Our First Christmas in Oregon

            We weren't able to get back to Utah for a lack of funds.  Airfare is way overpriced (even at a senior discount) and Roland didn't have the same amount of time to take off work as Jenna currently has for school.

            It snowed in several parts of Salt Lake.  My sister and one of my sons both reported that there had been an endless snowfall and probably three feet of snow - though one had reported that the streets had been clear.  How awesome that there are those who give up pieces of their Christmas to make things safer for others.

            We woke up to find snow on the ground the morning of Christmas Eve.  The sun shone itself out.  It was really a beautiful day.  Not too hot.  Not too cold.  The air was an invite and in turn invited us to go be a part of it.

            Mostly wet yesterday.  The snow was gone.  All that was left was cold air and soggy earth.  Today is definitely foggier than I have ever seen in Oregon.  Unlike Salt Lake fog, the air is still breathable - and probably good for my sinuses actually.

            Several gifts placed under the tree - many of them were total surprises for Jenna.  They would have all been surprises if I had had Roland move the box from Jeanie and Biff into our room and just put the gifts out for Christmas morning.  Jenna also knew about the gifts that Rochelle and Tony had sent - but she didn't know about the packages from a former neighbor or my sister and her family. 

            I filmed Christmas in order to document everything that Jenna might have overlooked.  Fortunately nothing did.  She showed excitement for each gift that was opened.  I was quite pleased with her positive attitude.

            At 5:00 we started dinner.  We were expecting the missionaries to come at 6:00.  We weren't expecting them to stay and play games with us.  That was really awesome!  I have missed playing games with my family members.  Jenna and I do our best, and sometimes Roland joins us - but for the most part the majority of games we have require at least four people.  Some of the games I hadn't even brought with us because I didn't think we could play them. 

            It was a great Christmas gift to play games with the Elders.  Jenna thoroughly enjoyed herself.  We each made this the best Christmas possible.  I am quite happy with the results.

message for holiday wishes

   

 

        It is important to remember that not everyone is looking forward to Christmas. Some people are not surrounded by large wonderful families. Some of us have problems during the holidays and are overcome with great sadness when we remember the loved ones who are not with us. For many it is their first Christmas without a particular loved one and many others lost loved ones at Christmas. And, many people have no one to spend these times with and are shadowed by loneliness.

         My uncle's family will have their first Christmas without him.  He was buried just before we moved to Oregon.  It is harder still for families who lose their loved ones during the holiday season - to always have that memory around the holidays. We have seen present neighbors and some that we left in Utah just recently pass away.  We have seen hardships and we have seen those who choose to move on and celebrate the holidays as they always have.

         I'd like to share the words which my brother posted to facebook and mirror his message to all of those who may be reading (and even those who don't) :  " I hope and pray whatever your belief system may be, wherever you are in life, whatever circumstances or challenges you may find yourself facing, that you may find peace, happiness, and fulfillment; that is my Christmas wish to all of you."

Four Legged Angels

             I remember being in the congregation during a sacrament meeting in which a newly returned missionary was giving his homecoming talk. As he shared various experiences, he would explain why he felt the need to share.  I remember him saying that all missionaries have at least one dog story.

         “We do?” I had thought. 

         I must admit that I had missed his dog story as I had been thinking of my own.  One that actually brings a smile to my face each time I think about it.

         I was serving in an area where each door had been knocked on (weekly if not daily) by one religion or another.  It came to the point that people just didn’t want to open their doors as they felt they were being bullied by religious freaks.  We had actually been told to back off from going from door for at least a few months.  No sweat off my brow.  I hated that particular method of trying to find people, but I was with a companion who measured her missionary success by going from door-to-door.  

         Many members in that area referred to our companionship as “The Odd Couple” thus we named ourselves Oscar and Felix.  I was Oscar, and my high-maintenance, “by-the-book” companion was Felix.

         After two months of contacting members and searching for referrals in ways other than door-to-door, my companion counted down the days that we would go tracting door-to-door.  I did not share in her excitement.  I know there are people who have been found through knocking doors - but for me personally, it was not the greatest method and definitely did not measure my success (or failure) as a missionary.

