A Christmas Message

Merry Christmas to one and all. I hope that everyone enjoyed their celebrations as much as our family did.

Now since I'm sure you are all sitting on pins and needles, filled with anxiety about the happenings of our Christmas adventures, I will relate our entire holiday itinerary for your enjoyment and fullfillment.

Actually, I just have one small bit of interest about our Christmas Eve night. We started Chistmas Eve by going to our 7pm church candlelight service. We really enjoy our church. So much so, that two years ago, when our church needed new hymnals, we bought three of them and donated them to the church in memory of two of my grandfathers and one of Lady Di's grandfathers all of whom had passed in recent years. That was two years ago and we have yet to find one of those hymnals during service. It doesn't help that we always sit in one of two pews at the front of the church. But I still check the inside cover of the hymnals there just in case the ushers, for some reason, decide to rotate the stock every once in a while.

So back to our Christmas Eve service. It was much like past Chrismas Eve services. We sang carols and everyone got to light their little candles while singing Silent Night. This part is the kids' favorite and every year we recite the proper candle lighting procedure. Never tip a lighted candle! Then we view the reason for such a rule, a tiny spot of melted wax on the seat of the pew just in front of where Number One Son stands. This family tradition goes back about five years or so when N1S was less diligent about his flame.

Just as the service was wrapping up, Lady Di noticed that the 9pm service would feature a choir selection and a song by a quartet including a student home from college that we know to have a very good singing voice.

LD then said, "Oh we will have to come back for the 9pm service."


N1S and I both turned simultaneously and whispered with incredulity, "Not two churches in one night!"

Sweet Pea's face lit up because she would get a second chance to play with fire.


So we went home to relax a little before we returned to church. We couldn't even change out of our church clothes! The drive back to the church was a little grumbly from half of us. But N1S and I put on a happy Christmas face and made the best of it. Since we had already heard the sermon, we decided to sit closer to the middle of the congregation. We found a nice couple that we knew to sit with. We enjoyed the choir selection and were quite impressed with the quartet. As we waited for the ushers to start the candle lighting, I noticed the hymnals in front of us. I said, "What the heck.", and opened it. On the inside cover was placed an offical looking sticker stating, This hymnal donated in memory of Emery (Pete) Bell, my paternal grandfather.

I passed the open hymnal to Lady Di, who was so proud of herself for not tearing up during the 7pm candlelighting, and made her immediately well up with emotion and ask for a hanky. Then Sweet Pea saw her name (she is named after this grampa) and passed the hymnal down the pew to show the couple we were sitting next to.

What were the chances that we would attend a second church service, on Christmas Eve, and choose that particular pew to find one of our donated hymnals for the first time?

It made pastor's message about the importance of family even more meaningful.

With all the blessings we have been fortunate enough to enjoy, this warm Christmas message from our loved one will make this year one of our most memorable Christmas Eves.

Things My Grandfather Said

There are many times during the day where I will say something to the kids, and they give me blank stares, as if I'm speaking a foreign language. And in a way, I am speaking a language they have never heard before. It is a language made up entirely of sayings, slang and bits of wisdom from my paternal grandfather, Grampa Pete.

When I was in sixth grade, our family moved back to my parents' hometown and we lived exactly two blocks away from both sets of my grandparents. Living that close allowed me a very close relationship with all of my grandparents. This is where I picked up many of Grampa Pete's sayings and use them in my daily life. I am very grateful and fortunate to have had such a blessing.

Of my four grandparents, Grampa Pete was the most talkative. He was outgoing, energetic and a story teller. I always regret not writing down his entertaining stories of his youth before he died. Because now I can only recall bits and pieces of them, which severely decreases their quality. Sometime soon, my Dad and I will get together and try to fill in the gaps for each other.

Along with stories, my Grampa Pete always had an unusual or humorous saying to fit the situation.

Many of these sayings found their way to the golf course. We lived in a small town and our local golf course was never very busy. Many summer afternoons found my Grandpa and I alone on the course when the rest of the town was at work. I got a lot of instruction from Grandpa Pete on the golf course. Instruction about golf and life.

Our outings usually started with Grandpa Pete asking if I wanted to play some cow pasture pool. As we walked around the golf course, I would usually be the first one to complain about how tired I was, carrying our clubs. Grandpa would always answer, "If your tired of walking, you can always run a ways." When he was golfing well, I could expect hear him say, "I'm hotter than a firecracker." Or if he had hit a particularly good shot he would utter, "That just shickles the tit out of me." or "That's a heck of a note."

Sometimes he wouldn't hit such a good shot, but the closest I ever heard him to swearing was, "Son of a biscuit!" or "Crap and Corruption!"

Many other times he would be humble after a good shot and act surprised and exclaim, "Well, I'll be a horned toad!" I love using that one around the kids.

Grandpa Pete was well known and respected in his town. Whenever my Grandpa, Dad and I were together, a few of Grandpa's friends would call us, "The Father, the Son and Holy Ghost." Or if it were just my Grandpa and Dad, they were called, "Pete and re-Pete."

Grandpa Pete also had ways to make kids smile. When we were growing up we were always supposed to wake up, "Bright eyed and bushy tailed." Whenever one of were loudly crying, he would ask us, "What's that song you are singing?" That one always seems to increase the volume at our house.

At one family gathering, Grandpa Pete was visiting with one of my young, ten year old nephews who had a reputation for competition. My nephew offered to flip a coin with Grandpa to see who would get the last dessert. Grandpa Pete agreed and said, "OK, heads I win, tails you lose." My nephew didn't see his mistake until after the coin toss.

My Grandpa also had some funny plays on words. On the way to church potluck dinners, his standard witticism was, "Let's take our pot to church and see what kind of luck we have."

And then, when leaving, he would relate, "Let's go home and see if the neighbors left us any groceries." Which, oddly enough, happened a few times during harvest time due to an over abundance in the neighborhood gardens.

When Lady Di and I were first dating, Grampa Pete accused her of "Blowing smoke up his skirt.", when she was telling him how great I was.

Grandpa Pete holds a special place in our hearts, in that he is Sweet Pea's namesake. They share the same first name. I also call SP by Grandpa's nickname sometimes, when I call her Sweetie Petey or just Petey.

It is impossible to fit in all of Grampa Pete's sayings, since he had so many. We all miss Grandpa Pete. Whether he was "Rough and tough and hard to bluff.", or "Wild, woolly and full of fleas", "It just shows to go" , how much you can learn from someone, just by spending time and talking with them.