Happy New Year! Thanks for staying in touch; cards, emails and newsletters received during the holiday season are a real treat. Your communications help us ‘stay better connected’ and give us a great sense of support as we continue our journey of volunteer ministry. We hope all continues to be well with you and hopefully we will be seeing and/or hearing more from you in 2009.
HOME (Stoney Creek NC) is where we arrived today to settle in once again, unpack the suitcases, put away the Christmas decorations, and go through the mail. We continue to be blessed with neighbors, Betty and Dean, who keep a watchful eye on our town home while we are away.
AMBITIOUS best describes our holiday travel schedule. We decided to drive from NC to TX and back. By leaving NC on Dec 24 and returning Jan 10 it was 17 nights on the road; 8 of those with family or friends and 9 in hotels, through 7 states and over 3500 miles. We had a great time with everyone and were fortunate to have good weather.
CHRISTMAS EVE we were in Charlotte with David, Christy and Ashley. Highlights included a fire engine carrying Santa in their neighborhood, a candlelight church service and lobsters for our traditional family dinner. All it took was a Cinderella princess dress from Santa Claus for Ashley on CHRISTMAS MORNING to make her a wide-eyed, true believer!
BILL did most of the driving and had plenty of ‘Granpa’ duties such as shooting baskets, going to the movies and going bowling, playing Parcheesi, and eating lunch at school. Then there were the ‘dad’ projects like painting a bureau, installing curtain rods, repairing a bed and hanging pictures.
MARY brought along a portable sewing machine and spent a few days ‘decorating’ Brynne’s room with toile curtains, bed skirt, coverlet edging, pillow shams and decorative pillows. ‘Granma’ had things to do that included shopping, enjoying the Christmas lights in the park, playing computer scrabble, watching basketball practice and seeing Luke and Sawyer and Mike race Motocross.
CINDI and Mike, now married 16 years, and Sawyer (13), Brynne (9) and Luke (7) live in Grandview, Texas. We enjoyed taking Sawyer with us for a few days to visit Texas Rangers Museum, LBJ Ranch and Texas Sports Hall of Fame.
DAVID and Christy, now married 11 years, and Ashley (5) live in Charlotte, NC. Ashley has a Little Gym ballet/tap recital coming up soon. All of us are looking forward to the arrival of Baby Andrew Christopher Ruth on January 26.
NEW YEAR’S EVE in Granbury, Texas, was a night to be remembered and great fun with Cindi’s in-laws, Ed and Sherry Abbott. The evening included dinner out, a gospel sing at the Opera House, and sparklers at midnight on the Granbury square with servings of black eyed peas/cornbread for ‘good luck’.
RHAM High School (Hebron, CT) classmate of Mary’s, Elissa Lederer, met us for New Year’s Day lunch in the Dallas area. It was a great visit and we enjoyed being together.
WELCOMING us into their homes for B&B treatment on this trip were HEIFER International friends, Betty and Caby Byrne in Clinton MS, and ELON friends, Jerry & Pam Cameron in Lula GA. Their respective congenial hospitality contributed to the enjoyment of this trip.
NICARAGUA is where we will be Feb 19-24 to visit with our (‘83-‘84) AFS student, Susy, and her family. We last saw her in 2001.
FURLOUGH is a welcome treat for us right now and gives us a chance to reconnect with Elon and church friends and also participate in local activities and events. We finished the Cleveland volunteer assignment in November and will be starting our next volunteer assignment in mid March in Sharon CT.
95th BIRTHDAY Party for Mary’s step-mother, Florence Coolidge, is going on this weekend at her daughter’s home in Guilford, CT. We’ll be seeing Florence soon to hear all about the big birthday celebration.
It’s always a treat to hear from you, too. Every time I receive one of your newsletters I am amazed by your energy. So much traveling, so much family – just sounds awesome. Have a safe trip to beautiful Nica and take care. Yours, Nils
Comment by Nils — January 13, 2009 @ 5:27 am |