Due to the fact that I am sick with bronchitis we will be combining memories 6, 7, and 8.    This picture is taken in either 1980 or 1981.

Memory 6: See that little elf sitting just under the bells that are hanging on the wall?   His name is Ichabod and he has been in the family for years … watching for who is naughty and nice.    I think he liked the kids and only took in the “nice” list because Santa always brought them a bag full of toys and no lumps of coal.

Memory 7: The kids got to open one present on Christmas Eve – which was always new pajamas or sweats.    The picture shows the boys in their favorite pajamas of all time:   Warren loved the Rams, Ryan the Steelers, and Brett the Cowboys.    My children from left to right, Warren, Ryan, Brett, Kimberly, Angella.  

Memory #8: The Spinning Wheel:   This is the inside of the box that the children are standing in front of above.   It was made by my grandfather, John B. Matheson around 1956 (my siblings may remember better than I do on this).   Grandpa used to stock it with full sized candy bars and prizes and would share with his neighbors and friends as they went to his house during the holiday season.    When we had our big family party he would stock it with special candy and prizes.   When we would spin that bicycle wheel it would go around and around until it stopped with the “clicker” pointing at a number.    Whatever number it stopped at would represent a kind of candy bar and that is what we would win.   If it stopped on one of the red numbers we got a candy plus we got to pick one of the prizes from the shelves or those hanging on the door. 

When Grandpa passed away his children took care of his estate and when all was said and done, the spinning wheel hadn’t been taken by someone … and I was delighted when I asked for it and it became mine.    I didn’t realize what a responsibility it would be once the tradition was started!  

I would shop for great deals all year long that would work for prizes, and right after Halloween I would stock up on miniature candy bars (quite a step down from the large candy bars Grandpa used to supply).

We would put the spinning wheel up on the 1st of December but we kept it locked except for one night a week when we would let the children have a spin … or unless they talked us into more than that.    I use the word “locked” rather lightly because my children soon learned how to sneak candy out of it in in spite of our efforts to keep them out.

We were all excited to make invitations for the families in our small town to come to our annual open house and we would drive around and the children would run the invitations to each door.    We would bake Christmas cookies and clean our house and the Saturday before Christmas we would have company all afternoon as families came to spin Grandpa’s Spinning Wheel.     It was always a huge success and such a fun way to spread the Christmas cheer.

The last year I worked, 2006, I loaned it to TURN Community Services to be used as an incentive program in their employment day program for adults with disabilities.    You can imagine how sad I was when I went to pick it up for Christmas in 2007, and it was gone.    No one knew where it had been taken or where it was.    And it has never showed up again.   I miss it.

If wishing would bring it back … the spinning wheel would be in my front room, set up and ready for the Christmas Eve Open House once again.    But since it’s not, we can all be grateful for the many, fun memories it created for over fifty years.   Thank you, Grandpa Matheson.

I have to tell you the cutest thing EVER!   I have a semi anti-social cat who has been queen of the roost for over 13 years and a sweet, sort of timid little dog who has been afraid of the cat ever since she came to us three years ago.   Yesterday I was walking from the bedroom to the front of the house and Fresca wagged her tail at me, ran to the door of the utility and laid down so she could look into it.    I walked past her and she came running down the hall and wagged her tail and whimpered a tiny bit and ran back and laid back down in front of the utility hall.    I went to the door and couldn’t hear or see anything so I petted her and walked on down the hall.   The third time she did it I decided there was definitely something about that hall that she wasn’t liking so I went back and turned the light on and listened and to my surprise, I heard FiFi meow from the garage.   She’d slipped out there when the door was opened and couldn’t get back in and Fresca was telling me.      You may not think it was all that cute, but I thought it was awesome.   I love when I can see how animals think and sort through things in their heads and try to communicate with us people.  

I’ve been enjoying my grandchildren a lot the last couple of months since I’ve felt better.     Aren’t grandchildren just the best invention ever?  EVER?   And how blessed am I to have 17 of them?   They motivate me to try harder … to be the best I can be.   

