Tag Archives: Christmas

Christmas Memories

Digging through the files. This is Logan when he was two. He has always been a Christmas kid.

One year we got me Logan some Thomas the Tank Engine track and cars. I He loved it until ~~Heather took it away from me~~ he outgrew it. Sniff.

At least two out of the three of us can smile.

Boompa and Nana with Logan. Boompa, Charles, was the word’s greatest FIL and a heck of a great guy. He and Logan loved each other and were best friends. He was taken away from us suddenly years ago and we still miss him every day. Boompa loved Christmas and he loved his grandson.

This is my mother, Granny, with Logan when he was about six months or so. Nobody loved her kids, grandkids, and great grandkids like Granny did. She is also gone now.

We are moving forward though making new memories. We are confident that we will meet up with Boompa, Granny, and others again and the memories will be that much sweeter.

For new classic singers can anybody beat Michael Buble?

For great Christian Gospel Hymns check out my friend Driller's Christmas Music Marathon, going on now.

Decorated for Christmas

I love Christmas decorations and Nana, the world’s greatest MIL does it right. This is her tree in the entry way.

This is the tree in the “front room.” I used the Hipstamatic App on my Ipod Touch to make most of these pics. I love low fi photography.

This is her cast iron stove in the entry way. I lovet greenery and the Merry Christmas sign.

And on the upper level of the stove are my wife’s first cowboy boots. Her grandparents owned a ranch and horses in western Oklahoma (that is still in the family btw) and of course she had to have boots. I love seeing these ever year.

This isn’t a Christmas decoration. This is son Logan at my employer’s Children’s Christmas Party when we first moved back to Tulsa a long time ago. I sure miss those days. A big part of Christmas to me is memories and there are lots of great memories and lots of sad memories of people who are no longer with us. Christmas is also a major Christian holiday. Sometimes I think it is just too much for one day, we need to spread it around to several days.

If you celebrate Christmas, how is your Christmas?

Closing out with my very favorite Christmas Song. “Last Christmas” by Wham. I guess that I consider it an old song but it came out in 1984. So it is an oldie.

Weekend Reflections – Christmas Lights

There is something out reflections at night when it is pitch black outside. It is very disorienting and beautiful at the same time.

Looking down into the water you don’t see the water, it seems like if you jumped in you would fall forever.

Linking with Weekend Reflections

Rhema Bible Training College Christmas Lights

Sunday after church I spent all afternoon putting our modest collection of lights up on the house. It always amazes me how long it takes to drag the stuff out, untangle everything, see what works and what doesn’t, run to the store to get what you need, drag the ladder out and then climb up and down the ladder a gazillion times. That takes 90% of the time, the rest of the time is actually putting up the lights. And then you get to make the adjustments and replace bulbs that decided not to light and well you know. Here we are.

So, we loaded up and and went to the Tulsa suburb of Broken Arrow to the campus of Rhema Bible Church and their gift to the community of a pure over the top Christmas lights show. (And yes, check out the web site, don’t tell them Yogi sent you unless you want to be prayed over, a lot, and then escorted off the campus.)

Their web site say they have two million lights and that seems like an undercount to me. There are lights everywhere.

I hope they get a discount on their power bill because even with led’s I bet that Public Service Company of Oklahoma is keeping an extra generator going.

They have trees wrapped and all sorts of characters like the gingerbread man above.

Heather and I liked the tree wrapped above with all different color lights. I wonder what the story is.

They do all this for free. It is just amazing and it is very popular.

And an ark.

And a Merry Christmas sign

And there is Logan and Heather. And no, she is not shrinking. It just looks like it.

Rhema keeps the lights going from 5:30 to 11:30 nightly through January 1. Go check them out if you are close.

A Belated White Christmas

Hey we finally got a little bit of snow here in Oklahoma. The kind of snow that I like. It covers the grass and trees but doesn’t stick to the driveways and roadways.

