Safe Environment Training
This message contains information regarding child safety in regards to child abuse. There are parts in this message that may be difficult to handle but I feel very strongly about protecting our children.
As some of you know I sing at our church during the Life Teen Mass. It is contemporary music verging on christian rock at times. It was my way of still being a part of a band. The young teens love it and so do most young adults. Mass is packed just about every Sun. except when the Cowboys are playing.
Because my position is a volunteer post we are required through the diocese to take what's called Safe Environment Training. Because of the numerous accounts of innapropriate behavior with children and young adults in years past this training was required by all employees and volunteers of the church starting in 2002. I've taken the course a few years ago and was due to update my training. I was kind of putting it off thinking that it was a silly course for me to take since I really don't have any interaction with children or youths.
So I finally took the class. It was a 3 hour course which included lunch. All I have to say is that everyone I know should take this class. One of the reasons given for making this mandatory is that the more eyes and ears you have looking for stuff the better. Just because you don't interact with youth doesn't mean you aren't among them, especially during a church or school function. The presentation included video interviews from incarcerated sex offenders. It gave you all the things they would do to lure and gain trust in these young children. The second part included appropriate behavior when dealing with young people, boundaries, warning signs, how to teach our children how to communicate, monitoring, training and reporting. As you know abuses occur everywhere not just in our churches and schools. Abusers have many faces male and female alike. The statistics are staggering. The more educated we all are the less chance these people are able to abuse. Please teach your children the correct names of their body parts as soon as they can understand. How do you expect a child to tell you something bad has happened to them if they don't have a name for the part of their body that has been violated.
Maybe you don't volunteer at church or school but if it's possible consider taking one of these classes if it's offered.
In closing, 1 out of 4 females and 1 out of 8 males will be abused. While I was sitting in the room with all these adults I wondered which ones were the victims and how hard this class must have been. Well I got my answer. As I was leaving the church grounds I had a short conversation with a woman I know by face only. I told her how glad I was that they made me take this course and how much I had learned. She told me how hard it was to take the class because she was a victim of child abuse but was happy that this course was finally available.
Knowledge Is Power
Sermon over.

Dave's Montana Backpack trip to Glacier Park

Here's a few pics of Dave's trip with a couple of friends to Glacier Park. They had a great trip and as you can see there was snow on the ground in places. They packed Sun.- Wed. and were gone the week of July 19th -25th 2008. One thing Dave mentioned was that he had to sleep with ear plugs most nights. The campsites were surrounded by waterfalls and they made quite a bit of noise. That's one thing that doesn't get quiet when the sun goes down. The guys had to get permits for each campsite since there were limited campsites sites at each stop. The scenery is breath taking and rivals any set of mountains in the world. Fortunately the weather was agreeable. One night of rain but most days were in the 80's and 90's with nights in the 50's. Dave used a tarp as a shelter. He said it worked really well except for the night of rain when he left a boot sticking out a little bit.
Now Dave is cruising the internet trying to find a way to make his pack lighter.

Working for Peterbilt 25 Years

June 13th 1983 Dave started his first job after graduating Chico State University. We moved from Chico to Fremont California. We were married almost 1 year and I was pregnant 7 1/2 months. We didn't know a soul and the closest family was 3 1/2 hours away. So how do you get to know people? You join every sport that the Peterbilt employees participated in. That consisted of Bowling and Softball. Not the typical sports you imagine Dave doing. But it worked and we are still in contact with quite a few of those friends that he made during those first years at Peterbilt.
I still remember asking the apartment manager where the nearest lake was. Dave and I were used to Lakes like Shasta, Oroville and Butt Lake where we would going water skiing. The manager gave us directions to the lake that was just down the road. We were really excited. We thought ,"wow this is great we can get to a lake in 5 minutes." So off we go to the lake. I mean pond. It was only big enough to paddle a canoe or sail a 1 man boat. What a disapointment. So started our new adventure in a new town with a new job. Now we're in Texas and Dave's still with Peterbilt now 25 years. Great thing is the lakes here are huge and 20 minutes away.

The Scent of our Grandma

Living in Texas one of the first things you notice are the names they give family members here. I'm sure you've heard at least one of them Bubba, Nanna, Pawpaw, Grannie, Poppie. The list goes on. In our family it's always been grandma or grandpa, followed by whatever their last name was. I'm not sure how I will handle the name my grandchildren will give me but I think it will be hard for me to be called Grandma Neves. Or maybe when they do call me grandma the little darlings will just melt my heart. Hopefully by then I won't care what they call me as long as they call me something nice.
But Grandma McDonald it was and will be forever.
When I asked my girls some of their favorite memories of visiting Grandma and Grandpa McDonald they had 2 favorites and especially I share one of those memories with them as well. The morning after we would arrive in Mont. we would wake up to the smell of freshly cooked bacon. There were either eggs or pancakes or both to go along with that but bacon reminds the girls of Grandma. The other one was the mini bikes. Hours upon hours of mini bike riding with their cousins up and down the lane. I remember the male bonding going on in the garage as the men would fix the mini bikes.
For me smell is the thing that draws me home to Mont. memories. The smell of freshly caught trout cooking on a cast iron skillet. That stinky stuff Grandma used to put on every evening after her bath. I'm not even sure what it was called, maybe witch hazel. The smell of grease on grandpa after he had been in the old barn at the old ranch fixing a tractor. The smell of water running down a ditch after Grandma had put in a new dam. The smell of hay being baled while sitting on the tractor fender with Grandma. The smell of petunias and coffee grounds. Grandma would ask me to take the coffee grounds to the petunia bed and spread them around the flowers. The prettiest petunias you'd ever see. The smell of wet dirt falling off a carrot from the garden. And bacon. Thick juicy chewy bacon. The kind you have to go to the butcher for now with the rind. Whether it was for breakfast, lunch or dinner the house smelled really good when there was bacon cooking. So Grandma thanks for the memories and especially, Thanks for the bacon.
We love and miss you.