This month had one very exciting thing happen.   One of my dear friends (and her husband) from the past … I mean from the WAY past … came to visit us.    We hadn’t seen each other in probably 25 years and yet, the minute she walked in the door it was just like old times.    Within seconds we were hugging and laughing and that old friendship picked up almost in mid sentence from when we moved from Blanding so many years ago.  I have been reflecting since then how blessed I am to have met the wonderful women in my life who have befriended me.    I have so much to be thankful for.

Still no medicine to stop the advancement of the disease.   That’s one of those “waitings” I was talking about earlier.    It seems to me like the people working on that are moving in slow motion.   They are on a different time frame than I am.    I shouldn’t say that … it’s not the people.  The people have been kind and helpful.  It’s the system that doesn’t seem to care about the person.   But we will keep hoping it will be approved. 

I guess that’s about it … I’m doing a lot of reading and unfortunately, not much writing.   I try to wake up the brain but it’s foggy in there but I will keep trying.  

Yesterday for a little while there were eight beautiful, funny grand daughters here at once.   The five older girls are fun to talk to.   They fill me in on their activities at school and we laugh at silly things that happened in their day.  It’s fun to hear them laugh and talk together as they catch up on their news.   

Listening to the three little ones chatter and giggle as they dressed my magnetic paper-type dolls was highly entertaining .    Abigail has just turned 5, Ande is 3 1/2, and Olivia is 2 1/2.   Here’s how that conversation went.                   

Ande:   “Oh, this one doesn’t have any pants on!   Now that’s gross!   (looks at me in disgust as if it was me who put her away without seeing that she was properly covered).

Abigail:  “But it would really be gross if she didn’t have underwear on.”

Me:   (Laughing with the giggling girls)  “I have to agree, Abby.    That would be pretty gross.”

Ande:   “I have underwear on and I’m not gross.”

Abigail:   “So do I.   I have underwear on.   I’m not gross.”

Olivia:  (Shrugs her shoulders and looks at me with concern)  “Well, I not even potty trained yet.  Soooo …?”

Me:    “B-u-u-t, Do you have a diaper on?”

Olivia:   (Sighs in relief) “Oh … I have my diaper on, so I not gross too!”

Me:    Laughing and hugging my three entertaining little girls … “Thank goodness none of you are gross!”

*****

You know … I might not be on the right “pill” yet, but I do believe in the old adage that “LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE”!

We found this site and I thought, “just how hard can that be”?   The directions were actually written out very well, and if you go to the site you’ll see there is even a video that takes you through it step by step.  The problem?   I zigged when I should have zagged … and I kept zigging in the same spot for over an hour until I almost changed my mind about doing it.   I pert near wore the first dollar clear out by the time I figured out what I was doing wrong.  It’s just a good thing I wasn’t trying to make a living at it because if I’d been paid by the piece I think I’d have starved.   By the time I was finished, twenty hearts later, I was whipping them out without even looking at the directions.   I’d go so far as to say I became a pro.    You be the judge.

I like them this way, where it looks like there is a pretty white flower on the front … but this is how they look with the suggested quarter added …

By the way … for you Granny’s with less grandchildren and more money … you can use $5 or $10 … or however high your income goes.

I shouldn’t be posting this until after Valentine’s Day because I know there are probably four of my grandchildren who will read my blog before then … but in case any of my readers want a cute, inexpensive idea to add to their Valentine treats I have to post it now.    So, Aubree, Curtis, Mikayla, and Kaitlyn … you have to keep it a secret, ya hear.

      So today is my sixty-fourth birthday and Lynn has been singing this old Beatle’s song under his breath all day:

The song was written by Paul McCartney of the Beatles when he was just sixteen years old and it apparently was inspired by his “lover”. I can’t imagine having a lover at sixteen, nor can I imagine that Paul McCartney or anyone else at that age has a clue about getting old but amazingly, it is pretty apropos.   

I was tempted to write a poem about it … “There’s an awful lot of learning on the way to getting old” … but it sounded too much like “A Heap o’ Living” written by Edgar A. Guest.   When I thought about it, his poem pretty much sums up what I wanted to say, anyway.  

