Christmas 2013 at Our House

Christmas has passed and we are still enjoying the holidays. All of our children are at home again. Stephen bought us a thin-screen TV - the first we have ever had, and I didn't even help them unwrap it on Christmas Day. Much of the day Stephen devoted his time top unpackaging the set and setting it up with all the features he could add, including something called ROKU. The rest of the day was spent enjoying the new TV and all its features, for Stephen also connected a brand new XBOX 360 to it, and video games were running for hours.

The house was so busy, and I was so tired from staying up until nearly 4 a.m. making fruitcake. I took a very long Christmas nap during the morning while everyone else was preparing the Christmas meal. I just disappeared into my office/bedroom and collapsed into my bed.  After we had eaten dinner, I watched Christmas videos and read the news much of the rest of the day. I worked into the night clearing out our receipts file and removing most of the mess from the top of my little credenza and the small table beside it.

Today I again ate leftovers, some turkey soup Claudia had just made, and watched Gabriel while Carolyn worked downstairs. Gabriel got to play some video games for the 15 minutes he had earned, I took another nap, he got into mischief, he got to watch much TV while I worked on getting my cell phone access back. I called for support and a gentleman finally had me just do a factory reset. The rest of the day I worked on restoring as much data as possible from whatever source it might have been backed up to, and re-installing apps I had lost with the reset. This process will continue, I am certain, for more than a day beyond today.

Christmas was without a Christmas tree or a nativity scene displayed this year. I had hurt my lower back a little from moving my room from downstairs to upstairs this past week, and did not feel like climbing up to the attic to get the decorations down for Christmas. Stephen was in a "Scrooge Mood" with regard to getting it down, Claudia couldn't climb up and get it, and neither could Carolyn, I presume. Nobody else seemed to care about the tree and decs. Gabriel had brought a little decoration home from his Speech teacher. They made it together during their last session. It was hanging over the front picture window. On the window sill was an electronic stable of animals that all made their animal sounds to the tunes and rhythms of familiar Christmas carols. We still had Christmas, in spite of the Grinch's attempts for we just piled the wrapped gifts onto the window sill of our front room, and onto the floor. When we passed out gifts, Gabriel was just as excited as ever, and it was just as fun as if a tree had been there. I still read the Christmas story from the Bible to Gabe and all who would listen on Christmas Eve.

I cannot but be thankful for everything I have and have enjoyed this season - the recent loss or misplacement of my Nook Plus tablet notwithstanding. I am sad-hearted because of Carolyn's ordeals of the past few months, but we have high hopes that somehow everything will work out for her to have her children back with her. I watched more than one performance of The Messiah, and the 1951 version of Scrooge on YouTube, and watched many presentations on my computer, posting much to my facebook page. My lower back is continuing to improve.

I suppose I am ready to work my way to the New Year's Day celebration at this point. With a small amount of preparation, we all should be able to enjoy that in good spirits. Even Claudia, the New Year's Eve Scroojette, is planning to stay up and celebrate the new year, as Stephen's friend, Nicole, is planning on coming over for it.

Christmas and New Year's Eve and Day still happen whether we celebrate them or not, and we are calmly celebrating our own peace on earth. Everyone have a wonderful New Year!!!

2013-14 Christmas and New Year Greetings!!!

From the Clyde and Claudia Tigner Family

This has been an amazing year for all of us. Carolyn has been to our home for visits several times this year, and we have enjoyed having our two lovely granddaughters around. Carolyn is now living with us for a short while. She is so sweet to us and a great helper around the house. Stephen secured a professional coding position – something he had wanted for a long while. He loves his new job. He continues to live with Mom and Dad and is fun and loving and enjoyable to have around. And since our LDS Ward is changing to 9 am this next year, he and a friend, whom he goes to church with, will be going to church with us. Gabriel has been learning and growing. He had his 8^th birthday in July and was baptized in August. Now that he is 8, he is also in Cub Scouts (The LDS church doesn’t do Tiger Cubs). He has been on soccer teams for the past two years, and has enjoyed playing that game – an active game for an active and cheerful boy. Claudia and I love all of our children, and enjoy each of their unique personalities in a special way.

Claudia has been in both good and poor health, and is presently doing well. Clyde has also been in good health. Both of us are still working professionally with children who have disabilities. Claudia concentrates on children with developmental disabilities and no longer works in the schools. Clyde now devotes his work time totally to children and adults with mental disabilities.

