Saturday, December 1 - Tuesday, December 4
JIM: December got strange in a hurry. We spent last night in Tyler, then got up early, drove back to Mineola, packed some bags for Barbara, and then drove to Weatherford to meet Leah. From there, Barbara and Leah struck out for Lubbock, where Barbara's sister, Carol, was having surgery following an emergency airlift from Roswell.
For my part, I returned to Mineola work around the house and wait until Monday to have the windshield replaced on the car, something that was becoming increasingly necessary as the spiderweb cracks spread all through it.
Since we had a children's sermon prepared for Sunday morning, I made some adjustments to it went ahead and did both our parts for the kids during the morning service.
I was up fairly early Tuesday morning, packed my bags and loaded them in the car, and made the 8-hour drive to Lubbock to be with Barbara and her family.
BARBARA: There were a lot of photos, but the collages tell the story of Leah driving me to Lubbock (we almost got lost in a terrible sandstorm at Roscoe) and the gathering of Carol's daughters and some of her grandchildren to give their support.
Leah and I went to the cemetery to visit Henry and Jimmy Clint while we were in town.
The photos in this collage speak for themselves...a former student and a best friend...
Tuesday, December 4
Tuesday was a travel day for me (Jim). When I got to the hospital in Lubbock, Barbara was waiting with camera in hand to document my arrival before we went up to the sixth floor to see Carol. Carol was being pampered by the cardiology staff (who are amazing beyond belief in their medical knowledge and skills, as well as their personal care giving).
Barbara had been staying in a motel with the others, but since I was in town we found a place we liked better and checked in for the night. The desk clerk gave us an upgrade on our room and we got an amazing king suite...too bad we weren't there long enough to enjoy it, as after checking in, we had went back to the hospital for the evening to visit with Carol.
Wednesday, December 5
This was another full day at the hospital with Carol as they ran more tests and procedures to get her heart rate and blood pressure balanced.
Thursday, December 6
After a fair night's sleep (no one ever sleeps well during these situations) we loaded the car and then checked out of the hotel to go back to the hospital for a few hours.
During the night, one of Carol's granddaughters was air-flighted to Lubbock for an emergency situation and assigned to the cardiac ward. Carol's son, Gary (the grandfather) and new great granddaughter were on the floor and we (and she) got to visit with them.
It was determined that it could be at least a couple more days before Carol would be released from the hospital, so we said our goodbyes after seeing Carol through lunch, and headed for Roswell to check out a couple of rehab centers before driving to Artesia to bunk in with our friends Jerry and Nancy Terpening.
Friday, December 7
We met Teresa, one of Carol's daughters who live in Artesia, this morning at a rehab center in Artesia. We all thought it would be ideal, since two daughters and some grandkids live there and could easily come visit Carol, but after an hour or so of touring the place, Teresa found that this center was not in Carol's insurance network and the cost would be prohibitive. Back to square one...
Our time was very limited, so we had no choice but to turn the situation over to God and the girls
We spent a cold, rainy morning doing some shop-looking and shopping in Artesia, and then enjoyed the company of our "adopted" Terpening family this afternoon and evening.
Saturday, December 8
When we were loading the car in Lubbock the other morning, I accidentally fell forward as the hatch in back came down. It struck a pretty good blow on my left temple, but I didn't think much about it...until this morning when I woke up with the left side of my face all swollen.
Nancy Terpening, a nurse, gave us orders to get to a walk-in clinic at the hospital to get checked out. It took a while to be seen, but the doctor gave a pretty thorough examination, ordered some meds to combat the swelling and pain, and sent me home. Well, she sent me to the pharmacy at Walmart first, which added another hour or so to the waiting time.
This evening we had a chance to share a little time with niece Lynette and her children before going back to the house and having dinner and games with Jerry, Nancy, and Becky.
Saturday, December 8
We awoke to an early season snowfall this morning. It wasn't heavy, but it covered everything for a few hours and put Jerry and Nancy in the mood to put up their Christmas tree and start decorating the house. We helped by staying out of their way LOL.
