Merry Christmas everyone!

A few weeks ago, Leigh Ann treated us to Andrea Bocelli's 30th anniversary concert at a nearby theatre.  It was a 2-l/2 hour concert.   On the big screen it was wonderful and we had recliner seats to give us comfort.   It was one of Leigh Ann's gifts to Ron for his Christmas.   We kept it a secret from him until we got almost to the theatre and then told him what we would be watching.  We all enjoyed it.

We enjoyed our Thanksgiving holiday and hope you did too!  Charlie, an older man from the church came to have lunch with us.   Leigh Ann also came and helped me prepare the good meal.  We all enjoyed left overs for a couple of days.   It is probably my favorite meal of the year and I enjoy the leftovers too if they don't last too long!

On Friday after Thanksgiving, Leigh Ann and Tatum came over for us to cook Chinese food.  Tatum will go on a 4-day cruise to the Bahamas that includes her 31st birthday and Christmas this year so we had to celebrate early with her.   The three of us worked in my small kitchen to prepare Tatum's favorite meal which consists of:

Thinly sliced pork, cooked in black bean sauce and served over fried rice noodles and shredded green onions.  

Honey chicken

Lotus Root

Chinese greens

Cooked celery 

Rice

The hardest part of cooking Chinese food is that all has to be prepared at the last minute for it to be ready at the same time.  It's difficult for one person to do it all.    We joined in and got it all done at the same time and it was very delicious.    We had enough left to prepare each of them a carry home box for the next day's lunch.   

Tatum opened her gifts and really seemed to appreciate everything.    Then, she set up the game of CLUE and we played two games.   It has been many years since Ron and I played but it was fun to catch on and play it with them.

Ronald and Gigi have completed their reporting to churches.  They had a full schedule and lots of travelling for two full months.  They got back to their new condo on Tuesday and have been unpacking and putting their things away.   They are settling in to their new home in Cartersville, GA so they have a permanent address to apply for the renewal of Gigi's VISA/green card.    The condo will be maintenance free so they are happy to have a successful sale of their house for an easier home in the U.S.  They will return to the Philippines on Dec. 10th to spend the holidays with the children.

Cold weather arrived in Florida this week but after seeing the temperatures and weather in most of the U.S., we feel very blessed to have lows in the 40's and highs in the 60's each day.    It is sweater weather here but still nice.

We placed membership at the River Road church of Christ in New Port Rickey, FL recently.  It is a wonderful group of Christians but we drive about 18 miles north to attend this church.   One member lives close to us.   I will go with her on Saturday to the ladies' luncheon and gift exchange event.  She is much younger than me and travels a lot, so she's not at church much of the time.  This will be my first time to go anywhere like this since we moved to Florida.   I am looking forward to meeting and getting to know more of the ladies.   

Leigh Ann will come over on Christmas day.   We have not yet made plans for what we will eat or do that day but it will be a relaxing day for us to enjoy together.

Wishing all of you a happy holiday and especially a wonderful New Year!    

Thank you all for your loving wishes and prayers for us.