Christmas 2012: Day 4 & 5

Ah...finally Christmas Eve had arrived. We started out our morning by searching the web for a present for Dave and Anne (better late than never). Shortly, thereafter, Dave took us to see the Shrine. The Shrine has fifteen stations of the Passion of Christ and it took us about an hour to walk it. The weather was a bit on the chilly side due to the wind.

After touring the Shrine, we went to the mall, where we sucked down a warm mocha and ate a soft, salty, warm pretzel. We did a little more Christmas shopping and then headed back to the house to chill before meeting the Bafias for dinner.

The Bafia's are friends of the Vaughns and they were gracious enough to invite us all over for Christmas Eve dinner. Joe is Polish, and it is their custom to serve a traditional Polish meal on Christmas Eve. We ate potato and sauerkraut perogies, fish, green beans, macaroni & cheese and a few other items I can't recall. They also had served some yummy cookies and peppermint bark, too! (Yes, I did indulged!)

After spending a couple hours with the Bafia's, we headed back to the house to open up Christmas gifts. Steve and I received this nice piece from the Vaughns:

The night was cut short as we had to get up early to leave for the airport. The time we spent with the family was wonderful. It had been four years since we had seen everyone, so it was definitely time to get together.

I really appreciated having Dad Vaughn there with us as I can't remember ever a time when we all were together for Christmas. On several occasions, when my eyes gazed upon him, I couldn't help but see a grandpa who was enjoying every minute with his sons and grandchildren. The big grin on his face really said it all! It truly blessed my soul!

Christmas Day was spent driving to O'Hare International Airport, sitting on the tarmac for 2 hours, and finally arriving home (after picking up Levi) a little after 6pm. We praise the Lord for giving us good travel and safety. He protected us from all the weather patterns that threatened to hit the area prior to our arrival and after our departure. I praise God that he takes care of even the smallest details in our lives. Another blessing was Dad Vaughn was able to fly in and out of Chicago, on standby - during the Christmas holiday without any serious delays. Truly we have been blessed this Christmas season.

Where Have I Been - "Snippets"

Snippet #1: So many things have happened since I last blogged. Back in June 2010 my dad found out he had Stage 4 lung cancer. But on November 13, 2010, just 10 days after his 75th birthday, he passed out of this world. Since then my life seems different. It is like I've been looking through another set of eyes. Things that seemed important at one time, are not as important now. Experiencing the death of a loved one is very difficult, but I thank the Lord for being faithful and true and for all the support I received from my family and friends.

Snippet #2: February 26, 2011 Steve and I celebrated our 28th Wedding Anniversary.

Snippet #3: In March of 2011 Steve and I went back to see my mom and helped her clean out my dad's garage - we had a "Manly-Man" garage sale. Steve just about sold everything within 3 days. It was hard seeing my dad's "stuff" (others may view it as "junk")go for pennies, but in the end mom had a garage that was clean and could actually house her vehicles.

Snippet #4: In August, Steve celebrated his 47th birthday.

The grill was a present from me and the apron was from Mrs. Sargent. Steve has become quite the griller!

Snippet #5: Shortly thereafter, my sister and I traveled back to see mom in September and to celebrate her 78th birthday. Mom is looking well, but she is very lonely.

Snippet #6: November is always a great month because we love to be around family and friends. Since all of our family is out of state, we got to spend time with friends. Thanksgiving Day was spent with the Hower's and what a meal Tess put on. She is a super great Southern cooker! There was a whole slew full of people there, which made the day even more fun.

Snippet #7: This month I just celebrated my 47th birthday and can't believe I am just 3 years away from 50. Now that's crazy.

I would have posted sooner, but it has taken me about a month to figure out how to get back into my account. I have other things I want to post, but that will have to come a little later.

Christmas Time 2009

Steve and I had a very quiet Christmas Day. The morning started with opening gifts from family. Levi got two new toys and a bag of treats. Steve received slippers, Bible cover and a engraved license plate holder that says: "LIFE....living it and loving it!". I received a heavy duty 10-piece cookware set, which I absolutely needed and loved.

Around 9:30am we headed out to church for Christmas Morning Service. Pastor Sargent brought a Christmas message out of the book of Revelation (betcha thought I was going to say one of the Gospels...surprise)! Excellent message.

After the morning service we drove to Safeway, bought ingredients to make chili and came back home. Before we knew it, our bellies were full and we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing.

We were invited to the Sargent's house around 4:30pm for fellowship, dessert and games. The evening went fast as we spent time with Pastor, Vickie, Vicki's mom, Josh, Sara and their very exhausted Cocker Spaniel, Lucille.

By 10:00pm we were ready to retire and went fast to sleep.

I just want to thank my family and friends for all the wonderful gifts we received this Christmas time.

Cookware from Steve... A Levi puzzle from Carolyn.... A heated mattress pad from my parents... A chain saw from Teri and Larry, and a Boyd's bear with honey, from Dave and Anne.

If you want to see some cute pictures of Levi from this holiday season and the gifts we received, check out the Birthday and Christmas 2009 Slide Show.

A Whirlwind of a Day!

Yes, yesterday was my birthday and what a whirlwind of a day it was! From the moment I woke up until it was time to go to sleep, I was on the go with one surprise after another.

My morning started with a big Happy Birthday from my best friend and hubby, Steve! I opened up my presents and received a 12" skillet and day planner pages for 2010. Great gifts as I was in need of both items. Thanks honey!

It wasn't soon after that, my sister called to wish me a Happy Birthday too! Yeah! She gave me two cards (a serious one and a funny one, which I loved) and $25 to purchase a flat iron. Awesome! I can't wait to try it out.