And to put the topping on the day, we got this photo from Mike and Kelly, showing off the Virginia grandkids enjoying their snow storm.
Sunday, December 9
Giddy-Up, Go was the catch-phrase for the day. We were up early to start out on the long drive from Artesia to Mineola by way of Hobbs, Big Spring, Sweetwater, Abilene, and Fort Worth.
We broke up the drive with a stop in Fort Worth to spend a short time with Ryan, Leah, and Kaiden at a frozen yogurt shop...
And then continued across I-20 through the metroplex and finally back home in Mineola.
It was a full 12-hour drive (with stops) and we were whipped, but we were HOME!!!
Monday, December 10 - Wednesday, December 12
We were really tired after returning from Artesia, but life has to go on, and Christmas was in the air, so we spent these three days washing clothes, hauling Christmas boxes down from the attic, packing up the regular house decorations, putting out the Christmas decorations, and cleaning house (and taking the occasional nap to get rested up from all that activity).
Thursday, December 13
We received word from the church this morning that one of our dearest friends, Boyd Gilbreath, had received a diagnosis of stage 4 cancer. The first thing on our list was to drive up to the house to see Boyd and Eldavada and find out what we might be able to do to help them at this time. Hospice was talking with Boyd and the family when we got there, but one of the grandsons met us. When we asked about bringing some food, he smiled and said, "That would be wonderful, as long as it isn't more chicken...we've received plenty of that."
We assured him that we would be back tomorrow with something other than chicken.
We stopped at Walmart on the way home to buy some groceries and then got back to the house to put everything away and start on some cooking. Barbara did some baking and I prepared some brown-in-bag pork chops to season for the rest of the day and tonight.
This evening we drove a few miles up to Quitman to catch part of the middle school Christmas concert and see our friends Keith, Whitney, Aubrey, and Rivers as Aubrey played trumpet in her first-ever concert. When Aubrey's part of the concert was over, we returned to the house and set out some cookies and ice cream to celebrate the occasion with Aubrey and her family.
Friday, December 14
This morning we delivered a meal to Boyd and Eldavade and had a nice visit with them and some of there family members. Then we returned home to do some clean-up, prepare materials for the children's sermon for Sunday, clean up that mess, and start preparing for the Mineola Family Christmas dinner tomorrow.
Saturday, December 15
Today was Christmas for the local family as Ladd, Angela, Logan, Jon, Madelyn, and Jarhett joined us for Mexican food, gift exchange, and some high-quality family time.
Sunday, December 16
This morning we were back at First Baptist Church Yantis for the regular morning worship service. Our children's sermon this morning came from John 6: 1-14, and was about Jesus feeding the 5,000.
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Monday, December 17
Another busy Monday for us. I began the day by driving to Yantis to help Mary, our church secretary count the money from yesterday's tithes and offerings and then make the bank deposit. I stopped at Holiday Villages of Lake Fork for a few minutes to make sure that Big V was still there and all was well with the property, then returned to the house to just piddle around for the rest of the morning.
This afternoon we drove to Quitman to do the annual registration for the Equinox and get a new sticker. Then we headed to Tyler to return a recent purchase to Best Buy and do some shop-looking for children's sermon materials and small Christmas gifts.
The new extension of Toll Road 49 is now complete from Lindale to I-20; we elected to take it so Barbara could get photos of the clouds along the way.
After visits to Best Buy, Dollar Tree, and Walmart, we edged our way into the 5:00 pm traffic and made our way back home to while away the evening.
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Tuesday, December 18
You won't find it notated on any calendar, but today was officially Doofus Jim Little Day!
It all started when I needed my driver's license for some reason. I couldn't find it in my wallet, so I checked through the car, through the clothes I wore yesterday, and all around the house. I will say up front (and Barbara will agree) that I'm not very good at putting the credit cards and my license back in my wallet as soon as I finish using them somewhere, so this was not an unusual situation, but the fact that I couldn't find it anywhere around the house was.