They're Back

Well Julia and Lee have been here now since the 16th of May. Plans are to return to England Jun. 26th. We took Lee to the lake so we could teach him how to wakeboard. That boy never gave up. He just kept saying "one more time". We must have pulled him up 60 times trying to get him up. Dave, Julia and Lee went out the following day and he finally got it. Where was the camera when you needed it? Left at home.
We went out again on Memorial Day Weekend and the wind was blowing pretty hard and there eventually were a lot of boats on the water making waves. Wake boarding was not a good sport that day but we tubed and knee boarded instead. I did get a water ski run in before the water got chopped up. We took the boat into a cove and just hung out for awhile and sunbathed. It really was relaxing and felt great to veg out and watch the big white puffy clouds go by. Lee is a little reluctant to hang out in the water. Someone has been telling him stories of huge fish that swim in the Lake called Gar.
This weekend we ended up going to College Station, Tx to watch Dave's nephew Derrick play baseball in the College World Series Regional Playoffs. His team is the University of Illinois at Chicago. The trick was trying to figure out which game to attend since you never know when a pitcher gets thrown into the lineup. His first game was Fri. night against Texas A&M. It didn't turn out to well and Derrick ended up pitching and A&M continued to hit and score. If you know anything about pitchers they usually don't pitch 2 games in a row sometimes 3 games go by before they pitch again. Lucky for us he only pitched 1 inning on Fri. so the outlook was good that he'd pitch again either Sat. or Sun. To make a long story short we drove to College station Sat. morning watched his team beat the #2 seed Dallas Baptist and got to watch him pitch 4 innings of the Univ. of Houston game Sun. which they lost in extra innings 14-11. It was a great weekend . Dave's sister and husband Terry were there so we had a family weekend after all.
The wedding invitation business is still busy and thankfully I've had a couple of breaks in between so I could spend time with Julia and Lee.
Adeena is busy with her boyfriend Will these days . She couldn't join us in College Station because she had a prior commitment to floating the Guadalupe river with friends. She just returned from a trip to Ca. where she spent most of her time visiting the Neves side of the family.
That's all for now. The kids are off to Fl. tomorrow so it'll be quiet for awhile.

McDonald Gathering

I know It's been awhile since I've been back from MT. but I've been putting in the hours making wedding invitations and oh that other job I have at the end of the day called cooking and cleaning.
Well another family get together that we survived. A lot of tears, a lot of laughter and a lot of stories. Sorry that some of you missed out. It never ceases to amaze me that when the word family get together comes out the family really does come together to the McDonald house. That's always been the case. Grandma and Grandpa McDonald have always opened their home to family. When I would go and visit they would always tell me of some relative that stopped by on their way to some other place. The place was buzzin'. The other thing that draws them in is good old farm cookin and Karen, Mom and Beth were prepared for the lot of us. There were about 15 of us for breakfasts and then it grew to 25 for lunch and dinner.
Sunday was the day of the celebration of life in honor of George Augustus McDonald at the Lutheran Church in Dillon. The Garden Club, which Mom(Marion) is a member, provided food and beverage for all those gathered to honor Grandpa. Beth stood up and spoke on the microphone and thanked everyone for coming and her husband John read Grandpas obituary. Friends and family were invited to share memories that they shared with Grandpa and Grandma and I can say with pride that the Woos family, as we are known, held true to form. I can honestly say there weren't to many dry eyes in the house as we heard wonderful stories about Grandpa. What an honor to have a man so respected by others in his community as my Grandfather. Grandma held up really well and I know that she was happy as a clam to have her Grandchildren, Great Grandchildren and Great Great grandchildren there. Her brother Jim and sister Annie were also there along with several of Grandma's nieces and nephews.
All in all it was a glorious day. I also want to thank God for the weather. When we arrived on Thurs. April 24th the high temp was in the low 40's with evening temps in the low 30's, by Sun. it was in the low 60's with sunshine to boot.
Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy. If you want copies I'll e-mail them. Oh and by the way the grass stains came out of my pants. Jared and Payton thanks for the great game of hide and seek. I have a few videos to share once I figure out how to down load them.

