The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

This truly is the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!! Cleo and I really had a great Christmas and enjoyed spending it with family and a few friends. We started it off on Christmas Eve with just Cleo and I having a "Thanksgiving feast" at his request. I made a turkey breast with stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy and rolls (nothing like a little starch!). We then went to a beautiful candlelight service at church that was truly magical. We came home and opened one gift from each other as has always been our tradition. On Christmas morning I was so surprised to find that Cleo had purchased an antique ladder that I had seen months ago but was told was for display purposes only. Well Cleo, being as thoughtful as ever, went in and sweet talked the lady who owns the shop. She originally told him that she wouldn't sell it but would look for another one for him. After weeks of looking, with no success, she called him up and said she remembered how much I loved that ladder and she wanted to make this Christmas special for me and that she would indeed sell it to him. Is that not the sweetest gesture ever??? I am just amazed at how much thought went into that gift and I think it made him just as happy to see my delight. I got him a double trail cam to put in the woods behind the house and a heavy duty spotlight. He was just like a kid in a candy store and couldn't wait to "play" with his new toys. The spotlight didn't work after charging all day and we had to take it back on the 26th, but found one that was even nicer, with a carrying case, so that was a pretty good deal. The trail cam works perfect and takes pretty good pictures so lets just hope now some wildlife will stumble into its path. Jarod and Lindsey came down on Christmas day around noon and we then opened gifts with them. They did way too much for us and we just really enjoyed spending the day/night with them and Georgia (the dog). We are so thankful to live close to family and only wish that our other kids lived as close. We enjoyed a really nice roast pork loin dinner with them and some friends who recently moved here from Miami. After our friends left that evening, we played Skip Bo with Jarod and Lindsey and had a really good time. I had never played that game before and now I want to go buy it! On Friday morning, Cleo and Jarod got up early and went hunting for a couple hours (no luck) and then I cooked pancakes and bacon for breakfast. It was just really a great Christmas---but honestly the greatest gift this year for Cleo and I both was being in our home and finally feeling settled. We feel blessed in ways too numerous to mention and I pray we can keep this magical feeling alive throughout the coming year.

This is my antique ladder with all my quilts displayed on it. I really LOVE IT!!!

This was how Cleo left it after I went to bed Christmas Eve. I was so surprised on Christmas morning---just like when I was a kid and couldn't wait to see what Santa had left.

Cleo playing with his spotlight and trailcams.

Jarod and Lindsey with Georgia. Jarod was going for the "Griswold" look this year---don't you just love his sweater?? He actually didn't think the sweater was tacky enough and it's now Lindseys' mission to find a gaudier (is that even a word?) one for next year. They are both great and we are lucky to have them so close. Thank you both for a wonderful Christmas!

I hope that each of you had a truly wonderful Christmas as well and that we'll all try and keep a little bit of that magic in our life all year long.

Cleos' Dr. Appt.

Just a quick post to tell everyone that Cleo went to the dr. again yesterday and there wasn't a huge change. His creatinine went up just a bit and his GFR went down a bit which does indicate that there has been a little more kidney damage, but not enough to bump him from stage 4 to stage 5. His potassium and phosphorus levels continue to be normal as well as his blood pressure and there is no swelling or extreme fatigue, so those are all good signs. The dr. did give us somewhat of a timeframe. She felt like he would need to be on dialysis/prepare for transplant within a year, but of course there are no guarantees it will be that long or it could even be 2-3 years. It at least gives us plenty of time to prepare for the inevitable and we just continue to live our lives normal and take each day as it comes. Cleo has such an amazingly positive attitude which we hope will comfort our families (especially our kids) and as the dr. said...that's more than half the battle. She said to just live life and when the time comes, we are in good hands and know that it will all work out. We are once again very grateful for each of you and the prayers that continue to be said for us.

December Fun

I really love this time of year! Everyone is so festive and happy and it also gives me a time to reflect on all the blessings bestowed upon our family. I also love decorating the Christmas tree (not so much the whole house--but it gets done!). Jarod and Lindsey surprised us with this beautiful Christmas tree they cut down up in Cashiers, NC. It actually sat in the garage for 2 days as Cleo and I both caught colds the last day in Mexico and we just didn't feel like putting it up, but once it was up, I had a lot of fun decorating it. Thanks Jarod and Lindsey for thinking of us. Sorry the picture is so blurry--but I retook it 3 times and that's just how it turned out!

