This is The Season

Have you seen the book of paintings by Simon Dewey entitled "This is the Season"? As far as I'm aware, this book was commissioned to "fit" with the primary song "This is the season". Thanksgiving Point up here between us and SLC has Christmas lights, and after you do the santa, elves, etc., you can drive through a "nativity" one. They play the primary song and have life sized paintings. When I saw those paintings, and found out there was a book - I really wanted it. So Rich got it for me last Christmas, and I had the artist (an English guy, now living in Canada) sign it when I heard he was going to be at a Seagull (discount) Bookstore close to us this year.

So I've got the book, but obviously didn't want to cut it up. I *REALLY* wanted one larger pic of the main nativity picture to frame, but couldn't find it. So when I took my book in for him to sign, I asked where I could find a bigger copy. He said they weren't available because rights are held by the book company. But he went home and found me a "Proof copy" of the book, and autographed the one picture, and GAVE the proof copy of the book to me!!! Nice man. Anyway, so I have torn that one apart, and have the stable scene (of his) in one frame, and the wise men in another frame, and the shepherds in a third frame. And then I put the nativity I ironed/stitched etc on the top.

When I went to the signing with the artist, I bought a few small prints for the family (just 5x7s with a double mat at about $5 and $6 each). I got three AWESOME ones that I think FIT the little ones perfectly: The Savior walking on the water lifting the disciple up for Ben - Simon Dewey wrote "Have Faith in Me" and signed it. The Savior with a little dark haired girl (that could be Nadia from a distance) - with "I Love You" written, and The Savior calling his disciples from their fishing nets for Dan - with "Come Follow Me" written. I love them.

BTW: I would love to collect nativities from all over, but only have a few so far (from Africa, Ukraine, Russia, Singapore, and two from Chile, a small precious moments one, plus a few homemade things). I put them all out on my piano, and I have a small tree you can see part of that's my "nativity tree". As Richard would say, it's a "Craft store tree - not a home/family tree"! I just have gold and blue/gold baubles that depict the nativity, little bells tied with gold ribbon, and little gold stars. So that's my "nativity" corner of the living room.

I *HATE* taking my decorations down - it always looks so BARE afterwards. So I like the fact that we can leave them up through January 7th (the Ukrainian celebration of Christmas for the kids).

Michael Budd

This is Michael Budd. He is 16 years old, 6 feet tall, and legally blind. Since he's had the same vision problem since he was born he cannot comprehend what he can't see. He thinks his vision is far more normal than it really is. He is fiercely determined to be just like everyone else.

Unfortunately, this just isn't possible. He cannot see anything directly in front of him, and his peripheral vision is estimated to be 20/600. He can read enlarged font if he holds it next to the side of his eye. He can use a computer if he gets close enough to touch the screen with his cheek. He can read text messages the same way.

He has to rely on 'routine' to function in many ways. If someone out of the ordinary stops by, he cannot tell who they are until they talk. We could be six feet in front of him and he wouldn't recognize who we were. Being legally blind naturally excludes him from many activities. Driving has been the most difficult for him to accept so far.

He has learned to adapt very well. He reads Braille, uses a magnifier to enlarge regular text, snow boards, busses tables at a local pizzeria, rides a bike, uses public transportation adeptly, and manages the school hockey team.

Lately, he's been more than a tad obnoxious. Authority figures aren't his favorite people. He has a huge support system between parents, family, advisors and teachers from Logan High, Utah School for the Deaf and Blind, Department of Rehabilitation, and church. As far as I can tell, we all bug him. :)

We had two meetings last week to help him transition from childhood to independent adulthood. He seemed rebellious and oblivious during both meetings even though nine different adults devoted their time to helping him. It was discouraging. It almost seemed as if he was determined to fail no matter how much support he was offered. My hope was renewed in him today.

Sundays aren't his favorite days. He usually works late Saturday nights, and going to church isn't high on his list of things to get out of bed for. By the time you endure his ranting tirade you wish you'd let him stay in bed. Today was different because of this little machine.

This is called a Braillenote. The complete English language is typed with the center six keys. The other keys navigate through the machine's memory and functions. The bottom black panel is a Braille read out. The little silver dots rise and fall to form different letters and contractions. Usually, only a few words can be displayed at a time. Michael reads the raised 'dots' and then pushes the key to advance to the next line. It has a TON of memory. Complete textbooks, his computer files, music, and all of the scriptures and hymns can be stored and searched on the machine.

Sighted people, including myself, tend to marvel at the technology and Michael's ability to use it. Michael, however, hates to use it because he hates to be different. He's afraid people will think he is weird. Today, Eric insisted that he take it to church, and to our astonishment, Michael DID! He used it to read the sacrament prayer. The other priests (bless their teenage selves) were in awe and made a huge fuss over it. Michael was beaming. He never sings in church since he cannot use a hymn book. Today, he searched for the page number, found the hymn and sang his little heart out. It brought tears to my eyes. He was even able to keep up with the pace of the hymns. It was a happy happy day!

Next thing we know, he'll learn to carry a tune!

Christmas tree shopping

Last week the temperature rose from -44 degrees celcius to -25 degrees celcius and we decided if we were going to get a Christmas tree we needed to do it right away or it would get too cold again. We bundled up and took a trip with friends down to their riverside property at Green Island. It was a beautiful day but still quite cold.

Because it is impossible to get into the woods in a vehicle, we went on snowmobiles and they pulled us on their family sled. It was a LOT of fun but once you get going the breeze in your face is insane.

We looked and looked and looked for the "perfect" tree and decided that what we need to do is look in the summer and mark a tree to go back for in the winter. We decided on this small one because it had good proportions.

The cold took a toll on the chainsaw also and it took Jim quite a few tries to get the chainsaw going. Once we got the tree cut down and all the snow came off it, it is a little "sparce".

Because of the cold we decided to go home and have hot chocolate instead of the hot choc and weiner roast we had planned for outside. Shelly and Max were very happy with that decision.

Now the tree is in our house, but unfortunately our containers with all our tree decorations are in the Quonet which is frozen shut! Hopefully this weekend we will be able to get into it and finish decorating the house.

Alderson/Francis Grandkids Christmas Party

THis is just a few of the pictures. I am REALLY tired and have to be up at 4:30 so will try to do more tomorrow! I would say it was a resounding success. The kids had a blast and Bren and I were SHATTERED by the end of it all. I think we're going to have to work out all year to get in better shape to handle it all better next year!!!