A Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree, I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem.
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eye when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts,
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night"

"Its my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers.
"My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red white and blue... an American flag.

"I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home,
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat,

I can carry the weight of killing another
Or lay down my life with my sisters and brothers
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To insure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?

It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone.

To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust.
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.

By Michael Marks, Christmas 2000

Las Vegas Adventures

Christmas in Las Vegas... You never know what you may "un-wrap."
It is 1 1/2 hours to Las Vegas from Bull Head City. We don't gamble, smoke, drink or even enjoy the glitzy shows, so you may wonder what else there is to do in Las Vegas. We managed to fill an entire day with lots of fun family activities, and there are still plenty of other options. You just have to dig a little to find them.

First order of business was to pay up on a family plan that fell apart in Baltimore. Ever since Kate read Fancy Nancy she has wanted to go to a "fancy" restaurant. I told her we would go to the Rainforest Cafe (which is about as fancy as I'm willing to do with 4 kids) when we were in Baltimore, but when we got there it was closed. Luckily there was one in Las Vegas so after much waiting and anticipation she finally had her day. She "dressed up" in all sorts of fancy stuff, but after lunch I convinced her to change so she would be "comfortable" (ie normal) at the museum.

We had a great time at the Rainforest Cafe and as a bonus they had a coupon on their website for December. The kids were thrilled to eat with fish, animals, and an occasional thunder storm.

After lunch we hit the Children's Museum- gotta love that free admission membership! Dallin amazed all the kids with his bubble making finesse. Having been to several museums with bubble centers he is a pro!This museum had a special "grossology" exhibit to learn about skin blemishes, snot, gas, etc. Not my favorite exhibit, but it was different. I'll spare you the gory details of what exactly Ben is supposed to be crawling over.Kate and Dallin spent some time in the Hurricane chamber. The picture doesn't capture the whipping hair and giggling faces- I should have used the video. :)The best part of the museum was the special science show. Rusty volunteered to help out and they made some yummy candy cane ice cream we all got to sample using liquid nitrogen. After the museum we went to Costco for dinner (and groceries of course). On the way home we drove through Sunset Park where the community has come together to put on a huge display of Christmas lights accompanied by festive music. I realize the pictures are weak, but you just can't capture twinkling Christmas lights in a moving car in the dark unless you have a better camera and more expertise than I do. Oh well it's the memories that matter.

Last time we visited Las Vegas the kids were a couple of years younger and kept commenting on the smoking and immodest pictures so we had decided to avoid stopping or visiting. Although there is still plenty to avoid, we actually had a great time. Who knows we may even go back :) Well at least to Costco.

Christmas trees and calendars

Part of the uniqueness of this holiday is that we don't have all of our regular Christmas stuff with us. This means no artificial tree, none of our ornaments, stockings, nativity, nothing. We were starting from scratch. The kids thought that this was a good excuse to buy a "real" tree this year. In our marriage we have only had a live Christmas tree once. We were living in Camarillo, CA and there is a cut your own tree farm that we visited. It was dark, dirty and not as much fun as it sounded. After pricing the pre-cut vs fake ones we invested in a fake one that has been the standard since. This year we decided to do the real one again. After buying the tree, the stand, the skirt, lights, ornaments, tinsel, a star, stockings, aspirin (the tree guy told us to put it in the water for the tree?), etc (a good portion of which we bought at the dollar store) we spent nearly $100 on decorations- SHEESH! I miss having the old standard stuff around.

Of course we got home and realized we were supposed to cut a 1/2 inch off the tree so it could drink water. Yeah? with what? We considered using a kitchen knife and then I decided I needed to go introduce myself to the neighbors. Luckily they had an old rusty saw that did the trick more or less. Once we got it all decorated it really began to feel like Christmas. I love the magic of a Christmas tree. It's been nice not having to barricade the tree this year. Because all of our ornaments are cheap dollar store ornaments and the kids are older I haven't had to move the ornaments to the top. Now if we can just keep the tree alive until Christmas. :)

One of the "projects" Lauren tackled most recently was to design a 2010 calendar. Initially I didn't realize what she was doing, so she created it from scratch using Microsoft word to input tables and researching holidays. She imported pictures and graphics the whole thing. Then she wanted to print. I took one look and knew it would use up at least 2 ink cartridges and then we would have to bind it. Sooo... instead I showed her how simple it is to go to Costco.com and drop in a few photos, personalize the dates and for $10 (plus shipping) a calendar. I felt bad she did all that work, but it was a good learning experience. :)

To complete her calendar Lauren wanted a Christmasy picture of the family. Because we don't really know anyone here and it seems weird to ask complete strangers to come take a picture of us we were going to go to Walmart and have a family photo- besides it would be nice for the family Christmas card. After pricing it ($200 for the copyright release) we decided to forgo that option. Instead we put the little timer function on our camera to use. VOILA!! One family photo complete without any copyright restrictions.

