Merry Christmas!  I'll post our Christmas card here for those I missed!  I really need to update my list!

I used this scripture passage in the past but felt it was fitting again this year.  As I get older, time is getting shorter.  The ONLY thing that matters in my life is sharing Jesus, pointing to Him, and praying those who don't know Him will come to know Him.  Of course family is important.  Jobs are important.  Responsibilities are important.  However, time drainers and material things are not.  As my brother says about "stuff" - Less is more!  Casting away all of the things that don't matter gives more time for the most important.

  

We just cannot know how good God is until we realize how bad we are.  All of us.  Every one.  I'm so thankful He saved a wretch like me!

May you know the JOY of Christmas as we celebrate, worship, and adore the Savior of the World ~ Jesus Christ ~ the One who loves us most!

Praying for everyone who reads this blog!

Here is a little bit of what happened (and what did not!) in 2024:

Pete's mom Sarah died February 6, 2024, at our home.  She probably had a stroke while in respite (the few days Hospice cares for patients to give caregivers a break) at the Hospice House.  The last time I saw her interact with anyone was when the nice men came to pick her up in an ambulance to take her.  Usually Pete drove her, but she'd had some sort of episode a few days earlier; and he thought the transportation Hospice offered would be better.  One man spoke to her, and she smiled at him.  When she came back, she was not responsive and never was again.  We knew she had been getting worse, and the nurses had already planned some different things.  We already had a hospital bed, and we kept her at home from the Tuesday she returned until the next Tuesday, when she died.  Family and friends were able to visit during that time.  We had lots of people come by to pray for her ~ and us.  It's a bit of a blur, but we remember lots of prayers and lots of kindness.  The Hospice nurse who answered the middle of the night call could not have been kinder or more respectful.  It was the same for the men from the funeral home who came at 2:00 am.  Sam was a huge help during that time also.  Sarah lived with us for almost six years.  It was a grueling battle for her (and us) with dementia.  We appreciate all of those who helped and prayed during that time.  We had a memorial time at the house Pop built in Floyd for both Pop and Sarah.  Even though Pop had a funeral in 2018, I did not truly believe Pete and I could mourn him until after Sarah died.  It's hard to explain, but we included both of them with lots of pictures and memory books. 

At Easter, Pete started a church in Abingdon.  We had a praise team and lots of family and friends - even from Boone, NC, and Nashville, TN, to come and support it.  But it did not take off, so we closed it.  Again, we were thankful to all who helped and supported the efforts.  We hope that what he did do was used to bring someone to the Lord.  We were able to go back to East Bristol where Pete is now the pastor.  Again, we are thankful for that!

We lost our Lucy Girl.  And I still cry sometimes when I exit the interstate and don't see her white fluffy self in our yard.  She was struggling, and we knew we did not have long.  So we spent most of her last days doting on her but also allowing her to find her special spots in the yard or on the porch or in the house to rest.  She died in her favorite spot in the kitchen right next to the treat box.  She was such a good girl and such a blessing to our family.  I remember praying for a special dog, and she was it.  She woke me up countless times to a seizure or low blood sugar.  She was the first to comfort someone who was sick or hurt.

All of the sudden, Sadie seemed so old and sad.  It was awful!  She would even go and sit on Lucy's grave site.  So we adopted Jack ~ another Golden Retriever this summer.  He is so different from but also so much like Lucy in some ways.  So we don't feel like we replaced her.  Jack has been so good for Sadie - and the rest of us.  

No one questioned his name.  He's named after Laura Ingalls' dog on Little House on the Prairie.  He is now as tall as Sadie.

What we have not gotten done is our house.  Pete almost has the tile backsplash done in the kitchen.  After Christmas, I am going to find someone to finish it and grout it.  Then the kitchen will be 98% done!

We've waited patiently (so patiently) for over two years for the shed dormer upstairs ~ adding two bathrooms and a laundry room.  We have almost broken down the bedrooms and covered everything in plastic.  But then something happens, and the date gets pushed out...again.  So we are hoping to get that done in the spring.  It's looking like Sam and I may have to demo, and Pete will instruct us on how to put it back together!  For something that was supposed to be done before we moved in, we have been patiently waiting.  After all of that, we can continue to work on the front porch and hang the wallpaper in the front entry!  Maybe this will be the year to get it done.

Pete did finish the back porch, and it makes a huge difference in the house.  The glassed in porch smelled so musty, and taking it back to an open porch looks so much more like this house.  Pete and Sam also started a fence on one side of the house, so Jack and Sadie can play for an hour or two at a time outside.  They literally moved all of the living room furniture around one time playing!

I hope this explains why my other blog is so far behind!  I hope to have something to add soon ~ at least the porch and fence!  

Pete took me to New England this past fall.  I've always wanted to go.  Even though we were in Boston and Cape Cod and not Maine, I still felt like I was in the middle of a Murder, She Wrote episode!  We took the ferry to Nantucket one day and walked by the infamous bookstore several times ~ only to see it on the news a couple of weeks later.  I met an Iroquois Indian who said he was one of four on the island.  He told me I needed to find the other three, but I told him that I probably wouldn't if they looked like him - light hair and blue eyes.  He also has a home near Charlotte, so we had an interesting conversation even though I was not sure why he stopped to talk to me - I'd lost Pete for a few minutes.  It was probably because the locals were so friendly.  We were amazed at all of the houses and buildings, the cleanliness and neatness of the grocery stores and gas stations, the beauty of the beach, and just the differences from the south.  We stayed at an old inn and had the pool right down the stairs from our room, so I was able to do PT for my leg every day at least once!  We were able to walk to the beach.  We had the best seafood we bought already cooked at a grocery store and liked it so much we had it three nights in a row!  It was also on sale which was another plus!  I cannot wait to go back!  Pete was afraid I'd pick out a house and want to stay.  But I'll be happy just to visit again!

As we wind up 2024, we look back and see major changes in our family and our lives.  We hope to be able to serve God more and more in 2025 and spend even more time with the ones we love!

Merry Christmas!!!