Just enough to get some snow pics but not cause any disruption.

I’m not a big fan of disruption.

It is amazing how fast the snow shovels and sleds appear and mild and bread disappear at grocery stores with the first hint of snow.

I’m doing a transition out of Christmas and into New Years. I’ve even quit using my Christmas coffee mug and started using my New Year’s mug. All I need is a few hours of warm weather so I can take the Christmas decorations down.

Have you started your transition yet?

Christmas Critters 2014

I always have a little bit of a problem with Christmas. I’m kind of slow to get going on the ole Christmas Spirit and then I can’t just stop it on a dime. I kind of have to slowly wind down. So that’s why I’m still posting Christmas after it is over. Today it is our Critters. We include them in our Christmas although the dogs were a little put out because we didn’t get them new toys this year. Heather brought out last years toys and they were not impressed a bit. We did have treats for them.

Do you celebrate Christmas with your animals?

Linking with Saturday’s Critters

If Santa were Truly Magical he would Assemble and not Just Deliver

I don’t get the whole deal with Santa Claus, do you? I mean the little fat dude and his elves somehow to arrange to deliver all sorts of goods from all sorts of places to kids all over the world in just a matter of hours. He is almost as good as Amazon Prime. My question is why can’t he assemble the stuff he delivers? I mean finish the job. I can tell you with Logan over the years I have spent hours putting together bicycles and action figure sets and scouring the internet looking for tips. Cmon Santa, throw us a bone why don’t you?

I’m using my new sports video camera. it takes stills also. I hadn’t disabled the date function yet.

Santa got Logan a new trampoline this year. It is his third. He loves his Indoor trampolines and just wears them out. So Santa keeps bringing him new ones. Well Santa just delivered this big ass heavy box that has been in our garage for a few days. And that’s the end of his responsibility. It is up to me to get the thing moved out back and assembled.

Sorry about my messy garage. Santa doesn’t clean and organize garages either.

Yeah, well I’m an older Dad and we older Dad’s don’t struggle with the box moving it out back. We take the stuff out of the box and move it out back in several trips. That’s not as manly as taking the whole box back but sure is a lot easier.

Nice thing about winter is that grass turns brown and doesn’t grow.

So there it is. Now if Santa was magical, couldn’t he just give me a shazzam to make it all pop together?

The camera has a 170 degree view which gives everything a fisheye effect which works for this kind of shot.

Hey, I got something better than a shazzam, I got Heather back from a shopping trip with Nana. (In case you are wondering Nana financed the trampoline.) Heather immediately regretted not shopping longer as I recruited her into finishing the task.

So with Heather, you just get right to work. No stopping to take pics or anything like that. She is a mom you know. Mom’s don’t put up with Dad’s foolishness too much. Anyway I used my new SJ4000 camera to video Logan and his friend Q jumping and then I handed the camera to Logan to get a view of what the world looks like while you are jumping on the trampoline. It records in HD mode which for nice pics but it takes forever to load them. Sorry about all the fingers and thumbs. I’m still learning.

So, what do you think? Should Santa assemble as well as deliver?

Another Christmas in the Books

Christmas 2014 is winding down. Ours was a low key affair. Just our family of three and Nana, the world’s greatest Mother-In-Law.

We slept in and checked out our Santa gifts and then just chilled out with coffee.

Logan stayed in his pajamas all day. He deserved it. He had a very successful first semester in his new school with amped up academics compared to his old school. So, what the heck. Stay in your pj’s all day Logan.

Nana came over with her two dogs and we exchanged gifts. No big expensive items this year. I got two more cameras. I think have more cameras than anyone I know. One was a sports camera kind of like a Go Pro. Hopefully more on that later. The other is a Fuji Instant Camera kind of like the old Polaroids. It is a hot item among teen age girls and me. It makes very small low fi pics and if you know me, that is right up my alley. Here are a few examples.

