Grandkids - Part Three

This was Brenna's first Christmas as a walking participant. She got a bear quilt.

She LOVED it. Every time it was spread out, she climbed on it. And loved to be wrapped up in it.

Her personality is really coming out! As Jared said, "It's not always a good thing...she's got a temper!" She's also quite a clown!

Her favorite food group? CANDY! Anyone's. She kept finding the big suckers that her aunt and uncle from New Zealand sent them.

Unfortunately, the sucker she found wasn't always hers! And a war would result... Taking candy from a baby is NOT an easy thing! Jared could actually lift her off the chair before he could get it away from her! And when he did - you should have heard the protest!

She's a happy little girl! And SO quick! Keeping things out of her reach and notice kept me on my toes! And she would laugh the whole time she was running circles around me!

She doesn't like shoes! Truly MY granddaughter!

And her little fingers - here she is signing part of her Christmas presents - "Baby signing times." She wanted to watch her video. She learned the sign for "down" which proved very helpful in getting out of her high chair!

She didn't understand what the trip to P.I.R. was all about. But she had a great time! Barefoot. I tried to cover her with her new quilt and she would laugh and kick it off.

I have three other grand-kids in Utah. Thought I would be able to see them the weekend after Christmas when we all were at the temple. The weather changed that. Would love to see what their Christmas was like.

The Grandkids - Part Two

Grandchild #2. Cayden. Melts your heart with his smiles.


Cayden's quilt was a blue puppy. All the kids LOVE their quilts and cuddled with them the whole time we were there. They won't know the time and love it took to complete them for Christmas morning until they are MUCH older. I think they will be treasured for many years.

Both Brenna and Cayden using their new blankets while watching TV


Caught in the car with it.
(Why doesn't this boy trust a Grandma with a camera in her pocket???)



These were taken in the car, by his mom, while coming home from seeing the lights at the Portland International Raceway.

Opening some presents.
I added some books to the Skinner family library. I finished the "Quiet Book" and plan to make one for each of the families, as the need arrives. So - Heather - I'll be working on your next. It wasn't the favorite toy Christmas day, but one they kept coming back to while I was there. I hope it works as intended.

Getting in trouble with Grandpa.

Cayden is so loving. He is the most thoughtful little boy. If his parents are talking about Brenna needing a bib, Cayden is getting up and heading to the kitchen to get one for her. He is VERY pro-active, which sometimes works well and other times gets him in trouble. But he is very generous with his hugs and cuddles. He has the biggest heart.

He loves Spiderman. And anything like Spiderman. Here he is with his "sticky hand." It's tacky enough to stick to these for a short while. He loved throwing it onto the ceiling and having it stick there.

He has numerous Spiderman poses that he will patiently pose in for pictures. He knows the value of keeping your fans happy! With fan comes great responsibility.
I love this next picture. Cayden found my sandals and came over to the table wearing them. Reminded me of the responsibility being a grandparent. There is always some little one watching, trying on your "shoes." Modeling what they see you do. How important it is to have your shoes worth filling.

As I watch my mom decline, and I look at my extended family, I realized something. There are less and less "elders" left. My grandparents are all gone. My dad is gone. Soon I will be the oldest one left in my personal family. The family tree is inverting. Once I was a little leaf on my family branch. Soon I will be the truck supporting the extending network. Odd feeling. To be the elder. Never considered this.

Vancouver - the Grandkids

Ericka made a rag quilt for each of the kids. Many frustrations, late nights,and sore fingers - but such a great keepsake! Faith's was an aqua kitten one.

Once the presents were opened, this was how we saw Faith:

There were necessarily moments of providing the body with fuel....

And then back to the tasks at hand!

Saturday was going to be our day at the temple, but with the weather's intervention, that didn't happen. The roads improved, but not enough to make it to Tri-Cities. Seemed like someone ought to have a good temple visit, so I really wanted to babysit the kids so Ericka and Jared could go. They have a hard time getting babysitters, and Jared's work schedule is so unpredictable. They have planned several trips while visiting down in Medford and had them not work out. I knew they wanted to go and this was something I could DO to help.

I had two adults there with me and STILL was getting bamboozled by the little guys! Faith was my answer person. she knew were everything was and could translate Cayden-ese and Brenna's signing. I would have been lost without her. We didn't get to do ALL the things we wanted to do, but I hope we were able to make some memories.


I got an education about "heelies." Never heard of them before. Like secret shoe skates.

We went to the mall Monday. She held onto Grandma F's wheelchair and glided all over the mall as I pushed them both. Shopping took on a whole new aspect!


This year Faith made ALL her own Christmas presents, completing some of her Activity Days requirements. Getting to spend time with her created a variety of "(fill-in-blank) pants" jokes and a new and very personal rendition of "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer." And we won't talk about the Glow Golf score....

She's growing up so fast.

Christmas in Vancouver - Part One

Christmas with little ones is the BEST!


Everything is exciting and special to them. It doesn't take a lot of money to make their day. It so much fun as a parent to see them so happy and excited about their long -awaited surprises. Until you have your own kids, you don't have a clue of the emotions that run through your heart as you watch their delight at each box they open.

It was Ericka's first Christmas when I experienced that phenomena. I was SO excited about her gifts that I didn't even realize I hadn't opened mine. I didn't need to. There was nothing in a box that was going to make me as happy as her smiles.