         We had gone to only two houses before a German Shepherd started to follow us from one house to the next.  He would sit behind us and away from the door as we invited those who answered to listen to our message.  A few would look at the dog and ask if he was ours.  As we'd walk away from the skeptic who refused to believe the dog was ours, I'd make jokes just to get a rile out of my companion.

          "Yes, it is our dog and if you don't listen to our message, he'll eat you."

         My companion felt embarrassed and was a bit defensive as answered their concerns.

         “He’s not our dog.  He just started following us.  We don’t know why.”

         After four more houses or so, Sister Felix turned to me and said,  “Sister Cannon, we need to say a prayer so that the dog will stop following us.”

          I'm certain that the look that she saw on my face was one of puzzlement.  

          “Sister Felix, the dog could have been sent as a guardian angel.  If a prayer is offered, it won’t be in harmony, as the dog is not bothering me.  You go ahead and say a prayer if it makes you feel better.”

         Sister Felix offered a prayer and pleaded that Heavenly Father return the dog to his home.  No sooner did we say “amen” and we were joined by a Basset Hound – thus we had two dogs following us.  They weren’t doing anything wrong.  They seemed well behaved.  But it bothered her – which only amused me further. 

         We knocked on two more doors I think, and then Sister Felix became disgusted and announced that we may as well just return to our car, as we obviously weren’t going to get anything accomplished.  What? No more knocking door-to-door? I was right.  They were four-legged angels.

It's Snowing in Utah

Whenever my phone rings

Or signals that I have received a text message

Jenna jumps

Like Pavlov’s dog

Usually I don’t mind

I am not a slave to the phone

Though she seems to be

She’s always excited when she learns

That it is one of her brothers

Today she answered the phone with excitement

“Randy!” she yelled.

It isn’t any wonder that none of her brothers have gone deaf

First thing he asks her if it is snowing

He says that the Utah snow seems harsh today.

I remember waiting for the bus in killer snow

The snow seen in this part of Oregon is rare

Or so we’ve been told

We saw it fall for two days

But it was never like Utah

Buses were delayed for two hours

But Jenna did return to school

After the snow

We had our power back on

But some people did not.

Those who live in Tiller

Were without power for six days

To a week.

Mostly it rains.  The creeks and rivers rise

The grass turns green and

The earth is drenched with moisture

The Internet tells me

it is much cooler in Salt Lake

than it is in Myrtle Creek.

I do not miss the snow.

I don’t miss the biting cold.

I miss visiting with my family members

In person.

Lights in Rain to Snow to Power Outage

            We were told that a light parade is done each year.  It takes place on the second Saturday of December.  The vehicles start the drive in Riddle and move through Tri-City and through Highway 99 over to the street just behind the one we're on.  The parade then turns down the only street that connects Riverside to Division,  Division to one of the numbered avenues and then on to Main Street. 

            The parade is a big deal, and downtown offers free hot drinks and chili.  There are fireworks at the park stadium.  This has been a tradition for 22 years now from what I understand. I was surprised they were able to do the fireworks with all the rain.  We heard  that it's unusual to have that much rain to fall throughout the day and hasn't happened often. 

            Roland found a corner where two couples were standing beneath an awning.  They had a fire going and told us we could join them.  They said it was rare that it was the only corner with a fire going.  In the past there have been fires on at least three corners.  They bring out hot dogs, marshmallows and sodas.  They said we were welcome to whatever they had, but that it was on the inside of the house rather than outdoors where they usually cook it (I guess)

            We had waited for the parade for a longer time than the parade itself.  Our neighbor said she counted 32 vehicles and clocked at 7 minutes and 23 seconds.  I, for one, was rather impressed.  I wish I could have captured the beauty of it all - but my pictures don't do justice.  We did create a video off Roland's phone. I was able to load it to facebook (finally).

            My neighbor said the sky had been pounding the rain down all night.  It didn't stop until after 4:00 yesterday morning.   When it stopped being rain.  I really wasn't surprised to see snow on the ground yesterday morning.  We'd been told that it rarely ever snows in these parts.  A light snow really.  From what I'm used to.  Jenna was excited.  She built a snowman, made snow angels and begged for a snowball fight. 