We didn’t smoke a turkey. Heather made a breakfast casserole. Lots less fuss. We thought a lot about our family elsewhere. My family was in Idaho Falls, Idaho, Colorado Springs, and Wisconsin. Heather had family in western Oklahoma and north central Texas. We also thought about family members who are not around any longer.

The pets always provide a little comic relief. They always have that look like “what is going on/”

I promise you, somewhere under all the lettuce, and other veggies are some world class enchiladas.

Later in the evening we moved the show to Nana’s house. Heather made New Mexican style flat enchiladas with green chile sauce and of course an egg on top. They are kind of like regular enchiladas except not rolled up and are very good. It was a big treat when I was a kid. And of course they come with a fried egg on top. We finished off the evening with a fierce game of Farkle. I mouth off a lot during such games and enjoy other people trying to get their revenge.

Anyways, this Christmas went pretty well. How was yours? I want to know. Also, have you ever had flat enchiladas?

Merry Christmas from Us to You

Merry Christmas from Oklahoma!!

May this holiday season sparkle and shine. May all your wishes and dreams come true and may you feel this happiness all year round.*

Linking with Skywatch Friday

*Read more wishes and quotes: http://www.wishesquotes.com/christmas/top-20-christmas-greetings#ixzz3Mmp08oBN

Song-ography – White Christmas Edition

The theme on Songography is “Any Christmas Song.” I picked White Christmas because to Christmas is very nostalgic for me and White Christmas is a very nostalgic song. And a big part of my childhood was spent in Forest Service Ranger Stations up in the mountains. That was back when when snow was kind of magical and not the pain in the butt that it is now. I’m using my father’s old photographs so I don’t know if that is cheating or not because I didn’t take them.

I think that is my brother, Bob, taking a photo of me and my little sister Ellen at the Payson Ranger Station on the Tonto National Forest in Arizona. My sister was born in Payson and we moved to Utah soon thereafter. I think this was on a visit back to Payson. The Forest Service was very tight knit socially and everybody moved around a lot so we knew somebody almost everywhere. I love the old school jeep and truck and the galoshes. Does anybody wear those any more? Those buckles would get iced over and they would be hare to take off.

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the tree tops glisten
And children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow

I’m guessing that this is northern Arizona in the early 1960’s.

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all
Your Christmases be white

This is the old Payson Ranger Station in Arizona. The building on the left was the Assistant Ranger’s Residence. It is now a museum. The building on the right was the Ranger’s office. It is part of the museum. We lived across the street in in a cinder block house owned by the Forest Service.

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the tree tops glisten
And children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow

This is my Mother at their Forest Service owned house in Happy Jack, Arizona on the Coconino National Forest (I think). This was after my parents were first married and several years before I was born.

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases
May all your Christmases
May all your Christmases
May all your Christmases be white

I think this is another scene from northern Arizona.

I’m dreaming of a white
Christmas with you
Jingle Bells
All the way, all the way

A road through the forest. We used to do the Griswold thing and go cut our own tree (with a permit to do so of course). It was always an adventure to go find the tree. Dad was an expert at “improving the tree.”

The movie White Christmas came out in 1954 and I was born in 1955. I find the movie fascinating because to me it shows how the “Greatest Generation” thought of themselves. The old can do if we just pull together and work together spirit.

Santa Fe Ski Area late 1950's or early 60's

Dad tells me that this is the Santa Fe ski area way back when. It is a lot different now. I love the guy rocking the red ski sweater and what looks like a tow rope in the background and the shack which may have been the “lodge.”

And here is a clip from the movie. Everything is cool until you get some dialog and it is in a language I couldn’t understand. Oh well!!

Things are a lot different. Everybody is kind of spinning in their own orbit these days.

But hey, I still love Christmas for a bunch of different reasons and I still love snow, when I don’t have to go anywhere in it. Have a Merry Christmas!!

Linking to Song-ography

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