A Love Worth Giving

The following is taken from A Love worth Giving to You at Christmas by Max Lucado...

"My prayer for you this season of giving is that you will receive God's love and accept your place as a dearly loved child in his heavenly family.  Accept the love that came in the form of a newborn baby.  Accept the forgiveness and grace bought for you through the cruel, nail-piercing reality of the Cross.  Accept his love won for you through the victory of his resurrection.  Let his love worth giving fill you, flood you, and change you forever.  Live in the knowledge and acceptance of this love.  Live loved.

Remember, God loves you simply because he has chosen to do so.

He loves you when you don't feel lovely.

He loves you when no one else loves you.  Others may abandon you, divorce you, and ignore you, but God will love you.  Always.  No matter what.

 

It is love worth giving.  To you."

Merry Christmas to you.  May you feel totally and completely loved this day.

Friday Fun

Friday was probably the best day of the visit this week with Ben and Sara as both were feeling better.  They'd both had sore throats and head colds.  Yesterday afternoon I went to a wildlife museum with them, which I quite enjoyed.  Ben grew antlers and was snatched up by an eagle.  Thanks to Sara, I have the photos to prove it!

We had a nice time.   It was good to be together!

From there we went over to play with Maria and Cordelia.  Ben wanted to make a snowman with Cordy.  Unfortunately, the snow was so powdery it was like trying to make a snowman out of sand.  Ben showed some heroic perseverence, though.

While Ben worked on the little snowman, Sara drew one for Cordy...

Cordelia appreciated both versions of a snowman.  I think she loved having her aunt and uncle there to play with her.  She may not always remember this day but somewhere in her mind I like to think she will always have the knowledge of how much they care for her.

Lessons in the Storage Room

Last Sunday the children in our church put on a delightful Christmas Program.  I took photos but I did not get permission from parents to put the cute faces of their offspring online so I will just tell you about it.  There were cute little angels, shepherds, Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus and all the others.  We had child musicians on drums, clarinet and even a soloist singing "Let There Be Peace on Earth".  It was just adorable.  I love it when little people get a hold of a microphone!

After the program we had a birthday party for Jesus.  The children had games, treats and crafts.  My personal favorite of the games was Pin the Hay on the Manger!

After the party, of course, was the clean-up.   I was helping put away the costumes.  Since moving into our new church building a few years ago we have a wonderful storage area.  Putting away the costumes used to involve packing too many storage containers into too small of a storage shed.  Now, we have ample storage places and we can even hang up all the costumes so that next year no one has to iron them.  We are grateful for this! 

It was up in that storage area that I found the best lesson of the day.

We have bare crosses up through Lent and then the white flowers beautifully decorating this one for Easter Day.  Right now, they are just stored out of sight.  It isn't time to put the emphasis on the cross; it's time to put the emphasis on the joy of the manger.  In the midst of that joy, though, I can't help but think of what was waiting for that cute baby in the manger.  The birth story is lovely and miraculous, but we already know that the baby lying there has a rough road ahead.  While we are celebrating Christmas, maybe it is ok to keep that in the back of our minds.

He was sent for a very specific purpose. 

He was sent as a sacrifice.

He was sent out of love for us.

Christmas List

Mike's family tradition for Christmas gifts involved making lists of what you wanted for Christmas so the purchaser of the gift just had to go shopping from that list.   Do any of you do that?  That makes sense for the  kids, I think, as they always had a certain toy or something that was filling their dreams.  It was fun to get them exactly what they were wanting.

For me, though, I have always found it difficult to cooperate with his request for a list from me.  It takes away that element of surprise I guess.  I love getting gifts that are totally unexpected, something that says the purchaser saw something cool and thought of me.  However, that is hard to do, especially when rushed.  I know that feeling of panic when nothing seems like just the right gift so I can see that a list can be helpful.

I tried to think of something I could use.  I thought about my closet.  It is FULL.  Sure, I have many times when I don't see just what I want to wear but I definitely have more clothes than I need.

