Thanksgiving

We have begun the Thanksgiving week. It is an exciting time as our family traditionally gathers. First, we have our children (and their children) for a rousingly good time. We have a dinner at the usual time. On Friday we rest and often do all kinds of physical activity. Second, we have all of my family (and their families) to dinner on Saturday. We expect at least 40.

We recognize our blessings, for family is the biggest blessing there is. To have so many makes us most richly blessed.

Living In The Forest

We currently have 2 bears and 2 cougars living near us. The chicken stay in the coop. It is a little disconcerting to find bear scat in our driveway, but the animals were here first. I believe we can co-exist, as long as they don't mess with me.

Eastern Oregon has the "Three 'S' Rule" for dealing with those critters who might be otherwise protected by law, but who threaten us law-abiding citizens. The rule is: Shoot it, shovel it, and shut up. Most people do OK on the first two and no one here really cares about the last one. Now, if I only had a gun...

The Challenges We Choose

We recently added, by choice and hard work, to our family. We are adopting an intact sibling group of older children. Our friends and family fall into two groups: Those who are extremely supportive and those who are looking for our lost marbles.

We are happy to take on this challenge and we know that we will be able to meet it and, with blessings, surpass it. We have missed a huge amount of these children's lives but we believe that they sincerely want to be part of our family. We truly want them with us, so there's nothing we can't do.

Wish us the best!

Diversity

Just received news that my nephew and his wife are going to adopt a brother and sister from Ghana. This is quite exciting news for a lot of reasons.

We are happy because this has been a long time in coming, with many false hopes raised. We are happy because all children deserve love and these children will add more of that to this family. We are also excited that the parents recognize that children are children no matter their color or ethnicity.

There will be challenges because parenting is a synonym with challenging. But there will also be rewards. Tremendous, humbling, and gratifying rewards. We wish them the best.

To Enjoy Being a Grandparent

I recently had the opportunity to speak with the child (He's 31) of friends of mine. He said that his parents weren't really "into" being grandparents. They have, after all, been grandparents for nearly 15 years and it's old hat.

I'm very saddened by this as they are missing out. What fun it was last night to share the excitement in our granddaughter's recounting of her grand adventure! Given that she's not quite 4, there were parts I didn't get. But, her pure excitement and joy came though and it was so much fun to share.

In essence, I was raised without grandparents and my husband had only one. I always felt that something was missing and I find it hard to believe that a person could be so blase as to not take full advantage of this wonderous opportunity. Not me, though. I love being a Grandma.

The Cycle of Life

We have a new grandson. He was born a little over a week ago and our daughter and son-in-law were able to bring him home from the hospital. He's such a good baby. When I say that, I'm asked if there are "bad" babies. the answer is that there are not, but there ARE "Possessed" babies.

It is a joy to watch children parent and to learn things that have long been in our knowledge bank. Sometimes we forget that such knowledge is often hard-won. For example, getting up at night with a hungry baby can be described but if one really wants to know what it's like, one must experience it. First hand.

Should anyone ask, my grandchildren are beautiful/handsome, talented, and witty. It is a pleasure to stand in the shoes of a grandma with loving grandchildren. Smart, good-looking, quick grandchildren. Make that Superlative.

Attack

Last night the dog was attacked. Don't know what it was but the dog definitely respected it. She was barking up a storm and finally chose to go out and confront whatever was out in the dark. Whatever was there did NOT respect a small black (and loud) dog and she came in very humble.

In the thriller books and movies, the human would then go outside to "take care" of whatever evil lurked. Not me; I figure if it wouldn't go away with the ferocious barking that the dog did, I'm going to cede ownership of the front yard for the night.

Got up this morning to a newly-washed world and no foreigners in the front yard. This may reinforce the belief that if one ignores bad things, they'll go away. Hmm.