            I don't know what time we lost power.  We used the backup generator we had to check the status against what we had heard on the wind-up radio we have.  It wasn't just Myrtle Creek or Douglas County that was without power.  Medford was mentioned and so was Grants Pass.  That's a lot of area. Our generator went out while we were still online.  It's pretty useless now.

            Roland went to Roseburg and back.  He purchased a new generator and several power chords.  He wanted to be prepared for the upcoming week.  He works from home and needs the Internet.  But by then, the Internet had gone out as well.  We didn't have church.

            We had invited our neighbor to come over and enjoy our heat and play some games.  She stayed with us until the power returned.  .  Pacific Power had reported almost 7,000 customers throughout Douglas, Josephine and Jackson counties were without power as of Monday morning. That number is down from the 25,000 that were without power on Sunday. We are quite  blessed that our power had returned when it did.  The schools in all three counties were either delayed a few hours or else cancelled altogether

            It reminded us of a Christmas when we had lost power all day - which actually provided perks for many families.  Jenna says she remembers and would like the power to go out on Christmas this year.  She wants only lights from the tree and a lantern at the table so that we can play games.  I'd like to listen to music.  Both of us seem dead set about the television being on.  Now that we have a new generator, Roland would still resort to a video, I think.

          

  We were standing near this fire pit.  The awning provided protection as we watched the parade.  Unfortunately it was not able to protect itself.

same corner as  parade route the night before

continuing down this street

  

It Really is the Simple Things

          Christmas does not have to be about spending money or exchanging gifts - though I love the gift giving thing.  There are some years that we have really had to stretch. We have been recipients of "Sub for Santa" many times. Overall, I think those are the most memorable.  And I have really been touched by all of those who have made an effort to our cause.

          We moved to West Valley at the end of 2009.  It was hard to leave our Kearns ward family - but at the same time, we felt that the move was the right thing for us. Less than a week before Christmas, I received a call from the Relief Society President of the ward we had left.  She said that she had gifts for us from the ward.  She came in the second snowstorm of that season.  She brought two other sisters with her.  Their gifts more than doubled the amount of gifts that we already had.

          The next year was Tony's first year in the WV house.  Our gifts were even more sparse than the year prior (before adding gifts from the Kearns ward). Roland's mom and sister had sent us gifts every year, but we hadn't received a package from them that year. I think we had three gifts for Jenna and one for each of the boys.  Roland and I had only one present for one another.  Both simple (like a twinkie sized furuit cake from me;  Roland actually likes fruitcake - but that's beside the point)

          It was just after 10:00 p.m. when I placed the eight gifts beneath the tree and went to bed.  I was really tired and wanted to sleep.  I was in awe the next morning to find an explosion of gifts beneath our tree.  I couldn't even imagine where they had all come from.

          As it turns out, both Tony and Biff had decided to play Santa as well.  Tony had purchased several gifts for each family member, and Biff had kept a huge secret from us as Richard's mom and sister had taken him shopping earlier in August.  They had loaded up his car with gifts  Neither Tony nor Biff was aware that the other had also played Santa.

          I love Christmas.  I love the suspense.  I love the Spirit of giving and doing.  Recently I read a post on facebook which touched my heart.  My friends were driving the Salt Lake roads when traffic had come to a halt.  In the intersection was a woman behind the wheel of a stalled truck.  A man had seen her and tried to help.  When the truck wouldn't start, he offered to push. 

          Seeing that assistance was still needed for moving the truck, my friend got out of his car to assist with pushing also.  The next thing my friends saw others had left their cars and were helping to push the truck out of the intersection.  No honking of cars or verbal abuse from other drivers.  The lights had changed, but every driver seemed to be patiently waiting - on the roads of Salt Lake.  That, my friends, is truly a Christmas miracle.

Anticipating Christmas

     I have two brothers and one sister.  We would buy or make gifts for each other to exchange at Christmas.  For a while we had gifts for each aunt, uncle, cousin . . . I don’t think we started drawing names among dad’s sibs and their families until the first Christmas I was out on my mission.