I looked around the rest of the house and what I saw was a house full of stuff.  I have too much stuff!  I have to organize stuff, clean stuff, dust around stuff, put away stuff and find stuff among the stuff.  Sometimes I feel burdened by my stuff.  Do any of you ever feel that way?

That's when it came to me! 

For Christmas, I asked Mike to take away stuff from me!

I was proud of myself but for some reason that didn't go over with Mike.  That's just as well.  He might take away the wrong stuff.

Decorating the Tree

It has been a long time since all of our kids were home to decorate the Christmas tree.  The first year Maria went to college I was excited as the time approached for her to come home for the holidays.  My plan was to have the house all Christmasy when she walked in but the boys were adamant that I wait for Maria to help with the decorating.  I thought it was so sweet.

Mike got "John Denver and the Muppets" going with the volume at an exuberant level.  I'd set the tree up the night before, with help from Bode.  The lights were on and it was time to go through the ornaments. 

We have some really lovely ornaments, but you've all seen lovely ornaments before.  I want to show you our most interesting ornament...

This is a guy on a camel made out of pipecleaners.  I don't remember the whole story but our son-in-law, Eric, made this years ago.  I remember that he was new to the family and was noticing we had a lot of handmade ornaments.  He was goofing around and came up with this lovely deal.  I am certain he did not realize we'd think it was so funny we'd use it until the end of time!  The camel doesn't look too camelish anymore, but it makes me smile.  It makes our tree different from that of any other family! 

Does you family have any weird (sorry Eric) ornaments?

...or weird traditions?

Today I am thinking especially about my Grandma Rose.  I got to have my grandma in my life for almost 53 years.  I am so grateful for that fact.  Still, I selfishly wanted more.

Last year on this day my Mom called me to tell me Grandma Rose was dying.  I got in the car and drove up to the town where she lives.  When I arrived my Mom, my aunt and my cousin were with her.  I couldn't find a way to be close to her so I just climbed up on her bed and lay near her on top of the blankets.  Grandma fussed because she thought I would be cold on top of the covers.  I assured her I was fine but in true Grandma Rose fashion she needed to be the hostess.  She couldn't get up but she showed me where there was an extra blanket so I cuddled up under it and she relaxed.  I will always treasure that memory of Grandma taking care of me like that just an hour or so before she died.  She was a remarkable woman.

Grandma Rose loved babies.  She loved her garden.  She loved hand crafts; our shop, Wyoming Rose, is named after her.  She loved reading.  She loved following the political scene.  She loved reading her Bible.  Most importantly, Grandma Rose loved God.  She passed that on to her children and to her grandkids.  For that, I am most grateful.

There are a lot of us descendents of this beautiful woman.

She had a big impact on our lives.

We miss her.

I miss her.

Cupcake Water

Our son, Ben, and his wife, Sara, are here.  They live a VERY long ways away so this is a big, big deal.  Saturday they rather spontaneously decided to buy airline tickets and left that same day!  Ben has always kind of rolled that way.  It's nice that Sara can handle that as well!

Ben and Sara are also known for bringing interesting gifts.  Yesterday they arrived loaded with fun and exciting gifts for us all.  One of the cutest was this dress-up hat for Cordelia.  She LOVED it.  It looked lovely matched with the Wonder Pets Cape she was wearing.

Cordy also loved the gift I received...

I think Cordy and I now have a new fun thing to do together.  We spent quite a lot of time drinking water out of these cute cups (the tops come off).  Cordy called it "cupcake water".  She said that cupcake water is delicious!

We're just so happy to have our entire family together again for a few days.  What an unexpected joy! 

Jj

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me

Just a LITTLE Lunch

I picked up Maria and Cordelia Thursday.  Cordy's energy has improved and so we took a sack lunch and went to join Grandpa at church for lunch.  We went into the fellowship hall and Cordy saw the preschool chairs and tables set up.  She was quite intrigued by the furniture that was just her size!  So, we had a little lunch.  Get it?  LITTLE lunch...

The Look and the 1-2-3

 OK, this is what I want you to do.  First, click on The Inspired Housewife's blog so you know what I am talking about, then come right back.....


......back already?

