 |
| Happy New Year from Nora! |
It is New Years Eve but I don't plan on staying up to see the new year in. Actually, I already saw the new year come in at Kristiansund, via my new iPad. It was fun to see and hear the fireworks display out the window at Todd and Kristy's. Little Nora was up too, playing with her doll. I don't think she was impressed with all the noise going on outside! It brought back lots of memories of the New Years Eve that we spent in Norway in 2006. The fireworks went on for hours! They can't have them in the summer as it never gets dark enough. That's not a problem on Dec. 31 as the days are very short and the nights long. I don't have a picture of the fireworks display but here's one of Howard with a light on his head!
 |
| Howard with his "headlight" |
This was on our second trip to Norway. We stayed a month and the temperature never went below zeroº C in Kristiansund. Some of the sidewalks are heated to melt the ice. Kristiansund's latitude is 63.1º N, which compares with Yellowknife in the NWT. Their temperatures tonight are very different though. It is currently +4º C in Kristiansund and -42º C in Yellowknife! The sun rose in both places around 10:00 am today and set around 3:00 pm.
I am spending a quiet evening at home. I haven't even had the TV on! This afternoon I visited neighbours, Heather and Hugh Schnell. Heather's mother passed away yesterday at the age of 93 after being admitted to the hospital in Moose Jaw on Friday. Heather's niece was married in Regina on Saturday so many of the family had visited Grandma just before her passing. Grandma had been at a shower for her granddaughter and had told Heather a while ago that she wouldn't be at the wedding.
Heather and Hugh spent a month in Japan last fall. I enjoyed seeing pictures of life in a culture that is quite different from ours. Heather gave me a mug rug and a bookmark from craft sale there.
 |
| Souvenirs items from Japan |
Pastor Danny's wife, Madeline, also lost her mother just this morning. Her funeral service is on Saturday in Willowbunch so some of us are planning to attend, weather and roads permitting.
Now I need to catch up on our family gatherings. Boxing Day is Carter's birthday so it's another fun day for the cousins to be together. Here are some pictures, thanks to Shauna.
 |
Relaxing in Grandma's chair
|
 |
| 12 cupcakes and candles for Carter |
 |
Ready to open his gift with sisters Jamie and Lindsay
|
The families left that afternoon and two days later were together again in Regina. Kirk had arranged for box seating for them at the Pats game on Saturday. It was a very COLD night so they went by taxi to the rink from their hotel. It was an action packed game with the Pats winning 8-4.
 |
| No comment! |
 |
| Carter with a friend and family |
 |
| Waiting for the game to start |
The new year has now arrived. I had the "Winter Classic" hockey game on TV this afternoon and was glad to see Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the Detroit Red Wings in a shoot out. It was played outdoors at Ann Arbor, Michigan at the largest stadium in North America, with snow falling for most of the game. There were more than 105,000 at the game. I mainly started watching it because The Tenors sang our national anthem and I am a big fan of theirs, especially since seeing them in concert in Regina last February.
As I think about the new year upon us, I give thanks for the blessings of 2013 - the chance to spend two weeks in Yuma in January, a special evening in Feb at "The Tenors" in Regina, a trip to Norway with Laurel for Easter with Todd, Kristy and Nora, visits from Sandra and Ardis, having Jeff as a boarder from July to December, Carter's broken and cut arm that healed well and could have been so much worse, Nora's broken leg that has also healed, a bumper crop with lots of help at harvest time, good health which is priceless, a cosy house on the prairie, a loving family and a caring church family and most of all that "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so". As I count my blessings and list just a few of them, I remember that I have an obligation to pass these blessings on - God has blessed me to be a blessing. I pray that I may keep that in mind as I begin this new year.
In closing, I leave you with this blessing:
So true about blessings. We have to pass them on. I guess we spent our holidays doing that as we hosted friends everyday. I heard on a radio program on January second a debate about what is better, to host or to be hosted...... What do you think?
ReplyDeleteThe answer that comes to mind is "It is more blessed to give than to receive". But I think that both the host and the hosted are blessed by the experience, especially if Kristy is cooking! You set a good example. I need to do more hosting in 2014. I like to cook but I don't like eating by myself! I made a batch of Potato Cheese Soup tonight and there is lots left over! It was too stormy to invite company tonight.
Delete