America has spoken...

After all is said and done, the freedom which we treasure as Americans has allowed us to express our choices for our 44th President of these United States -- and the people have made their choice. Whether we agree with the choice or not, we must be united in our support for the office which Mr. Barack Hussein Obama is about to be installed into. Let us not fall into the abyss of finger pointing and "I told you so" mentality, but let us show support for the office. And, as the above advice, which I wore so proudly throughout this election season says, let us not forget to keep on praying for those in authority over us!

God bless this great land! God bless those who lead us! If we have disagreements, let us voice those disagreements in a democratic voice, not with complaints. I so respect and admire my youngest daughter, Heather, who has the strength of a David in her convictions about democracy and echo her peace in her heart that it is God's will that we march forth into whatever the future has in store for us as Americans and as His children. If we stay close to the faith that has sustained us thus far in our lives and never falter, we will rise with our Savior into a far better world which is nigh at hand. God bless each and every one of you!

And on a note for California -- Congratulations on passing Prop 8, which my granddaughter Aubrey worked so hard for and gave her all in its support! God has answered prayers for California! And the people have spoken!

The Clock is Ticking...

The countdown is upon us. There are only 4 more days to fervently pray for our Country, our Leaders, and our Voters! Our knee bones should be thoroughly used and bruised from kneeling before our All-Mighty and praying like we have never prayed before for healing for this land and those who would use their powers to turn this blessed Country into something akin to those awful scenes that we have read about in the Book of Mormon and in the Bible. We glossed over those verses for a very long time, but now it is time for us to really take a good long look at them and realize that they were written for us as a warning to the complacency that looms large and overtakes our common sense.

God bless everyone of us as we go to the polls and place our marks on the ballots that were freely given to us. Make wise choices, prayerful choices. God Bless America -- we are truly going to need it!

Happy Birthday, Dean

It was a day like any other, but in reality it was a really special day, because it was Dean's birthday yesterday, October 25th! Since we are smack in the middle of the moving "blahs," our new house didn't look much like a birthday celebration house at all. But, we made a day of it just for him! I put aside all of the things that I had to do to try and organize cupboards, etc., and dedicated the day to Dean! We celebrated by going downtown to watch an incredible glass blower make some amazing creation with glass and color into a beautiful paper weight. This particular place located on the highway in the Taft area of Lincoln City offers classes in glass blowing as well as being able to participate in making your own creation. We have promised ourselves to do just that -- and one day we will create our own glass float!

Prior to watching the glass creator, we were across the street shopping in the glass shop that sold the creations from the glass creation "lab," where they were displaying the most amazing glass pumpkins. Just as soon as I get those pictures that we took downloaded into the computer, I will include them in another blog. We bought a beautiful orange pumpkin in glass! It is amazing!

After our glass experience, we went out to dinner at one of our favorite spots, The Roadhouse 101" and watched and listened to some pretty amazing entertainment. The coast is never without entertainment of some sort and we are always on the look out for anything new.

All in all, it was a nice birthday for my sweetheart and we closed the day feeling like we had celebrated sufficiently. Happy Birthday, Dean!

One More Time...

The Mickelsons are moving! Yep! We just got so tired of living in a cracker box with nothing but a baby grand piano in our living room (that's all that would fit), and it doesn't look like the Brookings house is going to sell any time soon, so we decided to move into something a little bigger and more comfortable.

We move this Saturday! Our new address will be 2750 NW Jetty Avenue, Lincoln City, Oregon, 97367. Our phone number will not change!

OK, now I promised more pictures of my new great-grandson. Here are a couple!



He's a real cutie and "mom" and "grandma Kim (mimi)" are smitten! Life is good! See you all after we get moved!

Just in case you're wondering...

I got a terrific picture from Aubrey of the new addition to the Messick-Bracken clan. Here's little Dallen Scott Bracken, in the arms of a pretty proud Auntie, Aubrey. More pictures later, as I get them -- and I'm sure I will! He's a cutie! Look at that perfectly round little head! That is the result of C-Section births!

I wrote him a little poem:
NEW!

Like nothing else in the world,
A NEW life fulfills ALL purpose ~
NEW hope
NEW dreams
NEW challenges
NEW directions.

And a heart once thought to be full
Expands to make room for this
NEW little one...
And it is a NEW heart.

And we pause to reflect
On God's amazing plan.

One more link added to the eternal family chain ~
A chain that reaches back to infinity,
And will stretch forward for eternity.
...Florene Henderson-Mickelson

I'm a Great Grandma!

Last night (October 8, 2008), at 11:45 pm, my granddaughter, Jacki, had (I am told) a beautiful baby boy, weighing in at 7# 4oz, and 18" long. She had to have C-Section, because he was a stubborn little guy and just wanted to hang out in the breech position. The name they chose for him is Dallen Scott Bracken. With a name like that, he will probably grow up to be an Attorney, like his dad! Both mom and babe are doing fine. I haven't heard how "dad" is doing, but I imagine he is walking around without touching the ground! When I get pictures, I will post them!

With this birth, there are a lot of firsts! Jacki is a first-time mom, her mom (Kim, who is my first born) is a first-time grandma, I am a first-time great-grandma, my mom would be so proud to be a first-time great-great-grandma, and there are a number of first time aunts, uncles, great-aunts and great-uncles! What a joyous day this is. I'm still pinching myself. I have had 9 months to get used to this title, and it really is a neat one. Another generation has been added to our bulging family tree! I wish Gerry could have been here to witness this momentous event! Life is good!

An Amazing Concert...

I don't know how many of you are familiar with the music that is coming out of Iceland, but last night Dean took me to a concert of one of the bands called "Sigur Ros" that we were introduced to way back in 2002. They are the ones who have had the biggest influence on Billy and his music. Now, you have to understand that my generation grew up with "Big Bands" and the romantic music of "Johnny Mathis" and "Barbara Streisand," etc.; but I do have a little maverick in me because I can appreciate all kinds of music. This amazing band is multi-talented. They are all experts in a variety of instruments and their drummer is absolutely crazy!



AND, you all know that Dean and Billy and Eliot took a trip to Iceland this past summer and in driving all the way around the entire Island of Iceland (over 3200 kilometers in 17 days!) they visited several of the sites where Sigur Ros had filmed for their video "Heime (Home)." This made the concert especially important to Dean. He even wore his Iceland sweater.



Even though the concert was top notch, the best was yet to come! Dean had brought some of his better pictures from Iceland with him (8 x 10's) and we took them to the stage door to ask the guy on duty there (George M.) if he could get them to Sigur Ros to sign them for us. He was very kind and he did that for us. We stood at the Stage Door lobby and waited and waited, until the drummer came out and introduced himself to us. He recognized Dean's sweater as Icelandic and we talked, and in fact he said he had spotted the sweater in the audience from the stage! He got us Stage Passes and took us back to their private party and we met the bass player "Goggi" and talked with him for quite a while. We even got our pictures taken with him! Then, the pictures were located and they were all signed! It was a great experience. I wish Billy could have been there for that. He would have loved it.





All in all, it was an amazing evening and one that we will not soon forget. My amazing husband does some of the craziest things that turn out to be quite unbelievable memories! Thanks, Dean!