So, Diane asks if you use "The Look".  I think most of us, mothers or not, have a look we give to our children or spouses.  Am I right?

The reason I wanted to discuss this is because when I read her blog it reminded me of a parenting nugget I have to share.  It's not original but I used it so consistently that the results were nothing short of amazing.

Young parents, listen up.  Once you have perfected the look, a good one that gets your child's attention, you need to get your fingers in on the action.  You should probably practice this technique in private first, when you are not under stress.  That way it will come quite naturally as a follow-up to your "look" in an actual live-action situation.  In fact, I'd suggest you practice the "look" in front of the mirror in case you are a bit unsure of yourself.

Here's how it goes.  You do something stern with your mouth.  I think I kind of tighten my lips, raise my eyebrows and then pull them together.  It's good if you can refrain from blinking but if not, just be sure it is a long and slow blink that is loaded with disappointment.  Then make very, very direct eye contact with your offspring.  You say something like, "You'd better get down from there before I count to 3."  That's when the fingers jump in.  It is important that this begins at home when you are able to sternly count out loud, 1-2-3, as you pop the appropriate number of fingers to correlate with your count.  Don't count too fast.  At "3", a consequence must take place.  I usually put the child in time-out, or at least that was my plan.  This process began when our kids were really little and by the time they were 4 or 5 I don't think they even remembered what happened at "3".  They knew it was something they wanted to avoid and they corrected their behavior by "2".

The beauty of this simple technique was that I could do it in public with no one being aware except my child.  In church I could just catch their eye and raise 1 finger, 2 at the most.  Noise stopped.  It was like magic.

Here's the funniest part of it.  I still use it on Sam!

Sam is about 6'4" tall.  He still hates to see the fingers!  It's really rather funny to me.  I've no idea what I'd do now if I ever got to "3", but it doesn't really matter.

Now, if only I could get it to work on Bode...

Awake Too Early

I confess.  I have been awake since 4:00 a.m. today.  I went to sleep easily and slept well until then.  However, at that time I let worry creep in.  I know better.  Does that happen to any of you?  I laid there and kept telling myself that all the worries flitting through my mind could be handled during the day, yet, I kept worrying.

So, this post is really for me.  If you are a worrier as well, though, this might be for you also.  It is from Matthew 6:25-27.

25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^b?

I 'm So Excited to Miss You!

We love this little girl so much!  Even when she was feeling her worst, she was still polite to the hospital staff.  She was brave and sweet.  We told her the doctors and nurses were trying to make her better so she thanked them, even when they were doing some pretty awful things to her. 

When she got home yesterday I went over to take their dog home.  Bumblebee had been hanging out at our house throughout Cordelia's hospitalization.  Cordy was so happy to see Bumblebee!  She made a funny little voice that sounded like she'd swallowed a big bubble and over and over she said, "I'm so excited to miss you!  I'm so excited to miss you!" as she hugged and hugged her "sister".

I am happy to report that Cordelia is recovering very well and we are all breathing a bit more easily. 

A Powerful Force

Watching our children suffer through illness and injury was one of the worst things we've endured in our lives.  Now, though, I've discovered that watching a grandchild suffer is even worse.  It is a double whammy because you love them and want to ease their suffering and then you look at your own adult child and see pain and worry and fear and tears and you want to ease that as well.

Cordelia has spent the last two nights in the hospital.  She's endured a lot of miserable testing on top of her illness.  The good news is she is improving and should be discharged this morning.  Her parents can love her up in their own home and slowly return to normal.  

Cordy's daddy was out of town so I spent the first night at the hospital with Maria and Cordy until he could get to them the next morning.  That wasn't a sacrifice for me.  I NEEDED to be there.  What was hard for me was to not take over and try to be the mom.  I really wanted that little girl in my arms the entire time.  I wanted to hold her while she cried, hold her while she vomited and hold her while she slept.  I don't know if it is the nurse in me or the mom in me, but it was a powerful force. 

