Okay… off to the 6 day party! We arrived Thursday in Central Point just in time to stash all our gear at our house (Thank you Gentry for letting us stay with you!) and we headed over to the Skillman’s to help Mark celebrate his BIG 50 birthday! Mark, we should all look so good at 50! I think you will forever be young! It was so good to see Cheyenne, Justice, and baby Kendra. 8 month old Kendra is so stinkin’ cute!! And, it was fabulous to see Dani and Andrea again. They are still the happy newlyweds! It is so fun to have Mitchell home from college again. Yea, now the Skillman computers will all be running smoothly. Stacy had a lovely dinner for everyone and then we settled into playing “Family Feud” with questions about Mark’s life. We learned all about the cars Mark has owned over the years and the places he has worked. And, the many states in which he has lived. There is always lots of laughter when the family gets together!
We came back to the Skillman’s the next night to celebrate Connor’s 13th birthday. Oh boy, another teenager in the house for Stacy! Connor and family had spent the entire day out at the Sharp’s house playing pretty hard at go-carts and such. They were a pretty pooped bunch. Connor had a bit too much pizza and ice cream to be feeling the greatest and Chloe just conked out on us! But the rest of us partied hardy! “Favorite Day” tonight was our favorite story about Connor. Everyone had a good story to tell!
During the day time hours Lee and I kept busy catching up on happenings in our friend’s lives. It was fun to get in really good visits with Byron and Nova Johnson, Bob and Rita Phair, Ken and Debbie Barber and our sweet next door neighbors, John and Kathy Garner. I also checked in on Pat Beck and found her a bit under the weather from her recent operation but on the mend. She will be good as new soon and she is in remission! Way to go Pat!! We got all of Lee’s prescriptions filled as he is going on new health insurance the beginning of the year. Yea…. End of the year stuff to complete as always. We also stopped by the bank to see my old fellow employees and get a supply of $2 bills for birthdays.
We spent the night on Christmas Eve at Stacy’s. It is tradition! I helped Cheyenne finish the 9 Christmas stockings she was making for the family. I pinned, she sewed! Good teamwork there!
For family time we gathered and read the Christmas story from Luke and then a chapter in the Book of Mormon.
Then attempted to play some Christmas carols on the Skillman's new set of Chimes.
And I got to play with Kendra!!! So fun to give her a bottle and rock her to sleep.
Then it was time to chase the kids off to bed so that Santa could come. And, come he did!!! We were all up early…. Cheyenne was the first! We had time to open gifts before heading to Church for the Christmas Sacrament meeting.
At church, wow, there were a lot of people there! It was so fun to meet special friends that I have not seen in a long time. And, the program was so beautiful! I love the music of Christmas. Each song is a sermon in itself. When I arrived at Church I found Dani and Andrea sitting together and so I wormed my way right in between them! I had a whole hour worth of loving there!! Thanks Dani and Andrea!!!!
After Church we headed for the Shumway’s and a lovely breakfast that Wendy made for all of us. They had not opened their gifts yet. So we ate breakfast first and then the phone began to ring with family who lived far away. We were all gathered together (Skillman’s and Clark’s included) when Elder Byrce Shumway called. It was so good to talk to him. He sounded so good and said that his mission in Elk City, Oklahoma was going well. He was really enjoying his new companion. He said he is in the “belt buckle” of the “bible belt” and work was slow and hard. But he is learning lots and he is happy and well. Wendy had tears in her eyes the whole time, which only means she really loves her son! You did good raising him Girl!
Finally about 3:00 p.m. we gathered to open gifts! It was a fun 2 hour process as only one person at a time could open a gift. That way we got to see the reactions. Best gift opening moment of the day…… 16 year old, 6 foot 3 inch TANNER and his RED FOOTIE PAJAMAS!!! He was hysterical!!! He simply could not get them on fast enough!! Then Sheralyn opened a gift that contained pink bunny footie pajamas. Then Madi…. Then Jena… and finally even 21 year old Danielle got some footie pajamas! What a happy bunch of Shumway kiddles they were!
Gramma and Grampa Bear were pretty happy too. We felt showered with love from all of them. We love our homemade fuzzy new pillow cases from Madi and Jena. Great blanket stitch girls!! And we will enjoy our “Inspirational Candy Jar” for weeks to come. We will unwrap one candy a day to see what words of wisdom you have to tell us and each day we will feel the love that comes with it. Grampa Bear will be warm and cozy in his new long johns and Gramma Bear will not hate the cold wind so much when she wears her new warmer stockings! My sweet new teddy bear, complete with pearls, now sits in a place of honor in our little Trailer. Thank you Jena!! It was just a great Christmas morning!!!!
The fun continued as we ran down the hill to have more gift opening and then a delicious dinner with Fred and Donna Clark. I will always feel blessed to have been adopted by them. Just call me Patty Clark Wels. The highlight of this great gift opening moment was Andrea who was made to feel like a real “Clark” in his Grampa Clark flannel shirt! It came complete with a stocking hat and a giant candy bar in one pocket and a Dr. Pepper in the other.
Monday we were supposed to have Christmas dinner and fun with Todd, Amy and Mary but little Mary was sick and so it was postponed until Tuesday. Stacy came to the rescue with a dinner invitation. She had never gotten around to the Christmas dinner on Christmas so we had it Monday night. I am glad she waited so she could fix it for us!! It was so delicious! Mark BBQ’d a Costco Tri Tip roast! Excellent! With twice baked potatoes and a yummy salad. Yes, I again ate too much. But then we exercised it off with a rousing couple of hours of puzzle working.
On our way home we stopped by the Shumway’s (who were off camping at Camp Esther Applegate) to snitch the package of gluten free coconut and peanut butter balls that Wendy had made for me . Byron made me promise I would bring him some of her special candies! We broke into the house and searched the frig by flashlight to find them. Then we figured we had better stop by the Clark’s to keep them from calling the police on us. Our stop lasted for a wonderful 3 hour visit! We do love the Clarks!
Tuesday we finally got to go see Todd, Amy and 4 year old Mary for all too short of a visit. Mary is quite the character! But she still was not quite feeling herself. Luckily, Amy had to go back to work and Todd had a couple of errands to run so Grampa Lee and Gramma Pat got to stay and play with Mary. We did puzzles and read books and talked up a storm. It was so fun and ended way too quickly.
Tuesday night we attended the Medford Temple with Scott, Wendy, Andrea, and Dani.
Wednesday morning we packed up and headed back to Bandon. We are now sitting in our cozy little trailer that is being rocked by the wind and the rain of coastal Oregon. Tomorrow we are back in the missionary saddle, so to speak and will be off to District Meeting in Coos Bay. I will so enjoy being with the fun Elders again. It is time to rededicate ourselves to the Lord. May He bless us all with a healthy and happy New Year.
No comments:
Post a Comment