Christmas Musings

Today Leonard and I realized that we are losing our minds. I couldn't remember if my cousin Arthur Wood and his lovely wife Virginia came to live in the townhouse next to ours 18 months ago or 30 months ago. I just remember that they moved in during a summer. Now it is winter and it is Christmas Day of 2008. The time seems to be galloping by. Actually, that is the reason we are starting this blog. If WE don't keep track of our lives, who, for goodness sake, will.

So, today is Christmas and we have had the best Christmas ever. Everybody in the family seems to be doing well. Margaret and her girls are advancing in many ways, especially as they grow taller every time we see them. They have their squabbles, but so do we all. Margaret just reported that her girls have just given each other the most thoughtful and lovely gifts for each other. She is on a walk in the snow and seems happy every time I talk to her.

Rachel is awaiting her Dr. appointment on Monday to see if they can determine the gender of the baby she is carrying. I can help out by caring for Chase and Romney. We are all eager to follow the progress of this pregnancy. Rachel keeps all of us up on what needs to be done. She plans ahead - a skill with which I struggle. But between Dad and Rachel, we all get by.

Adam is now in Woodland hoping he can get back to LA. safely. Weather is awful here now but will get worse. Adam and Whitley gave us two MOST lovely presents, a book revolving around the photos of our children when they were young, what they looked like, and what foods we all liked at the time. The book includes the recipes for these much relished items. Kathleen Lewis from Boulder was even in on this thoughtful gift. I will add pictures and text to this book as we move along in life. Their second present to us was the marvelous announcement Whitley's pregnancy, bringing the number of future additions to the extended family to 2.

Peter and Sheri are in St. George, but will be coming here to our place on Saturday. We anticipate their visit. Their little Siena has the cutest little down-turned mouth ever. What a kill she is - all energy and determination.

Dad and I are happier than we deserve. This has been a GREAT Christmas. I gave dad (but really for us both) some DVDs and CDs to help us with our ballroom dancing obsession. Life is good. Kathryn

My turn, my first turn. We both are intermittent writers. Kathryn pens stories of her ancestors, her teaching days, pieces of fiction drawn from her life, and experiences she and we have had. I write, also intermittently unfortunately, about memories of family, relatives and friends. Perhaps someday, I'll post a few samples. However, the point is, as was made by Kathryn, that we're losing our minds, slowly but noticeably. This is not a certified medical diagnosis. It's just the recognition of what happens when one ages. This has been an incredibly busy year or even decade. Yet, recalling names, places, dates, and sequences of things is becoming increasingly difficult and embarassing. I can tell you that we have lived in Russia for three years, have visited China, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the southern band of states in the US, traveled in reverse the trail taken by the Mormon pioneers beginning in 1846 as they left Nauvoo, visited the northeastern states in the USA and the maritime provences in Canada, hiked narrow canyons in the red and orange canyons of southern Utah, biked in Idaho, Montana and Glacier National park, etc. BUT, recalling the year or month or sometimes even specific experiences tests the synapses. Hence, we join ranks with the millions of our human compatriots who have already done so, we begin to blog.