Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Starting a Blog
Well, now that I've gotten past the preliminaries, I don't know what to say. Several of my daughters have blogs and are very philosophical in their writing. That is probably not my strong suit or my style, but what is?
My long range plan was to put my Christmas letter here for those who have internet access. I will attempt to put last years edition in here for practice. And happily I can include more pictures!
Christmas 2008
The Spears family
The Lord has blessed our clan with a very pleasant year and a busy one. I'm not sure we want it to end, but I suppose it must.
Terry is working at home for Universal Oil Products. They pay him well, and I have to force him to take a break about every other month or so. He still starts work by 6 a.m. so he can go to the YMCA and swim laps around 3 p.m. He also stays busy with Civitan committees and an older citizens services committee.
April snow on peak of Mt. Pilatus, no views of Lucerne this day!
We survived what I thought was a long, cold winter, and what did Terry and I do but take an April trip to Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. We saw some BEAUTIFUL country and had some wonderful experiences, but it prolonged our winter. We hope to take 2 trips next year; Alaska in June and Spain and Portugal in September.
Nonny and great grand daughter Tara at Boot Hill.
It seems it has gotten impossible to get all the girls and their significant others and kids together all at once, so thankfully we are still healthy and able to go here and there, sometimes several times. We tried to have a birthday celebration for my mom, but changed the date several times trying to get all her "grands" and "great grands" there at once. It ended up a couple of months late and too close to the birth of her newest great grandson for his branch to come, but we went to the shower for his mom in Amarillo the day before and then had Nonny's party with a wonderful Sunday brunch at Boot Hill in Vega, Texas.
Heather and Cameron with Grandad Otis Spears and Christine; Libby, Pacey and Cohen with them too.
We are excited that Terry's dad reached the age of 95 this month. He had a successful knee replacement this spring. I think if he could find a spine replacement he might look forward to the age of 100. Terry and I went to see him before Thanksgiving to celebrate early and we made a couple of trips this summer to take Libby and kids and Heather and daughter. Cameron stayed with us while Heather was in and out preparing for her 20 year class reunion. (Can you believe that?)
Bridget and Brianna, outdoor restaurant in Portland Maine. Pacey and Libby in Maine.
We went to Maine in August to
visit Brianna and Bridget for Brianna's birthday. Libby and her crew flew, and we drove. It was a hectic 3 days, but we did some fun things like visit a lighthouse and cruise on a schooner. And this year the temperatures were more typical of Maine, cool. Terry and I extended our trip to Bar Harbor. Wow, what a beautiful place! I cannot get a big enough picture to even hint at the awesomeness of that part of God's creation.
We also drove down to South Carolina - Oh My! more beautiful country!
Terry and I think Bri sailing on the schooner.
One shot from Cadillac Mountain at Bar Harbor, or as they say there "Bah Habah"- We had some lobsta chowda at the Chowda House in Bah Habah. Delish!!!
My workload increased for the League of Women Voters this year. I became the web mamma for the Bartlesville website: Bartlesville.lwvok.org. Then over the summer I added the state website to my list, www.lwvok.org. Between that and editing newsletters for both levels and trying to keep up with my other groups, the Bible Church ladies Bible study, Community Sentencing Council, Red Hat Society, and a reading group, I spend a lot of time on the computer. If I made any money at it, it might be like having a job or two.
Pacey on the playground we helped build. Libby's kids and Pat's kids - what a team!
Cohen at the Texas roadside park.
We've had an early Christmas party with Libby and her 2 kids and her boyfriend, Pat, and his 2 kids, so now we are preparing for our flight to Orlando to spend Christmas with Heather's crew. Brianna has started a new job, so she is too short of money and time for the trip here or Florida this year, and besides that Bridget's clan has laid claim on their presence this year. Maybe they can get enough time off to go to Pennsylvania sometime around Christmas.
Brianna has one more course to finish before she becomes GIS certified. She has had a neat internship with a nonprofit organization. She got to map some previously unmapped areas and set up a website for them so they can update information without having to buy some expensive software. Sounds like a good experience for both parties, just what an internship should be.
Libby is still the lead web designer for Oklahoma University. She got to go to a conference in Basel, Switzerland, this fall. Pacey is a vivacious second grader who can talk to almost anyone about almost any thing. She loves gymnastics and girl scouts. Cohen is a charmer of a 3-year- old. He can get himself out of almost any trouble with his winsome smile. He loves cars and dinosaurs! Surprisingly to all of us, he has become quite a talker, too.
Cigarette burns - makeup for movie. Cameron Singing at the Southern Womens Convention.
Heather is a busy stage mom, while Darren works long hours to bring home the bacon. Cameron participates in a lot of singing events. Singing is her favorite activity other than Pokemons, and she has a good strong voice. She is getting some acting experience too. She still has a night or two of filming left to do on Assassin Blues (that is, if they do not change the name of the movie.) It looks like a serious movie. We have seen a picture of her getting cigarette burns in makeup (they use fruit rollups.) And I understand the little girl she plays dies.
As usual this time of year comes with memories of Wendy and events from 16 years ago. It is hard to believe that much time has passed when the sorrow is still so fresh. I think we are still all dealing on our own levels with forgiving Kevin, not so much saying what he did was okay, but learning to leave that judgment to God and trusting that His justice will be sufficient and way better than man's.
We are wishing all the best for you and yours for Christmas and 2009 and hoping to hear lots of news from you all. Merry Christmas! And a Happy and prosperous New Year!
Ice skating in Florida after Christmas! Darren cooking Christmas turkey.
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