We had a wonderful ten days and enjoyed many, many things. Let me try and recap the highlights of these days.
First…on Friday, the 17th, we went to Memphis to spend time with Scott, Allison, Turner, and Neyland. The twins are so incredibly cute and getting so active…they are crawling around everywhere. It’s amazing that they don’t get into stuff yet, but I know those days are just around the corner. Little boys are very curious and it really is part of their development, Scott and Allison, so be prepared for some things to “accidentally” get broken. These events make for memories for when you get really old! We left them on Sunday, the 19th, and headed to Gulf Shores, AL to meet up with all the Crockett’s.
We arrived in the late afternoon…was already dark…but we found the house without difficulty as Meredith was waiting at the road to show us where to turn. The house was very nice, had a big sandy beach back yard that lead to a private fishing pier, and the real beach was just across the road. The week went by fast as we seem to find fun things to do each day. We drove over to Mobile one day to tour the USS Alabama, the museum, and a submarine…very interesting even though we had visited it many years ago. The guys fished from the State Park pier a couple of times and had some success…at least they had one meal from one fishing adventure but they gave the other fish they caught away or set them back to sea. We also visited Ft. Morgan one afternoon and that was interesting…also saw some dolphins while there. While the guys fished, the others of us did some shopping without buying anything but candy. We decided to draw names for a Christmas eve gift giving experience with a $10 limit, so we headed to one of the outlet malls in Foley, AL. one evening. That was a challenge but we all found something…I got a nice necklace and George got a knife sharpening device. We attended a Christmas eve church service…not sure what kind of church it really was but it said it was a Community Church…and that was interesting. Of course, Christmas day was fun since Santa found everyone all the way at the beach.  We enjoyed several walks on the cold, windy beach and I will NEVER tire of the sound, smells, and sight of the water…even did some exercising on several days. God did good when he made those beautiful, sandy beaches for all of us to enjoy throughout our lives even if it was colder than normal. The “party” had to end, so we all headed for home on the 26th and it took George and I 13 1/2 hours…includes meals and pee stops…and not sure just what time the Crockett’s arrived home since they left after we did. George and I also stopped in Birmingham to have lunch with Carter and Lori. She had made a pot of vegetable beef soup and it was delicious…they are doing fine and leave for a Mexican cruise today. Our Christmas week was a very fun time and we thank the Crockett’s for treating us to such an elaborate Christmas.
We are getting back in our normal grove today…laundry, grocery shopping, and chase some of the dust bunnies out of here…while George has been shoveling the snow/ice off the walks and driveway. We are expecting Melissa, Byron, Ryan, Kyle, Tyler, and Madi here tomorrow so we can give them their Christmas gifts. They’ll be spending the night and we’re excited about that. On Wednesday, we will be going to Danville, KY…about an hour from here…to watch Kyle…Tyler , too, I think…in another wresting tournament. Ryan is wanting to get back to wresting but he’s not been released to do so since he broke his leg…hopefully in just a few more days he’ll get to start back. During this holiday season, we got to see four of our kids along with the in-law kids, all but five of the grand-kids, and for that we are thankful We missed seeing any of the extended family but there just wasn’t any possibility to do so this year.
Guess that’s about it. Have a great week and a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Blessings……..