Christmas at the Alvarez's, our surprise Williams and Niebrugge's

Thur. We got up early and drove to Shannon's.  We stopped at a shoe store and got are walking shoes that we have shopping for the last year.  We got there just a Shannon was getting home from school.  The pictures below show the kids making there graham cracker houses.  They all did a great job making them then the got to eat them.

Fri. After breakfast LiliMarie and I went to get lumber and hardware for a ladder for her bunk beds.  LiliMarie did a great job using the tools and making it (picture top row).  That night Xander had basketball practice the pictures bottom row.

Friday night we went to a home that had a wonderful Christmas display and other things going on. 3rd row middle shows the hay ride we went on without the hay (I guess you would call it a wagon ride).

Sat. Shannon took us to the campground we would have stayed at if the rig hadn't broke.  She showed us the rest of the base then we went to town. Left picture is the courthouse and city Christmas tree. Top right picture is a vault which has been transformed into a bar. The Hilton bought the bank and turned it into a hotel. Bottom right is a clock on one of the street corners. After leaving main street we went to Jason deli.

Sun.  We went to church then to Lowe's to get paint for the steps.  Top left LiliMarie painting and bottom right her final product. While she was painting Linda, Shannon and Xander played cards (top right).  After dinner we were getting ready to play card and a knock on the door I opened it to fine Jennifer, Mackenzie and Katie. It brought tears to our eyes!!! What an awesome surprise it was to be able to celebrate Christmas with 2 of our daughters!  As we were eating dinner (bottom left) a knock on the door it was Tammy, Hope, Brendan, and Bryce!!!! Now all I can say that was a total BLESSING to be able to have all our daughters and our grandchildren TOGETHER!!  WE were sad to see that Kenn and Chris could not come and to them THANK YOU for sacrificing your family and letting us enjoy them with out yous'e. What a surprise (what a house full). It brought Linda and I to tears Many Times.  The kids all played together very well and went to bed very tired. Once again what a blessing for all the cousins to be together and all three of our daughters to give of their precious time away from their Husbands and activities,  THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!!!!

Mon. I got up and made cowboy coffee cake.  We ate breakfast and then the kids made cookies for lunch.  After we ate lunch Linda, Tam, Jen, and Sha went shopping. Al, Mackenzie, Hope, LiliMarie, and myself played nine hole golf card game.  when everyone got home Linda took the kids in groups and started cooking.  Top left boys making cookies for cut outs. Top Middle girls relaxing and enjoying the moment.  Top right getting ready to make cut out cookies.  Middle left finished cookies. Middle middle making cinnamon cookies. Middle right peanut butter balls.Middle bottom peeling apples and bottom left cutting apples for apple tart breakfast. Bottom right getting ready to go to Holiday Lights on the River at Saluda Shoals Park.

                                             They had miles of lights below are some of them.

                                        We found this Christmas tree and took family pictures.

Tues. We got the dough for the peanut butter balls and dipped them in chocolate. 

We were able to play cards. Then we celebrated Christmas eve eve (since the kids were heading home Wed).  We had our corn chowder, pigs in a blanket, spinach wrap, hamburger wrap, and ham pickle cream cheese wrap.  Later Santa came to visit.  We open our cousin gifts then Linda and I got gifts from each family (besides the gift of them being there). We played more cards and the kids put on Charlie Brown's Christmas play.

New Shelves for dad. time with the Niebruggies

Thur. We got up and made cowboy coffee cake and coffee.  We enjoyed the sun rise then we started  putting the shelves together.  We got them at Ikea and went together so easily.  Linda and Dad did a great job putting the books and figurines up.  Dad says it looks great and is so happy with it.

Fri.  We went to Skidders for breakfast.  Dad needed some things for the condo so we went to Home Depot.  when we got home we replaced the light in his closet, set some timers on his cabinets, we had 

Lunch and dinner then watched some Christmas movies.

Sat.  We went to Skidders for breakfast.  We took dad down to the club house for his condo building was having their Christmas party.  We had lunch did some cleaning then watched the Army Navy game.  Linda made dinner then we drove to the rig.

Sun.  We went to church came home lunch then I went to bed for I have been battling a cold for two days.  Linda did some visiting,  we had dinner, she went to church while I read the bible and rested.  Dad went and painted the" double happiness" and hung in in the top middle.  The picture was the final touch to complete the book shelf.