The only thing that kept me under control at all was watching my daughter with that same powerful force, that same need to hold and protect and comfort her child.  I knew that my main job was to support my own daughter, to be there for her but to not be in the way of her need to mother.  It was difficult to see her worry but it was also quite beautiful.  She is such a gentle and loving Momma.  She'd never been  in such a situation as this but her instincts are good and she knew just how to comfort her baby.  I am very proud of her.

Cordy is a lucky little girl because she is blessed with a great daddy as well.

...and soon she will be back to her usual healthy self.

Hospital Report

I spent last night in our local hospital.  Our grandaughter, Cordelia, is very sick and was admitted last night.  Maria, our daughter, has already blogged about it on her blog (we are still at the hospital) so I'd ask you to just go to Little Things are Big to read more. 

She is already showing signs of improvement and I know it will all be ok.

Romans 12

Elizabeth left a great scripture for me yesterday.  Thank you, Elizabeth.  I am certain there are many who are having a rough week so I am sharing it with you as well. 

Romans 12:12

Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.

In fact, I'd recommend reading the whole chapter.

Job 22:21

This is a stressful week, not just for me but for quite a few people in my life.  Sometimes the roughest of times are when a little nugget of wisdom shines the brightest, though.  A friend sent me a verse that I am holding on to.  It is from the book of Job.  I think Job knew a bit about stress, don't you?

Job 22:21, "Agree with God, and be at peace; in this way good will come to you.

So simple.  So true. 

Why I Believe I am a Beautiful Princess

I am a beautiful princess.  I know this to be true.  Let me tell you why I believe this.

Do you remember last month when I talked about the young people who were not only asked to write their Faith Papers but to also share them in public?  These kids wrote of their faith, along with its ups and downs.   Some shared some pretty dramatic moments that impacted their faith story.  Many of the kids had gone through trying experiences of which I'd had no idea. 

I said that I wanted to do the same.  I wanted to take the time to examine my own faith journey and I wanted to share it.  I challenged you all to write about your faith as well.  Elizabeth commented that she'd written something like a Faith Paper already.  You can read her story here.  Even if you don't want to write it down, I think it would be a good idea to just take some time to think out your own story, to ponder the events that helped draw you closer to God.

As I thought about the beginnings of my gift of faith, I really couldn't remember a time before I had faith.  That may make my story seem boring, but I consider it to be the best part.  I can remember back to age 3 and most of those memories involve my mom.  I know without a doubt that my mom is the reason I do not have a time when I did not know I was a child of God.  Mom's daily life was centered around God and she shared that with us.  I remember her telling me that when I needed to know how to behave that I should think about how Jesus would behave.  Many, many years later when I first saw all the posters, bracelets, etc. that said WWJD? (What would Jesus do?) my first thought was, "That's just what Mom said!"

Back to age 3... One time my dad was digging a well or something that took a long time and left a big hole in our yard.  I guess he'd seen black widow spiders by that hole.  Mom told me to stay away from that hole because of those spiders.  I'm guessing she also said something about the hole itself being a danger but I only remember the spider warning.  Later, she found me and my little friend, Laurie, sitting at that very hole.  That sounds pretty defiant and naughty, huh?  But I remember why I was there and why I had invited my favorite friend along.  I was waiting for a black widow spider to come and bite us so we could go see Jesus!  Oh, the faith of a child!

I did not always take time to consider what Jesus would do.  Maybe I did consider it but I did not always live by it.  By the time I was 5 yrs old I had already developed a checkered past.  I had taken stalks of rhubarb from the neighbor's yard and eaten them.  I remember thinking the neighbor's didn't want it anyway.  Isn't that the way it is with sin?  We are all pretty good at justifying the wrong we want to do.  I still do it. 

I also remember that my brother and I (I probably should not drag him into this) would ring the neighbors' doorbell and run and hide.  We must've thought that was funny.  I will say this, though, I had recurring dreams about that 5 yr old action well into my high school years.  I would dream that the neighbor came out with a gun and I never could find a safe place to hide from him!