I told Barbara about it and we both tore the place up looking for it. We tried remembering where I might have used it yesterday, and came up with the county clerk's office in Quitman, since they require ID's for some transactions, and I had taken the license out of my wallet there, and Best Buy in Tyler. We pretty much ruled out Dollar Tree and Walmart in Tyler because a license wasn't necessary for anything we did in those places, but I put them on my list to call.
The first call was to the county clerk's office in Quitman. They were very friendly and helpful, but couldn't find it anywhere. Next was a call to Best Buy, since I might have had to show it as ID when I returned the purchase. I didn't remember doing it, but I knew I took it into the store. Again, no luck...it hadn't been seen or turned in.
The next call was to Dollar tree. An assistant manager answered and said he didn't know anything about it, but he'd check to see if it was in the office. A few minutes later he was back on the line and asked me for my name and address (there are a number of Jim Littles in the area, so that wasn't an unusual question). Imagine my glee when he said he had it! I had evidently pulled it out of my pocket when I paid cash at the checkout last night and it had fallen to the floor. Someone picked it up and gave it to the cashier and it was turned in to the manager.
I assured the manager that we would be there in about an hour and we quickly got ready for yet another drive to Tyler. Certainly not one we had planned to spend the day, but a worthwhile trip all the same! Especially since we would be on the road even more today.
When we got home we immediately set to work preparing handouts for Sunday's children's sermon.
This afternoon we drove to Burleson to watch Kaiden in his middle school band concert and visit with Leah and Ryan. When the concert was over, we took Kaiden back to the hotel with us so we could have some quality time with him and Leah and Ryan could have some quality time by themselves.
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Wednesday, December 19
Today was "pamper ourselves day." We both needed haircuts and Barbara was feeling the need to get her toes prettified for the Christmas season, so we arranged a block of time with Leslie at Naturally Nails and got ourselves presentable for public appearance.
I went out to Yantis for praise band rehearsal this evening while Barbara stayed home and worked on Christmas travel plans.
For my part, I returned to Mineola work around the house and wait until Monday to have the windshield replaced on the car, something that was becoming increasingly necessary as the spiderweb cracks spread all through it.
Since we had a children's sermon prepared for Sunday morning, I made some adjustments to it went ahead and did both our parts for the kids during the morning service.
JIM: Good Morning…Mrs.
Little is in Lubbock this morning seeing about her sister, so today I get to be
both of us. Let’s start out today with a
question. How many of you have ever seen
the wind? Well, you might have seen
things blowing in the wind, and you might have felt it blowing against you, but
no one has ever seen the wind
Now, here’s another question. Did you know that God speaks to us…every one
of us? Now, God doesn’t use a microphone
and speaker system, like at Walmart.
Instead, He speaks through the Holy Spirit. After Jesus was killed and then he rose from
the dead, he told his apostles that he would go back to Heaven, but that he
would send the Holy Spirit to be with them.
One day, when all the apostles were gathered together, there was a sound
like a mighty, rushing wind. And
suddenly, the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit, just like Jesus
promised. God’s Holy Spirit is just like
the wind…we can’t see God, but we can feel the Holy Spirit speaking to us and
working in ourselves, and we can know that it is there, just like we know the
wind is there.
Another way we can know that the Holy Spirit is
there is that we can see it moving people to do God’s will. The Bible says that the spirit of God moves
his people to speak and do things for him.
Just as we can’t see the wind, we can’t see God, but we can see people saying
and doing things that he has moved them to say and do.
Here’s another question. How many of you have ever flown a kite? When Mrs. Little and I were young, building
and flying kites were a great way to get exercise and enjoy being
outdoors. One of the most important
things to know about kite flying is that there must be some wind. Without the force of the wind, the kite won’t
fly…it will just lie on the ground and do nothing. That is pretty much what happens with people
when they don’t listen to or feel the Holy Spirit moving in their lives. They have everything they need to be
witnesses for Christ, but without the wind…the Holy Spirit directing them, they
can’t fly the way God wants them to. In fact, did you know that long-ago
windmills were only powered by the wind? Without the wind, the blades of the
windmill wouldn’t move. Isn’t that like us. Without the Lord in our hearts, we
come to a standstill and can’t do what He has planned for us.