     Patrick married Sunny who had four sibs and grew up having exchanged gifts with just one sibling, as they would draw names each year.  I think we still purchased gifts for each of our sibs and all of Sunny and Patrick’s families until after Kayla got married.  And then we decided to draw names – family to family.  That worked out for a few years.

     One time it seemed all of us were struggling financially and decided not to exchange gifts that year.  It was one of the best Christmas gifts we had ever given ourselves.

     Last year we tried the name-drawing thing among our own children.  They seemed to like it and I think it worked out better for each of us to do it that way.  This year will be different.

     This morning I received a text from my daughter-in-law, Jeanie.  She wanted to know if we’d be exchanging gifts this year.  I told her that our family would have to forgo it this year based on income.  I’m hoping that our three sons will still exchange, but it will not surprise me if that doesn’t happen.

     There’s been tension between Randy and Tony.  Both have been riding the “financially-challenged” boat – both have asked for favors from us.  But we are on the same boat ride.  I feel so helpless and forlorn about our situations.

     We have put up the Christmas tree.  That always gets Jenna excited, and she makes gifts so that there are presents beneath the tree.  I’m afraid our gifts for her will be quite sparse this year.  Fortunately she has not asked for much nor do her wishes come with a heavy price tag.

     Colored pencils, cool melt gun, newton’s cradle, drawing paper, wash tape, mostly small things to keep her hands busy.  I’d like to be able to have something for her – something she’s not going to get bored with the day after Christmas.

     Christmas should be a time of giving service, a season to be grateful for blessings, a season to share – even just a simple meal.  So many people miss out on the joy by stressing over having gifts or going shopping or wearing themselves ragged.  I know Christmas will be more awesome for us if we just focus on why we have Christmas in the first place.  I hope we can instill that into Jenna and it may be her best Christmas yet.  I know this year will be hard for her.  I hope Roland and I can change that and this year will stand out as a great memory for her.

Orange Signs

              I haven't seen construction since coming to Oregon with Denise back in June.  Haven't missed any of the polycones or orange signs or slowed traffic. 

              The schools were closed and so I didn't count on the typical 3:00 pm traffic.  I thought it odd, as I was driving yesterday, that traffic seemed to slow down to a halt.  Oh, construction.  Haven't missed it at all.

              After five months of an orange-free road, I have seen signs of construction in this November bleak.  Really?  They couldn't have picked a time with better element conditions?  I'm not complaining.  Waiting for halted traffic in Myrtle Creek and Tri-City is nothing compared to Salt Lake. 

              I really do enjoy being the only car on the road at times.  I haven't missed the orange on the road.  Have enjoyed the natural orange found in the sunsets and on the trees.  There's a bit of tranquility that comes with living in Douglas County.

Grounded Airplanes

Jenna and I were playing Chatters Matters.  My card asked me to comment on a time someone had picked me up from the airport.  I don't recall having needed someone to come pick me up, but I related the time when I had sent Roland to the airport to claim my brother and sister.

It was late at night - early in the morning.  I don't remember.  After Midnight.  My mom would have gone, but I had asked Roland.  We weren't married at the time, but I was certain that he would do it.  He was surprised when I offered to come with him.  Why wouldn't I?  They were my sibs.  Kayla and Corey were returning from a trip they had taken to Europe.  The plane was late.

I think we were at the airport for a couple of hours.  Those waiting were tired, some achy.  Roland was thanking me for being there and giving me a massage.  I remember telling him that he could make some money if he offered that wonderful service to others who were waiting.

We were waiting at the gate.  It was before the terrorist attack - before the planes were grounded - before we had to remove our shoes and spend hours moving from security line to security line.  Jenna will never know how airport life was different for me than it will be for her.

I saw the Truck was based out of Springfield, and I Panicked!

            Springfield, Utah was settled in 1850 and then had a population of roughly 1,000 people.  I remember my dad telling me that the kids of his generation liked to hang-out in Springfield.  It has always seemed like a rather small community but still great community to live in.  Today it has a population of over 30,000.  It still seems like it would be a great area to raise a family.  I like Springfield, Utah.