We initially bought cheap Santa hats for everyone, but somehow we mysteriously lost one in the waiting. Lauren was devastated and in tears (she really wanted this picture to be just right), but after some gentle persuasion and practical insisting we were able to pull it together. We even let her take a picture of mom and dad with Santa hats to make up for the loss. Of course Katie insisted on having a picture with mom too. I love my Katie Bug!

From Coast to Coast

Having just recently left the Atlantic coast we had to visit the Pacific coast or we wouldn't feel complete. So instead of spending Black Friday bargain shopping we went to the beach. It was cold, but we all found something to do.

Adam brought his metal detector and each of the kids took a turn searching for treasure. Lauren was the only one who actually found anything. I believe her final tally was 2 pennies, 4 soda can pull tabs, and a rusty screw.

Kate spent the first half of the trip running around, but she was tired, cold and not her best self.

Her sweet cousin Daniel wrapped her up in his jacket and carried her around until she fell asleep and then held her while she napped. He's going to make a great dad someday.

I love that my kids are each others best friends. If nothing else traveling has really cemented their relationships.
Rusty reading poetry...

Ben didn't have much luck with the metal detector but he did discover the tentacle of a giant sea monster- Eww!

The kids spent a good deal of their time exploring caves, tide pools and collecting interesting rocks and crabs. Here is Lauren showing off a pretty cool sea star.

Mike is a talented architect-to-be so it shouldn't be surprising that he spent his time creating a sand castle masterpiece. His work on a computer design program inspired Lauren and he sent her home with a program to begin experimenting.

Thankful fors

Traveling for the last 8 months has definitely given me a unique appreciation for home. I've found that many of the things that I've always taken for granted are really blessings. Not that I've really been deprived or been without, but here are some of my new "grateful fors."

*Roads that are free (of course this is relative in that we pay taxes for our roads, but I'm just happy not to have to dig for change to pay tolls)
* Free parking
* Milk that isn't price regulated by the government (I suppose this may be relative too as I'm sure the government still regulates it some how, but at least it's less obvious)
* Parking right outside the door to my house
* Ground level entry to our home
* A fenced yard (even if it is just rock)
* FREE laundry (again relative in that you pay for detergent and electricity, but it's much less painful than spending $20-30/week to use pay washers and dryers)
* Home projects (Weird I know, but there is something very fulfilling in improving your space)
* Furniture and home decor
* A Barbeque
* Having an instant network of friends (in our ward) wherever we go
* Entire days without having to use the car!!!

Turkey Day

We were so happy to be with family for Thanksgiving. This was our first trip to California since last Christmas, but in many ways it feels like coming home. We usually stay with Rusty's brother Adam and his wife Cheryl and their kids Daniel, Michael and Hallie. My kids love it there!

Even though the boys are quite a bit older they are so patient and accommodating of our little ones. They take them to the park and listen to all their stories. They let them pull out all their Legos and toys and even sit and build with them. My boys are always inspired by the amazing things the big boys can do and build. My boys were thrilled when Mike, Dan and Hallie told them they could bring home two huge totes of Mega Blocs and Legos. It is all they have played with since Thanksgiving. Because my kids are so close together in age it's fun to have "big kids" around. They think they are pretty great!! When we left Mike and Dan even took the time to write the kids special cards and notes.

And of course they all love hanging out with Hallie, especially Kate. In her eyes Hallie has it all, and her room is a girls wonderland of Barbies and babies. Hallie even passed on a few baby outfits which Kate has been using to dress up her babies. Of course it probably took Hallie a week to dig her room out after "sharing" it with my kids.

What a blessing to have a place we can go where we feel so comfortable. There is never enough time and we just soak in as much as we can get. This year Cheryl and Mom Clarke out-did themselves in creating a masterful feast. Of course Rusty contributed his expert taste testing skills to ensure that everything was top notch.
This is the Before picture

Here is the AFTER- Cheryl with her Turkey Masterpiece

And of course here is Adam with the other Turkey (love you Mike!)Dad Clarke attacks the bird with carving finesse

The Feast has been laid.....
The Kid's Table- in true childhood fashion they ate olives, jello and rolls and in 5 minutes were off to play.
And of course me and my favorite person- rejoicing in the bountiful blessings that are ours!