CLOSING 2009, In OHIO Snow, A GOOD YEAR - with a few surprises!

As the year 2009 comes to a close, the weather here in Ohio goes from colder to COLD !!! We have had more snow than I remember from early November to December 31st, but we have braved it out. We did not go out and buy winter coats either, just layered more!! But we did buy a snow shovel and ice melt as we have twenty open steps to navigate up to the apartment. But the beauty of it is great !! We would rather enjoy it from afar though!

In preparation for the holidays our scrapbooking group had a cookie exchange. With seventeen of us participating, it gave us seventeen different kinds (recipes included). So I used that batch of varieties for our Thanksgiving dinner at Victor's house. There were nine of us there for the day, and it was most enjoyable. I did much of the food preparation the day before, even the turkey!! Gary's sister, brother and sister-in-law joined us, also bringing food to share. That sure makes it easier and less frazzling for me. But I do enjoy cooking!!

But the cookies, put me in the mood to do a variety of my own for Christmas. They were used for Christmas Day at Victor's again and for trays to take to our former places of employment and boxes for the boys!! A friend, Cindy, joined me in the endeavor and it made for much faster work. But I burned ,up one portable mixer and ruined the beaters on the second one!! We wished we had someone with us who could have taken a picture of us when we stopped to eat our turkey sandwiches for lunch. We had a two foot by four foot table that we were using to work on and we just parted the stuff in the middle and sat down with our lunch. I am sure that it was a site!! We did not break for long and with two days working together and some evenings on my own, we had twelve varieties to share (and eat). The Lord knows that we did not need them though!! It will be months before Gary and I get back to the weight we were in the summer.

We had a little tree of our own , but we did not stay at home! We began Christmas day at one son's where I fixed them a breakfast and we all gathered to watch them open and enjoy their Christmas gifts. The grand kids enjoyed their Wii games for a while and we now know a little more about the Wii. We kept hearing that we should play with one, but had no clue. We can't say that any longer!!

We then went on to our other son's for dinner and the rest of the day. Our friend, Rick, was able to join us for the day also. When we got home we were tired enough that we just relaxed a bit and then called it a day. We opened our few gifts the next morning. We enjoy the relaxed atmosphere!!

Before Christmas, we got to enjoy our grandson's Christmas program at school. It was nice to be here for that. He did well with percussion, playing three different instruments, and seems to enjoy it . We are hoping that he will stay with it through out his school years.

Leading up to the holidays we went to a few concerts in the area. We always enjoy this. We did not get pictures of The Keelings who performed at our own church. This is the second year that they were at First Friends and I doubt that it was the last. They are exceptionally good and you can check them out at http://www.thekeelings.org/ to see and hear them, since I did not have my camera with us that night. We also went to see the Allegheny Wesleyan College choir who did their concert at United Local High School. They do such a good job under the direction of Don Quales, and we have enjoyed them for several years.

We also went to a program at a Grange in Minerva where they had cloggers , and a variety of community singers , as well as the Stockdales from near Canton OH . The Stockdales were also performing at First Night Salem. If you get a chance to see them, you will enjoy it! And before that we went to a small church in northwest Alliance OH for another concert. This also was local talent.

The year is now coming to a close and hopefully the result will be that we can return south to warmer weather. Audrey experienced health issues this year that delayed our September 1st departure for the south west, which had been our plan. After surgery and radiation for a non-invasive breast cancer , she is doing very well and we are hoping to get back on the road. The last treatment will be January 4th and when they decide that all is clear with her lungs we will start south. We hope to stop to visit friends in SC and will then go on to the Florida panhandle to pick up out motorhome before going on down into central Florida where it is warmer. Audrey has follow-up exams that have to be done in mid-March and again in mid-September. For this reason we will just tour the east in most of 2010. And with good reports, we will then head west for a few seasons. We are anxious to visit those beautiful National Parks in the west!

God has been good in caring for all of our needs, and has answered many prayers!! We are so fortunate to have our Faith to sustain us!! We pray for a joyous, safe, peaceful and healthy New Year for all of you, our dear friends and relatives!! Hope to see you soon.