            Springfield, Oregon, on the other hand, is about twice the size in population.  As of now, it is definitely a place I do not wish to live.  Springfield, Oregon seems to be a daily part of the news as one horrific crime or another are committed.  I think Springfield has had more crime than my surroundings had in the Salt Lake City area.  I like living in a town with a crime-rate equal to the crime portrayed in Mayberry on the "Andy Griffith Show"

            Currently Jenna is off school for the week.  Tomorrow we have a parent-teacher conference.  Right now she is at the youth center.  I dropped her off just over an hour ago.  On my return, I stopped by Ray's Food Market (there are only two grocery stores to choose from - unless one drives to the big city of Roseburg - which compared to Springfield is rather small - but still the largest city in the county where I currently live) to check out some prices on some needed ingredients for the upcoming Thanksgiving dinner. 

            After returning to my car, I noticed a business truck in the parking lot.  According to the address, it was based out of Springfield. One man stood with his back to the open door while a second guy spoke while flinging his hands wildly in the air.  The name "Springfield" on the side of the truck had me concerned.  Was the animated-arm guy angry?  Was a murder about to happen in the parking lot of our local food market?  I know it's wrong to think such things just because of a name - a widely used name.  Isn't Springfield where the Simpsons live?

          As much as I'd like to see Springfield, Oregon become crime free - don't bring it here!  Just make it vanish from the earth all together.

I Miss Playing Games

            Growing up, I enjoyed playing games.  Sometimes I would play games with my brother.  Sometimes mom and dad would join in.  They taught Patrick and I how to play a card game they called “500”

            Patrick won almost every single game that he played.  When we played 500, we would play three games – switching partners every game.  If Patrick didn’t actually win all three games – it was because I had lost all three. 

            Winning wasn’t important.  I was fortunate enough to learn that early on.  If I felt like winning was the only reason to play – I would never play them.  I enjoyed playing games because for the most part, it really was fun just interacting with my family. 

Whenever my family members would get together for whatever holiday, we would always play games.  And that is what I looked forward to the most.  It’s a family tradition that I’ve had with my sibs and have tried with my own children. I remember laughing whenever we would play games like “Awkward Family Photos” or “Pit” and just enjoy ourselves.  

The first year that I started my blog was in 2012.  It hadn’t occurred to any of us that it would be our last year with mom – our last Thanksgiving with her.  My last Thanksgiving with her.  I think Corey would have returned from Las Vegas to share the holidays with her one last time.  I think mom’s death has been harder on him than any of us. 

Sunny had invited the family to an early Thanksgiving dinner – celebrating with mom and her children and their children the Saturday before Thanksgiving Day.

Each of us had brought several games to play – though Richard, Jenna, and I played just one before mom got antsy and overwhelmed with the huge amount of people that were gathered together – less than 20, I believe – and wanted to leave.  We took her to the theatre and saw “Brave” which she enjoyed.

On Thursday we had another Thanksgiving dinner with my mom, but there were only five of us.  We were just about to play a round of “Spades” when Randy and Carrie dropped by.  We redealt so that Randy could play (Carrie just wanted to watch) so we could play in teams.  Some of us have fond memories about the game and the smiles that it still gives us – some of us anyway.

As I briefly explained in this post, my mom had dementia.  We had to explain the rules of the game each time we dealt the cards.  Mom did try, but really wasn’t getting it, but that’s what made the game fun – I thought.  I love it when we are all laughing.  Winning’s not important when you’re having fun.

Last year I remember playing board games with Roland and our three daughters-in-law.  That was fun.  Memorable.  Don’t imagine they’ll be playing games this year as two of them now hold my newborn granddaughters (that I still have not seen in person)

This year we’ll be spending Thanksgiving in McMinnville.  I don’t know if there will be any game playing or not.  It’s not important.  We’ll be spending the holidays with friends.  It will be a great holiday if we allow.  I am looking forward to another “non-traditional” Thanksgiving. (see here)

Christmas may be a tough holiday – especially for Jenna who misses her cousins and her brothers.  Christmas will be different for each of them, too, as well.  Changes occur.  Life goes on.  

