Posted on by ChatterLei · 8 Comments

Enjoying a Moment

Sitting quietly in the living room slightly reclined on the sofa, I am breathing easy and wishing for many calm relaxing moments like this. My husband is resting in bed. I am sitting here alone with my thoughts and my laptop. It is a frigid 13 degrees outside, but a toasty 73 degrees inside.

My sister lives around the block. It’s not a square block, but it is within a short walking distance. She has the best space for gathering our family together. Today, she and I celebrated our January birthdays with our families. We served pulled pork and slaw on a bun with fruit and veggies on the side. It was a simple meal we could easily serve on paper plates for easy cleanup so we could quickly start a game of Farkle after dinner. Have you played Farkle? That game is addictive!

My daughter made a luscious lemon birthday cake with raspberry filling and white chocolate ganache frosting, topped with a beautiful barely pink edible peony flower (that she made) and edible gold leaf sprinkled here and there across the cake. It was as beautifully rich looking as it was delicious. Ours was the fourth cake she has made this week. She was truly in her element. She loves baking and creating fun and beautiful cakes for her customers.

That is the same way I felt as a photographer in my 40’s. I LOVED creating and capturing those incredible fleeting moments in life-weddings, graduations, births, family portraits. It brought a moment of exhilarating pride whenever I could envision a beautiful outdoor backdrop that a customer could not imagine until they saw the finished image. Behind a camera I was in my element. People photography is not something I do anymore, but I love to freeze-frame the beauty of this amazing earth, changing seasons, rocks, hills, meadows, mountains, lakes, rivers, oceans, trees, sunsets, as well as manmade buildings, barns, old castles, etc.

So, my sister is double-nickel and I am pushing 60. It won’t be very many more birthdays before AARP will be knocking at my door. Until then, I will keep working, enjoying my grandchildren, and hopefully taking a trip or two with my husband to see some of the beauty this world has to offer in other states or countries where we don’t live.

Yes, enjoying a quiet moment to contemplate life, reminisce, and dream. What a lovely day this has been!

Posted on by ChatterLei · 3 Comments

Happy New Year

What are your biggest challenges?

Apparently, one of my biggest challenges is remembering to take pictures with my family on the holidays. It is regretful. Next year, there will be no photo that will pop up in my memories on my phone from a year ago. No photo memory of today – January 1, 2025.

The morning started with Joe washing 20 big beautiful baker-sized Idaho Potatoes, wrapping them in foil, and placing them in the electric roaster oven while I showered and get ready for the day.

He readied the 14-lb prime rib, gathered all the seasonings and other fixings, and placed the three pies we made yesterday (blueberry, cherry, and mincemeat) into the back of our pickup.

We drove around the block to my sister’s house, where we arrived at about 11AM. Joe seasoned the prime rib and had it in the 500-degree oven by 11:30AM. Ten minutes later, he turned the oven down to 325⁰ and it was perfectly done to medium rare at 2:45PM.

While the meat and potatoes cooked, six of us played Farkle. Have you ever played? It is a fun dice game for two players or more. I had never played until last week. Joe and I like playing it together in the evenings.

At one point, I noticed our teenage grandchildren were gathered at one end of the table with their phones in their hands, mostly lost in their own worlds, but every once in awhile sharing with each other a funny video they saw or some other new discovery.   At the other end of the table, the adults were visiting with one another. I wondered to myself what the grandchildren had ever taken time to learn about my mom, their great grandmother.

My first question to them was if they knew where she was born. I was a little surprised so many of them knew the answer. Then I asked what year she was born and how old she was when she and my dad were married. I asked if they knew where. Did they know how many siblings my parents each had and could they name them all. It was impressive to me that they knew so much. We then asked about my husband’s family and pulled out some photos we had of them.

We had a great day filled with fun, laughter, reminiscing, and good food. My dad started this tradition of prime rib with the family on New Years Day. We missed him for sure. But today’s time spent with family was a great start to the new year.

Posted on by ChatterLei

Happy Halloween!

Welcome!

Only one problem! We can’t get our front door to open. Tonight, Halloween Night, of all nights.

That’s OK. I brought my bucket of candy outside so I can meet the goals and goblins outside. While my husband works furiously to get the door unstuck!

It is a chilly 39 degrees. Hope the kiddos are all bundled up!

Posted on by ChatterLei

Operation Santa!

After three years, of writing his annual Christmas letter to Santa, it finally happened….

On a cold winter afternoon, three days ago, there came a knock at our daughter and son-in-law’s front door. Our daughter opened the door, her eyes widening with wonder and a feeling of disbelief at the tall moving-box-sized box she saw sitting on the porch as the USPS driver backed out of their driveway and headed down the road. She walked around the box, straining to view the postal stamp at the top of the box to see who it was from. She noted the shipping price on the box and, again, her eyes widened. One hundred seventy-three dollars! Just for shipping! Then she noticed who it was from…OPERATION SANTA!

She and my son-in-law drug the box over the threshold through the front door and into the living room. Not knowing what to expect, she opened the box to see what was inside and if she needed to wrap anything. She could hardly believe her eyes when she saw how many wrapped gifts were inside. About that time, her son came running out of his room to see what all the sound of rustling paper was about.

Kneeling down to be closer to him, his mommy wrapped her arm around his waist and pulled him close to her. “Remember when you sent that letter to Operation Santa a few weeks ago and I told you that your letter might not be one of the letters to get adopted?” He answered in the affirmative. She explained that someone in New York adopted his letter this year and purchased several gifts for him that he had asked for in his letter.

