Year End Wrap-up

Randy and I have been enjoying hanging out with family. The first few days were a bit crazy, but we've settled down some in the past couple of days.

We attended Christmas Eve service at my sister, Paula's, church then spent the night at her house. Christmas morning was quiet and we moved slow. Paula and Lou got themselves out the door fairly quickly so they could do Christmas at her youngest, Megan's, house. My folks had spent the night there and they were all excited to watch Megan's little one, Ryleigh, open presents.

Christmas Day was spent at Megan's. We stayed until about 4:30p then we headed up the road to Jason & Lindsay's. They had spent the day with Lindsay's father's family so we didn't do our Christmas with them until that evening. They were very generous and bought me a Kindle! It's not something I would have bought for myself, but I find I am enjoying it more than I thought.

The day after Christmas was laid back. We had nowhere to go and that's was just fine. And we had snow!

 

On Thursday, we had another family gathering so the cousins could all get together. And it finally felt like Christmas! Christmas Day was just too quiet and didn't feel like Christmas at all. But, Thursday?

Yeah. Lots of laughter, talking, and noise. That's Christmas to me!

My folks with their great grands minus three.

Saturday we had yet another Christmas celebration with our bonus family, James, Amita, Kelly & Kate. Kelly & Kate are like granddaughters to us and Christmas isn't complete without seeing them. It was a good afternoon. Unfortunately, I was having such a good time that I forgot to take pictures!! Duh.

Since then, we've just hung out at home, enjoying family. We have one more Christmas get together tomorrow with Chuck, Ginny & Tommy. They are coming to Lindsay's and it will be so good to see them.

Wish we could have spent some time with our Kansas crew. But, we've kept up with Sam and AubreyLynn through texting and FB. Kevin is keeping his head down and staying safe while deployed. And we're grateful for that.

We've got a couple of doctor's appointments on Wednesday morning then we'll be leaving PA and driving back to my folks' house in MD.

Randy leaves early Thursday morning to fly back to FL. Plans changed and I'll be staying until January 14. My mom is having surgery January 7 and my dad has a couple of doctor's appointments coming up and it's just best if I stay to help out. I'm grateful to Andy & Alicia for understanding that family comes first.

We're looking forward to the blessings God has for us in 2013 and will meet head on any rough spots that come. Happy New Year to you all.

Until the next time . . .

Family

Gosh, I cannot believe it's been three weeks since I've posted! Just shows you we've not done anything blog-worthy! Our lives have really settled into a routine in Bonifay and we're enjoying it.

However . . .

Things got a little more exciting this past week!

Last Thursday we flew to MD for a two-week visit. I was so excited to be going home and seeing family. My family is very important to me and it is the main drawback to living the full-time RV lifestyle. But, on Thursday, I was on my way to getting a major fix.

We flew into a little airport in Salisbury, just 30 minutes from my parents', so they met us at the airport. They are so great; our flight wasn't due until about 9:40pm and that is late for them to be out running around. But, they didn't hesitate. We were a few minutes late getting in and it was fabulous to see them standing there waiting for us. The hugs were fabulous. But, it didn't end there.

We got our checked bag and headed to the van. As we got to it, the door slid open AND INSIDE WERE LINDSAY AND REAGAN!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, for any of you who know me well, you know I squealed louder than ten pigs being chased by a butcher! Randy & I had absolutely no idea they would be there. My parents and Lindsay sure kept that a big secret. It was wonderful. I couldn't touch them enough.

When we got back to the house, Lindsay got Reagan in bed (it was late!) and we adults sat up talking 'til after 1:00am! It was the best way to start my Christmas holiday, I'll tell you that!

Unfortunately, on Friday, my mom had to have a heart cath done to check for blockages. There weren't any, which was good; but, the docs still don't know what's causing some heart issues, which isn't so good. But, she's home and able to celebrate the holidays with us and that is good.

While Daddy & Mommy were at the hospital, Randy & I enjoyed our time with Lindsay & Reagan. (I had wanted to go to the hospital, but Mommy wouldn't hear of it since the kids were here.) In the evening, we went to a Christmas light display the town has in a park. You ride a tram through the park and all the lights are great. Lots of different scenes, including the twelve days of Christmas and several fairy tales. Pretty cool.

Lindsay & Reagan left early Saturday morning as they had a function with Jason's family. It was wonderful to get that surprise and to have that time with them.

We had another nice surprise on Saturday morning when Kevin called us! That was soooo unexpected. While we email with him often, it was so nice to hear his voice. Hopefully, he'll be coming home in just a couple of months.

We'll be at my parents' until tomorrow when the four of us will drive up to my sister's for Christmas Eve. We'll go to church with her and Randy & I will spend the night at her house while Daddy & Mommy spend the night at my niece, Megan's, house. Then, Christmas morning we'll all gather at Megan's. Lindsay & family won't be there as they'll spend Christmas day with her dad's family. Randy & I will drive up to her house Christmas night and spend the next week there.

It will be a busy week and a half coming up. We get to see our eldest, Ginny and her family, too. Only ones missing are Kevin and AubreyLynn, which makes our holidays a little bittersweet. But, hopefully, we'll be able to Skype with them.

Like I said, my family is so very important to me. And I am grateful that God has given us this time to spend with them.

Randy & I hope that each of you will have a great celebration of your holidays. Merry Christmas to you all!

Until the next time . . .

Living Life

Well, November slipped away without me posting an end-of-the-month blog entry! Just shows you we're living life and nothing exciting is happening. And that's okay with us!

Yesterday we did actually get out of the house, get in the truck and go somewhere. I KNOW! Shocker, huh? :) With another workamping couple, Randy & Parker, we drove up to Dothan to pick up tobacco for my Randy and then go to dinner. We chose Red Lobster because none of us had been there for quite a while. It was delish and we really enjoyed the conversation. Parker exercises with me every morning, but we'd really not spent a lot of time together otherwise. And the four of us had never gotten together to just get to know each other. We really like them and are sad they will be leaving to go travel a couple of days after Christmas. But, they've been here for several months, so it's time for them to play.

Our ultimate goal for going out yesterday was to visit a drive-thru Christmas display in Enterprise, AL. Dothan is about 45 minutes north of us and Enterprise is 40 minutes west of Dothan. So, we were all over the place last night! The Christmas display was actually at someone's house. They'd turned their very large yard into a Christmas extravaganza! Every character and display you can think of was there. They even had a train ride, if you were so inclined. And all they ask for is a donation of some kind. Pretty cool.

Can't let this post end without a shout-out to our Soldier, Kevin. He’s 26 years old today. Unfortunately, he's celebrating in Afghanistan; but I hope his buddies do something special for him. We're proud of his service and are praying for his safe return home. Happy birthday, bud!

Until the next time . . .