Sunday School was very important to me as a little girl.  The first songs I remember learning were "For God So Love The World" and "Jesus Loves Me".  I loved being with my friends at Sunday School.  One Sunday, though, was especially horrible.  The night before we'd all endured an earthquake.  I don't know that any damage was done but it was bad enough the the bed had moved across the floor.  I was terrified and when my Mom was comforting me I confessed that I'd thought I'd died and was in hell.  The next morning I heard her tell people at church that I thought I'd gone to hell.  I was horrified!  I know now that it was just a cute little kid story.  All mother's tell such stories.  At the time, though, I felt that now my church friends knew that I didn't deserve to go to heaven ( read above paragraphs if you don't remember how naughty I was).  I knew they now knew I was a fraud.

When I first went to church camp I think I had just finished 4th grade.  It was to be the first of many, many church camps.  I loved going to church camp but that first experience was kind of rough.  There was one pastor there that worked on me all week, pressuring me to get baptized.  In the church where I was raised we waited until we decided on our own to be baptized.  I always knew I would do that but hadn't really thought about it much to be honest.  That pastor decided to use scare tactics to get me to be baptized at church camp but I wanted to wait and do it when my family could be present.  He went so far as to tell me that if I were in a car crash on the way home and died, I would go to hell.  It seemed that baptism was all about being saved, something we did to earn everlasting life.  I'm not telling you this because I agree with his theology.  In fact, I am still kind of upset with that man for scaring me.  I am telling you this to suggest that God can take even someone with bad theology to make you aware of your own gift of faith.

Even as a kid I remember thinking that we should love and honor God simply because he was God, not so that he would save us and not because we were frightened of hell. I do not believe that we can do anything to "earn" salvation. It is a gift. It is not a gift that is forced on us, but it is a gift.

One thing that shaped me early on was that my little sister was born with cerebral palsy.  She was such a smart and cute little blonde girl!  She never learned to walk but was always smiling and charming to people.  I knew, though, that her life was always so much more difficult than my own.  Still, when I think of all the times I just went off to play games outside, games she couldn't play, I am ashamed to say I didn't consider her.  I wish that I'd spent more time including her with my friends as it was difficult for her to get out to make her own friendships.  Even though I wasn't thinking as much about her as I should've then, I believe she had a lot to do with my need later to be a nurse.  Having her as a sister made me realize the suffering others endure.  I think it also made me more grateful for the things we can take for granted, such as the ability to walk.  I saw her love for God, even when she was in pain or lonely.  I see, even now, how she graciously allows others to show God's love.  I see how they are blessed by being able to help her.  Through her I learned that God wants us to help each other through this life.  I also know that her trials will end when she enters heaven.  She will not only walk but she will run!

My childhood years were really pretty happy but there were some dark moments.  My Dad had some problems, most of which I was blissfully unaware at the time.  His problems did affect his children, though.  For one thing, we moved a lot.  Sometimes we moved quite abruptly.  The worst was 6th grade.  My dad had just become a minister and we'd moved to a new town, his first congregation, early that Summer.  I thought I'd finish growing up there.  The 3rd day of school in the Fall, though, that all changed.  Dad picked us up after school and told us to go to our classrooms and clear out our desks.  I don't remember even asking him any questions.  When we got home we saw that the U-Haul was already loaded.  We left town, not knowing where we'd live next.  We did not get to say goodbye to our friends.  If I remember correctly, we travelled a couple of weeks before Dad found a job and we settled down.  Well, we settled down for 3 months anyway.

I did not like moving.  I did not like always being "the new girl".  I cried every single time.  I still cry now just thinking about it.  I do think it had a huge impact on who I became, though, and it wasn't always a negative impact.  For one thing, I learned to make friends quickly.  I also learned that God was portable.  He was with me every place that I lived.  He wasn't tied to one building or one town.  I also think that all that relocating made me a bit less attached to this life.  Somewhere along the way I found my theme song.  Really, I have a theme song.  Don't you?  Mine is, "This World is Not My Home".  Do you know it?  Click here to listen to Martina McBride sing one version of it.

