Long Distance Christmas E-Cards

After all the years that I was able to take an extended vacation to Utah/Arizona/Nevada and then Idaho during Christmas breaks, it has been interesting to NOT for this particular holiday. Having Thanksgiving is one thing, but Christmas is another. (In all honesty, it was ... better to have a break this year. I needed it.)

Thankfully, with the immediacy of modern technology, I can still experience it in more real-time than my poor grandmothers could not that long-ago.

A few branches of the tree came together for an early Christmas. Grandmary and Grumpa were able to spend time with the Nevada crew before Kelli and the Kids peeled off to see the paternal step-side of the family.

Grumpa reports with his iPhone photos:
Jed was at work but after soup and crackers we opened the gifts from you, mom, and Idaho family. The following are just a sample of what we saw. Cannon was running a fever, but staked out his spot and spread out. [Your] sunglasses were a hit. Drew loved all your little items and will be using them as soon as he can. After things settled down, I caught one of the cat lover. 

 (I'm sorry Grandmary, but the squirmy twins look like they want to bolt.)

I missed the initial FaceTime request while the parentals were there, but I got to FaceTime all of them much much later that night. I was already make-up free and ready for bed, so we had a FaceTime chat where I had my sunglasses on. (I wear my sunglasses at night, so I can, so I can ...)

Sarah and Cannon got sunglasses from me because Sarah had spent so much time when I was there in November wearing mine - I had to! (And if you get one twin one thing, you better get the other one something similar.)

Oh, the smudgies I had to get off of my glasses.

On Christmas Eve, Grumpa sent me photos of the parentals' present to themselves and their neighbors to the south. A HUGE 110ft long fence, so you couldn't see out the back of the house, down directly into the neighbor's pool, hot-tub, and house. They've been planning this and some xeriscaping for years, but somehow they saved enough money on their mission that they were able to afford. Add in some of the exterior/interior renovations they had to make because of the burst pipe, it just made sense.

It's imprinted on both sides, so as Mr. Frost is attributed: "Good fences make good neighbors."

Just so I wouldn't be left out, on Christmas morning, he sent around photos of how the house was decorated this year. They may be making up for last year's apartment-sized Christmas. (Hey, I don't even decorate THAT much, so their decorations can count for mine.)

Actually (as Nathan would say), the exterior decor, particularly the tiny tree by the door, is more for the lady, Doris, across the street. Because it came from her, so it has to be put to use.

 Every year there is loot under this tree, and every year Pop makes comments about how "we weren't going to do this" and "it's all for your mother." But then he's happy to have the loot. Every year. TRADITIONS! (But there was no, I hope it's not what's in the box insider family joke.)

Per Pop:
Mom reading the role of grandparents before seeing the goofy picture of ME. (Good gift, family!)

Dad's gifts. It seems that if you repair a zipper pull with glue you get two new fleeces to cover the mess you make. I am trying to get through the Book of Mormon again and got two large reading books to distract me again.*

Mom's gifts. One of which has to be exchanged for 24" size. Thanks to the little birdie for the suggestion.

End of event! "Beagle" for breakfast and then to get ready for lunch in Zion Park.

[You are welcome, Mom. I listen. Next time Dad, we'll find out the right sizing. But I have to be subtle in my information gathering.]

On "returns" Monday, there was a replacement for the "you know, one of these days, I'd like pearls" half-off-handed comment. 

With interest.

Apparently there was no "next size up" available. Oh shucks darn shoot.

The folks then took themselves to the Zion Lodge at Zion National Park for Christmas Day 2015. While I had to turn on my a/c, there was snow in them there hills.

From Pop:

Just outside the Zion Lodge

There were a lot of visitors from around the world, and lots of people who didn't know what snow was.

 With just enough white to make the red rocks stand out and red/white/blue for Mary.

They took pictures from the car of a the canyon and of a snowstorm coming in through Springdale.

Aside from some complaints about speed limits, needs for new connectors to by-pass around the valley closer to their house, and meal prices, I THINK Dad had a good time. Even though he said he needed a Christmas Day nap.

Who doesn't need a Christmas Day nap? I think it's part of the day.

Hope you enjoyed this Long Distance Christmas E-Card.

~most photos via Grumpa


*Hey, I just realized. I didn't get one single reading book for Christmas. Odd. That has to be rectified.

Happy Anniversary Mary and Max!

In honor of a very momentous year in the now, 48-year marriage of Mary and Max, I present their annual Christmas letter.

