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I was trying to find something for Halloween and stumbled across this picture of my grandson Nathanael Pfiester, carrying a pumpkin. It is such a cute picture that it is the one I chose. I am thinking he is about 4 in this picture but I am not sure.
I hope you are warmer where you are than I am right now. We had ice on our windshield this morning to scrape off to get to seminary. We did not get any snow however from the big Nor'easter that blew through here over the weekend. It was like our island was in a bubble. We got lots of wind and rain but no snow - which was fine with me. I would be very happy to get no snow but I don't see that happening. People that live across the bridge from us on the mainland had to dig out to come to church yesterday.
This is a picture of me as a witch when I was 6 in San Antonio, Texas on Halloween for a school party. I always insisted on wearing red shoes to school so I know that the shoes I am wearing are red but the the dress was black and I loved this costume. I was able to wear it two years. It was one of my favorite costumes. My mother worked hard on it. You couldn't go to the store and buy a quality costume when I was young - or when our daughters were young for that matter. I cried when I couldn't fit in it anymore. There was a clown costume that I wore, my brother and sister wore and Carianne wore at the age of 1. I have no pictures of anyone ever wearing it. Pretty sad. By the time Carianne wore it, all of my cousins had worn it too and it was 26 years old. It was falling apart and the fabric was so rotten we couldn't save it anymore.
I am dressing Carianne in her room in our home in El Paso. She is on about a week or two old. The picture above her changing table is a Disney Winnie the Pooh scene. The pink diaper stacker to the left was used for all 4 daughters and came in very handy.
This is Carianne in March right after she had Carlye. She is sitting by her favorite 'author tile' at Butt-Holdsworth Library in Kerrville - Beatrix Potter. Carianne literally wore out copies of Peter Rabbit when she was little because they were her security. Most children had a toy or blanket they took everywhere and slept with. Carianne took the little green Peter Rabbit book everywhere and slept with at first in her arms and then under her pillow. When she could finally read for herself was the first that Peter Rabbit was not in bed with her. Then she had other books in bed with her.
We love you Carianne and hope you have a wonderful birthday. Hopefully in the not too distant future we will be spending your birthdays with you!
This is not the best picture in the world of my Grandma and Grandpa Brugger but it will do for todays purposes. My mother had pretty poor health my whole life. When she would end up in the hospital when we lived in Texas the first time, my Grandma and Grandpa Brugger would come and stay with us. I remember Grandpa spending time with me everyday after school drilling me for my spelling tests and listening to me as I read.
During the time that this picture was taken we were in Germany. We had thought we were going to lose Grandma to guilliain barre syndrome. She was in the hospital for weeks and in therapy for months. By the time we put her on the plane to fly back to the states, she had braces on her legs and could walk with two crutches. Eventually she could walk on her own again. My time with Grandpa in Germany was spent on Math. This was a totally frustrating time for Grandpa, my parents and me. We did not understand that I was dys-calculate and that numbers and symbols were flipping on me. I would do my math problems and have grandpa check them. He at first would accuse me of guessing at the answers until I explained how I came to the answers. He was the first to realize I was not seeing the same thing on the page he was seeing. Working with Grandpa was kind of my sanctuary during a time when my teacher and parents were puzzled with me. I was the top student in my reading and spelling group and the bottom student in the lowest math group. No one knew then that there was such a thing as dyslexia and dysgraphia or other learning problems. It was cut and dried. You were mentally retarded or you weren't. I wasn't mentally retarded so there had to be other problems. It was suggested I visit a psychiatrist and maybe he could figure out why I was failing math and Bob wasn't doing well in reading. We will just leave it at - the problem was not psychiatric and in fact that psychiatrist may have done more harm than good to our family that lasted for years. Grandpa once again intervened and said that I just needed to do things at my own pace. One day Math would be my favorite subject. Well he was wrong about that but he was right that I did better in school once everyone got off my back. My Grandpa Brugger was a very wise man and very important to me as I grew up.