That song may sound kind of hokey for 2011 but the words still mean a lot to me.  I've come to realize my childhood fear of being a fraud is exactly true.  I am a sinner.  I hurt people.  I am selfish.  I want to gossip.  I get frightened.  I get angry.  I feel sorry for myself.  I whine.  I put my needs before others.  I forget to seek wisdom from God.  But the important truth is, God is able to work with that.  He holds me up.  He helps me want to be obedient to him, not for myself but because he is God and I am humbled before him.  My permanent home is with him.

Complete obedience is how I want to live my life.  I don't yet; I keep messing up.  It is my desire, though.  God deserves nothing less from me.

I want to be very clear, now, about what I believe.  I believe that God made all that is.  I believe that God is the ultimate power.  I believe that my faith is yet incomplete and immature.  I believe that I am a sinner.  I believe that I have been forgiven, not because I earned it but because of God's gracious love.  I believe there is much I do not yet know or understand.  I believe the Bible is the Word of God.  I believe there are sinful forces dragging at me but I believe that God can pull me to safety.  I believe my most important job in this life is to tell others about God.  I believe the most important thing I have to share with my children is my faith.  I believe all joy comes from God.  I believe that this all-powerful God still has the time to listen to my prayers.  I believe that God's only son, Jesus, came and took my guilt away so that I can be purified to live as a child of God.  I believe that the Holy Spirit is my constant companion, always working on my behalf to hold me close to God.  I believe there are angels.  I believe I have a permanent home in Heaven.  I believe that I am a beautiful princess because I am a daughter of the King.

I believe I am a loved and precious princess, a daughter of The King!

Grandpa + the Laundry Hamper = FUN!

 Grandpa is just SO much fun!

Maybe Momma would like to play...

And can we fit Grandma in with us?

Slip-Slidin' Away

Do you like how I ended with a cliff-hanger yesterday?  Have you been worried?

Well, let me start off by saying no one was hurt.  Now, here's the rest of the story.

We knew there was snow forecast for Friday night so we were not surprised to wake up to a white world.  We'd stayed at a hotel in Northglenn, CO which is just North of Denver.  Because the weather was to improve as the morning wore on, we took our time.  We had breakfast and just relaxed for awhile.  We could see the interstate from our window so we knew traffic was moving well by mid-morning.  While I checked us out Mike went to scrape windows and warm up the vehicle.

When I exited the hotel I could see Mike in the parking lot below.  I was carrying my purse, my little duffel bag and my crochet bag.  I was wearing hiking boots and walking on several inches of snow.  Unfortunately, snow was just the cover over solid ice.  You guessed it!  Down I went.  It wasn't pretty and I and my bags were pretty snowy, but I was not hurt.  I looked down toward Mike and was kind of relieved to see that he hadn't noticed.  It looked like he had just finished scraping and was getting into the vehicle.

As I continued on down the hill, glad I had no broken parts, I noticed a small pick-up coming around the corner intending to come up the hill down which I was sliding/walking.  He was not moving fast but he went into a slide right toward Mike!  Mike was unaware.  The slide was very slow and he missed Mike but gently slid sideways into the little blue car right next to our's!  It was so quiet, I heard nothing.  When I got to Mike, he was surprised to know what had just happened.

Mike got out to see if he could help.  It was a young California man who didn't know what to do to get going again.  He'd not damaged the other car, just knocked the snow off of it.  Mike was able to help him get pushed away but he couldn't keep going. The hotel staff said that the maintenance man was going to bring some sand or something but he wasn't even at the hotel yet.  As the three of us stood there, another car came from the opposite direction, spun and came to a stop with the nose of that car just inches from another parked car. 

I went back into the hotel and they sent out a couple of guys with a bag of gravelly stuff.  About then a third vehicle came around the corner and spun sideways into that first little pick-up! We all ran out of the way when we saw it coming so we were fine.  Again, the slide was so slow it didn't seem too dramatic, although there may have been some very minor damage.

About then, I remembered I had a camera!

The gravelly stuff worked and everyone got pushed out of the predicament.  We were sure glad to get out of that parking lot!

