God's World

When I was working, I agreed with my friend Elaine's observation: "Independently wealthy means never HAVING to see a sunrise!!" Since retirement, I have found that I am still an early riser. I still enjoy the quiet times of the morning...and though I don't HAVE to see the sunrise...I think you can tell why I took a picture of this one!! God has certainly created a beautiful world for us..and you know?..I really believe that He was walking with me that particular morning and enjoyed this sight as much as I did!

Happy New Year

And...finally, I catch up with my "blogging"! Yes!! I stayed up for my second annual New Year's Eve. For those who know me well....I just have NEVER stayed up...My routine has been...go to bed at my normal time..Dean wakes me up 2 minutes before midnight..and we watch the ball drop on TV...listen to fireworks..kiss and wish each other a Happy New Year. That is, UNTIL last year...We attended the First Annual Monticello Opera House,"New Year's Eve Gala". This year it was repeated, with the theme of the "Roaring Twenties". We repeated, along with Mike and Adie Price (From Debary, FL) and Dave and Katrina Fitzsimmons (Chicago, IL). This year, the band was "Encore", aka The Purvis Boys! Mike and his brothers can play anything from Gospel to Rock to 20's era...you ask it, they can play and sing it! In between sets, a DJ spun some records...oh I doubt they were records, just aged myself!! Dinner was prime rib with all the "fixins"...There was a wonderful stage show( local talent) upstairs in the Opera House...and Dancing dancing dancing back downstairs. Our table vows to meet back here again next year!!!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Ruthie's Birthday

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Backing up again...we took Ruthie for her Birthday a little before Christmas. She turned nine on December 8th. This year, she asked her friend Emily to join us on a trip to the "Theatuh". The Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center had performances of Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang,
After a wonderful lunch at Ya Ya's (One of Ruthie's favorite), we headed for Tampa. Our pre-show snacks consisited of pretzels and water...MAN these girls are healthy. Of course, both have sinced advanced to Level 4 in Gymnastics...This is the level at which they began actual competition.
The show was a little slow in the first segment, and we offered them a change of venue at intermission....Thankfully they wanted to stay and see the second half, as it was much more entertaining!!
Before delivering dinner to Adam, the girls finally had some "good" snacks!! Ruthie admitted her "addiction" to ice cream, Emily concurred, SOOOOOOO two Wendy's Frosties capped off the afternoon!

Christmas 2008

Christmas, 2008...I am blogging well after the fact, as it has been a busy season. We began on Christmas Eve, attending a most delightful service at the Northside Baptist Church. Ruthie sang a solo in the children's portion of the service. I have yet to figure out how to post the "clip"..so, just know it was the most beautiful sound, sung by a beautiful young lady...poised and talented! I know there were angels all around and tears of love flowed freely! Ellie took a picture of me and one of her Daddy before the service.






We had Christmas Eve dinner at Chili's and then opened presents with Adam and Lori and the grands. I think Ellie's dolly and Flip's dinosaur provided great entertainment to all! Dean and I especially enjoyed the handcrafted ornaments that now adorn our tree. We also loved the beautiful picture that Gwen made, with many pictures of "Our Jerglets", and especially enjoyed our new slippers!! We will also be enjoying our fruit shipments for the next few months...we can celebrate Christmas for a little longer!!





The next morning, we had Christmas Brunch at Mom's house.
This was the second Christmas she has spent without Dad. She also lost another dear friend at the beginning of the week. Dean really provides her with great strength and comfort, and I know that she also helped him through this difficult time with lots of memories and stories. While I napped, the two of them headed to the cemetery with poinsettias....wonderful bonding time.



On Friday, we got to go over and play with the grands and their new toys! Mom went with us and also enjoyed playing with, and trying to understand all the new gizmos!!



















On our return from St. Pete, Karen and Greg invited us to enjoy a traditional Polish dinner. We joined Margaret and Daddy, and Bill and Johanna, in a lovely dinner, rousing games of Taboo, and wonderful company. Daddy had a wonderful visit with his grands and as usual, "My best Christmas, ever!" Daddy has spent 12 Christmases without Mama....we miss her smiling face and love for this special season and her family.