Special memories, laughter and appreciation of the stream of generations always changing that make up our time and place and the roles we fill over the years. Few joys are equal to seeing grandchildren become responsible, accomplished adults and each Christmas brings an awareness of those changes. We are so blessed.
Ellary, Addie and Kellen
Christmas is an indulgence for us. Peppermint Stick ice cream, Cindy’s mint sticks, caramel squares, party mix and more. We had waffles with raspberries Christmas morning, an amazing charcuterie board that our daughter-in-law, Laura made along with lots of treats and a Christmas night dinner. Our son Gregg and other daughter-in-law, Jessica took us for a very nice dinner at Season’s 52 and we are still eating well today. Not sure what day the diet starts but it needs to be soon!
Christmas Dinner
Cindy’s scallops and…
my salmon with mustard dill sauce at Seasons.
This is a rather new activity for me ending my third year of learning a bit of the craft. I still have a long way to go and I need to carve much more often if I am going to see Improvement. However I did a variety of efforts in 2022 but the one that seemed like it would be easy turned out to be much more time cosuming than I expected. I did several including the shelf of seven and one for Cindy plus a few more and about 9 that just broke. Oops.
While all of the manger scenes are wildly inaccurate - how much fun they are. We have several and this is one of the more unique. It is made from marbles and bits of clay from a mission in South America. I bought it at the mission convention in 2021 in Richmond. It comes with three wise men, shepherds, angels, animals - the sheep are very cute and Mary, Joseph and the baby. It is a fun addition to our collection.
Merry Christmas to you all.
Travel is a part of the Christmas story. The Magi traveled for many miles over months, Joseph and Mary traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem, a few days of travel I would imagine. Later, along with the infant, Jesus, they travel to Egypt until it is safe to rerun to Nazareth. For many Christmas is a time to travel back to home or to book a special vacation. Our travel has taken us to every state - most many times and one of our favorite places is Acadia. We acquired a neat little trailer ornament with Acadia National Park on the side. So far we have not been there for Christmas but, ”Oh such fun….”
It was so smart of Disney to open Florida’s Disney Wolld the same year Cindy and I were married. It allows them to focus on major anniversaries like 25 years and 50 years and people would say, “Right they opened the year Dave and Cindy got married.” So we celebrated our 25th and 50th at Disney World. For the 50th we purchased these two figures from some of the 1000’s of 50th year glitz that I converted to ornaments. Our tree is a reminder of lots of special times and valued people and it is a joy to hang the various ornaments each year and recall the stories behind them. We have glass bulbs from the 20s and 30’s, childhood ornaments, things our kids and grandkids made, some from year one of our marriage, some from vacations and a lot from friends.
Actually these are not friends of mine, I don’t even know them. I overheard them talking on the phone with a third person and they were all very excited that the three of them would be together after a long separation in just a few days. I was on the patio taking a photo when they came up behind me chatting away - I was not trying to be nosy:) Or at least trying not to appear to be too engaged. Anyway as I left the shelter I saw their animated conversation and took this shot. It is a perfect reminder of one of the joys of Christmas is seeing or talking to people we value but see only occasionally.
This is Santa-Bell, my latest Christmas ornament carving for 2022. If you do a bell curve of our ornaments he is right in the middle.
This cult symbol of fuel and fare arrived at our home via post from one of Buc-eee’s most ardent fans.
The very rare Pelican/Christmas Tree Combo was found in St. Mary’s, Georgia..
…these were along the road to Hana on a wall dripping with water.
This is the flower photo I most liked while in Hawaii. It was along a trail but in a lush wild garden along the coast.
Walking on a short trail to the edge of a caldera in the midst of rugged lava flows frozen by time is the beautiful fern. Not at all what I thought might be growing along this trail. Actually didn’t really expect much of anything.
They held a concert along the beach at Waikiki that we were able to attend. A nice 50 minute show featuring some very good musicians. This sax player did an outstanding job on a long solo.
Located at exit one off I-95 in Georgia it is the home of Cumberland Island National Seashore and a very neat small town.
Or a yellow bird that likes orange? Nature is so confusing.
We were able to eat here - a destination for shrimp lovers who find themselves in Hawaii’s Oahu island. One of us discovered the shrimp are apparently not peeled. Oops.
A rare Moose occurrence.
