Merry Christmas~2011

For my last post of the year, I wish to post the story that I wrote for my Christmas letter.  The title is "What Do You Want For Christmas, Johnny?"

It was December 15th and my thoughts were all a jumble as I contemplated the many names on my Christmas list.  There was Grandma Georgia, who lived with us since Grandpa Henry had passed away last year.  She didn't get around like she used to.  She had arthritis pretty bad and a hip that pained her something fierce.  What should I get her?

And there was Carol, our oldest who was coming home from her third year at college with a broken heart. The “love of her life” had recently told her she was not the one for him and that she should move on and find someone else. She surely has many needs.


Next, there was Steven, who was only 19 and so far away from home. He was deployed to Afghanistan nearly a year ago and there is a hole in my heart. I sent him a care package a month ago, but surely there must be more that he needs.

My husband works night and day to keep this family afloat. He gets home late most nights and hardly has time to share any family fun. He’s so tired all the time, it makes him grumpy. I’m sure there are a great many things he could use.

And then there is Johnny. He is our 11-year-old who suffers nearly every day of the fall, winter and spring season with asthma. Breathing is a huge priority for him. And yet he takes it all in his stride, hardly ever complains and is just one great big magnet of love. Finding just the right gift for him is always the hardest.

I was not finding solutions to my dilemma, so I went to Johnny’s room, knocked quietly on the door and entered when he said, “It’s OK, Mom, you don’t have to knock.”

“Johnny, I have been trying to come up with a gift list for Christmas and decided to come ask you. What do you want?”

Johnny got that really serious, thoughtful look on his face…the one he gets just before he’s about to say something profound. “I want a baseball game,” he said. I was confused.

“Do you mean you want a new glove, or a ball, or a bat? Or do you want tickets to a baseball game? How does one give a baseball game?”

I should have known this was going to be a lesson for me on how an 11-year-old’s brain works. “Well, here’s the thing. Think of LOVE as home plate. All of us are the team players and each one of us has to come up to bat and make it around the bases to home, ‘cuz that’s where LOVE is.

“When Grandma comes up to the plate, I want her to be pain free and maybe have a new hip so she can walk around the bases like she used to. And when she crosses home plate, she can hug everybody without pain.

“I want Carol to hit a home run, instead of striking out like she did last time she was up to bat. And I want her to run home with a big smile on her face, because that’s where LOVE really is.

“I want Steven to fly to home plate from Afghanistan, after touching each and every base safely. I know we will all be there to hug and congratulate him and thank him for his service.

“I want dad to take a day off and just throw the ball to me and spend a day NOT being so grumpy, because he’s so overworked and tired. And when he crosses home plate, I want to see the look on his face when he realizes how much we all LOVE him.

“And I want you to take a vacation from housework and cooking and have a pinch-hitter to do all the work for you. You’ll be standing on home plate, because you are the LOVE in our home.

“That’s all I want for Christmas.”

I was speechless. I knew out of the mouth of this child something profound would come forth

“What do you want, Mom?” He wasn’t done yet.

I searched my soul and remembered the story of a far off land. “I want to see the brightest star in the heavens and hear angels singing. I want to look into the faces of the Holy Family and feel the LOVE that lives there. I want to wrap my arms and my heart around that tiny little baby boy and be a witness to the first gift of Christmas. I want what you want…LOVE."

And as we end one year and begin thinking about wiping our slate clean and turning the page into a New Year, my wish for each and every one of my family and friends is that the LOVE of Christ, which was the first gift of Christmas, surround you in everything you do throughout 2012.


Two Unbelievable Days Visiting Ronald Reagan's Past...

Ronald and Nancy Reagan's Ranch Address

On the morning of Monday, September 19th, Dean and I drove into Santa Barbara where we picked up our friend Peter.  He had arranged a private tour of the Reagan Ranch, high up in the Santa Ynez mountains.  It was a bit of a drive, up a winding canyon road (that Reagan used sparingly!). 

We were met at the main gate by the Ranch Caretaker, George Thompson.  He was such a kind man who took his time to show us nearly every inch of the 680 acres.  As soon as we left the main road, we were on "Pennsylvaia Avenue," and the Reagan's address (as it ws in Washinton DC) was "1600."

We loved the ranch, "Rancho Del Cielo," immediately.  The Reagan's chose to keep the original adobe house and just add to it.  It is so quaint and unpretentious.  The pig-skin chair Dean is sitting in and the table is where President signed into law his Tax-Cut Bill.  Everything is as he left it.