Not even five seconds after I hung up the phone, my mom and dad called. They wished me a Happy Birthday and told me my gift was on its way. It was good talking with them, and I would of talked longer, except time was fleeing away quickly and I needed to get to work. I can't wait to see what mommy and daddy got me! :)

Out the door and a little behind schedule I headed off to work where I met up with my friend Mary Fanning, who bought me, the birthday girl, a 16oz skinny, extra hot Chai; which I gladly drank until there was know more to slurp. Thank you very much!Yummy!

Shortly thereafter, my boss, Kathi, entered the building as secretively as she could and surprised me with cake and roses. All the staff that was available came and sang Happy Birthday to me (which was a prerequisite, especially, if they wanted a piece of cake), and then I blew out the candles, again and again and again. (Yes,Kathi used those funny candles that keep relighting).

Afterwards Kathi took me out to lunch at a local restaurant called Flyers. I had never been there before. The music was to loud, but the food and time we spent together was wonderful! Thanks Kathi for making my day so special.

Now I was really behind schedule as I was suppose to be out at the church by 1:30pm to work in the print shop and visit with my dear friend Vicki for a few minutes. By the time I got to the church Vicki was already gone, but.... lo and behold what did I find, but a birthday present left behind just for me. I joyfully opened the package up and found a jello mold bowl, two boxes of jello, heavy duty red pot holders and a meat masher. I had been looking for a jello mold bowl for awhile and now I have one. Guess I won't be able to ask her to bring a jello dish during the holidays anymore, now that I have been equipped. Yeah! Great gift and very, very useful! Thanks so much.

Three hours later and Baptist Doctrine IV completely printed, I was beginning to wind down. I called Steve to tell him I was heading home and that was when he promptly said, "We have reservations at 7:00pm, I will be home soon to pick you up". Well in no time, Steve whooshed me away to Christopher's, a very nice restaurant in Coupeville. Steve had pork tenderloin, with vegetables and scalloped potatoes and I had BBQ Salmon slowly oven baked, with wild rice and veggies. To top it all off, the restaurant served me a chocolate cake in honour of my birthday. The evening was fantastic, the atmosphere and my date were perfect.

On the way home we had to go back to the store to pick up some fudge to wrap for a customer and Vicki called to wish me a "Happy Birthday". I was so glad I got to talk to her before the night ended. Now all was complete.

Finally, twelve hours later, I got home, put on my PJ's and sat down exhausted, but happy from the days event! Thank you all...family and friends...for making my day so special and for all of the Birthday Wishes! I really did have a "sweet" day!

The Other Family

Let me introduce you to my nephew Tony and niece Shanya. They belong to Steve's side of the family. I have only met them a few times in their short lives and I'll have to tell you they are fun to be around.

Tony is involved in Speech at his school. This does not surprise me at all since his mother loves English and his father loves acting (or acting out, I could say). Shayna will be a teen next year and has a love for reading and is still finding out where her passions lie.

Tony and Shayna have a great sense of humor, can shoot straight with you and are smart. Both of these young adults are not shy, nor are they afraid of holding a conversaton with you; which I appreciate immensely.

This photo was taken on the ferry ride from Clinton to Mulkiteo the morning they were heading back home. We were able to spend a few short days with Dave and his family and Steve's Uncle Bob (I've put up a short slideshow of the family).

I hope that we will be able to get together with the family in the future. Time doesn't stop for anyone and these young people will be out of the house and on their own in no time.

My Heritage - Part II

What a ride I have been on! For a month now, I have been diligently researching my family heritage. I still have not found any avenue that would link my family to "Derbe"; however, I have found some very interesting nuggets along the way.

The very first BIG nugget came when my family and I began to dig around for some information. My dad had called and talked to his brother Terry about our genealogy and that is when Terry told my dad about a book written by Viola Bromley Derby, called the Derby Genealogy. SCORE!! If this woman was alive today I would give her the biggest hug ever! The book is out of print, but I happen to have found it on CD, another huge nugget!

She took our heritage all the way back to first generation Americans, which started in the early 1700's in Massachusetts- unbelievable! She charted out first generation to the eighth generation and now, I am filling in the last five generations.

This has been a very exciting project and I hope to do and find out more about my family in the coming months.

If you have ever thought about following your ancestry you have to check out ancestry.com. It is a very useful and helpful site.

I'll keep you posted along the way!

My Heritage

On Saturday my sister sent me a link to Ancestry.com. I clicked on the link and found the family tree she started. I didn't realize how much I didn't know about my family. Now I'm hooked and in the fact finding mode so I can help fill in the details. We also got our folks involved, which was absolutely necessary, in helping us fill in the puzzle pieces. They have been such a great help. We still have many blanks to fill in, but are excited at the prospect of finding out more about our ancestry.

My dad says are family originated in Europe, so we will see. There is a town mentioned in Acts 14 and Acts 16 called Derbe. Although I can't prove it, I have often wondered if maybe this is where are family began. The Wikipedia states,

"In ancient times, Derbe was one of a few Christian cities, and was used as a refuge for traveling Christians. Its Christian church was burned and buried under a mountain of soil by the Roman Emperor Diocleitan, during the Diocletian Persecution, this event took place just prior to the year 300 AD. After the destruction of Derbe, there was a mass exodus of the population. Many went to western Europe, settling in modern day France. It is during this time that the last name "Derbes" began to be expressed with the connotative meaning, "man from Derbe". The name is still expressed as a surname to this day." Today, Derbe is an ancient city in the country of Turkey.

Kind of interesting, huh?

If you have never checked ancestry.com out, you should take a peek, but beware, you might get the fact finding bug too.