all and just felt anxious for the evening to end so Santa could come.  When they were teenagers, the beauty of the poem and the tender sentiments expressed became clear. Now it is a treasured reading every Christmas Eve.

On Christmas morning we open gifts one person at a time. I love this because then you get to see the reactions as special gifts are opened.  When it is a free for all, you miss seeing the recipients delight.

Now that we have adult children and grandchildren, traditions have evolved and we seem to have hit upon the perfect mix for this stage of life.

This year I loved listening to 9 year old Isabella anticipate the Christmas traditions.  Her excitement about the games and food made all the work that goes into making this holiday special well worth the time and effort!

Christmas Eve starts with ornament making.  Every year since 2011, we have made ornaments. You can see them on our tree in this photo of Matt and Cady and their cute dogs, Millie and Baby Dog.  The boys do occasionally grumble about 'crafts' but they are good sports and make one each year!

Games are next on the agenda!  From a marshmallow toss to Christmas Tree Cup Stack to mini golf, they are all so fun.  This year we added 'Oregon Trail' and 'Left, Right, Center' to the mix.

Monica won the grand prize for the "Left, Right, Center" game and promptly gave the $24 to Isabella.

Our competitive Isabella really wanted to win the big games competition. (Although the $24 did make her happy too)  She always does want to win any game she plays but this year she really, really did.  Last year Cady suggested that I buy a trophy to pass around to the winner each year.  And I did.

Isabella coveted that trophy.

We had a Christmas miracle.

I won the game competition!

First time ever!

Isabella really did not think this was fair since I bought the trophy!

After all these years, I finally won so I am keeping it for the year.

This might be the only time I ever win.  George had the handicap of a cast on his arm.  Matt was having severe back pain. And Johnny missed the games because he was working.  Scott came in a close 2nd.

This was MY year!

Game traditions!  Ornament making traditions!  And of course food traditions!

Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup with sandwich fixings....

And the oh so important to Isabella, chocolate fountain....

Her favorite thing to drizzle with chocolate -  the angel food cake!

I agree!

Christmas morning - It's all about the presents and the food again.

Breakfast pizza and cinnamon rolls!

 I made the comment that since everyone loves these two items so much, I should make them more often.

Interestingly the consensus was that I shouldn't.  They like them being special for Christmas morning.

Before and after breakfast we opened presents.

There were a lot of very thoughtful ones!

Not the most important part of Christmas but still so fun!

By the end of the festivities I felt like I should have been wearing Matt's hat.

But I would need it to say

'Tired but oh so happy!'

Next year we will be enjoying Christmas in Peru and trying to make it special for over 100 missionaries who are also far from home.

I can hardly wait!

But I will really miss all these faces!

Thanksgiving

 Our Thanksgiving was perfectly lovely! Truthfully I was thinking of taking the family to Chuck-A-Rama like we did a couple of years ago when only Monica, John and Isabella were joining us. The variety of foods was a big hit for everyone and the quality of the food was better than I remembered,  Chuck-A-Rama was one of George's Dad's favorite places. He made sure to get his money's worth by piling his plate high and even stuffing rolls in his pockets.

My original plan changed when Matt told us that he was not going to Wyoming with Cady to her Grandmother's 90th birthday because he knew we would be in Peru next Thanksgiving and he wanted to spend this one with us.  When I heard that I knew I had to fix a traditional meal with all the foods we love.

And that is what I did!

Turkey, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, fruit salad and rolls.

Followed by cherry and pumpkin pie with lots of whipped cream for dessert!

Served on the china my Daddy bought in Occupied Japan with the silver that was once my mother's, the water glasses that belonged to my great grandmother and George's mother's bread bowl. 

A multi generational table setting.

Isabella did the centerpiece and also helped with dinner preparations.

I googled 'best mashed potatoes' and found a recipe that called for a 2 sticks of butter for 5 pounds of potatoes.   Isabella cut them into small pieces and added them to the potatoes.  I told her to count to 20 between each addition and she very carefully did just that.

And the potatoes were definitely the best ever....tons of butter tends to make everything 'the best'.

I love these people more than I can adequately express.

Sure glad they are mine!

We followed this advice.

And we don't even feel guilty!

104 Years Ago Today

 September 10th 1920 - My mother, Bessie Jane Boyle was born.  At her funeral her minister expressed it this way, 'She bounced into the world.'  He went on to say, "her years spanned such incredible eras in our nation's history, most that radically affected her culture here where she was born and reared and later where she came back home to live.  Somewhere along the way she resolved to live out her changing times with energy and optimism. Maybe it was born of her years as a navy wife, living in Boston or Brooklyn or Providence, Rhode Island or her time living in Sicily.  Or maybe it was something just born in her to engage her life actively one day at a time.  However she came to that way of living, it served her well throughout all her days.  Moreover, it stands as a model for our own way of doing whatever it is that gives us fulfillment in life."

I know she loved being a mother.  Moma and Daddy were married almost five years before I was born and they were thrilled to be parents.  She was 33 when I was born but it was 25 years later when I think she found her greatest joy. That's when Mary was born and she became a Grandma for the first time. 

Nothing gave her more fulfillment than these 4 children! 

Holding Mary for the 1st time

And here she is in 1980 holding newborn Matt.

And when we added Jonathan in 1984

Then in 1987 with all four of her darling grandchildren.

For her there was never a more true statement than

"Happiness is being a Grandparent"

Proud to Be An American

 I know that it is not politically correct to say that I am proud of my country,  but I am.  You see, I don't think of the politicians or the courts as being 'my country'.  Instead I think of the million of Americans from all religious affiliations or no affiliations, from all political parties, representing all the ethnic origins  - people who are just quietly going about doing good.  Loving their families, serving in their communities, doing their jobs, donating money to help the poor or those who are sick, following the laws, advocating for the changes they believe in and in general making our country great. 

That is why I can stand and say, 

"And I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free

And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me

And I'd gladly stand up...next to you and defend her still today.

'Cause there ain't no doubt - I love this land!

God bless the USA."

On the 4th George and I celebrated by driving up to Bogus Basin, the local ski resort, for the day.

First we took the chair lift up to the top and hiked down.

Beautiful views.

Lots of wild flowers, which meant lots of bees.

George got stung for the first time in many years.

After a delicious lunch with Matt, we took the mountain coaster. I loved it so much that I actually laughed all the way down.  I highly recommend it!

Big thanks to Matt for getting us passes and for using his employee discount for our lunch.  It made our ridiculously expense lunch - just expensive!

Later we had a traditional barbecue dinner with John and family.  Hamburgers, barbecued chicken, grilled veggies, potato salad, and baked beans, cooked according to my mother's recipe.

My new addition was this patriotic fruit pizza. Yummy!

The Argentina vs Ecuador game got all of us very excited.

It was a 'must win' for the team.

Monica is superstitious and doesn't watch.  She thinks that if she watches they'll lose.

Regulation time ended 1-1 so they went to penalty kicks.

Messi was the first shooter and missed.

Happy to report that the shoot-out ended 4-2.

Many thanks to this man - goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez who stopped 2 goals.

Amazing how goalkeepers are willing to just throw themselves on the ground to stop a shot.

Victory to Argentina.

Next up is a semi final game with Canada.

I would love it if Leo Messi ended his career with the National Team with a Copa America trophy.

After the game we hiked up in the foothills to watch the fireworks all over the treasure valley.

I love this tradition. Isabella does too, although you can't tell from this expression.

Most of the time, she was like this.

Always fun to hike down in the dark. Love my side pony tail compliments of Isabella. 

It was a great day!