His could barely contain his excitement. Turning toward the box that was now lying on its side with wrapped gifts spilling out onto the floor, he raced over and picked up one of the gifts asking if he could open it. His Mommy let him open one gift. Then another one. And another one. Until all of the gifts were opened, except one. There were Mario and Paw Patrol toys that he had asked for, as well as a remote control boat. The last unopened gift was substantially larger than all of the other presents. Curiosity got the best of him and his mommy. She let him open that one last gift. As he tore more and more paper off of the box, it became clear. There it was! The first thing on his Christmas list to Santa! “The Big Dig Sandbox Digger Excavator Crane with 360 Degree Rotation with Base Great for Sand, Dirt and Snow, Steel Outdoor Play Toy in Yellow”

The tears streaming down my daughter’s face, as her sweet thankful son hugged her, were not for the fact he received all kinds of new toys for Christmas. Rather, they were heartfelt tears that reflected her feelings of gratitude for the generosity of a complete stranger in a state several thousand miles away, a stranger who chose to adopt the letter from a kind-hearted boy who hoped for toys that were not clothing or shoes or things like that. My daughter’s six-year-old son who still believes in Santa Claus experienced the joy this year of being on the receiving end of someone’s else’s sacrifice of time and money to bring a child (and his family) joy at Christmas time.

This will be part of my grandson’s Christmas memories that will be shared for the remainder of his life. What a beautiful memory to share!

My daughter, for the last three years (including this year) has adopted letters and sent gifts to children who have written to Operation Santa. She has felt the good feelings of being on the giving end of this great program for those three years. And, this year had the opportunity to see her son’s excitement of being on the receiving end of Operation Santa.

My husband and I also felt the effects of being on the receiving end of this this program. As our grandson shared his excitement with us about gifts he received from someone in New York, my heart swelled with gratitude for those people who so lovingly and willingly brought joy to the face of my grandson and his parents.

I want to be a part of Operation Santa! We are too late to adopt a name this year, but next year and every year after that, we will choose a letter from a child to adopt and send gifts of joy and happiness. I can’t wait! If you want to join us by adopting your own letter for a child, click here and mark your calendar for next year to participate in OPERATION SANTA!!

Posted on by ChatterLei

What Is It About Birthdays?

Happy Birthday!

September 5th. A special day to celebrate. Our family has had three birthdays already this month and one early celebration today. My mom’s youngest sister of six siblings turns 60 next month. She and another sister are here for a visit from Alaska.

My aunt does not look 60-years-old. Nor does she act sixty. She is as bubbly and full of life today as she was cheering for the high school sports team back in the day. Never able to have a child of her own, her spunk and easy infectious laughter will not be passed down through the generations. However, everyone who comes in contact with her, leaves feeling better for having known her. Her friendly, life-of-the-party type of personality draws people to her happiness. They find themselves relaxing and laughing right along with her funny antics or comebacks to friendly jabs thrown her way. In that way, her goodness is passed along to others. Most are not even aware they need the laughter permeating the room like a photographer is not aware of the need for mist over a scenic lake early in the morning as the sunrises, to increase the beauty and emotional connection captured in that moment.

Celebration with loved ones. Reminiscing about old times. Enjoying specially prepared foods and lovingly made cake for such an occasion and this. Being together, increasing bonds of love and friendship with family. And, spending time with others with the same or similar traits as yourself. It is a wonderful feeling to be accepted and loved for who you are. Birthdays are a fantastic opportunity to let others know you are thinking of and taking time to connect with them.

Happy birthday, everyone! May you all feel and/or spread love and happiness on your special day… whenever it is!

Posted on by ChatterLei

Happy Independence Day!!

I am sitting at one of my favorite parks waiting for our local parade to start. Our 6 year old grandson is riding in the parade with a group called Champs Heart. They provide horse therapy for kids with autism and other special needs.

Our town celebrates the 4th of July with a parade in the morning, Riverfest over by the river all day, and the largest fireworks show west of the Mississippi! Riverfest has food and other vendors and bounce house games for the kiddos. The fireworks are set to patriotic music and words. It’s incredibly moving. If you leave there without feeling more patriotic and grateful for the freedoms in our country, then you weren’t really present! Over 100,000 people gather together to celebrate! It’s amazing!

Posted on by ChatterLei

Mother’s Day

Today is Mother’s Day. I spent the afternoon with my 80-year-old mom and my 83-year-old dad, yesterday, to celebrate my mom. We had a good afternoon visiting, eating dinner, then playing pinochle. We already played Friday night, but since we were there Saturday and there was time after dinner, my dad offered the opportunity for us to play again, so maybe the women could win a game. I will share another post about our pinochle nights, which will bring more understanding, but just know it is played women against men in our family. And, it was a good thing we played Saturday because the women finally won! The losing streak is over!

Today, my husband and I went to church. The speakers in Sacrament Meeting shared uplifting messages about women, moms, and our Savior Jesus Christ. They were wonderful talks that did not leave me feeling guilty for not being a good enough mother.

After Sacrament Meeting, we had the Women’s Meeting (called Relief Society). There was a beautiful charcuterie brunch prepared for us. We fed our bodies while the Relief Society Presidency filled our souls with uplifting words about the importance of women, that we are all needed, that our Savior knows the challenges we are dealing with in life, that He loves us, that we are not alone, that we are Daughters of Heavenly Parents, who love us. It Ended with a video of a man who wished he would have appreciated his mother more when he was younger. Now that he was older he understood all of the sacrifice of time and effort and love she showed him.

I am so grateful for my mom. But, also, all of those women who have “mothered” me in my lifetime. Those who have been my teachers, kind neighbors, friends, co-workers who cared, sisters in the gospel, etc. It takes a village. And, particularly today, Mother’s Day, I am grateful for the village of women who have been there to “mother” me when I needed it.