Thought You might enjoy seeing what Adeena and
Julia were up to in a February trip to Paris.
Adeena went to England to visit Julia the first week in Feb..
They took a trip to Amsterdam and then on to Paris to visit
a Finnish foreign exchange student Adeena became friends
with in High School. Mirdia is studying architecture in Paris
so they stayed with her and had a great time.
Julia is still in England and returns home on May 16th.

Grandpa

Where does one start when you want to write about someone who means so much to them.
Today I found out that our grandfather passed away.
It makes me sad but it also makes me reminisce about days gone by, about the man that he was to me.
He was my rock. I owe a lot to the type of person that I am to him. He taught me many things.
He taught me how to work hard and to have pride in my work.
He taught me how to save money, as you all know he knew how to save a dime.
I remember getting ready for a camping trip one summer and the week before my girlfriend and I
rode the mini-bikes that they had and I crashed one and didn't tell him that I broke it.
When we were loading everything up to take camping he saw that the bike was broken and was not very happy.
I confessed to the deed and was grounded from the one bike that was working while on the trip.
He told me later that if I had come and told him that I had broken it he could have fixed it before the trip.
He didn't say he wouldn't have been upset but he explained that the consequences would have been much different.
So he taught me to be honest and take my lumps.
Grandpa loved to read. He taught me to crave knowledge to learn something everyday.
The memory of sitting on his lap on the Harvester or helping him carry a bucket of feed for a pig or chicken.
Riding in the old pickup on a hot summer's day with a glass of Pepsi in my hand on my way up to the bench to give him while he was working
either harvesting the wheat or putting up the hay.
Swinging on the saddle that was hanging in the shop while he was fixing something.
Rides in the truck to the Big Hole as he told me of all the people he knew that lived in the area.
He loved the land and he was a good steward.
He was probably the first recycler always reusing something till it gave no more.
Who could go to Grandpa's house with out raiding the candy drawer, his favorite stash of chocolate,peppermints, horehound, lemon drops, gum and other sweets.
But I'll always remember his sloppy kisses. The love he gave to all of us, with his whole heart .

He is at peace now on the top of a mountain in heaven looking over all the land.

How I spend my Time

Here's a picture of me and my friend Marta.
I work for her making invitations. It keeps me in trouble and I love it.
We're pictured here at the January Dallas Bridal Show.

Easter Weekend

Well here goes.
Since Easter is the beginning of a new church year how appropriate to start a blog. All things new.
My sister Peg and her family came to Denton for the Easter weekend. Time was short but as always we had a great visit. They drove up from Mandeville Louisianna. It takes anywhere from 8 1/2 to 10 hours of driving depending on traffic. It's hard for them to avoid Dallas traffic unless they leave at O dark hundred. That's 6:00 a.m. They pulled into Denton about 5:30 Fri. afternoon.
I'm sure you can all agree that when you get together with family it's all about the food and all about getting everyone to get out the door in a reasonable amount of time when going places. The more members of family , the harder it is to get them out the door. But when you come to my house it's about the food. I love to cook and don't mind it either. But be sure you are going to eat something I've never prepared before. So you are my guinea pigs. I haven't heard any complaints yet. This Easter was no different. Tried a new asparagus recipe and cooked a leg of lamb for the first time. Now I bet you're wondering how someone who cooks so much has never cooked lamb before, well easy my family doesn't like lamb. So when I asked Peg if her family likes lamb and she said yes I was jumping for joy. There is nothing like a good piece of juicy lamb with a spoonful of mint jelly. So for the other members of the family I cooked a ham. Jim, Peg's husband, was my wine steward. I have about 40 bottles of wine to choose from and knew there were some in there to drink before they went bad. He picked out a Pinot Noir Lindeman's Bin 99 2004. Great wine and was perfect.
Before dinner we decided to leave the guys and go shopping. The weather here was beautiful. Around 70 degress. The guys thought it would be a great day for a boat ride. That was until about an hour and a half later they figured out they couldn't go anywhere, because Peggy had the keys to the Jeep that was blocking the gate to the boat. They had to wait till we got back from the Galleria to go boating. Dave,Jim, Erin and Jake all went to Lake Lewisville and the kids went tubing. So when they came back fro the lake and they were wet. I thought that they had lost their mind. No telling how cold that water is. Jake wore a shorty wet suit but Erin did not and some how her brother pushed her off the back of the boat and she got all wet . I don't think it was on purpose. It sounded like they had a good time unlike the last time they were on the boat about 3 years ago.
That sums up the weekend. More food, more wine sent them out the door at 10:00 a.m. Sun. and then we went to Easter service. Normally I sing at Mass on Sun. evening but our church decided not to have an evening mass on Easter Sun. So I got a rare Sunday experience with my family and celebrated Christ's Resurection with Dave and Adeena. Allelulia!
Julia is still in England and comes home on May 18th. She likes England alot I guess and is planning on returning this summer provided she can get a work permit. Her boyfriend Lee's football season ends the 4th of May and is planning on coming to the U.S. with her. He's a likable lad and I can see why she is smitten.
Well I guess that's all for now. More later.
Deb