Progress

We are making good progress with the shower.  The new pan is on the floor. The new ceiling is up and the sheetrock on the walls as far down as needed. Luke and Hebe helped Dad with that.   Dad put the pipe in for a real shower in the hall bathroom.  Luke was here Saturday and again today texturing the ceiling and walls so they can be painted.  He will probably come again tomorrow to help Dad with the cement board that covers the insullation.  He has been a huge help.  Then we are ready to tile. Thanks again to all of you.

Memories

Every Christmas I take a walk down memory lane as I get out the ornaments for the tree.  I started giving each child an ornament in 1980, when Jed was one.  That's why his very first ornament is a high chair.  I also get one for Dad, so that when everyone is married and has taken his ornaments away, we will still have each year represented.  I used to surprise Dad but I don't anymore, since he is so involved with the process now.  I have done this every year with the exception of 1983.  Mama died in 1979, but then I had Jed and there were so many things to do. And then Daddy died in 1981.  Christmas in 1983 without parents seemed too much, I guess.  So that's the year Dad took you kids out and each of you picked out a Precious Moments ornament to give to me.  (Notice I don't send those with you.)

This year as I put them all away I spent a good deal of time looking at them and remembering. One year I took a tole painting class with Bonnie Peterson, and I painted the ornaments for that year in class.  One year pom pom bears were in so I made those.  (The cat ate Luke's so I had to make another.)  In the early years everything for Hebe had a train, if possible.  Reference to the Heber Creeper.

The big stuffed snowmen we got in Chicago when Dad was there for work.  We stayed a night or two with Alex and Sarah in their great place there.  One year was particularly rough economically--that's the year of the Debbie Mumm scented envelopes. Those have pretty much lost their scent, now. Some I like more than others, but they all carry memories.  I can remember where we bought or made each one of them.

Then Matthew and Kim started sending an ornament to me each year.  Dad thought that was great, so he made the suggestion to all the marrieds.  That has spread our ornament collection all over the world.  From Matthew there is Guam and Oceanside and Missouri.  Samantha's are from VA, some homemade and some not.  From Rach I even have one she picked up in Prince Edward Island.  And from Alex and Sarah,  England last year, the Smokey Mountans of TN this year and some from Chicago and everyplace else they have lived.  This Christmas Luke joined in and gave me two beautiful ornaments;  one from his trip to Hawaii and one from the trip with Hebe and friends to Saba, in the Carribean.

I love them all and love you all.  It's a Christmas tradition I treasure.

And More

Demolition

Thanks to the generosity of all of our children, we are getting a new shower in our bathroom. Unfortunately, before you can put in the new shower you have to demolish the old one.  On Dec. 30 Dad started that project.  Luke is here helping today.  So far we have uncovered moister behind the tile on the east wall and today they found a bed of ants behind the tile that was the curb to the shower.  Luke was grossed out, but a quick shot of Raid did the trick.  My mother was greeted by ants  each morning when she came down to her kitchen.  But we lived in a beach town.  Anyway...I think that makes this a necessity rather than a luxury.  Thanks again to all of you.

JEFF

His is the last birthday of the year for our family. He says he's not really into birthdays. But what is he into?

Well, I know he loves Rach. And he loves his children. And he loves the Gospel. And he's good at his work. (Whether he loves it or not, I'm not certain.) I know that he is proud of his home and has helped Rach do a lot of things to make it even more wonderful.

What do I know about him? He was born in Modesto, CA, and grew up there. Served his mission in Brazil and is still chummy with some of his friends from that period in his life. He graduated with a Masters in Accounting from BYU, which is where he met Rach. He has served as Ward Mission leader and served in the Bishopric twice. (That is what he is doing now.) I also know he is a worrier and stresses a lot.

Most of all I know that he is good to his family and provides for them. And I know that they all love him.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JEFF!

KIM

She is the second in-law. Interesting that our first three in-laws were born in December. They met at the Y, as did all of the first four. But, she lived in Bountiful...so that was nice. I don't know what her most memorable birthday is, but the birthday of hers I remember the most was the first December they were in Guam. The typhoon that left them without power for 28 days hit on her birthday. She was a trooper all through that.

She is the mother of our first granddaughter. And they lived in Bountiful for the first year of Chelsea's life. (That was the first and only time we had a grandchild live that close.) Now she is the mother of three and they are growing up and they are beautiful.

We wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

LUKE

The fifth child, third son. We were pretty certain we were having a boy. He was due in mid November, but of course he wasn't born then. At 2:15am on the morning of Dec. 4, 1975, he was born. He weighed 8lbs 131/2 oz and was 22 inches long. Lucas Nelson Eastman. The Nelson is after Mama's maiden name, carrying on the Family History tradition with our names.

Dad's mother came to help. Some of our friends brought dinner and one of them brought a delicious green jello. That was the beginning of 'slime' for us.

We called him the child of the apartment. We sold our first home in Sept. 1975 and moved to the apartment by the church on 8th West just below 4th North in Oct., and started building this house in Nov. 1975. The apartment had 1 really large bedroom and 1 closet size bedroom, big enough for the crib. Samantha, Matthew and Rach were in the big bedroom. Alex was in the crib. Our water bed was in the living room. So we put Luke in the cradle by us, in the living room. We lived there from Oct. 1975 to July 1976, when we moved into our new house.

Luke always had the most beautiful hair. I could hardly stand to have it cut, but when someone at the park thought he was a girl dressed in boys clothes, I figured it was time to get rid of the curls. He is the only one of our children to have broken a bone. When he was in the third grade he broke his ankle on a trampoline in Cub Scouts.

When he was sixteen he flew to Samantha's in St. Louis to visit for a week. Tyler's effort to say Luke came out Yupp. So that's why we sometimes call him Yupp.

He and the other six have always been what I consider some of the Lord's most 'tender mercies.'