The Happiest of Holidays

In many ways, it could be called the Hubbub of the Holidays but we packed so much into these two weeks -- it was indeed the happiest of times.   Seeing Christmas through the eyes of our Grands is always a joy.

No way could I do my usual full-scale decorating, so that left me time to focus on what it really important. .  . the revelation of God . . . the Eternal God come to live among us.  

We heard some moving messages at Redeemer Covenant related to the Presence come to live among us.

We began the season with the kids Christmas Choir performance - on Sunday, Dec. 9

Wed the 17th, I raced from giving finals to my high schoolers to Jack's Preschool presentation of the Christmas Story in which Jack was a Cow.  And a cute cow he was.  Jack had all four grandparents there -- as Jim and Jan had come early.  

                              
Jim and Jan celebrated their 50th anniversary on Dec. 21st with Mat and Bethany and some special surprises. The 3 Goodletts slept over and then on Saturday morning, we hosted our Family Holiday Brunch with Jim and Jan and Mat, Bethany and the kids.  Monday morning the 24th  J & J took off for Denver to have Christmas with Marshall and Katie.

Christmas Eve we attended the Candlelight service at Redeemer with the family and then back to our house for dinner and gifts.

Christmas morning was all about gifts and new puppy and a lovely Christmas dinner that night at Bethany and Mat's.

Meanwhile in Denver our two CO cuties were enjoying Christmas with Grammy and Granddad Good.  

On the 29th we headed to OKC to meet Marshall and Katie and babysit while they hunted for a house.  We were able to stay at an restored home with airbnb., in a neighborhood Marshall likes to call gentrified.

Charlie had a huge case of "PawPaw" the whole time and loved wrestling with him and crawling up in his lap.

The house Marshall rented was right in the Plaza District of OKC where lots of restaurants are opening up.  Having lived in OKC for four years he was so excited to see all the changes.  (We forget he's always working and doesn't get to have much time off to connect with friends and eat out.)  He got a chance to try out a couple of places.

We wrapped up our trip with a stop at the Science Museum on New Year's day.   All too quickly it was time for Clara and Charlie to head back to Denver.

Don't know if this is where the Bell Family will call home in mid-summer -- but we enjoyed looking at neighborhoods they are exploring.

Growing Up In the Lord

        Campbell at 2 years of age and now at 8. So many special moments with this little girl!


Yesterday I had the joy of sharing the communion message with Campbell.  I had asked her on Saturday when the kids slept over if she'd like to help me and she said sure!  She went on to say "I could "floss" (that crazy dance) or I could tell a riddle."  I nixxed both of those ideas and said we wanted to tell the birth story.
When she dressed for Church and came into our room I couldn't believe how much she's grown up in these 8 short years.  
Campbell did an awesome job answering my questions -- and helping us tell the story.  This Nana heart was soooo proud!  Our prayers for her, and Sydney and Jack and Clara and Charlie and baby-soon-to-be is that the story of Jesus will flow freely from their lips and their hearts will always be full of hope and strong in faith!!!

Birthday Blessing in Disguise

All that mopping up water on T's Birthday led to a November / December that was filled with

Four fans running all the time

Serve-Pro assessing the situation and telling us that  $5000 would take care of any mold that might have accumulated over the years --- NIX that one == insurance doesn't cover your mold problem that might have pre-existed.

State Farm told us we did have a claim and yes, they would even replace the carpet in the Dining / Room Living Room and the Laundry Pergo would be claimed in as well.

Not knowing what to do -- it was really clear -- God reminded me that Joel Ray could tackle the issue and we would have the confidence we needed that our work would be done right.

Then began the dance - as Joel calls it -- back and forth with Insurance Adjuster.  No real big problem -- but it did take a while.   It took no time to find the floor we wanted.

It's funny how amid all the confusion and chaos -- when you settle in and tell God you don't know what to do next -- HE makes it pretty clear.

So we emptied out, packed up and Joel's team MOVED it all into 2 tiny areas.  It looked and felt like a hoarder's paradise.  Sydney looked at the new arrangement and called it "fancy.  The kids thought the new arrangement was the best for playing hide and seek.

The Christmas tree is not up --

The decorated mantel is hidden

BUT

After 3 weeks, we're putting it all back together and we couldn't be happier!

JR Tile is the one you need to re-new, repair and replace your flooring!  .

Celebrating ONE GREAT MAN -- Babe, Dad, Pawpaw, Boo Boo

Sometime last month, Terry said, "I don't want you doing a big deal for my birthday."  

OK- so what's a BIG DEAL that he would so totally love -- but not a big deal with a huge bunch of folks??? Time. With. Family.

I e-mailed our family -- and invited everyone to come surprise T for the weekend!  They were right on with it and started making travel plans.  Dave and Dolly coming from VA -- Candy and James from TX - Marshall and Katie secretly making plans with Bethany to surprise us all.

 It has been 13-14 years since we'd all been in Tulsa together. In that time our kids have married, started their families and we'd all gotten older.

 Bethany and I started menu plans that centered around T'giving since that's the meal Candy and her family always shared with us in the fall.  I made Meme Bell's favorite coconut pie -- pecan pie -- (Pop grew all kinds of pecan trees -- so we always had pecan pie).

I told Terry that Bethany and the kids were coming for dinner and he didn't even notice that I had set the table for extras -- I just kept the lights down in the dining room.  B & the kids settled in and T looked up to see James and Candy at the door.  He was so surprised!!! Meanwhile, we kept getting texts from David that their flight had been delayed even longer.