I saw that look on Ericka and Jared's faces Christmas morning.

I love OUR family get-togethers. They always are fun. When I used to go to my in-law's (the parents of the kids' dad) as a young mother, the get-togethers always ended the same way. There was too much alcohol. Tempers and voices rose. Angry words were said. Feeling were hurt. Old issues were re-hashed and it was never fun. We left swearing never to do it again - but we did. I'd never been around a family like that.

Our family? The pictures speak for themselves....

Merry Christmas! (And travel-log)

Merry Christmas! We certainly got a white one this year!

I didn't get all the stories posted, but I don't think anyone really cared. Christmas arrangements, temple arrangements, and travel logistics just took over my time. This week didn't work out exactly the way we had planned, but it has been good. Christmas is getting more focus than it started out having. I was preoccupied with our plans to go to the Columbia River temple the weekend AFTER Christmas and getting my mom ready for her first trip to the temple. With dementia, that can be daunting. (And I am talking about her AND mine!!) I was loosing focus.

As the weather worsened and forecasts looked like more of the same - or worse; gathering our family together from three states grew less and less possible, safely. I picked the date originally because it would be a time when I would have part of my family there already. I was trying to avoid creating another trip out for those in Utah. Trying to save traveling expenses when they already have education expenses. They have been so wonderful in trying to visit so often before my son-in-law starts medical school.

The final straw came when their pre-planned trip (since July) became impossible. Portland airport has had great difficulty this year. When NASA says you have snow problem you really have a snow problem. Check out this satellite photo. Oregon became the recipient of our worse snow-bearing storm in 40 years. PDX started shutting down Friday, resulting in cancelled flights. Sunday they closed entirely. Monday, our kids' flight from Salt Lake was one of the casualty's.

The only reasonable thing to do was to re-schedule for sealing for a more realistic (and less stressful) time. Which we did. And I was peaceful about doing. My Redhot was very emotional about the cancellation and I understood that. I was actually surprised how calm and peaceful I felt as I made all the calls and cancellations necessary.

Tuesday we started packing to still make the trip to Vancouver. Opening my closet door and seeing my new temple dress and new "after sealing dress," brought an unexpected reaction. I had a "melt-down." I forgot how my system deals with stress. I an great in an emergency - a REAL emergency. I just switch into this "let's handle current situations" mode and take care of essentials without much problem. LATER - I fall apart. I just forgot, or didn't really consider that there might be more going on than I realized. I didn't see it coming. And it wasn't pretty. (Poor Tom. I thank the Lord every day for him. How he keeps from taking me out when I have mood swings and ADHD moments is beyond me. )

I finally realized what I was feeling. How important this trip was to us. We have been working towards being sealed for about six years. We had made two trips on icy roads into Portland in the weeks before Christmas, to get his temple clothing. Due to the traveling conditions, those were major events. We made a nail-biting drive into Philomath the Sunday before Christmas so that all three of us could get our temple recommends signed by the Stake president. We had done everything we needed to. And we weren't going to be able to go. I had gotten an answer to my prayers concerning the trip. My answer (and I DID make note of the lack of detail I received) was "Everything will be fine." I WAS peaceful. I knew things were in His hands. We just weren't going on December 27th. Once I realized how disappointed I was and was able to grieve a little, things were fine.

We drove up to Vancouver Tuesday. as we had planned. The weather and roads weren't what had planned. Quite an adventure once we reached Salem/Wilsonville area. It had been the hardest hit. It took us two hours to travel 20 miles. I called Jared at one point (we had promised updates, but time was going faster than distance covered). He laughed at how little change there was in our progress and asked if we were walking. I told him no - if I were walking, I would be making better time. We were literally traveling 3-4 miles per hour - which is certainly better than just sitting there. It wasn't parking lot conditions, for which I WAS grateful.

Here you see the several thousand in front of us.

Some places the ice on the road was three to four inches think. It was like driving on a glacier...including the melting-runoff creeks cut into the carpet of ice. Not only was it like "four-wheeling" in regard to the bumps and snow-chain created potholes, we had to ford frozen stream beds. The worst conditions were driven in the dark, of course. But as the sunset, I took a shot of the several thousand behind us, as well. I wish I could have counted HOW many semi-trucks were on the road between Salem and Vancouver. I've never seen so many!

Traveling was pretty sporty. I learned some new driving skills. IF you are traveling a few cars behind a semi-truck on an icy road, and you see that truck slow down, and then start swaying back and forth and up and down - SLOW down. It has reached a really think, rough patch of ice. And it's chains aren't cutting into the icy. And it's going to be at LEAST that bad for you when you get to where he is. I also learned that traveling very slowly for a LONG time makes people crazy. At one point, I found myself traveling in FOUR lanes of traffic - on a highway that only had THREE lanes. Folks just created their OWN lanes, using the right and left shoulders. And I'm not talking about the occasional ya-who who tries to pass you on the right or the left shoulder. This was four lanes of traffic, including semi's who just decided the original construction plan wasn't working out and decided to improvise. SCARY!

All this is so I will remember. I've mentioned before that I'm trying this as a journal substitute. I don't think we will forget Christmas, 2008 anytime soon. Those of us familiar with Oregon and it's heavy snow storms know what comes next. Snow doesn't last all winter here. It will warm up and it will melt. The coastal rivers will flood.

I wouldn't plan on visiting Tillamook in the next few weeks.