      I guess I’ve just been caught up in lots of memories today.   It’s a funny thing about memories because the farther away you get from them, the more they become like treasurers.  The hard times lose their sharp edges from a distance and you begin to recognize them as stepping stones along life’s path.  Each stone and hurdle moves you toward the next stone and the next set of hurdles, and hopefully helps you gain the confidence and encouragement you need to make you better prepared to handle them.     We may start out with baby steps, but right now I’m most grateful for the giant steps in my life.    I’m going to fall back on those experience to help me through the challenges that lie ahead with my health.

      So … Happy Birthday to me from Edgar A. Guest …

It Takes A Heap O’Livin” by Edgar A. Guest

It takes a heap o’ livin’ in a house t’ make it home,
A heap o’ sun an’ shadder, an’ ye sometimes have t’ roam
Afore ye really ‘preciate the things ye lef’ behind,
An’ hunger fer ‘em somehow, with ‘em allus on yer mind.
It don’t make any differunce how rich ye get t’ be,
How much yer chairs an’ tables cost, how great yer luxury;
It ain’t home t’ ye, though it be the palace of a king,
Until somehow yer soul is sort o’ wrapped round everything.

Home ain’t a place that gold can buy or get up in a minute;
Afore it’s home there’s got t’ be a heap o’ livin’ in it;
Within the walls there’s got t’ be some babies born, and then
Right there ye’ve got t’ bring ‘em up t’ women good, an’ men;
And gradjerly as time goes on, ye find ye wouldn’t part
With anything they ever used—they’ve grown into yer heart:
The old high chairs, the playthings, too, the little shoes they wore
Ye hoard; an’ if ye could ye’d keep the thumb-marks on the door.

Ye’ve got t’ weep t’ make it home, ye’ve got t’ sit an’ sigh
An’ watch beside a loved one’s bed, an’ know that Death is nigh;
An’ in the stillness o’ the night t’ see Death’s angel come,
An’ close the eyes o’ her that smiled, an’ leave her sweet voice dumb.
Fer these are scenes that grip the heart, an’when yer tears are dried,
Ye find the home is dearer than it was, an’ sanctified;
An’ tuggin’ at ye always are the pleasant memories
O’ her that was an’ is no more—ye can’t escape from these.

Ye’ve got t’ sing an’ dance fer years, ye’ve got t’ romp an’ play,
An’ learn t’ love the things ye have by usin’ ‘em each day;
Even the roses ’round the porch must blossom year by year
Afore they ‘come a part o’ ye, suggestin’ someone dear
Who used t’ love ‘em long ago, an’ trained ‘em jes t’ run
The way they do, so’s they would get the early mornin’ sun;
Ye’ve got t’ love each brick an’ stone from cellar up t’ dome:
It takes a heap o’ livin’ in a house t’ make it home.

Technorati Tags: Edgar A Guest,A Heap O’ Livin’,When I’m 64,Paul McCartney

Goodbye 2010.    When all is said and done, it was another beautiful year for our family.    News stations globally recount their best ten stories of the year and so shall I; although I can’t put them in order of importance.      So … in random order (drum roll please) Grandma Henke’s “Top Ten from Two Thousand Ten”!

1.     Our oldest grandchild, Aubree, graduated from high school and she now is continuing her education at  Western Washington University.    She is a beautiful young lady with a love and enthusiasm for life and is skilled in home made lasagna and fudge!   I started a tradition of giving each grandchild a crocheted afghan to celebrate this achievement in their lives.

 

2.    We discovered another favorite   “Home away from Home” to park our motor home and spend the hot part of another summer in the cool mist of the ocean breeze.    My brother, Bill, and his wife were able to come and visit us there and we loved being able to show them around and share our love coastal living.    The time went by too quickly!       It was fun to have Kimberly’s family come and  spend days with us as well; particularly since there was a huge field and playground right near where we were parked and the children could play and run to their heart’s content.     The sunsets, of course, are always the perfect cap to any day.    

3.      The days of buckets catching the rain as it pours through the light fixture in the family room are over and our home sports a new red roof, made of steel.   No more leaks!!! No more mildew!!!   No more worrying anxiously about collapse!

