Christmas

Packing is not fun - cept when friends come to help

Last Friday a group of our friends came to help us pack. We got a lot done and had fun while we were doing it. I wish I could take them all with us when we move. Sara will be home this week to help pack some more, we just have too much stuff and I don't really know what to do without. But we will find out shortly. It is all those tools. I guess I have this belief, you can never have too many tools. But I do not know how to use them, sooooo, we will see.

We had a little miracle happen last week. Sara lost her cell phone and couldn't get in touch with the friends she was meeting in Salt Lake, all the numbers were on her phone! Janelle got on facebook and got in touch with one of her friends, then Daniel went up and kicked around in the snow and found the cell phone. She had it on vibrate so we couldn't even call it. But Daniel just happened to kick in the right spot and Sara got her phone and was safe. I believe in miracles.

The Wall is gone

There was a closet that I needed gone in the new house. I wanted the space opened. So while Samantha and Bryan finished painting downstairs, Calvin, Daniel and Bruce knocked it down. Now it is really open. I like space.

Happy Birthday Carol

Tomorrow would have been Carol's 58th birthday! I really need an older sister to hit 58 before I do, it makes it not seem old when someone you used to swing on the swings with is 58 first. Carol used to love Japanese anything. I will have to talk to Mom about the violin playing, I have a dim memory of her playing the violin when we lived in Los Angeles. We ran in the desert searching for lizards and little beds of clay. When I needed to know anything, it was Carol who informed me. The other day I did it again, thought, "Oh, Carol will know." It was great of Chrissy to find the Hercules song for me. That helps a lot, to have a sister left who cares about me like I care about her. I guess that is the important thing. You can't help but mourn those who are gone, but thank goodness that there are two of us left.

Good morning

It is cold today, Keith (our radio announcer) said it was about 3 or 4 degrees and our hunters are headed out. The sky is a lovely blue and snow is glistening on the bushes. I am grateful that I am warm inside the house. I hope the hunters stay warm. Brrrr

Pavane for a Dead Princess

At my niece's, Lindsey's, wedding, Jim, her new husband, and his friends played the music, "Pavane to dead Princess." He was telling about the song and my mind flitted to a song I sang often after both Carla and Carol died. The music helped me handle the profound grief I was feeling. When Jim began to play the music I gasped and then I just sat there and cried. It was the same song I have been singing for so long. I never knew the name of it and I knew I didn't have the words exactly right. I was sitting between my Mom and Eric, Jim's brother. When the song was over I told them about my song. Eric wasn't aware that there were words to that song so I wondered aloud if maybe Mr. Burkett (I think that was his name, I would ask Carol or Carla, but . . . ) had invented the lyrics to go with a favorite song. Eric's comment energized me to look online and see if I could find the lyrics, I found it so I thought I would share it with you all. I wish I had remembered the end of it, I only remembered to the place, "yet here she lies in stillness." And yet, as I read all of it, I wonder at the grace of God to teach me this song when I was 14 and here, so many years later it comes, I hope, to touch all of our lives. Thank you to Jim for bringing it back to my mind so that I can share it with those of you that loved both Carla and Carol

“Soft, a blossom falls from flow’ret white
Soft, a birdling calls as falls the night,
the night that came too soon
Too soon for knowing.
So like the palest blossom was her face,

And hers the grace, the grace of birds in flight,
Yet, here she lies in stillness.
Night falls, but in the tender dusk
No more we hear her singing,
Her sweet voice singing.
As night has brought the darkness,
So morning brings another day
For her who knew not sadness, no never sadness
Somewhere she walks in gladness.
Soft, a blossom falls from flow’ret white,
Soft, a birdling calls as falls the night
An we who watch are mute at beauty’s passing.
Grieve not, for she has found another day,
another day, and on her way she moves, moves in joy.”

Our New Home

This is our new home. I think the current owners will be taking the swing set. Maybe we will have to come up with something for the grandkids. They have planted a lot of trees, we will probably add more. There are rose bushes in the front of the house and a huge garden off to the side. And, to add a little more color, we drove over the mountain and the leaves were changing. It was beautiful!

The leaves are changing colors

I went to Pegram today to visit the Relief Society there and speak, with Trudy Hatch, in Sacrament meeting. All went well, it was a beautiful day and the weather was perfect, but I noticed the leaves are changing. I love it when the leaves change, football, and the start of school. I hope we have a long fall this year. I especially prefer a fall with enough rain to keep things beautiful and no snow for a while at least. One of the brethren in Pegram said that it could rain now cause he had his hay bailed and safely put away. Reminds me of the song, "all is safely gathered in err the winter storms begin." I will put some fall pictures up after I get out and take some. I didn't notice if the bush on the hill in Dayton was red, I bet it was and I just forgot to look. Maybe next week.

