I love December. It’s a time of joy in remembering the Savior’s birth. It’s a month filled with music and lights, friends and family.
At church, it’s all decorated with huge flocked trees and wreaths, and the foyer has furnishings like a cozy home would have. The theme is ‘Our House’. Several people in the church shared how they make Christmas meaningful. One idea that I’d like to try is to not do anymore shopping seven days prior to Christmas. I think that’s a peaceful way to save my sanity. Especially in trying to get around Beaverton or Portland. Yikes!
I love the fall colors. I even love the rain storms. But I don’t care for the freeeezing cold!! I feel like gathering nuts and berries and finding a warm cave to snuggle next to the other bears as they sleep through the cold winter. Well, I’d miss my husband, and he is warm-blooded, so I’ll just stick close to his side. I guess I should try really hard to put some fat on me too. That way I’ll not only have padding to keep me warm, but I’ll no longer be associated with the B.B.C. (Boney Butt Club)!
Last weekend, David and I went camping at Battle Ground Lake State Park. It seems funny to go there since my parents’ house is only a couple miles from there, but hey, it’s still out in boonies as anyone who’s driven to my house would say. The highlights of the trip were seeing my aunt with her sisters and a few uncles, a bunch of cousins, their spouses and kids, my cousins’ cousins, my parents and grandparents and my youngest brother, Rex. Well, lets just say there were lots of people, and some dogs, too.
My heart and prayers go out to my brother, Travis, right now as he is in Europe, trying out for a professional football (soccer) team. He arrived in London the morning of the bombings. Mom and Dad called a number they saw on t.v. so that if he arrived at a hospital, they would call us. We waited anxiously for quite a while, but then received an email from him saying he was alright. He and a friend had waited in line for bus tickets when they found they had been waiting for a long time in the wrong line. They got in the correct line but, by then, a bus had been bombed and transportation was shut down all over the city. Thank God, he’s ok!
David took the day off for my birthday and took me to the beach! It was a beautiful day at Ft. Stevens Park. I’ve camped there as a girl many times, so it was fun to show David the old shipwreck, the lake, and Battery Russell (old war fort). At the sea shore we hiked up the sand dunes a bit to find a warm spot away from the wind and watched a line of pelicans fly low inbetween the waves. We ended up taking a nap right there in the sand, and David got a cool V-shaped sunburn on his neck. We ate rice pasta with chicken at the lake, and watched some guys catch 2-4 inch long fish and throw them back. Then I took him to Battery Russell. The fort is made of cement and it is really dark in some of the rooms. Once, when I was little girl, I peered around a dark corner and saw a creepy man who was unshaven and dirty, who started laughing a deep “heh heh heh” that scared the stuff out of me. To this day, that place gives me the creeps, but for some reason I still go back.