Our special gift this morning is a kite cookie
shaped like a windmill to remind you of the sweetness of having the Holy Spirit
moving in you and directing you to take flight the way God wants you to.
JIM: Heavenly Father, thank you for
sending your Holy Spirit. Even though we
can’t see the Holy Spirit, we are thankful we can feel it speak to our hearts,
feel its presence in our daily lives, and see it moving us and others to do
your will. It’s in the name of Jesus we
come to you this morning with thankful hearts, Amen.
I was up fairly early Tuesday morning, packed my bags and loaded them in the car, and made the 8-hour drive to Lubbock to be with Barbara and her family.
BARBARA: There were a lot of photos, but the collages tell the story of Leah driving me to Lubbock (we almost got lost in a terrible sandstorm at Roscoe) and the gathering of Carol's daughters and some of her grandchildren to give their support.
Leah and I went to the cemetery to visit Henry and Jimmy Clint while we were in town.
The photos in this collage speak for themselves...a former student and a best friend...
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Tuesday, December 4
Tuesday was a travel day for me (Jim). When I got to the hospital in Lubbock, Barbara was waiting with camera in hand to document my arrival before we went up to the sixth floor to see Carol. Carol was being pampered by the cardiology staff (who are amazing beyond belief in their medical knowledge and skills, as well as their personal care giving).
Barbara had been staying in a motel with the others, but since I was in town we found a place we liked better and checked in for the night. The desk clerk gave us an upgrade on our room and we got an amazing king suite...too bad we weren't there long enough to enjoy it, as after checking in, we had went back to the hospital for the evening to visit with Carol.
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Wednesday, December 5
This was another full day at the hospital with Carol as they ran more tests and procedures to get her heart rate and blood pressure balanced.
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Thursday, December 6
During the night, one of Carol's granddaughters was air-flighted to Lubbock for an emergency situation and assigned to the cardiac ward. Carol's son, Gary (the grandfather) and new great granddaughter were on the floor and we (and she) got to visit with them.
It was determined that it could be at least a couple more days before Carol would be released from the hospital, so we said our goodbyes after seeing Carol through lunch, and headed for Roswell to check out a couple of rehab centers before driving to Artesia to bunk in with our friends Jerry and Nancy Terpening.
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Friday, December 7
We met Teresa, one of Carol's daughters who live in Artesia, this morning at a rehab center in Artesia. We all thought it would be ideal, since two daughters and some grandkids live there and could easily come visit Carol, but after an hour or so of touring the place, Teresa found that this center was not in Carol's insurance network and the cost would be prohibitive. Back to square one...
Our time was very limited, so we had no choice but to turn the situation over to God and the girls
We spent a cold, rainy morning doing some shop-looking and shopping in Artesia, and then enjoyed the company of our "adopted" Terpening family this afternoon and evening.
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Saturday, December 8
When we were loading the car in Lubbock the other morning, I accidentally fell forward as the hatch in back came down. It struck a pretty good blow on my left temple, but I didn't think much about it...until this morning when I woke up with the left side of my face all swollen.
Nancy Terpening, a nurse, gave us orders to get to a walk-in clinic at the hospital to get checked out. It took a while to be seen, but the doctor gave a pretty thorough examination, ordered some meds to combat the swelling and pain, and sent me home. Well, she sent me to the pharmacy at Walmart first, which added another hour or so to the waiting time.
This evening we had a chance to share a little time with niece Lynette and her children before going back to the house and having dinner and games with Jerry, Nancy, and Becky.
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Saturday, December 8
We awoke to an early season snowfall this morning. It wasn't heavy, but it covered everything for a few hours and put Jerry and Nancy in the mood to put up their Christmas tree and start decorating the house. We helped by staying out of their way LOL.
And to put the topping on the day, we got this photo from Mike and Kelly, showing off the Virginia grandkids enjoying their snow storm.
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Sunday, December 9
Giddy-Up, Go was the catch-phrase for the day. We were up early to start out on the long drive from Artesia to Mineola by way of Hobbs, Big Spring, Sweetwater, Abilene, and Fort Worth.