This is a picture of the wall in our family room that I had painted this week. It turned out beautiful and really added to the character of the room and made the fireplace mantle stand out a bit more.

We also had the painter do the entire dining room as well (same color) and it turned out really good as well.

He also did the half wall beneath the kitchen bar area. I want to eventually have him do the breakfast nook and the entire kitchen the same color, but we needed some warranty work done on those walls from the nailpops, so until that is done, we didn't want to have it painted. I really wish I could do the painting myself, but after the fiasco with the trim around the shed, I don't think that would be such a good idea :~o The painter we hired had done several of the neighbors houses and did such a good job at a very reasonable price that we just decided that was the only way it would get done. Anyhow, that is what we've been up to this December and now we're just looking forward to spending Christmas with Jarod and Lindsey and some of our friends who recently moved up here from Miami. Hope y'all have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

Fun in the Sun

Cleo and I just returned late Saturday night from a week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We were celebrating our 20th anniversary which was in July, so this little towel display that was on our bed when we checked in was pretty appropriate. We had such a great time just hanging out on the beach, eating, walking on the beach, we even did boogie boards one day. That's not as easy as it looks and lets just say I "drank" more than a little salt water and lost my bathing suit once!!! I thought I was drowning, so I wasn't too worried about the bathing suit issue and was pretty concerned that I couldn't breathe for a second--but in the end, I got the suit back on and the salt out of my nose and all was well again. Cleo took a few pretty good licks also, and he also lost his trunks but got them back on before he exposed himself to the world!

One day we rented a jeep and drove about 45 minutes north of PV to a little seaside fishing village called Sayulita and another one just a few miles further called San Francisco. It was so cool driving through the mountains and seeing the "real Mexico" and not just the resort cities and beaches. It was a really neat little town and we ate a a great little restaurant right on the beach that cooks whatever they catch that day. It was some of the best shrimp I've ever eaten. We just walked around the town and shopped a little after that and then drove back to PV and into the city that night. We never could find a parking spot, so ended up just sight seeing from the jeep, but it was still pretty neat. We found out later that 2 cruise ships had docked that afternoon, so when that happens, the locals jack the prices up on everything so we really didn't miss anything by not getting to shop there.

All in all, it was a really great trip and very relaxing for us both. We both had a little eye opener Sat. night when we landed in Atlanta as it was only about 38 degrees and we had been enjoying temps in the 80's all week in Mexico. We also both woke up with colds the last morning there so we're glad to be home in our own beds if we have to be sick! Jarod and Lindsey surprised us Sunday afternoon and brought down a beautiful 8 ft. Christmas tree they had cut down at her Moms' place in NC, so hopefully tonight we'll both feel like putting it up and decorating it.


First day on the beach

This is the view from our balcony of one of the pools at the hotel

This is the view of the back of the hotel as you walk up from the beach

This is the beach at our hotel

Dinner picture

Fiesta night--these hats were really quite heavy!

Lunch at the beach in Sayulita--the biggest Pina Colada EVER!!

Walking on the beach at Sayulita

The fresh shrimp the locals caught in Sayulita---HUGE!

Now, doesn't this look just like Megan Porter?? Cleo and I were both just staring at her. Her name is Cassie and she was there with her 2 girlfriends from Wisconsin on a girls trip. They were the nicest people and we hung out with them a couple different times at the pool.

I even tried to take part in the dance lessons on the beach one afternoon. That's me on the far right--and as you can tell, Cleo only wanted to take pictures and not join in the festivities!!

This was the sunset on our last night there. We tried to take pictures of us on the beach with it, but the flash wouldn't go off on the camera, so you can't see our faces at all, only black silhouettes.

We are already trying to figure out where to go next. We definately want to go to Greece for our 25th anniversary but we'd like to go at least every year or every other year (if finances permit) to someplace tropical. We just love the beach and the ocean and if we could, we'd just travel all the time, but it's back to work now (for Cleo--haha!) to save up for that next trip.