4.        There are 29 healthy and, happy Lynn W. Henke’s in our family and we were able to spend wonderful days with them throughout the year.     Our quiver is full, as are our hearts.     We are so grateful for family and the love that passes freely from each member to the others.   Grateful that even the littlest cousins are aware of this great blessing of family.   It was fun when Brett and Kim’s family traveled to Washington and we celebrated the 4th of July with a fire fireworks extravaganza by Warren, Brett, and Brandon Allsop. 

5.      I loved spending our 44th year  together with the man of my dreams.   

6.      The world is at my fingertips with just the click of a key, and with another miraculous touch of a keypad I am connected in real time visually and audibly with people I love.    I love all of the gadgets my sweetie gets for me.

7.      I found the most wonderful online support group for my PAH and I think in the process I found some new BFF’s (Best Friends Forever). 

8.       Lynn had both of his knees replaced with brand new, titanium ones and he is mobile once more!   We’re so grateful he went through it so successfully; grateful for the doctors, nurses, physical therapists, and other hospital personnel who took such good care of him.

9.      Ryan and Yeimy returned home safely from all of their  travel adventures, the latest being a Hawaii and Costa Rica.   Warren and Mikayla also had a safe and fabulous time going to Greece. That trip completed Warren’s promise to his children to take each one of them anywhere in the world on the dream trip of their choosing.

10.    Each of our children’s families had their worries and challenges in 2010, but each were blessed with the health, strength and wisdom to make it through successfully!     We have confidence that in this new year they will do it again.      Our grandchildren remain at the top of the Leader Board of all grandchildren.    (At least they are the top of our Leader Board.)   They bring us so much joy we can’t put it into adequate words.   They show capabilities and talents that amaze us and we love to watch their progress in school, listen to their stories and music, and cheer them on in their challenges.     We can’t imagine a better station in life than being Grandpa and Grandma Henke.

     It has been a warm, fuzzy day from morning until night; truly a day of peace and joy surrounded by the love of family and good friends.  My son put me face to face (Iphone FaceTime) with family in Washington.  It is surely a miracle we shouldn’t take for granted!   The children got to show us their gifts and we could see, feel, and hear the excitement bouncing off the walls of their home.      You don’t get the actual hands on hugs and kisses but it sure beats the heck out of the good old days!   

      Merry Christmas to you all … family and friends old and new.    My life wouldn’t be as full without you all.    I appreciate your words of encouragement and expressions of love, your phone calls and cards and thoughts and prayers.    It makes a difference.   

      This coming year is going to have its challenges but I’m ready to meet them head on.    It will be a good year!

I’ll tell you what is the best medicine … grandchildren!     This is our “off” year  for Thanksgiving with most of our kids …  I mean, they DO have other sides of their families, after all.    Lynn and I considered having a fake Thanksgiving dinner out our house the Saturday or Sunday before Thanksgiving but we are in the middle of some remodeling.   That, and the not feeling up to par factor, prompted Lynn and I to have our alternative (better word than fake since we are, indeed, all sincerely grateful) Thanksgiving Dinner at the Pizza Factory.      Tonight was the night, and it was oh so fun!   Soooooo fun!    It definitely deserves five stars!  

At the beginning of our meal it was agreed upon by everyone that if this was to be a true substitute Thanksgiving dinner we needed to be stuffed when we were done!    Three Family sized pizza’s, 12 salads, 12 bread sticks later, and 17 drinks later … we were stuffed and we filled 3 boxes with pizza and bread sticks to take home.  

The grandkids and I started swapping fun cousin stories and before long we were really wishing the families who live in Washington were there with us.   So, the kids and I decided it’s time to start a cousin’s newsletter.   We appointed a reporter from each family who will send information to me and I will compile it and see that it gets distributed to everyone.   (Mikayla, do you accept your assignment?)   We want to do a calendar of events even though we are widespread and can’t possibly attend everyone’s recitals and school programs because it will still be fun to know what is happening in each other’s lives on any given day.     I’m so grateful the cousins feel so close to each other in spite of the miles of separation.