We broke up the drive with a stop in Fort Worth to spend a short time with Ryan, Leah, and Kaiden at a frozen yogurt shop...
And then continued across I-20 through the metroplex and finally back home in Mineola.
It was a full 12-hour drive (with stops) and we were whipped, but we were HOME!!!
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Monday, December 10 - Wednesday, December 12
We were really tired after returning from Artesia, but life has to go on, and Christmas was in the air, so we spent these three days washing clothes, hauling Christmas boxes down from the attic, packing up the regular house decorations, putting out the Christmas decorations, and cleaning house (and taking the occasional nap to get rested up from all that activity).
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Thursday, December 13
We received word from the church this morning that one of our dearest friends, Boyd Gilbreath, had received a diagnosis of stage 4 cancer. The first thing on our list was to drive up to the house to see Boyd and Eldavada and find out what we might be able to do to help them at this time. Hospice was talking with Boyd and the family when we got there, but one of the grandsons met us. When we asked about bringing some food, he smiled and said, "That would be wonderful, as long as it isn't more chicken...we've received plenty of that."
We assured him that we would be back tomorrow with something other than chicken.
We stopped at Walmart on the way home to buy some groceries and then got back to the house to put everything away and start on some cooking. Barbara did some baking and I prepared some brown-in-bag pork chops to season for the rest of the day and tonight.
This evening we drove a few miles up to Quitman to catch part of the middle school Christmas concert and see our friends Keith, Whitney, Aubrey, and Rivers as Aubrey played trumpet in her first-ever concert. When Aubrey's part of the concert was over, we returned to the house and set out some cookies and ice cream to celebrate the occasion with Aubrey and her family.
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Friday, December 14
This morning we delivered a meal to Boyd and Eldavade and had a nice visit with them and some of there family members. Then we returned home to do some clean-up, prepare materials for the children's sermon for Sunday, clean up that mess, and start preparing for the Mineola Family Christmas dinner tomorrow.
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Saturday, December 15
Today was Christmas for the local family as Ladd, Angela, Logan, Jon, Madelyn, and Jarhett joined us for Mexican food, gift exchange, and some high-quality family time.
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Sunday, December 16
This morning we were back at First Baptist Church Yantis for the regular morning worship service. Our children's sermon this morning came from John 6: 1-14, and was about Jesus feeding the 5,000.
BARBARA: How
many of you like a picnic? I do,
too! I brought our picnic basket this
morning and we’re going to use our imaginations to think of what might be
inside if we are going to a picnic.
Let’s see…there would probably be sandwiches, chips, cookies, and
something to drink. Can you think of anything
else we might want for our picnic lunch?
If we had everything we named,
would there be enough food for our little group? What if everyone in church this morning came
to our picnic…would there be enough food in this basket to feed the whole
church? How about the whole town of
Yantis? No way! We couldn’t feed all of Yantis or even all of
our church with what is in this basket, could we? Mr. Little, would you tell us how this
imaginary picnic goes with our lesson this morning?
JIM: One
day Jesus and the disciples went to the far side of the Sea of Galilee and a
great crowd gathered because they had heard about the miracles that Jesus had
performed when he healed the sick, and they wanted to hear him. Jesus and the disciples went up on a mountain
and all the people followed them. It was
getting toward lunch time, so Jesus asked Philip, who was from a town nearby
where would be a good place to buy some bread and feed the people. Now this was just a test, because even though
the disciples had seen Jesus do miracles, they still didn’t really get who he
was and how powerful he was. Jesus had
already decided that now was the time to really show the disciples and the
people who he was.
Well, Philip didn’t really
answer the question about where to get bread, he just said, “It will take at
least 8 month’s pay to feed this many people…he had seen Jesus work miracles
but didn’t see how he could feed the people.
Then Andrew, another disciple, said that there was a young boy with five
little loaves of bread and two fish, but he didn’t see how that would help feed
the large crowd.
Jesus told the disciples to
have the people sit down, and then gave thanks to God for the food and started
handing it out. And the more he handed
out, the more there was. Soon, over 5000
people had eaten until they were full, and there were 12 baskets of food left
over.
