Merry Christmas to all of you who observe it, Happy Skywatching to everybody. This is from our trip to Hawaii last summer.
Linking with Skywatch Friday
How about some Bing Crosby and Mele Kalikimaka?
Now, Elvis and Martina Mcbride: Blue Christmas
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.
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?
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.
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
Christmas Light Tour
The family likes to check out Christmas lights and we haven’t been able to do so for various reasons so Sunday night we made our inaugural tour. Starting of course with our house.
Next up was the Rhema Bible Training College in nearby Broken Arrow. (No, they don’t train Bibles silly). Rhema has approximately one gazillion lights and is the most spectacular display that I know about in Tulsa. It is best appreciated if you get out of your car and walk around. That was out for us because it was cold and misty and the kid is acting kind of like he is coming down with something. And you know how it is. Whatever you do don’t get the kid sick. That will last until he is about 72 or 73. I forget which. Anyway, if you only want to go to one place in the Tulsa area for Christmas lights, go to Rhema. Just don’t let your kids get sick.
And they have a sense of humor. I love this sign. I think it is the eleventh commandment. At least in Broken Arrow. You know how those people in Broken Arrow are.
And we always have to check out the lights in front of their auditorium. The other thing we always have to do is tell Logan stuff like, “Remember when you were a baby and all we wanted to do was go check out the Christmas lights, and OH NOOOOO, that wasn’t going to happen. You spent the whole time bawling and crying.” Of course we now have a new tradition, talking about it. If we don’t bring it up, he asks about it.
And then we left Rhema and checked out another house in Broken Arrow. They have a toy drive associated with the display. Very cool. If I were a decent blogger I would have the address to this house. LIke I said, if I were a decent blogger.
And then to Bixby, another ‘burb of Tulsa to find an animated display. While driving around we spotted this house. I love its simple but nice lighting scheme.
Ah, here we are. Animated strangeness. I loved it though although not much about it is Christmassy. Traffic got jammed up. We sat through three numbers and had to twist and turn in the neighborhood to get out. I love it when people stop in middle of a street to gawk at stuff. I mean, I don’t mind if I do it, I just don’t want others to do it.
So, have you gone out and looked at Christmas Lights yet?