Mon.  We ate went to Starbucks then to Ford for oil, air, and fuel change.  We picked up our new glasses then to Tam's.  Hope had made a zucchini  treat for us and it was delicious.  Tam made a Mexican dinner for us, after she picked up the boys from cross country we ate and went to there Boy Scouts Raingutter Regatta.  Top left picture is the boats the boys made as you can see no two are alike.  There were four packs top right Brendan is racing his boat.  Bottom left Bryce is racing his boat and came in first in his pack and second over all. Bottom right  a man did a  bow whip demonstration.  He is in the Guinness record book and placeed first many time in the bow whip contest.

Wed.  It was catch up time.  We got the truck washed, laundry done and the rig cleaned.  went to church got home and bed.  Linda got the cold I just got over.  

Bryce B-day Party

Fri. We went shopping and got a new apple computer.  We had them transfer the files from the  old one to the new one.  We pick up the computers on Mon. so I am back tracking.

Sat. We got to Tam's early and Linda went with the girls to Hope's parade and I went with the boys to Brendan's and Bryce's cross country.  They bot did well and it was a longer race for Brendan one mile instead of 1/2 mile.  We left there and went straight to Bryce's basketball game.  After the game we all met at Tam's.  We had lunch then to the boys boyscout parade.

 Sun. after church and lunch we went to Bryc's  baseball birthday party.  We had a good time playing baseball and other sports. We went out to Jason's Deli for dinner.

Mon. We picked up our new computer and went to Tam's and made lunch.  Bryce was home with Hope because he was not feeling well.
Tues. We went to the dentist to get our teeth cleaned (we both needed it). Then we went to the Tam's ate, then helped the kids make gingerbread houses out of graham crackers. They all did a great job then ate some of it.

Wed. We went to the apple store and had lessons on our new computer.  1 1/2 hour group lesson and 1/2 hour which was a hour individual lesson.  We drove to dad's for a few days.

Thanksgiving- Dad's move- Bryce birthday

Thur.  What a greatful day.  Before we went to Thanksgiving dinner at Skidders dad gave us our Christmas present (top left).  It brought tears to our eyes.  It is a 28 day cruise leaving Ft. Lauderdale going on the Northern Europe Passage then Scandinavia and Russia. We keep pinching ourselves thinking it's a dream.  We will be leaving in April on a cruise with him.  When we got to Skidders we found the Alvarez family waiting for us (top right).  After a filling dinner we came back to dad's. Al and I hung some things (middle pictures) for dad.  We watched Xander's school play (bottom left). When it was time for them to leave we took there family picture with dad.

Fri. To Skidders for breakfast then shopping for house hold items. Top left I'm getting the microwave ready, hung two plants, With two phone calls to Mike I did some electrical work, with dad helping (top right) Linda put the kitchen stuff away.  After a long day at working we went to Skidders for dinner where dad arranged (after 17 years going to the same restaurant he does have alot of pull) to have ribs (bottom  pictures) yum yum Linda and I could only eat half of them.

Sat.and Sun. On Sat. we were able to watch some of the college games (top left).  We left to go home and stopped by Ikea to look for a book case for dad.  We found just what were looking for. They also had a special where we could eat free and we did $42 worth of dinner.  We got three sections for dad and they were so big we drove back to his new place, put them in the house then drove to the rig. Sunday after church we went to Tam's, had left overs and played with the kids (top righ)t.  Linda and Hope made turkey pot pie.  Two dinners worth and we ate it in one. On the way home we looked at some Christmas lights (bottom two).

Mon. We stayed at home all day cleaning, washing the truck, and doing laundry.

Tues. we went to Mt Dora in the afternoon (see pictures below). We did some shopping on the way home.  The weather here is wonderful in the low 80's 

Wed. After a morning at home we went to church.  We drove to Tam's and picked up Bryce so he could spend the night.  We stopped at Wal-Mart for him to pick out what he wanted to eat while with us.  When we got to the rig he played with our army men, we played a game' then we watched a movie.  As you can see it did not take long for him to go to sleep.

 Thur. When he got up he (top row)opened gramps card, helped me make coffee cake, (2nd row) we ate the coffee cake, put together a puzzle, played basketball (3rd row) we played soccer,   he blew bubbles, and we played baseball (4th row) we played checkers, an other puzzle, We ate what he picked out popcorn chicken, tater tots, and corn 5th row he got rolled in a tunnel, birthday ice cream sundae, and he got money from us so he picked out three lego items

 During the day we went on a walk we found (top row) mushrooms, some type of fungus 2nd row) some harry stuff, cactus, bird feathers (bottom row) birds, butterflies, and flowers.  We went to Tams for his birthday dinner and birthday cake ice cream.