Labor Day fun

We all got together for Labor Day, Thomas and Cynthia were up, Sara and Christopher traded work shifts, and Daniel and Loni got a free day and Janelle and the kids all went to Jason's and Camille's. We watched the parade.




Then we went back to Jason's house and ate and played.

We had Loni take family pictures and Daniel kept us all in stitches

Then we watched BYU beat Oklahoma and watched weird videos on YouTube. It was a great day.

The next day Thomas and Cynthia got to visit with our neighbor Edra.

Thomas and Cynthia had to leave a day early - orders! But it was fun having them here and our family sure laughs a lot when they are together.

Hi ho hi ho it's off to school we go

Summer "vacation" is over. I have decided that next year I am going to keep track of all the unpaid hours I put in at work over the summer. Then the next person that says, "it must be nice to have the whole summer off," will get told how many unpaid hours I work in the summer. Fortunately I love what I do. I love learning new things and trying new ideas. It is easier in the summer cause the kids aren't around and I can get so much done! When we were on vacation this summer we took a lot of sky pictures - Sara wanted this one. It is gorgeous.

Ostler Reunion 2009

Ok, so it didn't go as planned. When I woke up in the morning to the lovely sound of rain on the roof, I knew we were in trouble. Then Sara and I drove out to the lake hoping that it would be brisk air. It wasn't, it was windy and cold and freezing and we jumped back in the car. Fortunately we had a back up plan and contacted everyone, kind of in a chain call, and we headed to Dingle to the church. We still had a great time. Games were a bit last second pulled together - thanks to my family - but we had a good time. The reunion has been changed to even years - that will make it less conflicting with a few other reunion. I am glad it went as well as it did. I am also glad that I am not in charge next year.

Friends

Last week a close group of friends I knew in high school got together - it was fun. We have only gotten together a few times in the last 30 years. We always miss a few people but it is fun to be able to talk to ple who share my teen-age memories. We laughed a lot and remembered and smiled. It was so pleasant. This picture includes my Mom and the spouses cause they share the memories too.


We also went to Mt Rushmore with Sara. That was fun too. We read a book the whole way up and back. There is so much to do up there, we could have stayed for a week. Maybe another time. Oh, and you have to get a close up on the "facilities" that Calvin is standing next to. We took the picture because of the sign. It is great.

Touched today by a song and a scripture

As I was praying today the words, "Be still and know that I am God," came to my mind. Then, as I got home from Church the song, How Firm A Foundation, was on the radio. This is the verse.

The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I cannot desert to his foes.
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake
I'll never, no never, I'll never no never
I'll never, no never no never forsake.

Sometimes, when trials come, I forget these two truths and I find myself drowning in fear and sorrow. I am grateful for the Holy Ghost and the strength I get from my Savior. I am grateful for His atonement. I am grateful for my Heavenly Father who I know loves me and my family. I am grateful.

Jason's Song from the Family Reunion

Our family reunion was fun and I have a lot more pictures, but this is the song Jason did - it is pretty good. That is his cousin Kerry Day and Jason's wife, Camille, helping

First summer's camping trip

We went camping the first week of June, silly! It rained. I guess I should say it stopped raining, for about three hours. Ryan had been very sick and was a little nervous about walking down a gravel covered hill, so Uncle Daniel helped him. Fortunately the cessation of rain happened just in time for dinner. The rain and lightning came back and didn't stop until about two days later. But it was still fun.

Texas Reception

We went to Fort Worth for Cynthia and Thomas' wedding reception, it was fun, well except for the car breaking down near Longmont Colorado. But the guy that fixed it did a great job and kept his place open two hours late to get us on the road. We were fortunate that the breakdown happened in Colorado where it was only 78 degrees. Texas and Oklahoma are a lot warmer. I didn't take a picture of the hotel we stayed in when I got sick again in Cheyenne. Whoa, it was scary, but it had a fridge and a microwave.
We did get to spend the week with my mom, we went to Dealey Plaza (where JFK lost his life) which has been a curiousity of Calvin's forever. We went skeit (sp) shooting with Cynthia's family - I didn't do really well, but everyone else did. Calvin and I went to the Oklahoma City memorial, what a quiet place they have made there. Even at 99 degrees we found it a comforting place.