We all know that laughter is the best medicine … and I have to reinforce that by saying how good I felt when we got home tonight.    There is scientific proof that laughing reduces pain, ups our tolerance levels, reduces blood sugar levels, and helps your blood vessels carry needed oxygen throughout your body!   (Sign me up for some Tim Conway/Don Knotts movies).    I don’t need scientific proof.    I’ve known that for as long as I have known anything … because of how it worked in our home as I was growing up.     Oh the blessings of coming from a long line of laughers!

One poor little grandson was sick tonight.     He tried to tough it out because he wanted to be there so much, but it was obvious that he was not doing so well.     Grandpa and I owe him a new dinner (since he eventually lost tonight’s dinner in an untimely manner outside of the restaurant, triggering on onset of  gags  and moans from his “gagger” relatives.    This seems to be a weakness from the Matheson (my mother’s maiden name) line because I don’t recall my dad had the problem … nor does Lynn.    Gagging can’t be avoided if you have the gene.   We can gag at the drop of a hat, the sound of a retch, the whiff of you know what (don’t want to really say the word since just reading it could be a trigger).    We can gag at the thought of someone else gagging but if you have enough time passes we can laugh about it.      Some of our funniest family stories are about gagging if you can stand to listen to them.      (Repeating those funny stories has to come from the Henke side of the family.)  

The most thankful aspect of our alternative Thanksgiving meal was when we all stood up, put our napkins down, and left 17 people’s worth of dirty dishes on the table to be cleaned up by someone else!  

And now … pardon my gush as I share some of the things I am so thankful for on this alternate Thanksgiving Day: Jesus Christ and his restored gospel, an A+++ husband and our eternal love, five children and their families who are the light and love of my life),  parents who raised me in a home filled with love, laughter, and safety and who taught me to love by their good example, siblings who have always loved and supported me unconditionally, nieces and nephews and their families, wonderful fun grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins, faithful friends throughout my entire life,  good ward families over the years, dedicated teachers, sturdy homes over the years, child friendly neighborhoods where I could raise my children, educational opportunities, a vehicle we can count on, the opportunity to travel the last two summers and visit our families who live in Washington, health that is good enough to allow me to do those things I love most, computers, Internet (and the new friendships I’ve made there), talents, living in a country I love.   This list is just a start; I have been very blessed.

Last year I crocheted 40 Christmas stockings.    This summer I made three afghans and one carryall bag.    As I worked on the bag, which happens to be the last thing I finished, I had grand ideas of making up several extras and using them for gifts … but about five days into the project I realized that not everyone would appreciate the merits of a crocheted hand bag.   It would have to be a special order.   Only a person who crochets would know what a gift of love it is when they saw that it was three colors of yarn that involved weaving and tying a whole gob of individual knots for decoration, and at least five different stitches.    Of course, that doesn’t account for the times you pulled it apart and started over, or six or seven rows back.   It’s probably a good thing no one knows that or they would think of having you committed for the time spent on one hand bag.       It seemed to me that it took waaaayyyyy longer than it should have, probably at least 40 hours.   It certainly doesn’t look like it should take that long.    But if you asked my daughter-in-law, who is learning to crochet, she would say it took no time at all.        I love how it turned out, though, and look forward to filling it with current crochet projects that I want to carry with me to work on.   Surely someone will see and admire it that way?

The first afghan I made was for my 18 year old grand daughter, Aubree, who is now off to her first year of college.     I can’t believe she is this old and can’t explain away the time lapse from the day she was born and I got to hold her when she was just minutes old.      Lynn says if I plan to make these for each grandchild I’d better make them in advance since the youngest grandchild is only two.

I have an afghan made for me about forty years ago by my Grandma Babcock.    It’s red, white, and blue and I wish I could add a picture here but it’s home … as are the other afghans I treasure.    One was made by my mother as a gift to my father, and two were made by Lynn’s mother as gifts to Lynn and I.     I pick up those afghans and I think of the love that went into their stitches and like to realize that their hands touched them years ago.    It makes me feel warm and fuzzy … a feeling I hope to pass on to my grandchildren years down the road.   

I’ve been looking at this picture trying to come up with the best words to describe how these kids make me feel; incredibly, incredibly loved.   And, of course, I love them too!