Odds and Ends...

The Bee Z Beaver!!  Awwww!

Where are you sailing, James?

From a letter to Adam from Uncle Allen. Mary Falck played the organ in both the Saturday evening session and on Sunday.  She was terrific.

For FHE last night I did a lesson on what it means to be an Ostergar.  We had FHE with the Melanie and Kennie Jacobsen on the boat.  I shared the story of Grandpa working all summer and being paid a valuable purebred calf.  It later died at the fair before he could sell it.  We talked about being an Ostergar means working hard looking on the positive side of things when things don’t work out how we expect.  I talked about James’ dad being a hard worker.  We also talked about the Ostergar love of missionary work.  Then we sang our beaver songs.

Ruth's been sewing up a storm...darling dress!

Bird Brain?

Peter goes swamp camping...

Peter went camping with the Scouts by the Great Dismal Swamp for three days after Christmas.  The campsite was on an island in a swamp. He canoed for about 30 minutes to get to the site.  The water is black from all the tannins in the vegetation.  (As vegetation decomposes it releases tannins which make the water black and the water was pretty black).   The water also had duck weed on the surface which makes the water look scummy.    You can see it in the picture with Peter and his friend in their life vests.  The canoe in the background aside the dock is in the water.  It looks like it is on the ground, but the green stuff is the duckweed on the water.   

The trees were also really cool.  Some of them were cyprus trees and they grew right out of the water.  They have the wide bases to provide stability in the water - you can also see them in the pictures.   Some of them were covered with spanish moss, and some of them had mistletoe on them.   

The trip was fairly cold.  It got down in to the 20s at night and was in the 40-50s during the day.  They always had a good fire going at night and everyone brought two sleeping bags.  

During the day one of the leaders taught the finer points of managing a canoe (e.g. the J-stroke) in the morning and the afternoon was set aside for exploring the lake and surrounding rivers.    Three of the boys did swim in the lake, but not really by choice.  One of them tried to jump from a tree into a canoe the other two boys were in.  He ended up tipping the canoe and all the boys ended up in the water.    Lesson learned, don't jump from trees into canoes.  

There are alligators in this lake, but they didn't see any this year.  A few years back they saw one about 5 feet from the Scoutmaster's canoe.  The group did see turtles, bald eagles, a deer and a beaver.   (Peter and his Dad sang the beaver song as they went by a beaver house.)

The morning they left they had to break through ice with their canoes in some places in the lake.  It was cool.  (ha, ha).  

All in all it was a great trip.  

Check out the swamp and the duck weed and Peter

Cypress trees and Peter

Peter in the Great Dismal Swamp

Christmas Poem and thoughts

We love our neighbors, the Call's.  Many of you know Tammy, who has been a dear friend to me for many years. She has a knack for getting to know people and for keeping me honest in my heart!  She likes to do fanciful watercolor paintings.  This one is entitled, Christmas in El Paso, Texas.  On the south west hill across the border to Mexico, you can see a cross.  You can also see three Christmas trees in all the lovely colors.

Tammy also wrote a l poem this year in the wee hours of a December morning:

AS WE CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS

SEEK
SILENCE
AND
OH PLEASE
LET PEACE COME
IN THE
STILLNESS OF THE NIGHT
WHEN
ONE STAR
BRIGHT
ILLUMINED THE NIGHT
PAUSE
AND
REMEMBER
WITH
WONDER AND AWE
AND
LISTEN
YES
LISTEN
FOR
THE VOICE
THAT
WHISPERED
WITH
TENDER SOFTNESS
THE
LOVE OF A MOTHER
FOR HER CHILD
THE STAR OF THE NIGHT

TAMRA SHEPPARD CALL
LATE NIGHT 2 OR SO
DECEMBER 9TH 2013

There was a note inside her card to us and to all other Ostergars...

Your Mother

Full of Grace & Goodness

spoke the

Message of Christmas

As only a Mother

A Mother could

with Insight

And a Belief

that she holds 

Deep within her

whole Being

That He-- the Savior

of the World

Lives - and

His Love for ALL

is

True--for

Me and for You.

It's a New Year!

Welcome 2014!

We gathered at Aunt Anna'a for a New Year celebration.  We started the day by attending the "Sacred Gifts" exhibition at BYU.  We enjoyed and were inspired by wonderful paintings of Christ.  It is such a wonderful opportunity to see great art work in its original form.  The way the light plays on the paint and the vividness of the colors cannot be expressed in even the best art prints.

Everyone brought their leftover yummy food to share from Christmas and Grandpa cooked up a ham and a roast to add to it, along with Uncle Robb's famous hot cheese dip and Anna's lovely home made rolls.  The best part, is visiting with family.  Some went to the movies on New Year's Day.  Grandpa and I enjoyed "Frozen".

We spent some extra time with Bright over the holidays and were able to drive her back to Price to start her new semester.

Bright and crochet learning project!

Can you find Erica?

Sunny, James, Daisy, Noah and Mary

And More Initials

Anna Belle

Peter

Bright

Seth

Andrew

Jane

Christmas Around the World!

We made our own Christmas crackers this year.  I ordered the popper part on line and we did the rest. We always had Christmas crackers when I was growing up in Canada.  They are traditional for Great Britain. Each cracker had a party hat, some yummy gold coins, a fortune, some stickers and 5 puzzle pieces. We all gathered round before dinner to open our crackers and put together our puzzle!  Cousin Brent, his wife Andrea and their baby Ellie joined us for our prime rib dinner with Yorkshire pudding and all the trimmings.

Adam's Christmas tree!  Buon Natale!  He looks pleased.

Christmas table with Erica and our fun Christmas cracker hats!

Christmas morning in Provo

Christmas Eve Eve Trifle
Creamy, Cakey, Raspberry goodness!!

Christmas Eve in Laguna Niguel

More Birthday Initials

Happy 2014!

Because of all the holiday fun, I didn't do much on the blog, as you can see!

Here are some more initials.

Sunny

James David

William

Julia

Henry

Ruth