When the people realized what
had just happened, they started saying that surely this was the great prophet
that Moses had said would come into the world.
BARBARA: When
Jesus performed his miracles, he usually worked them through other people. In this case, he used a young child who
offered what he had. It wasn’t much, but
it was more than enough for the crowd.
Your age shouldn’t get in the way of being who Christ wants you to
be. Never think you are too young or too
old to take the gifts God has blessed you with and use them to serve him.
Our special treat this morning
is what else, but fish and bread. Though we aren’t able to feed thousands of
people with our treat, it can be a reminder that through Christ miracles can
happen.
JIM: Heavenly
Father, help us to remember that when we give what we have to you, even a
little bit is more than enough. We pray
this in the name of Jesus, Amen.
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Thursday, December 20
Happy 74th Birthday to Me (Jim, that is)!!!!!
Barbara prepared this collage of me and some of my activities through the years...
The rest of the day was spent celebrating with friends and food. We met fellow PGR Rider Frank Palmer at East Texas Burger Company in downtown Mineola for lunch and to get some small gifts we had ordered for the grandkids.
As we were taking a ride after lunch with Frank, we decided to check out the new home of our friends, Gene and Carolyn. We got a little mixed up so Barbara called Carolyn. Carolyn told us exactly which house was theirs and told us to stay there as they were almost home!
This evening we met our Angela, Ladd, and Logan at Jalapeno Tree before everyone but Logan capped of the night at the Historic Select Theater in Mineola for a special showing of the original version of Miracle on 34th Street. It just doesn't get any better than that!!!
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Friday, December 21
Today was a busy day of packing and preparing things for an upcoming Christmas trip, as well as making all the final preparations for the children's sermon for Sunday.
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Saturday, December 22
This morning we drove to the funeral home in Sulphur Springs to pay our respects to church friends Janet and Chris at the visitation for Janet's father.
When we were through at the funeral home, we drove across town to the nursing home to visit church friend Marilyn, and then stopped at Panda Express to get our lunch.
Once we were back at the house, we continued the planning and packing for the trip that would begin tomorrow.
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Sunday, December 23
This morning we celebrated Christmas with our church family. We didn't have the usual Sunday morning breakfast or Sunday school, but we did have a wonderful celebration of the birth of Christ and the true meaning of Christmas. Great preaching, great music, great fellowship!!!
Our children's sermon was all about Happy Birthday, Jesus...
JIM:
It’s almost here! It’s almost here! Christmas is almost here!!!
Mrs.
Little and I just love Christmas, don’t you?
There are so many things to like about Christmas…the trees with their
colorful blinking lights, the beautiful music, the delicious Christmas goodies,
parties, visiting with family and friends.
For many people the best thing about Christmas is the presents – the
ones we give, and the ones we receive…especially the ones we receive, right?
Hmm…Can
you think of anything I left out? Oh,
yes, it’s someone’s birthday, isn’t it?
That’s right, Christmas is the time we celebrate the birthday of Jesus,
our lord and savior. You know, sometimes
we get so caught up in all of the decorations, parties, and presents that we
miss out on the real meaning of Christmas.
Mrs. Little, don’t you have something to say about today’s lesson?
BARBARA:
Yes, I do, Mr. Little. What you said
reminds me of a story I read about a little boy who had always wanted to go to
a circus. One day he was walking down
the street and saw a sign in a store window that said a circus was coming to
town and that a ticket cost one dollar.
The little boy was so excited that he ran home and asked his father for
a dollar so he could attend the circus on Saturday.
His
father told him if he would work hard and get all his chores done, he would
give him a dollar so he could go to the circus.
Saturday morning the little boy got up early and did all his chores.
The
father checked his work and then gave him a dollar and the boy headed into
town, filled with excitement about the wild animals, the trapeze artists,
clowns, and all the things that come with a circus. He arrived early and got a place right on
street curb so he could watch the circus parade come down the street. He was thrilled when the animals, circus
acts, and clowns passed by right in front of him.