  ~ photos by me, by iTouch in August 2015, DC area

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

December 2015 finds us back in Utah after a very rich and fulfilling time in the Washington D.C. area as missionaries at the Washington, D.C. temple. Our service in the temple was very spiritual. The people we met there will be eternal friends whom we miss daily. The "hundred-things-to-see-and-do-in-the-D.C.-are" list that we received when we arrived was not completed, but we did explore some places we had not seen in our thirty plus years on the East Coast--the Baltimore Inner Harbor and Ft. McHenry; Gettysburg; Hershey, PA; Ocean City, MD; Assateague Island and the wild ponies *, to name a few. In July we got permission to go up to Palmyra, NY to see the Pageant and then to Niagara Falls, which was on my "Bucket List." I was not disappointed. [So, you can now assume that Mary is writing this.]

The temple closed August 8 for some major renovations, a month earlier than our original release date. So, we took our time coming home with detours to NC to visit relatives and a week at Topsail Island and to CT and the Cape for a week. ** (No, I cannot get the Cape sand out of my heart.) We then headed West via Interstate 90 with Moscow, Idaho as our goal to meet our newest grand daughter [Jaime]. We made it as far as Mt. Rushmore when we got a call that brought us home by September 13.

The call was to inform us that the water pipe bringing water from the street into our utility room had burst above the shut-off valve for the house. (That valve was closed). Our neighbor who walks his dog discovered water coming from under the garage door on the afternoon walk. He called our friend who had keys. She rushed over and called our son [Jed] who drove quickly from Mesquite [Nevada] and then called us as we sat enjoying Mt. Rushmore. We told him to call the insurance company and ServiceMaster was here in an hour. We got home to torn out carpet, twenty fan/heaters roaring, and major decisions to make. Three months later, new flooring throughout and a clean house. Now, to convince Max to go on another mission!

The grandchildren grew and thrived while we were gone. Drew is nearly 11; his twin brother and sister are three. The Moscow kids are nearly ten, eight, and six, and Jaime is one. We did get to see her at ten months when we left the mess here for ten days. FaceTime is a farmily-connecting tool we love.

So, what do we do now? We started our service at the St. George temple December 3 and submitted our paperwork to serve for another year at the Home Storage Center the first of January. We need to be busy with enough time to explore our beautiful area, work off the weight we gained from all the missionary parties, and help our neighbors. We are grateful for all our blessings, you being one of them for enriching our lives. May 2016 be good to you.

Love, Max and Mary

~photo by me, November 2015

* Hey, that's on MY bucket list. No fair
** And, hey, I visited for a few days in August to help clear out a lot of stuff. A LOT of the stuff. A CAR FULL OF STUFF. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. MANY PEOPLE ARE ENJOYING ALL THE STUFF.

Happy Birthday to Mom: Mission Edition 2015

Mom's birthday this year was so busy that we had to coordinate with her social calendar. See below:

"Thank you for being tooooo generous for my Happy Birthday, but I will enjoy choosing things from each of you. Today is a busy Sunday—choir, home teachers, correlation council, visiting teaching, church, and then a shift coordinators’ meeting at 5:00 P.M., which we think will be long.  Therefore, we will call you when we get back, if we can think by then. There is not much to eat in the house today because we are too busy for me to cook today.  Dad will have my left overs from dinner out last night with another shift coordinator couple.  I do have a birthday cake, delivered this morning by one of the single sisters from the temple.  Getting older does have its perks.  Have a great day.  It is beautiful here.  After choir over at the visitors’ center, I took pictures of the dogwoods which I will send along later.  Thanks again."

Love, Mom

Happy Birthday Busy Lady!

Last year was the big 7-0, so a bunch of us coordinated on a special present for her house. But since I never explained HOW we came up with last year's memorial present, I thought I'd share this year.

Here's my original concept art, with the caveat that I am a word-smith, NOT a graphic designer:

Friends and family were solicited for about 70 words or phrases that reminded us of special Mary moments.

 After many e-mails back and forth, with a very patient brother, here's the final concept art, 

courtesy of J - who WAS a graphic designer. 

Jed picked up the canvas for delivery.

 Dad eventually got it framed and hung,

and it was truly a family effort.