I miss my family.  Don’t miss the snow.

Leaving the Church is Not the Same as Leaving the Gospel

There have been countless times when I have admired each of my brothers for their powerful restraint – for weighing the situation before drawing conclusions.  And then there’s me.  Even more countless times of leaping so much further than I have obviously looked.  When will I learn?!?

Recently I had created a post called “Any Day Now – Reprise” comparing the new Church policy to the system’s ignorance of Marco, a character in the movie “Any Day Now” starring Alan Cummings and Garret Dillahunt as a same-sex couple who love Marco and battle it out in court for full custody.  Perhaps I was wrong – or ignorant rather.  Just as so many of the characters that were supposedly trying to protect Marco were ignorant.

“Last week, the church instructed its local leaders that same-sex couples are apostates and that children living with them can't take part in church activities, including baptism, until they're adults and leave home.”

It’s a hot topic on facebook and in the news.  People are leaving the Church as a result of anger, or disbelief, or lack of understanding – or prayer.  Did they pray about the revelation?  Did they pray about having their names removed from Church records?

I, myself, have struggled with it.  In my post, I said I was ashamed.  I felt ashamed.  I still do to a degree.  Still have not felt that satisfactory confirmation, but perhaps I’m getting closer as I read beautiful testimonies from those who are no longer members but still have the faith that it will all work out.  I have read testimonies of those who’ve had to wait to be baptized or go through the temple and found “great rewards” that they may have overlooked if they hadn’t had to “fight” for what they have. I have also read about hurt and pain and anger and lots of questions and many who have leaped bounds without looking – many who sound as though they were wavering in the church for a while and are looking for an excuse to leave. 

I have read these comments on facebook:

“I still have great reservations about this policy and am still processing my feelings about it . . .”

“Does anyone see that the new policy has been re- examined in order to PROTECT children from having to make difficult decisions about their parents lifestyle before they are ready?! This is a fragile relationship in the world already, and the LDS church does not want to make it more difficult. People get over yourselves and stop trying to take everything that is good, and make it into something it isn't.”

“ I love children, all children. Period. When I read the media's presentation of this statement, I was a bit conflicted.

“The church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints is the Church Christ founded in his day, and has been restored to earth by Him under direction of his Father through a prophet.

“The church is still guided by revelation from God. If we believe this, and I do. We are hearing the word of God when the prophet speaks, (or makes policy).
Still, we do not blindly follow the Prophet or the Church. If we have questions or conflicts, we should ponder and pray for our own understanding and personal revelation to obtain confirmation of them.

“It seems the same people who already criticize the Church are the ones making new criticisms.

“In the end, I would look at it this way. God is the head of this church and guides it through revelation to his Prophets . . .

“Because I feel conflicted, I will pray to understand this policy better. In the end I am God's Child. So are you. He loves us all equally, and personally. In understanding that I have no conflict.”

How so many view the new policy

As I have mentioned in several posts, I have often felt discrimination from the Church or its leaders or in lessons or presentations because I was single, or because I’ve been in debt or friends who have come from broken homes or have been cheated on or friends who have been abused . . . it’s hard to sit through lessons or talks that are geared to the minority, when I’m believing the majority don’t fit into that “perfect Mormon mold” and I know there are quite a few that really don’t want to.

We have been counseled from the beginning to “not just take the leaders’ words on faith” but to seek our own confirmation – to study it out and to pray – which I have been doing.  I still feel misguided, insulted, hurt, betrayed . . . but I know I can feel differently if I rely upon him rather than the words on facebook or even those who have blogged in defense of the church or in defense of the new policy.  Those who have painted the “unbaptized” children as the chosen ones – who have to “fight” to make it worth it. 

And then there are the church attenders who seem diligent as far as attendance goes, but have issues with the gospel - or simply don't know or are familiar with even just the basic beliefs.

I wish I had a gift with words.  I don’t feel like I’ve expressed myself accurately.