Give Thanks

Our second Thanksgiving as a married couple,
I decided I was a mature lady of the house (with a 5 month old son to prove it)
and it was time to be a giver and not a taker when it came to holiday dinners;
so I offered to be put in the rotation for Thanksgiving 1978.
I invited my parents, sisters and grandparents to dine at our humble abode.


You are probably expecting this story to lead to some crisis
like burning the turkey or spilling hot gravy on grandpa;
sorry, no.
But that would make a more interesting story.
The dinner went very well, as my selective memory recalls;
here are some photos:

Grandpa Gibbs, Steve, Dad holding Michael-------Grandma Mable, me, mom


I served my mother's scrumptious,

Classic Thanksgiving recipes

. . . . the dinner I still serve today.




This year, I am thankful for:

A Heavenly Father who hears and answers my prayers

The teachings of Jesus Christ

My dear family, near and far

My, and my family's, health

Comfort, safety and freedom

Nature

Art and music

My doggies

Spandex



A few of you kindly asked to see more of my fall decor

Hope you likey

Due to the passing of my dear father in law, Tom,
we will be with our family in California over the holiday.


Here's wishing you

A warm and wonderful Thanksgiving

. . . from our house to yours

One of the Greatest Men I Know

has returned to his Father in Heaven.


Acadian Village in Louisiana - 2006

I guess most people enter marriage with a little fear and trepidation over the in-law situation. I dated my husband for so long that I had plenty of time to get to know Tom & Lois Freeman. I had time to figure out that they were the reason my husband was a good man. They are good people, and being related to them has made my life better.

Tom and Lois fell in love over 61 years ago. She wouldn't marry him unless he was a member of her faith, so he decided to investigate it. Soon after, he was baptized a member of the LDS church and they married in the Temple. Together, they built a very happy life. Materially, they were comfortable, but if a man's wealth is measured in friends, loved ones and laughter, they were rich as kings.

Tom had the one thing I admire more than anything else in a person, true integrity. A man of his word, he did whatever he committed to do. He was an exemplary family patriarch over 5 children, 16 grandchildren, and 17 great grandchildren. He and Lois were exceptional parents, who produced an exceptional family; and each one of us dearly loves them.

Some of my favorite things about him are:

His laughter
His faith
He honored is wife and taught his sons how to treat their wives.
His love for his country and service in the US Air Force in WWII
He honored his priesthood.
He and Lois served 2 missions for the LDS Church, both in Louisiana
He and Lois were always there for the important events in our life.
He would invite us over and cook his special pancakes

Tom was rarely seen without a Pepsi in hand. Whenever he visited us, he would enlist the help of anyone who could drive to take him down to Tigermart for a Pepsi. From his hospital bed, he sent out for Pepsi. I just can't help but picture him in Heaven, holding a Pepsi.

Our family was lucky enough to travel to Louisiana with him and Lois to see the places they had been and meet people they had befriended. It became increasingly difficult for them to travel, but we were blessed to have them visit us in Texas 4 times. A visit with Tom always had a lot of laughs, lots of stories, lots of love and hugs.

On the trolley in New Orleans - 2006 / Baseball game in Houston

Some of my favorite times were at Summerdale Campground in Fish Camp, CA. It was our Freeman family tradition to go up every 4th of July and get 3 or 4 campsites and fish and hike and visit by the campfire for several days.

Summerdale - circa 1977-1980

We even camped there this summer, with our grand babies.
It was special when Tom and Lois drove up for a visit;
there were 4 generations of Freeman campers.

June 2009

2009- four generations: Michael, Preston, Thomas, Steve

Chloe 1997 / Ella 2005

Tom touched so many lives. My sister, Jennifer, sent me an email expressing her feelings about him. I don't think she will mind if I quote her lovely sentiments:


"Tom gave you a gift. He married a good woman, Lois, and raised a wonderful, righteous son that you would fall in love with and who treats you like a queen. That son has been a wonderful husband and father in your own family, and is the best brother-in-law I could ask for. Steve is the man he is, in many ways because of the man Tom taught him to be. What a wonderful gift Tom has given you, and all of us!"

Tom, you will be missed

. . . till we meet again.

We love you

Thomas Leslie Freeman

December 15, 1924- November 16, 2009

Wonderful Weekend

Mike and Marci came to visit this weekend.
It was so nice to see them and have some special time with our grand babies.
They will be in Florida for Thanksgiving (Marci's brother, Mack and Cheryl are getting married)
so it was nice to get a visit in before Christmas.

Chrissy and Zach came over too.
I love the sound of 3 different conversations while everyone is gathered in the kitchen
.... these are my favorite days. We missed you, Brittany and Ili.

We always have lots of laughs

...and enjoy good food



I love it when my living room is full of toys and babies.
When I am cleaning after they are gone, I find little toys in odd places, like window sills,
....and it always makes me miss them.

Saturday, Chloe, Papa and I (Meema) had a fun getaway with the babies;
we rode the train at Brackenridge Park,
then strolled around the Japanese Tea Gardens.
It is built in an old limestone quarry, so it is sunken below street level.
Everything ....bridges, walkways, and pagodas ....is built from limestone.
It is a unique San Antonio twist on the classic Tea Garden;
I love the tropical landscape and coy ponds.

Steve's dear father, Tom, is in the hospital.
Steve flew out on Sunday to visit him, knowing it would probably be the last time.
We love Tom very much and our prayers are with him, Lois and the entire family.
Even when they have lived a good, full life,
we are never quite prepared to say goodbye to our loved ones.

It's Like A Whole Other Country

There are some things that a California girl, like me

finds very unique about Texas.

Starting with the title of this post . . . . it's the state slogan



We live amid groves of majestic oak trees

in a beautiful part of Texas

called: The Hill Country



then there is:

the cute Longhorn steer across the street





enthusiastic state pride
exhibited in the omnipresence of enormous Texas flags





uber loyal football fans





the sun neither rises nor sets on the beach





bumper stickers like this





FM 1560 is not a radio station, it's a road (farm to market)

We live on a limestone plain stretching from San Antonio to Dallas;

you can't even plant a tree without blasting.

Gorgeous local stone abounds;

here is our front courtyard and back steps under construction

even the Alamo is made of local limestone




I have also noticed:

the most extraordinary blues skies and cotton clouds I have ever seen

a perfectly normal sounding sentence (no accent, no twang, no drawl) ends with y'all

rain is most properly described as a deluge

earth shaking lightening storms

shorter lines at stores

fabulous BBQ brisket, which, once again, Steve has duplicated . . . . perfectly

I have seen scorpions, 2" cockroaches, 6" centipedes, and a coral snake



stars adorn everything




homes, freeway overpasses, my dog's collar . . . everything







It takes 24 hours to drive to California (we have done it several times)

In the same amount of time, we could drive to New York City,

or Canada,

or Central America

It's an interesting place, this Texas