I can't believe you are 7 years old, Noah! Happy Birthday! We love you very much and are so happy you are a part of our family. You make life fun and exciting! You are smart and such a happy young man. We hope you have a wonderful birthday!
P.S. I am sorry there are no pictures but I lost all of my more current pictures when Grandpa had to wipe out our computer because of a virus. We will get some new ones at Christmas and be more careful about backing them up.
Saturday a couple from our ward were sealed in the temple as a family to each other and then their son, Matthew. To make it all possible, some of the young couples asked me if I would mind watching children. Of course I didn't. Originally I was supposed to watched 9 with 2 other sisters helping off and on the whole time but it ended up that I watched 3 children with 3 sisters for the first few hours and then 2 children with another sister helping. At one time we had 5 adults and 4 children but then two went off to the sealing. I was planning on attending the sealing but Kaitlin all of the sudden became very clingy and begged me to stay with her. She didn't know the Rick's and was suddenly very shy. It turned out it a good thing I stayed because with 2 babies and 2 - 3 year old's - it was a good thing we had that many arms. The kids were pretty tired by the end of the day but because they had so many loving arms around them, there weren't extended meltdowns and things went really well. All of the children know me because I have held them and loved them since they were babies. I am part of their lives. There is one baby boy that cries every time he sees my husband, Clyde. Matthew Freel (not the one that was sealed - another Matthew), cries every time my husband says 'hi' to him. It hurts Clyde's feeling and none of us know why Matthew is afraid of him. If I hold him and talk to Clyde with Matthew in my arms, he is fine - but on his own - it is not okay. We did notice that he was having a hard time with one of our Elders yesterday too, so it must might be a faze.
My payoff - the best Mexican food I have had since I have been in New England! It was a bit mild but still wonderful! I ate way too much but it was so worth it. I now have a favorite restaurant in Boston! Sometimes life gives us fun little surprises.
Happy Birthday Sara! We love your very much. We were very tickled the day you came into our lives. I swooped down and picked up Julianna and Annemarie. All of the cousins had such a good time until your mom said it was time for everyone to come home. Then Carianne fell in love you. She thought you were the neatest person in the world. She also liked the fact that your birthday was just 2 weeks before hers. We are proud of you and the wonderful woman and wife you have become. One day soon you will make a wonderful mother. I imagine you are a comforting presence in the hospital because you are so compassionate. We are very proud of you. We are so happy you are a part of our family.
It really bugs me when people cannot follow the rules and laws. What is so hard about stopping at a red light? When a checkout line says 12 items or less it doesn't mean 12 shopping baskets or less it means the number of items in your basket. When you pull a number at the deli counter - the person in front of you that didn't pull a number shouldn't butt in front of you and get in your face that he was there first (yes he was at the counter while I was pulling a number and I didn't start the confrontation - he did!). In other words what does it pay to not be polite and just follow the simple curtesies of life? I know this goes on everywhere but it seems to go on much more here. For the most part I truly have not met more rude people that the people here in New England (I have lived in Europe for years!) and the sad part is that they are probably not even from here. There are so many transplants on this island - heaven only knows where these people originally came from. It does boggle my mind though.
On a brighter note: During General Conference, President Monson talked about Peter Maurick. When we lived in Germany the second time, Peter and his wife MaryPaul were in our ward. Their faith in the Lord was beyond faith - it was a sure knowledge. I have never met anyone like them before or since. I in fact babysat for them several times. Peter is from Holland and MaryPaul is from France. Their common language was English, so that is what was spoken in their home. Their children were speaking 4 different languages by the time they were 3 or 4 - Dutch, French, German and English and they were speaking them fluently. I have often wondered about the Maurick's and now I know that his spirituality is still as strong as ever. Otherwise he would never have been in tune enough to have heard that prompting. He is still as amazing as ever.
I hope to be blogging better. I have been going through a bit of a rough patch and I think I am coming out of it. Because of General Conference, I see in part the goals I need to set and some of the traits I need to work on in myself. I came out of Conference and the General Relief Society Broadcast with a bit of a bruised ego - but I am better for it.