At
the very end of the parade came the circus ringmaster. As the ringmaster passed by, the little boy
ran out into the street, took his dollar bill out of his pocket, and handed it
to him. “Thanks, mister,” said the
little boy. “That was a great
circus!” Then he turned around and
walked back home. He never knew what he
had missed. He thought he had been to
the circus, but he had only been to the parade.
JIM:
Wow, Mrs. Little, that sounds just like a lot of us sometimes. If we aren’t careful, we can be like that
little boy and get so busy with the celebrations, lights, and gifts that we
miss the real meaning of Christmas, the celebration of God giving us the gift
of Jesus, the greatest gift we could ever receive.
What
do we have this morning to remind the children of the real meaning of
Christmas?
BARBARA:
Our special treat today is a small birthday cake and candle with a card that
says, “Happy Birthday, Jesus!” Mr.
Little, would you please finish our lesson by leading the children and all the
folks here this morning in singing, Happy Birthday to Jesus?
We returned home after church to have some lunch, pack the car, and then get some rest.
Mike and Kelly had given us a package earlier. Since we were going to be on the road for the next few days, we opened it this afternoon. We guessed it was a photo of some kind, but were totally blown away when we unwrapped it.
Tonight we had a part in the traditional Christmas Candlelight service at Yantis FBC.
Following the service, we started out for the first leg of a family Christmas adventure, as we drove to Mt. Pleasant to spend the night before continuing our journey.
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Monday, December 24
Christmas Eve, 2018
Today was a driving day to begin our Christmas Adventure. A couple of months ago Heather, Mike, and Whitney decided to do a family Christmas in Nashville, Tennessee, and invited us to be part of the gathering. There would be no gifts or presents, since being together for a few days would be the best present we could all give/get.
The gathering would begin on the 26th, but once Barbara looked at the calendar and saw how close we would be to Harrison, Arkansas, where brother Ernie's family, sister-in-law Billee and niece Candace live, we decided to take a side trip and spend Christmas Eve with them. Barbara and Candace worked out the arrangements, and this morning found us driving east across I-30 to Conroe, Arkansas, and then north to Harrison.
The trip was relatively uneventful and we arrived at the hotel in Harrison with plenty of time to unload the car (or at least the part we'd need for an overnight stay), get a short rest, and then head to the house.
The evening was fun, good food (Candace fixed her homemade pizza), conversation and laughter, and games...just like a family Christmas should be.
Sadly, the evening got away from us in all the fun and excitement and we had to leave to get back to the hotel and get some sleep for another day of driving.
Tuesday, December 25
Christmas Day, 2018
We were up early this morning for the trip from Harrison to Memphis, where we planned to meet friends George and Janie Estes. George was Barbara's pastor when she lived in Lubbock, and they have remained friends all these years.
While we were driving, the miracle of the internet showed itself in a big way. We knew we had some friends from Liberal who had moved to Arkansas, but didn't know exactly where they were. Ronnell and Ron Dickson, who lived three houses down from us in Liberal (and we both taught their son Brian) saw a Facebook post from last night and wrote to Barbara saying that we would be passing within a few blocks of their house in Searcy, and invited us to come visit and have Christmas dinner with them. Well, that was an offer too good to pass up, especially since we hadn't seen the Dickson's since they moved from Liberal while we were still there.
We rerouted the GPS and discovered some roads that only the natives would know about and a few hours later we were in Searcy talking with old friends as if we hadn't seen each other since yesterday.
Again, it was an hour or two of good friends, good fellowship, and good food as we celebrated Christmas and the true spirit of Christmas. Shortly we were joined by their son Doug and his two sons.
Too soon we had to say our goodbyes and head on down the road (one that we probably couldn't find again in a hundred years), but Ronnell's direction were spot on, so we didn't get lost...we just didn't know where we were.
We managed to cruise through the Memphis traffic...much lighter than the regular daily traffic, and found our way to Georgetown and our hotel. We went through the regular routine of checking in, unloading the car, and moving into our suite before we took time out to get some rest.
