We have zipped through another year. I have no idea what happened to 2010. Does it seem that way to you? Back in November our church surprised us with the annoucement that they were sending us "home for Christmas". What a wonderful shock. It did not take us long to book those tickets. We decided to fly out of Calgary and prayed for good weather for the drive. Before we took that drive we had to drive to Edmonton on the 15th for an early morning appointment with the dermatologist for Ray to have a basal cell carcinoma removed from his nose. Now that drive was another matter. We heard that the 15th would produce a snow storm so we opted to drive to Edmonton on the 14th. As our 44th wedding anniversary was the 18th we thought we would use this time for a celebration of that event. The drive on the 14th was full of snow and slush being thrown onto your windshield preventing you from seeing the road. God as usual provided us safety and we arrived at our hotel. We opted to stay on the south side close to the doctors office. The wind and snow HOWLED all night Tuesday and all day Wednesday. We ate a lovely breakfast at the hotel while looking at a great fireplace. COZY. We decided to "venture" out that afternoon and went to a movie theater. That was quite the adventure. The snow was piled up on the roads and parking lots. But it was an adventure. Then we got to eat at the Olive Garden. Yummy!
The next morning we got to Ray's appointment and he actually went in a little early. He got 10 stitches and I was given instructions on how to remove them. Oh fun. Ray insisted on driving home as the roads were not that great. I honestly do not know how he could see with that big bandage on his nose. But again our God was most mericful.
After arriving home we unpacked and packed for our drive to Calgary after church on Sunday. We had decided to stay at the Delta Hotel which is at the airport... nice call. We used Park N Jet and I would sure recommend it for your parking needs. We dropped the car off and they delivered us to the hotel. I was almost too excited to sleep and we had to be up at 4:00am to checkin at 5:00am. All went without a hitch even with our "body scans".
Upon our arrival in Texas Paul picked us up and we went to the bank and took care of some business and then picked up Ron & Carol Hey's extra car. WHAT A BLESSING. We used it the full 2-1/2 weeks. We drove to Matt and Heather's home in Corinth and got to love and hug on Cole and Peyton.
Christmas Eve morning we drove to Paul & Laura's home in Arlington where the entire family spent the day. Everyone was playing games, cards, phones, Ipads and went easy and grilled hamburgers!! Good call on the easy meal. We also did our usual family pictures (thanks MATT). It is his least favorite thing to do but since we were not opening presents (except for Ray and I getting a Kindle from the kids) he could have our attention.
Matt and Heather spent Christmas day with her family in Azle and Laura's family got together at Lesly's (Laura's sister) home in Arlington. Ray and I were invited but I had bronchitis and the general feeling bad delayed our visit by a couple of hours. We enjoyed that morning with Larry & Linda Carter who provided Motel 6 (and literally did keep the light on for us) while we were in Arlington.
We enjoyed attending a basketball tournament that Caleb (14 and 6'3") was involved in. It was a kick to see Jacob (16) driving - our firstborn grandson - how is that possible?
We drove back north to Corinth the 30th and got to see the 3D Narnia. Good movie. I have a picture of Matt's family in their glasses. Our Cole (#4 grandson) turned 11 on the 1st - our millennium baby. Heather had made the best cake (see picture) for his paintball party. What a blast - I would have loved to get out there... I can do a lot "in my mind" but the reality is a little different. Paul brought Luke up to get some shooting in and he and his brothers AND MOM had been at an all night lockin at their church. He was moving a little slow.
We had theopportunity to attend services both Sundays at LABC and see so many of our friends. Matt and Heather drove down to Arlington to spend Sunday with us and we enjoyed our time as the entire family was under one roof. It was very hard to tell our youngest grandsons goodbye.
We had a small friends get together at Linda and Larry's home Sunday night the 2nd and it was a fun time to hear how everyone was doing. I actually got to go to lunch with all of these girlfriends too (see picture). It was good to see that Janice & Max are getting their home built back after the flood in September.
We flew home on the 5th and got out of the airport heading north around 3:00pm. After 7-1/2 hours we stopped for the night in Valleyview. It was too dark and the slush that was being thrown on the windows prevented us from seeing the road - let alone watch for the animals on the road. Thursday morning we started the last trek home and found that from Peace River to Fairview the roads were not that great. God in His mightly plan for us kept us safe on two occasions that we know of and we are as ever THANKFUL to Him.
On arriving home we went straight to the carwash, then at the house we went through mail - washed clothes (Thanks Mert & Ivan for the new washer and dryer), cleaned out the freezer (I told Ray the first pretty day we needed to do that and he said - it is about as pretty as it is going to get), put stuff away and rejoiced in being home.
Thank you to our church family in Canada for the opportunity to be with our family for the first time since 2005. You blessed us more than you can ever know.