Finishing supper AND dessert, still no David and Dolly -- finally James and Candy had to get to bed and left for the hotel.  Terry, decided it was time to turn in and started getting ready for bed, setting the alarm and all our usual nighttime routine.  David texted to see if he was available and then rang the doorbell -- There the two of them stood with bows on their heads -- singing happy birthday!!!  
Terry was even more surprised!!!  

We snacked on leftovers

Talked

Talked some more 

and all of us headed to bed.

About 1:30 Terry heard the toilet upstairs running water and the downstairs toilets gurgling.  

When he stepped into the kitchen bathroom there was an inch of water!!!!

We shut off all water at the street  -- sorry people -- have to go to QT or Walmart to potty.

Mopped up -- looked for more towels and sheets -- mopped up some more.

It was our coldest morning of the year!   At 7:30  Terry and I headed to Walmart to buy gallons of water.  

Marshall showed up to surprise his dad and he became in-charge person to help us navigate this situation --

He and I headed to Walmart for a fan.

Later Marshall bought more fans.

Happy BIRTHDAY  TERRY!!!!

While the rest of us brunched at Bethany's -- Terry sat at home waiting on first a plumber named Ted -- who couldn't get his rig together to get over -- so we went the Roto Rooter route.  

Uncle David ripped kids faces off, much to their delight, and put them back on just like he used to do with Bethany and Marshall when they were little.










4:00 and $500 later -- we had water and started to re-boot our birthday celebrations.

Marshall and his Uncle Dave grilled steaks, Bethany hosted a wonderful family celebration and we all enjoyed the time to affirm, toast and encourage each other.

To complete the surprise - Bethany was able to have a Sasquatch Birthday cake made for him -- (the entire family believes in Big Foot and the Goodletts look for him every year -- while Marshall & Terry watch Big Foot specials.) Uncle David was a hit with the 5 Grands -- ripping their faces off like he used to with Bethany and Marshall.

Sunday we were able to reclaim our holiday and enjoy the day at our house. 

Yes, we had a BIG BIRTHDAY DEAL -- a beautiful family reunion, lots of affirmations and touching toasts --along with memories of sopping up water with Dave -- lots of stories will come from this as well as a new floor.

Two By Two

This picture spoke to me on so many levels.  I love the way these two look out for each other. Clara makes sure little bro is doing well at preschool.  She shares her treat with him.  She bosses him when he needs it.  Charlie looks to Clara - just like his daddy looked to his big sister for cues about life years ago when they were this age.

Don't we all need that person to come alongside us to give us their hand and show us how we do life?

I watch these two -- play, compete with each other and look out for one another.  Jack will quickly do what Sydney tells him to before any of the rest of us.  She loves being his "life coach".

This reminds me of a well-known passage:
Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor:  Eccl. 4:9

This young lady is growing up so quickly.  Being big sister, she "mothers Jack" and teams up with Sydney for sister time.  

Long Days and Even Longer Nights

Passages of scripture speak of suffering.  C. S. Lewis wrote a narrative on the problem of pain. I have received so much help from authors who explained suffering from their life experiences and cited what God taught them in the process.  I go back to 1 Peter 5 from time to time.  I remember passages about weak knees.
Jesus tells us in this world we'll have tribulation (hard times) but reminds we will overcome.

It is times like these that as the pit gets deep, we know God goes deeper still.  Our prayers recently have been for God to take us deeper in Him.  There's a book entitled "dark night of the soul". I've not read it -- but I think that title describes long nights of pain.

I watch my man go through days of intense joint pain that at times is debilitating to the point that walking becomes a problem.

Our past two months have been a cycle of prescription changes, reducing the strength of pain meds, insurance refusals and in all of it -- we felt this is in God's plan to bring better health in the long run.  We have been encouraged by our new pain physician, Dr. Brian Torgerson.

While on vacation, Terry knew this change was a real possibility as we battled the insurance company -- so he prepared himself spiritually, physically and emotionally.  We have tried to simplify our lives and minimize his stress.

Sometimes it is difficult to understand as I watch Terry struggle with flu-like symptoms, fatigue, blurry vision, nausea and sleepless nights 2-3 times a week with intense pain. Just as it looks like we have it all behind us -- there is another medicine reduction and the cycle starts again.

Today Terry got his last reduction from the extended release med -- we are gearing up and setting our minds toward this transition.  
However, a new medication was added today and our prayers are that the new pain patch will be effective in ways the other medication wasn't.  Our hope is rising for relief and better health in the months to come.

The Beach Beckoned -- Bolivar Island

In planning a get-away vacation - Terry and his sister, Candace, decided it was time for another reunion. 

We put together the best possible family reunion:

Pick a place -- Bolivar Penisula-- it just happens to be a fav of Candace and her family -- both her kids and their families vacation there almost every summer for 25+ years.  Our family used to go there often when we lived in Texas.

Set a time -- July 27  - August 2

We'd hoped David and his wife Dolly were going to be able to join us.

That left us four old "geezers"  and four dogs.

It was so fun catching up on the past 10-12 years




Rent a house:  Candace (Candy as we call her) picked the best possible house --  With a Lift!!!

Talk about a week of utter relaxing - the most cooking we did was making morning coffee or an occasional sandwich - and James did the apple fritter run to the donut shop every morning!

Catch up with family - Zac and Uncle Terry

Zac and his family spent their first night on the beach camping outdoors

It was soooo relaxing -- sitting on the deck --

Listening to the waves

Watching sunrises with a cup of coffee

Enjoying the Blood Moon over the Gulf

Walking the beach

Doing the favorites:  Eating at Stingaree Restaurant, Souvenir Shopping, A trip to Galveston - Riding the Ferry and Walking the Strand 

You know you're relaxed when your whole time is spent looking for the migration of the pelicans headed North and feeling the call to just sit and listen and enjoy the sea breeze.