 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
November 8th - Mom & Dad left last Monday. They were here for a good long visit and it was great to have them! On Sunday Zion & Starlit played in the Suzuki solo recital down in Louisville at the U of L and we all went and enjoyed that. The leaves are mostly gone due to some good wind and the ground is a carpet. The kids raked and piled a bunch on the trampoline and had a blast playing in them. Of course that amount of leaves is a drop in the bucket compared to what is out there!
November 23rd - George, Hollis, Jenny and Hanz arrived on Tuesday evening for a 16 day visit so we will be having family for Thanksgiving! It is so wonderful to have them here and we are all enjoying each other. The weather is nice (especially for them) so they are liking that. We did prison ministry this past weekend at Madison and that was as always a blessed yet trying time. They have increased security greatly and it is not as quick in and out for sure. We also did praise music for the Alliance Church in Louisville on Sunday and a mini-concert after their Thanksgiving meal (which was really good!)
November 30th - Thanksgiving! What a wonderful thing to part take in. And I don't mean the wonderful meal (although that was good!) but I mean really being thankful. For the freedoms we still enjoy in this country, for family, for God and His un-ending love for us. It was good to have George, Hollis, Jenny and Hanz with us. Aunty Yvonne also came over as she has her family meal on Saturday which allows her kids to have Thanksgiving with spouses families. We went to the Mega Cavern under the Louisville Zoo and saw the light displays they have setup. Pretty neat. We also went down town to the tree lighting ceremony on Friday night. Please pray for my nephew Nathan and the Ould family as Nathan is sick.
December 21st - Nathan is doing better and is responding to the Chemo. Still a rough road for him and the whole family so please keep them in your prayers. We have been busy! Hanukkah began on the 11th and goes for 8 days so we had a good time lighting the candles in the menorah each evening. We had company for a couple of the evenings which was also nice. Had the kids Christmas program at New Chapel UMC on the 13th (which Vanessa was in charge of and Jasper and I provided the music while Starlit did the narration) and then on the 20th the adult program which Starlit, Jasper and I provided the music and sang along with the choir and the kids did a nativity part so busy couple of weeks. This morning Vanessa and the younger kids left for North Dakota. On Saturday we went to the Creation Museum to see the live Nativity they have and had a great time. It had snowed a couple inches in that area so that added to the effect of it all.
December 28th - Wow! What a week. As you already know, Vanessa and the kids were in ND. They actually had a great trip and made good time. What they did not know is that my god friend George had decided to bless us all by flying me to Bismarck for Christmas! So Hollis was the only one up there who knew so we were going to surprise them all. Jasper took me to the airport in Louisville the 24th at 6:15 for a 7:20 flight to Bismarck. That flight was delayed several hours for maintenance so I missed my connecting flight to Bismarck. There was another at 3:20 but it was full so they put me on the 5:20. The problem was that a LARGE (just in case you missed that on the news) winter storm coming in so as I sat in Minneapolis waiting I could not help but think that the surprise might be on me (if I ended up spending Christmas in the airport!). We did get on the way for Bismarck around 6:15 after being de-iced and made it in. Hollis had left his car at the airport in Bismarck so I got in and headed for Washburn. It was 1 below, snowing and blowing like everything (I knew I was back in ND!) and to add to the fun, the car door latch was frozen and the door would not latch shut so I drove the 40 miles holding the door closed. I arrived at the farm at 8:30 and called Hollis as I was pulling in with the lights out. He ran out to meet me in the yard and said "Hurry up they are all in the front room waiting." "What? Do they know I am here?" I asked. "No, I told them I had forgotten a present in the car!" he answered so we walked into the house. Hollis was right in front of me and they were singing in the front room. Hollis walked in and said, "Look what I found in the car!" and stepped aside as I walked through the door. Well, you would have thought that some rock star had walked in the way the screaming and total bedlam broke out! Needles to say the surprise was a huge success! I am so thankful that God saw fit in His mercy to allow me to get there! The entire state, east to west and north to south was closed for the next 2 days so we were all snowed in together. Coming home was completely uneventful and that was just fine by me!