An interesting anecdote, was told by his personal body guard on the ranch, John Barletta.  Sam Donaldson was at the Tax Bill signing and asked President Reagan if he was going to sell the ranch any time soon.  The President replied, "You can't sell heaven!"  He loved his ranch.

Inside, the decor and furnishings spoke so much about who the man and his lady were.  Reagan loved the west and he loved his horses.  And the western style of his ranch told the story.  I loved it.

There was such a calm inside the house  as we walked from room to room.  Every nook and crany said, This is where Reagan lived.  This is the story of the man.

On the mantel in what appeared to be their family room, is a Seal of the President of The United States,

 which is done completely with nails on a polished wood circle.  It was quite a center piece for the fireplace.

The outside of the ranch was totally awesome and blew my mind completely.  Alongside of he house are two other small buildings, used to house guests and workers on the ranch.  All of the fencing around the house was done by Reagan.  He cut the wood, hauled it to the site, and built the fences.  He was not afraid of hard work. 

Reagan even built Nancy's "First Ladies Park."  It was a quiet, sweet place to walk.  Our tour was so amazing, and we have a wonderful caretaker to thank for it.  It was about 1/2 way through our tour, after we looked at the old cars and saddles, etc.that were part of Reagan's belongings, I discovered

that George Thompson was a Santa Monica High School Alumni.  We were nearly classmates.  He graduated the year before I did, and as we were naming friends from Samohi, we found that we knew a lot of the same people.  Then, I threw out the name of my dad's restarant, "Pickle Bill's" and I wish I had taken a picture of George's face.  He worked for my dad as a bus boy for a couple of years!  Oh my goodness, talk about a small world!

Reagan loved to ride, and he rode his horse every day that he was on the ranch.  His personal Secret Service body guard, John Barletta, rode with him, too.  He was selected because he knew how to ride a horse.  Reagan loved his horses and his animals.  There is a special burrial site on the property where all of the animals that died while Reagan lived on the ranch are burried.  We got to visit some of the horses--and feed them carrots!

I thought it was interesting that the original brand for the ranch (before Reagan bought it) was an arrow pointing up and down (for "Tip-Top Ranch").  Reagan changed it to a double sided arrow pointing left and right for "Dos Vistas."  When you stand up on the highest point of the ranch, where the heli-pad was for Marine One to land on, and the place where Reagan bought the ranch because he loved the view, you can see the ocean to the west and the beautiful Santa Ynez valley to the east.  Breath-taking country.

I will continue our Reagan adventure with my next post, as we visit the amazing Reagan Library in Simi Valley.

Day 3...It is Sunday!

Because our third day in Solvang was Sunday, and the festivities were still going on, we had a decision to make. Dean (being brought up in the Lutheran faith) wanted to go to the original Solvang Lutheran church. It is the oldest one, and the only Lutheran Church in the town. So we got up early so that we could attend the 9:30 a.m. service.

The Church was beautiful and full of history. After enjoying a traditional service, my flutter-bug husband took many nice pictures, both inside and outside of the building.

Hanging in the middle of the ceiling of the chapel, is this amazing model of a ship. I'm told that it has something to do with the builder of the building, perhaps he was a ship builder. That reminds me of an LDS Church in Southern Utah, near Pine Valley Mountain that was built by a ship builder, and the roof of the building was actually shaped like the hull of a ship, only upside-down because it was built by a ship builder. Looking up at this Lutheran Church, one is reminded of an upside-down hull of a ship also. Amazing.



Also of interest was the huge "Christus" statue situated in the front of the chapel. I was particularly interested because this statue is the one that the LDS Church uses in many of its Visitor's Centers all over the world, and I have an 18" replica of it at home. It was of interest to Dean, because the man who originally sculpted the statue lived in Denmark...he was a "Dane!" And the original statue remains in a Church in Denmark. The story is told that originally the sculptor had made the statue with arms raised up toward the heavens, but while it was "curing," he covered it with a damp cloth overnight and the arms were down, open to his "sheep" when the sculptor found it in the morning. He left it that way; he figured the Lord had wanted it to show a more loving stance. Whether that story is true or not, it does give the statue more warmth.

Ah! What is a trip to Solvang without a visit to "Pea Soup Andersen's" for a bowl of their world-famous split pea soup. The restaurant has been there for decades. I remember going there on a trip that Gerry and I made to Solvang over 50 years ago. Needless to say, the soup was still delicious and we left with not only our tummy's full, but a few souveniers, as well.