The highway was sloppy wet but otherwise fine.  Our windshield wiper fluid must have frozen because we couldn't get it to work.  That turned out to be an annoying problem as vehicles kept splashing slop on us.  Several times we had to get off the highway to wash our windshield with snow.  Other than that, though, the rest of the trip was pretty easy. For that I am grateful!

Hockey!

I've told you about how my husband, Mike, became a St. Louis Cardinals Fan when he was just a child.  Shortly after he chose to follow the Cardinals, he decided to follow all things St. Louis, including their hockey team, The St. Louis Blues.  We still haven't seen them play in St. Louis but we've seen them play a couple of times elsewhere.

Last week the St. Louis Blues were playing the Denver Avalanche.  That is a half day's drive for us but we both had a chance for a few days off.  I attended a hospice class on pain Friday morning and then we headed out.  The weather was crisp and pretty...

I had a poncho in my lap to crochet......

And we had plenty of time for Mike to try to help me better understand hockey.  When I'd been to hockey games before I knew which goal belonged to which team, but that was about it.   I'd sometimes ask Mike, "What just happened?" He'd try to answer but then the action would start and he'd get distracted.  I still had fun, though, as there was lots of "people-watching" to be done.

This time, though, I wanted to have a better understanding.  So, while the miles slipped under our tires, Mike held a hockey class for me.  I learned about power plays, shoot outs and hip checks.  He explained icing and first, second, third and fourth lines.  He taught me the difference between minor and major penalties.  He helped me understand why players just flowed on and off the ice even when no whistle was blown to allow the substitution (I understand basketball and expected more correlations). 

We arrived at the game early and walked around just enjoying watching all the people. Well, I am not so sure Mike enjoyed that but I did.  Mike went with me into the Avalanche Shop so I could purchase a pair of earrings for a friend of mine who is an Avalanche fan.  That was true love for him to be in that shop with me.  They sold no St. Louis Blues paraphernalia there.

The game was really quite entertaining.  They turned down the lights and used spotlights to build up the drama before their team came on the floor, I mean on the ice.  There was a lot of excitement around us.  As the game was played, I was happy to realize that I really did understand it a lot more.  There were a few problems for me.  This is the view I had when the teams were playing on the left end of the rink...

She leaned forward nearly the entire game!  I did not want to lean forward the entire game.  But, I heard enough conversation between her and her young husband to learn that she, too, was struggling to understand the game that her husband loved.  She was working very hard at it, even wore Avalanche clothing.  It was really kind of cute.

The people-watching time was excellent.  At one point Mike leaned over and said, "Do you know what just happened there?"  First of all, the "happening had been to the left so I really could not have seen it all that well.  So, yes, I did know what just happened... the two brunette parents in front of us, sitting with their 3 redheaded kids, had just been joined by a pretty redheaded woman who seemed to be the grandma.  She was very happy to see them all.  The children were well-behaved and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were having a lively conversation with lots of smiles and laughs involved.  Ok, back to hockey...
There were almost some fights.  When a couple of players would get in each other's faces, the crowd instantly chanted, "Fight! Fight!"  It was really rather silly, in my opinion.

During the breaks sometimes they had little kid hockey teams play.  They were so cute!  As Mike said, it must've been the thrill of a lifetime for those children to play there.  One little guy who scored got to be interviewed by the news crew!

Another fun thing was the blimps.  Two blimps occasionally flew overhead during breaks.  They dropped coupons or something.  We didn't get any so I'm not sure what they were dropping but people seemed excited about it.

The St. Louis Blues played well.  It was an exciting game and went into overtime.  In case you don't know, overtime is a sudden death type of deal.  If one team scores it is instantly over.  No one scored.  At that point, they go into a shoot out.  Each team gets 3 players that get a chance, one at a time, to shoot at their goal.  Only the shooter and the goalie are on the ice at that time.  Well, one team made one goal and the other team made no goals during the shoot out.  I don't really want to talk about how it ended all that much.  It's my blog so I can do as I wish and I wish to not mention who won.  So there.

The weather for the trip home was a little more challenging.  I have lots more photos and a story to tell about that but since this post is already too long and Bode wants to help me, I guess I'll pick up tomorrow where I am leaving off today.

Have a great day!