Winter Wonderland

Christmas Eve there was a blizzard watch. On December 26, I woke up to a most beautiful blanket of snow. We were snowed in for the entire day. It was a great and relaxing day.

Having a Wonderful Christmas Time

"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree is the presence

of a happy family all wrapped up in each other".

 

 

Even though I have been with family and friends, my heart still longs for Jerry to be sharing Christmas with me and to be a part of all the festivities and events surrounding this most wonderful and magical time of the year. So many memories of Christmases past fill my heart and I am so thankful that the Lord let me share them with Jerry.

 

I am also so thankful for the love of family and friends. Their love is helping me through this first Christmas.

 

My son, Mark, and my Dad

 

Kimberly, Alexis, Gavin, and Mark

My nieces, Olivia and Aleise

Olivia, Steve, Jennifer, and Aleise

Janine and Gary

Julie and Bob



Dave and Gariann, my niece, with their 3 cute silly kids
 

 

Jerry's sisters and brothers
Janine, Norman, Bob, and Jennifer

Norman

 

 

 



Merry Christmas from Indiana

Friday morning I headed out on a Christmas adventure. I headed to beautiful Indiana. It was a good drive. I drove it straight through and enjoyed listening to Christmas music. You can listen to a lot of Christmas songs 13 hours on the road.

I spent today with my Dad. It was a good visit. We ate and talked and tried to straighten out the world. I love my Dad and enjoyed the time I spend with him. He has a fantastic memory for being 89 years old. I think his mind works better than mine. 

I'm excited about seeing family and friends. I had Christmas with Neal and Amy and their 3 girls before I left.

I'm adding new pages and memories to my life.

Jerry is still so much in my heart and a part of me. I'm thankful to a wonderful God whose grace is sufficient and gives me comfort when I need it.

I Love You and Wish Everyone a Merry Christmas.

 

 

 

The Christmas Memory Tree

This year it was hard decorating our Christmas tree. Neal, Amy, and their girls came over and decorated it for me. I was thinking how my Christmas tree is really a memory tree. I will probably never have a designer tree with all the ornaments and bows matching and  everything color coordinated. Instead I have a beautiful memory tree. A tree filled with ornaments that hang on our tree from year to year. So many of our ornaments have been gifts from people we have known through the years who have touched our lives. Each ornament has a memory or a story to tell. I love our tree and the memories that surround it.

This first Christmas without Jerry is hard. I was thinking about Jerry in Heaven. He’s celebrating Christmas with Jesus, the reason that we even have a Christmas day.

I’m so thankful for that little baby, Jesus, that was born over two thousand years ago. Who came to give us love and hope.

Luke 2:10-14

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving

  “Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people.”

1 Chronicles 16:8

 



The month of Thanksgiving is almost over. I knew the holidays would not be an easy time. You can't spend 48 Thanksgivings with someone and not miss them.

 

Each day I thought of something to be thankful about, because I know the Lord has blessed me more than I could ever imagine. The verse says it all. I want people to know that God has been good to me and I do give thanks to Him. I thank Him for my family and friends. I thank Him for allowing me to spend 48 Thanksgivings with Jerry Rice. I thank God for His love and especially for my salvation and knowing that someday I have the hope of seeing my husband again.

 

The week of Thanksgiving I had the pleasure of flying to San Antonio with two of my grand children, Alexis and Gavin, to spend the week with my youngest son, Mark. San Antonio, Texas is a beautiful place. It was nice to meet some of my son's friends while I was there and spend Thanksgiving with Adrian Meza and his family.

 

I Love Flying!!!!







Mark, Gavin, and Alexis
 

 

River Walk

 





River Walk



 





River Walk



"Feliz Navidad" from Sea World in San Antonio, TX

 

 

 

 

 

There is no place like Bass Pro Shop





White Museum





 

Downtown River Walk

Can you imagine someone actually raising snakes.





Gruene Mansion Inn in Gruene, TX.
Gruene is an old German Settlement.
 



 

 

Gristmill Restaurant in Gruene, TX where we ate. It overlooks
the Guadalupe River.

 



My son, Mark, and his friend, Adrian

Happy Veteran's Day

 

I want to thank the men and women who have served throughout the years to protect our country and to give us our freedom.

The spring before Jerry got sick, we had a chance to go to Washington, D.C. One of the most memorable parts of the trip was seeing the different armed services memorials and visiting Arlington Cemetery. I kept thinking about the mothers who lost their sons, wives who lost husbands, children who lost dads.

 

Arlington Cemetery

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

 

 

 I was born two years after World War II ended and three years before the Korean War. I grew up hearing war stories. Jerry and I both had dads and other family members who served their country.

Ernest Layman, Jerry's Grandpa
World War I

Jerry's Dad, Norris W. Rice
World War II

My Dad, John Knight
World War II

 

Something I'll never understand is what makes a man fight for his fellow country men, people that he doesn't know. What makes a soldier sacrifice their lives so that we can have the freedom that we have today.

 

Then I remember an old rugged cross and a God who sacrificed His only Son to battle death and hell so that we might have the freedom from our sins and eternal life.

THANK YOU VETERANS!!!!!

Amish Country in Ohio

 

When I was in Ohio, I had the chance one day to go to Amish Country. It was a  fall day and my son, Scott, and I had a great time.

I would have a hard time living like the Amish. I like electricity, driving cars, television, and all the other modern conveniences of our time. But, they sure can make delicious foods like pretzels and kettle corn;  and they do beautiful woodworking.

We had to drive through an old covered bridge to get there.

 

 

 


Making Kettle Corn




 

I want to thank everyone for all their prayers and love. Please pray for me as the holidays are approaching. I know each first (first Thanksgiving, first Christmas, etc.) will be different, not  celebrating them with Jerry. I'm so thankful for a God who loves me and who will give me the strength I need for each day.