Back to the festivities...we joined the fun at the park where there was a lot of entertainment and frolicking going on. Have you ever seen anything cuter than these adorable little children all decked out in their native Danish costumes. They were dancing to beat the band...and there was quite a good Danish band playing. Watching these little ones brought joy to our hearts. They are the same ones we saw Friday night at the opening program under the big tent.


Check out the big Uncle Sam! He was a hoot! How he stayed up on those 4 foot stilts, I will never know. The bottoms were like little "baby" feet, complete with tennis shoes. I'd say he practiced a lot and didn't get rattled when someone bumped into him. I saw him lose his balance once and he did not fall. Amazing. He was funny, too. He walked around, telling (sometimes "lame") jokes, and everyone (especially the children) just loved him. Later, he turned up in a crazy basketball outfit with a hoop on his head and played basketball with the children. Gotta love these guys who get out there and not only have fun, but make fun for others.

With the day drawing to a close, everyone gathered at the park to see the end of the parade and watch the children parade through the park. Everyone had a great time and we were so happy that we came to share this celebration with them. The only thing left for us on this day, was to see the live play, "A Fairy Tale," at their outdoor theater.



It was a magical play, complete with music and singing. It was the story of Hans Christian Anderson and the creation of his Fairy Tales. Nearly all of them were portrayed in the story. There was a little boy of maybe 9 or 10, who played Hans Christian Anderson as a boy, and he was the show stealer. He was such a delight. We expect to see more of this young man in the future. We had front row seats on the east side of the stage, so we saw a lot of the action "up close, and personal!"

After the play, we walked back to our Time Share, still feeling the magic of the play we had just witnessed and with a new respect for Hans Christian Anderson and his amazing gift for story telling. It was the end of another perfect day in Solvang, California.

Solvang Danish Days...75 Years...

Saturday morning, September 17, 2011. It's the Danish Days celebration! Not only is it the 100th Birthday Celebration of the town of Solvang, but they are also celebrating the 75th year of the Danish Days Celebration. Let the fun begin!

My good friend, Joan (Tommasino) Trent and her husband Bruce, met us at our Time Share early in the morning. They drove all the way from West Hills in the San Fernando Valley to join us for the day and the celebrations. I've known Joan since I was three years old and we have been friends ever since.


The first event of the day was breakfast! And what would a traditional Danish breakfast be without Aebleskivers and sausage! Ah! You're asking what are aebleskivers? They are the most delicious little round pancakes served with rasperry syrup! Delicious. Traditionally, they are made with apples or applesauce (hence the name "aeble") inside each ball, but that is tedious work, and I'm sure when they are served by the thousands, a bit too time consuming.

The first thing Joan wanted after breakfast was a candied apple. So off to the shop we went and made our purchase, and enjoyed them emensely.


With full tummies, we walked around the town to enjoy the festivities. Thre was a young man there carving wood with a chain saw. He was making the most unbelievable pieces imaginable. I particularly loved the bench with a horse's head on each end. I could just see it on Mark's ranch. But, alas, $500.00 was a bit of a stiff price for me to pay, and besides, how on earth would I have gotten it on the airplane?

While we were engrossed with the wood carving, the beginning of the parade came by. We stopped what we were doing and enjoyed the festivities. It was a wonderful parade, reminiscent of the ones in my home town of Santa Monica, when I was growing up.


After the parade, we wandered through the town and looked at all of the displays and enjoyed the festivities. We wandered into the Viking Village and enjoyed learning about what it was like to live in the time of the Vikings. It was very educational.



Anyone for lunch? That was another Danish treat. We thoroughly enjoyed our little Danish open-faced sandwiches...one with chicken and one with beef. They were delicious.

After lunch, we enjoyed a liesurely walk to the museum to learn more about this quaint little town. The first thing we were treated to was another story-telling time by Hans Christian Anderson. He was amazing with the little children and kept that Danish accent throughout his presentation. We really enjoyed him and his program.


Do you think it was a full enough day? Oh, my! Everywhere we turned, we found something else to do. But, these old folks were tired after the museum (where Dean tried his hand at lace making and it intrigued me so much, that I vowed that I was going to learn, too!), that we just wandered back to our Time Share, relaxed a bit in our homey atmosphere and then said good-bye (or should I say, "so long just for now") to our dear friends. It has been a very long, but thoroughly enjoyable day!

A Vacation to End All Vacations...

We flew out of Portland (PDX) en route to Santa Barbara, CA on Friday, September 16th to enjoy our last vacation of the year. We had planned this vacation carefully, but could not imagine what was in store for us.