Here's the many phrases that we think remind us of Mom - but the three most important always are:

We Love You:

a true southern lady / active / aunt

beach / beloved / Boston

Broadway / Cape Cod / caring

Carnegie Deli cheesecake / charitable / chauffeur

chief cook and bottlewasher

Canal Street & Chinatown

clever / Connecticut

constantly on the go

control issues / counselor / cousin

daughter / determined / does it all

editor / expressive / extrovert

fun / generous / giving

grammarian / granddaughter / Grandma Mary

Grandmary

honest / hyper / insightful

inspiring / intelligent / intuitive

kind / loving / loyal

maternal / matriarch / mentor

mom / Mommy Maxfield

mother / musical

Nahunta / New York / niece

Norfolk / North Carolina / nurturing

observant / organized / outgoing

patient / red pen / service

oh, shoot a monkey

sister-in-law / spunky / sweet

understanding / Utah

Virginia / warm / walking

wanderlust

weeping woman of Willimantic

Wellfleet / wife

An object at rest remains at rest unless moved by an outside force /

There is beauty all around …. When there's love at home

Retroblogging: Max and Mary Merry Christmas Message c2014

Back from my trip to see the parents, but still sorting through laundry, mail, and mentally trying to wrap my head around going back to work for the first time in the New Year. Will finish up my account of the trip soon, but here's a brief look in the way-back machine to Max and Mary's Merry Christmas letter, only slightly edited.

To note: they didn't actually send this to us kids. I had to beg for one in person.

Dad's e-mail to us:

Kids: Auntie Nettie reminded us after being here for a little while and looking at all the Xmax cards cards on the door that you all didn’t get the 2014 version of the Christmas letter.

Please find attached the 2014 Christmas letter.

Now who can beat this for getting information out too late.
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

December 2014

Dear Family and Friends All Over the Place:

This holiday season finds us back on the East Coast in Kensington, Maryland on a temple mission at the Washington D.C. Temple. Last year we indicated our paperwork was in, and after some delays due to housing availability, we arrived on September 22. Because this was our temple for twenty of the thirty years we lived in Connecticut, we feel right at home and have not stopped since we got here. We work at the temple five days a week, help out at the Visitors’ Center, fill positions in our ward of only temple workers, and try to keep up with all the social activities planned for our group. Naps during the day are a thing of the past. Nevertheless, we are very grateful for this blessing of being able to serve in the House of the Lord and grow spiritually.

 In thinking about writing this annual Christmas letter, I had to read over my sketchy journal to see what we did “Before Mission,” and noted many of the entries had to do with preparing for the mission. There are so many details which have to be considered when leaving home for a year. There were entries about traveling to Logan to visit the aunts, visits from friends and relatives to the [M&M] B&B, trips to California to see the Fresno relatives and for a bittersweet funeral, Amber’s baptism in Moscow, Idaho in February, the Idaho [crew] coming to St. George in July and us going there later in the month to babysit while Mom went to girls’ camp, exploration of the Oregon Coast after that Moscow, Idaho visit, Drew coming over from Mesquite to kayak with Grumpa, and watching Sarah and Cannon grow from babies to toddlers with unique personalities (They are two now.). Because of Facetime, we can still enjoy the grandchildren’s personalities and achievements. And, we might get [Auntie Nettie] down to visit from New York City in January. Our lives are full and rich and just exciting enough! Since I started this letter, Jaime Alice joined the Idaho ... family on December 6, 7#4oz. 21 inches, healthy and exhibiting a strong personality!

Grumpa Max is feeling older as we came out of one day a week work cycle to the Tuesday through Saturday work-week. After working from 12:30 PM to 7 PM the body and mind are looking forward to a quick dinner and off to dream land. We have not seen the sites in the area yet but are planning to use more of our Mondays to explore. Or at least Mary hopes to! We will see what next year’s letter has for a list of happenings.

As we all come to this holiday time of the year again and in anticipation of a New Year, may we all count our blessings and find the good in each other as well as the world. We think of each of you often and count our association with you as a great blessing.

Mary and Max

Friday: Finally Featuring DC

This is going to be a briefer entry. It is almost midnight, again, and since Mom and I actually made it into DC today, there could be lots to report.

Things like:

Mary's first EVER trip on the DC metro.

As led and navigated by me.

Yes, we survived. Yes, we made it to and fro. Yes, we are still speaking.

Though, we may not when she sees yet another picture of herself on here.

The Smithsonians and The Mall and maps

We were there, and oh, there, and there....

The monuments and memorials

We did lots, but it was cold. Not as cold as earlier this week, but cold enough that you can see the ice flows in the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial.

We headed back before rushhour on the Metro. It seemed wiser. And warmer.

It was a good, mellow, reconnaissance for future trips kind of day.

But, after dinner, things got a little fishy...

(Or maybe that was just my last supper of fried haddock and fries?)

Laundry was being done, under escort at the shared facilities, and Dad started assembling packing boxes.

It's like he thinks I am leaving tomorrow, and I have somehow got too much stuff to schlep back... And/or he's really ready for me to go?

Family Motto: We love each other... From a distance.

But, as I told some of the parents' new colleagues, it has been fun to play hooky this week, weirdness and all,  but I do have to head back to pay the piper.

To be continued from the train, later tomorrow/today

~post and photos via iTouch, 1/9. 11:57pm