We had our 35^th wedding anniversary last September, and are still enjoying each other’s company after all these years. All in all we are happy and optimistic about our futures. We are thankful for the blessings the Lord has given us

We hope all of you are optimistic about your futures as well, and that you all have a very Joyous Celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, as well as a very Happy and Prosperous New  Year!!

HE IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!!

Support for Kids: The Dark Matter of Love Documentary

Fall 2013 - Apricots, Peaches, Plums, Apples, and more Apples and Other Stuff

I was just checking to see when the last time was that I posted to this blog. It was December of last year (2012)! I am busy, but not that busy. Unfortunately, this blog has not worked as well as I would have liked. I wanted Claudia to post to it, as well, and that never happened. In the meantime, I have found myself at the computer trying to catch up with everything else - the news, three types of Solitaire games, emails, family finances, and facebook. Most of what I have posted has been on facebook. This blog, as well as my two other blogs, have had very few, if any, posts.

A few minutes ago I though of something I wanted to post about, and now it is gone from my mind. Distractions are plentiful this week. Gabe is home from school because his school is moving to a new building.

All the same, I may as well post about Fall 2013, and our activities.

This has been the year of Carolyn and her two girls. We have had more visits from Carolyn and her two little ones this year than in any other year since she was married in January 2007. Carolyn came in April for a few days, then again in May for a few days, then the same from the middle of June until the end of July. Each time she had her two daughters with her. Through a series of unexpected events she is presently staying with us without her daughters.

Where is Sam, her husband? Where are the kids? Sam is down in Utah, caring for the kids and staying with his buddy and his parents - going back and forth between the two locations. We don't know where his friend lives in Salt Lake City, but we have been to visit with him at his parents' home in Provo, Utah.

Carolyn has been staying with us temporarily until their little family can get better settled. This economy is very rough on some of us.

Carolyn has been helping us around the house a lot and is very fun to have here - especially during canning season. She has helped much with the canning.

Claudia decided to not do any school contracts this school year, so she has been able to get some time for canning, freezing, and drying fruit. She has succeeded and we are once again filling our cupboards with healthy home-preserved items. We are thankful that our apple tree produced some apples for us this year. They are delicious! Claudia does work with clients in the afternoons and evenings - part-time.

We began with a few scattered apricots on our sweet-pit apricot tree (not enough to preserve any). Next came cherries, then some peaches and pears, then plums (from a friend's tree), and lately, apples from our tree in the back yard.

We now have many very delicious fruit items to eat over the next several months.

Gabriel has been growing more and more each day. He has been doing very well in school and at church, and his behaviors are improving much. Gabe has also been helping us a lot with the canning and preserving!! He loves to help and do grown-up things with the grown-ups. We are thankful to have him in our home.

Stephen now has a well-paying coding and tech job in town and has just about payed off  his school loans. He wants to go back to Japan again and explore some more.

Clyde has been reduced to no clients at all, and is currently working with two clients and has a possibility of working with two more soon.

Having had some unexpected expenses eat up more than our budget for several months, we now have hope of an improvement in our income.

Halloween is coming up tomorrow night and we still need to decorate for the occasion. I will be working with my client, and a friend will be taking Gabe around for trick-or-treat.

This Halloween we are once again aware that there are now two Halloweens for us, and we need to buy twice the candy. At the church we have already had our safe Trunk-or-Treat. It was last Saturday, at 2 p.m. and we also had donuts and hot chocolate, as we usually do. That consumed one large bag of candy as children, costumes and all, from our neighborhood came around to each of us at our cars in the church parking lot and gathered their treats. Since Claudia would only allow me one big bag of candy, I watched carefully to be certain no trick-or-treater came twice. We ran out of candy just as a new bunch of kids came to start their rounds. Gabe's neighborhood friends sat there on the sidewalk behind my car, sorting through their bags of candy. Gabe can't have chocolate, so he gave most of his chocolate to a friend. He then had no chocolate left, and I had hoped he had not eaten any. I may have hoped in vain. That evening I found the diarrhea evidence on the back of the toilet. He had exploded. He cleaned up the mess.

Carolyn made most of Gabe's costume by sewing together a large  piece of material that would work as a cape. I supplied the bandanna and Carolyn found a black strip of material to work as an eye patch.

In all that is happening in our lives at this time, we find ourselves thanking the Lord that we are all back together for a season. At the same time we know that life will go on, and that we won't be left behind.

Halloween Greetings to all!!