Christmas 2007 December 25, 2007
Posted by Diane Bird in : All Posts , trackbackChristmas in Loogootee, Indiana, for the Mike & Diane Birds, was totally low key except for one marvelous miracle. We are now hooked up to broadband and our days of “dial up” are finally over. Mike and I both feel 20 yrs. younger to be freed of the agonizing and aggravating waits caused by the impossible slowness of a dial up internet connection. We needed no other gifts!
Miki called from upstate New York last night, where she is visiting over the holidays. Marty spent Christmas Eve with us. Eric and family will be stopping by the house later after their dinner at his in-laws. Danielle is just now on the phone with Mike, reporting on her Christmas in Washington.
It is 48 degrees and sunny here, very unlike our usual December weather, but we are learning not to “expect” since when “expectations are few, disappointments are rare”. We hope you are all enjoying Christmas, and that you have a fantastic New Year…. and I hope to read lots of reports from all of you, in comments following this post 
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Christmas in Wyoming,
Merry Christmas from the Magnusons!
It is a crisp, clear and calm 34` day here in Casper. Jason and Eric are here with us today. We made a huge dent in the turkey and we are having a wonderful day.
Jason bought his first house two weeks ago and is slowly getting settled in. The apartment that he has been in for the past five years was just no longer suitable and he is enjoying true quiet for the first time in a long time. No more upstairs neighbors, yea!
Eric’s girlfreind, Lisa. went to Missouri for a week to see her parents so he stayed with us last night. It was nice to have him back if only for a moment.
We were on speaker phone earlier to Mom and Nancy. They were preparing for a big housefull for the day. Steve was working but was expected to be there after a plane came and went. He is working at the airport and wears many hats.That is a job that suits him well as his talents are many. It is a great comfort to know that he is in Grand Island and with Mom.
I know that I told many at the reunion to stop and see us if they were ever in our neck of the woods and that invitation is open to all of you. We have plenty of room so don’t hesitate, just do it.
We decided to dump our land tetephone line. So if you would like to update your phone books our numbers are: Sam 307-258-6853
Sally 307-258-6852 Jason 307-262-4049 Eric 307-277-2061
Work 307-472-7267
Jason is still with us at the car lot but Eric has taken a job as an Electricion. He loves the work and he has a great electrical and mechanical aptitude so it is a good fit. The owner is a good friend and we tease him all of the time about needing Eric back. He says that he does not see that happening.
We have had a great year and I must say that the reunion was the highlight. It was amazing to see everyone and know, again what a great resource we all have in each other.
I really don’t want to wait five years to see everyone again. What can we do?
Happy Holidays,
The Magnusons. Sam, Sally. Jason. and Eric
Okay, here goes, from Central City.
After being with our family for Thanksgiving we are by ourselves and content with that. Don and I went to Christmas Eve service (as usual) at our Presbyterian Church. It is a custom now that Don does the readings for that service and he always uses the King James version of the Christmas story. (Luke 2:1-20). It ends with candlelighting and is a very sweet service at 5 p.m. It is always nice to see many church families with members coming home for the holidays. After my dear husband saying “we won’t give each other gifts this year, will we, since we got our new T-V with all the extras”.? I didn’t answer that but went ahead and got him 2 shirts. I think he was feeling guilty plus watching those T-V commercials with husbands getting their wives all that jewelry!…… Anyway he surprised me with a diamond necklace (a “journey” necklace which I didn’t even know about). It is several little diamonds dropping down in a curve. We opened things from our kids. Joe gave us the DVD set of “Planet Earth” . It has been shown on the Discovery channel I think, though we hadn’t seen it. We watched the first disc this afternoon and it is awesome. 4 more to go. Got the usual books and gift cards. Then we had filets for dinner and I fixed an accompaniment sauce that was a Champagne cream sauce which was delicious. Topped off with a Cranberry/Apple/Walnut pie (from the Village Piemaker, (no kidding). We’ve had calls from the boys. Bob and Jenn are in Jersey. Joe in New York City, Dave and family in Wisconsin, Rick and Katie in North Carolina but on their way to Florida for 10 days. (More after the photo.)
Now the decision as to when the tree comes down. This year I thought I’d get by with putting my fibre optic tree in the front window, decorate everything else but not put up the regular tree. Then a week or so ago, a friend at church said “I miss seeing the big Christmas lit tree in your front window”. Well, that is all I needed and I came home and put up and decorated the tree in the front window. With the snow we’ve had and the cold that didn’t let too much melting happen, the countryside is pretty.
By the way, we’ve all wondered about Sten Palgard (our Swedish cousin) because we didn’t hear from him last year. Well, a card came this year and they are fine, just made a major move from their home to an apartment and they are very happy with that change. I’ll send a New Years card since I’d held up on a Christmas card this year not knowing what his situation was.
I hope you all weigh in on these comments as Diane suggests. From those of you who sent cards, it was wonderful to hear your news, but I’d love to hear from everyone. Christmas is a time I do wonder about all you family members out there and what you might be doing. Let us hope that 2008 is a good year for all of us!
What a wonderful picture of the two of you Sampsons… if I were there I would give you both a big hug! Fun to hear your Chrismas stories, Jackie. I hope we can keep this blog alive long enough for our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren to read it and discover who we are and how we lived our lives. Like how we celebrated Christmas.
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Sam, it’s always nice to hear from you and I feel like I’m getting to know you better from your detailed news told with your excellent writing skills! How long’s it been since someone told you how well you write? Thanks for the updates on your phone numbers and for your faithful following of this cool blog.
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OK, I have to ‘fess up. We did get more gifts than “just” a better internet connection. Like Jackie, I couldn’t settle for nothing under the tree, even though we both said gifts weren’t necessary (and well, we didn’t actually have a tree, either!).
As usual, there is a story behind the gifts. Mike has been wanting a certain kind of belt – braided leather, in brown. Extensive online research revealed that I could get one at Penney’s, but only in-store, not online, so off I went 30 miles to the nearest Penney’s. I got him a 36, believing it would fit. Nope. Had to drive back and get a 38. Poor Mike hates being bigger than 32 or 34, which he was for years & years. The size 38 belt was joined by 2 new turtlenecks and a pair of lounging pants, in order to help him closer to “happy”.
My gift from Mike was a new leather purse. We drove to Bloomington to the mall where we believed there was a Wilson’s Leather Store that had been my source of leather purses for years. Nope, not there any more. Well, being the non-shopper that I am, I found a purse I liked within 10 minutes in a kiosk set up inside the mall. Mike thinks I am very strange that I didn’t want to look further and has been telling the story all over town about how much I hate to shop.
Actually, we usually buy our own “Christmas” gifts during the year… my new computer monitor, my new car, my trip to Palm Springs, my new bread machine… and Mike’s new camera and new golf clubs and new laptop. (Egads, sounds like a lot when they’re listed out!)
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Did anyone else notice how there were fewer decorations this year? I thought I was being a Grinch when I didn’t put up my outside lights, my wreaths, or a tree. But I noticed that only two of our neighbors put up outside lights this year, and I saw no Christmas trees in windows all up and down the street. Is this because people are concerned about the energy crisis, or because they are expecting a recession and are saving money wherever they can, or were they just plain-and-simple lazy like me?