Eat, Drink, and Be Merry

                                                        Hope you all had a great holiday
of fun, food, festivities, family and friends.  Fellowship is part of God's plan to draw us together and help us grow in love for each other.  I sure enjoyed all of my time with family over the holidays. There is a certain camaraderie existing between our family members that is delightful.        

     Last minute wrapping Friday before Joe's two sisters arrived.  Abbey entertained herself by inspecting and playing in the boxes.

     Saturday was sunny, but windy.  We had a leisurely morning chatting and eating sweets with our coffee and tea.  Food prep started early because we needed to skew shish kabobs. 

      Courtney and Mike came for "Christmas dinner," nontraditional grilled kabobs.   After opening gifts, we went to tour Courtney and Mike's house.  Courtney's kitty Wash is waiting to be fed.  Then it was off to Christmas Eve service. A Christmas movie was a nice way to end the evening.

     Christmas morning was peaceful.  I treated myself to a second cup of caffeinated tea for my Birthday/Christmas goody. 

 

Then we worked on framing my special portrait of Amiga that Carlos (our artist friend in Guatemala) had painted.













     I was so excited to have found the frame for $15 at Goodwill and finally get this wonderful painting framed and hung on the wall... long overdue.

     Patty and Mary left after lunch and I hurriedly did two loads of laundry and packed.  Then at dinner time, Joe, the girls, and Mike headed to Florida in the Expedition taking my suitcase along.  I was too busy with last minute stuff to enjoy the quiet peace of being home alone. 

     Monday I was up before the 4am alarm and did most of the chores with my extra time.  Then Angie would not have as many when she came later in the morning.  My flight lifted off on time and landed 20 minutes early in Atlanta.  The chocolate I had stuck in my pant's pocket on the way out of the house, had completely melted and made a mess, so with my extra 
                                                      time, I worked on clean up in the rest 

room near my next departure gate.  I ended up cutting the time a bit close and loaded right on the plane as soon as I came out of the Ladies' room.    

     Sister Jean, with Mom and Brianna in tow, picked me up in Tampa and we were off to Long Boat Key.

     It was a great time in Florida!
Like last year... I'll just post pictures:

     Our activities included eating, drinking, swimming, napping, gaming, chatting,
walking, and just hangin' out.

All the gifts were placed under the tree.

The snacks on the counter so all could see.







The eating began...



And continued all week.





Some napped by the pool...




others snoozed on the beach.





Joe gets some shut eye on the couch.




We swam at the pool.




And many played games.






At the beach was more swimming.



And body surfing in the big waves.

People read in the sun.
And on their computers.









Computers were used for gaming while      watching TV.  Each morning I worked on old (2009) Blog posts while people came through for breakfast at various hours.

Many games were played... Phase Ten, Monopoly Deal, and other card games.

 Britney was helping everyone learn Monopoly Deal.












A Texas Hold'em tournament was played almost each day and Mike and Joe golfed two different times. No photos of these activities though.

Dave helped his three get bait on their lines for some fishing.


  















     Tuesday we had our only rainy day.  We were going to Skype with Dan for our White Elephant gift exchange, but were unable to get connected.
                                                     So we played Charades while waiting.

The crowed started getting restless and dwindled.





But then we got connected with Daniel... come to find out his internet had been down. 



It was too late to do the gift exchange, and too many had moved on, so some of us just chatted with Dan for a bit.






     It was colder at the start of the week... but then really warmed up.  We walked on the road after dark, looking at Christmas lights each night, and walked on the beach during the day, sometimes looking for shells.

     Friday before lunch we finally did our White Elephant gift exchange while Skyping with Dan.  This was the Good, the Bad and the Ugly scenario.

Britney gets a bag and some frames.

Courtney opens a Beatles bag full of toys.







Dan chose the heavy unwrapped box that Michael opened for him.  Surprise... It was full of old computer drives.

Chris get's Dan's contribution which has some chocolates and an IOU note.










After Joe steals Dan's gift from Chris, Michael steals it from Joe.

J.J. does the third steal, ending up with the prized package to take home... now he has to wait to see what Dan brings him.  



    
New Years Eve day, Mom took us all out to eat for lunch.  Many enjoyed great sea food... while others chose land lovers cuisine.















     Joe took Mike and Courtney to the airport before dinner and "went for a drive"... bringing home his largest winnings ever.  Whoot whoot... Happy New Year.  The rest of us ate a bunch of good snacks Patti brought, joked around while watching TV, and did an early toast with champagne for those of us who couldn't make it until midnight.  Like birthdays, the new year comes all too fast, and I don't get overly excited about celebrating either.  But it was a merry ole time.

                                             
     Got this photo off Dan's Face book.  He looks to be going through one of his gift boxes.  He shares a lot of the excess of snacks he gets with his fellow comrades.  The soldiers in his unit do a lot together to build camaraderie... that bond found in shared blood, sweat, and Gatorade, or a box of Christmas cookies passed around in the office.
.