The first surprise was the "free upgrade" to a brand new, 2012 Mustang to cruise around in while we enjoyed the California sunshine. It was the perfect color...red! I don't have to tell anybody, I was in "car lovers heaven" with a ride in this car. The only thing better would have been if someone had told me, "it's yours!"

It was about a 25 minute drive from Santa Barbara (actually Goleta, where the airport is) to Solvang. You don't even have to guess who got to drive the Mustang first...me, of course! We loved the ride up the coast looking at the beautiful blue Southern California Pacific Ocean. We didn't stop anywhere along the way, because this weekend in Solvang was their 100th Birthday Celebration with Danish Days, and the opening parade and ceremonies were tonight.

We arrived at our beautiful World Mark Time Share and checked in. Our room was amazing! But, they always are. It is always like a home away from home for us.




We quickly settled in, changed our clothes and headed downtown (walking distance) to enjoy the candle light parade up Copenhagen Street. It all ended at the big tent where we enjoyed music, dancing, speeches, and getting to meet the 75th annual Princess of the festival. It was all great fun.


This little family was so adorable. The mother is from Denmark and the three little ones that are hers, were the life of the party! One of the highlights of the show was the character, Hans Christian Anderson, singing one of his songs and cutting out his amazing cut-work. We learned that that is what Hans Christian Anderson did whenever he told a story. He would cut whle telling the story, and when the story ended, the cut work was always related tothe story. It was amazing.

As the day came to an end, we walked back to our room and enjoyed the left-over feelings of a really fun evening. It was a perfect day, and so we say, "good-night." I will continue the recap of our vacation with my next writing.

The Concert to Beat ALL Concerts...

On Friday, August 26, 2011, Dean and I ventured to Portland, Oregon to experience our second Josh Groban Concert. The last time we saw him was in Washington, I believe in 2002 or 2003 for his "Closer" tour. That was 8 or 9 years ago! And Josh has matured!



He's calling this tour his "Straight To You" Tour...and that is exactly what it is. He interacts up close and personal with the audience, like I have never seen anyone do before.




We had Floor seats, in Row 20, and they were superb seats. But, the best part was that he opened in the middle of the floor, on a raised platform and Dean and I stumbled on this fact quite by accident.







Dean, the forever snapping photos person that he is, saw this huge square in the middle of the floor section and he was interested in the crew who would controll the lighting, sound and graphics displays via 5 or 6 computers all set up.



Then, he noticed in front of all of this equipment, there was a piano and a couple of mikes set up. He enquired what this was all about, and was told this was where Josh would "open" his show. So, he grabbed me, and we stood within 5 feet of the platform to watch this opening. We were not disappointed!

The house lights went dark, and we got to see Josh enter and climb the stairs (he later referred to as "G-A-P-S!" Which stands for Groban Access Points. Very clever. He said they were his Body Guard's nightmare!). And then, he sat down at the piano and began his first number. I was too enthralled about being so close that I didn't put te name of it in my memory bank!

The following pictures are a few of the snaps that we got there on his floor stage.









From the floor stage, he ran to the stage to do the rest of his 2 hour, non-stop performance. He has amazing energy; an incredible orchestra, consisting of 2 violinists, 1 viola player, 1 cello player, 2 percussionists, 2 french horn players, an amazing trumpet player (who blew Dean away with one number with only piano, Josh and trumpet!) a guitar player (phenomenal!) and a piano player; and an energetic and talented stage crew.

For a great deal of his numbers, he accompanied himself on the piano. How he does that, I will never know...and he does it with his eyes closed!



Dean and I expecially loved the part when he came down into the audience and interacted with them. Before the show began, audience members (who had their cell phones) texted him questions and then during the show, he answered three of them. One was from a mother who asked if Josh would sing with her daughter. He came down into the audience and got her and took her up onto the center platform and they sang a beautiful rendition of "Happy Birthday!" It was cute, fun and the girl did have a nice voice.



Toward the end of his performance, Josh did some amazing drum sets. The young man has a world of talent. And he expresses his gratitude to the "break" he received as a child with music that was available both in the schools he attended and through after school arts programs. He is an advocate for the Arts and if you go to his web site (joshgroban.com), you can donate to help kids who are missing out on these programs because of all of the cuts from schools of the Arts. It is a wonderfully worthy cause.



The one number that stood out as the best of the show, was his tribute to our wounded warriors and their families who have come home since the war. He visits them in Walter Reid Hospital and Bathesda Naval Hospital. He has been so touched by them, that he wrote "The War At Home." It continues to bring tears to my eyes.

All in all, the concert in Portland was something that I cannot find words to describe. We shall look forward to his next one, and hope it isn't 9 years down the road.