Welcome little Miss Juliana Marie!!

Unlike other mothers/grandmothers/great grandmothers, I am not baking seven pies, cooking a turkey and a ham, and bustling around the kitchen. My children aren't lounging on couches and in front of tvs and basketball hoops. The leaves are all raked, and there's a bite of snow in the air, and the house is quiet except for the occasional snap of the fire and the low hum of a tv news show. Dad and I are alone on this Thanksgiving Eve, so I was feeling a certain hollowness this morning as I contemplated spending Thanksgiving Day at a luxury hotel having a scrumptuous dinner which I didn't cook. Then, the phone rang, and an excited Susan said, "Mom, the baby's come." Oh, the tender mercies of God when He knew how I needed to be reminded that Thanksgiving is not about turkeys and food, company or football games; it's about the giving of thanks!! Our new baby is Miss Juliana Marie Jensen, born November 25 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to a black daddy and white mama who could care less about her!! Miss Juliana Marie--doesn't that stir up your memories of Southern belles!? Miss Juliana Marie is very much wanted by Susan, Eric, two brothers and one sister, and 30+ aunts, uncles, and cousins. By next Tuesday, our little Southern Belle will be an Arizona Razorback with lungs to match.

On another fun "tender mercy" note, I've been trying for several days to get a picture of the flock of wild turkeys who cross and criss cross the road up here. When I have my camera ready, they're nowhere to be seen; when my camera's not in the car, they stroll majestically and slowly across the road in front of the car!! No wonder they're not gracing anyone's dinner table tomorrow!!

My camera has been broken for several years, requiring some well placed rubber bands to hold the plate cover over the batteries and causing constant consternation when the rubber bands slip, the batteries fall out, and I've lost my Kodak moment. I checked out the cost to repair my beloved digital camera and found out that there are no Sony repair shops within 250 miles of White Salmon and a trip to the factory for a repair and cleaning is $121+tax!! When we were in Wal-mart looking at a new camera, our favorite Wal-mart manager, Paolo, took a look at the camera, slightly bent a small piece of plastic , and my broken camera was whole once more!!

Life is such a carousel of wonderful moments to be enjoyed and savored, and brought to our minds again and again at less "wonderful" times. Being reminded so spectacularly by a little brown-eyed girl from the bayou is so fine!! Welcome, Little Darling. Love and Thanks to all of you for being who you are. Still stalking those birds with my "new" camera--Mom