Later, we called George to let him know that we were in town and asked whether they would like for us to come to their house, or they come to the hotel, or we could meet them at a restaurant somewhere. This being Christmas Day, options for eating out were slim and none, so George invited us to their house to eat supper with them. Their place wasn't far from our hotel, so we drove over and shared yet another Christmas experience with good friends.
When we finished visiting with George and Janie, we drove back to the hotel, opened up our computers, and reconnected with the rest of the world. Imagine our surprise and pleasure when we found this Christmas photo that Mike and Kelly sent us...
Wednesday, December 26
Today would be our shortest travel day. It takes just a few hours to get from Georgetown to Nashville, and Interstate 40 between the two cities is usually in pretty good shape, so we took our time getting around this morning. After a leisurely breakfast from the hotel breakfast room, we finally got around to getting cleaned up, packed, and loading the car for the final leg of the trip.
We knew we couldn't get into the condo before 4:00 this afternoon, but since we weren't even sure where it was (and the GPS is notoriously unreliable in certain situations) we got there a little early and waited for the kids, Mike, Kelly, Ava, Jack, and Benjamin weren't too far behind us, and while we were waiting to discover how the combination lock worked, Whitney, Jim, and Jimmy showed up. Heather, Andy, Alexander, and Abby arrived a few hours later, but still in time for us all to share in the beginning of a new family adventure.
Thursday, December 27
Happy 15th Birthday to Grandson Alexander!!!!
Today was chock full of family fun, food, and festivities, including time at Nashville's Centennial Park, Downtown adventures, Alexander's birthday party, and a late night visit to Opryland
You can believe us when we say that EVERYONE slept well tonight!
Friday, December 28
This morning was our turn to cook breakfast (each family took turns preparing a meal), so we were up very early to get started. The food was ready by the time everyone made their way downstairs, so we each grabbed a plate and loaded it up...we were going to need plenty of body fuel for another busy day!
After breakfast, we gathered in the living area of the condo to share with the kids a special tradition that we started a few years ago. We wanted the kids to know some history about the military service of their grandparents and great-grandparents. We gave them a gift, not because it was Christmas, but because they should know that others have served so that they won'at have to if they don't want to.
Our friend Frank Palmer of Honored Warriors Ranch created sets of dog tags for each of the kids to wear or display...
The next thing on the group agenda was to drive to Franklin, a quaint little tourist town, for a couple hours of walking around and shop-looking.
When we were finished in Franklin, we all drove back to Nashville for a family meal at The Manor, a world-famous family-style restaurant. It was all you could eat for as long as it took to eat it. Multiple conversations bounced around the table between mouthfuls, and by the time we were finished, we all thought they would have to bring in wheelchairs to haul us out. Good food and good times...what a day!!!
We stayed around the condo tonight to watch the little kids and start organizing our things for packing and leaving tomorrow morning. We did our best to keep inside only what we would need for tonight and clothes for tomorrow...the rest went into the car so we could get out early in the morning without waking anyone up.
It was a fun time with all of us being together for a couple of days, especially since it had been several years since we had all been together, but it was also time to get back to real life.
We said our goodbyes to everyone when the got back to the condo and went upstairs to get some shut-eye.
Saturday, December 29
We were out of the condo and on the highway early this morning, well before any of the others were awake. We drove about an hour to a small town just off the Interstate to have breakfast at a quaint little restaurant we had stopped at the other day.
Then it was back to I-40 and the straight shot to Memphis. Memphis traffic is always interesting, but it wasn't too bad by the time we got to the downtown area and across the Mississippi River.
The reason we left early this morning was to get to Hot Springs, Arkansas, a place we visited for the first time a year or so ago and have always wanted to see again. Also, I found out this week that my cooperating teacher from my student teaching days in 1965 was going to be in town this weekend (he lives there, but spends quite a bit of time on the road), and we were going to get to visit.
We also wanted to get downtown to see some of the sights we had missed on the last trip, but by the time we got to the hotel and checked in, it was cold, windy, and rainy. We opted instead to go down the road a bit, have lunch at a seafood restaurant, and then go back to the hotel to rest until the evening.
Tonight we met Earl and Jean at a Mexican food place in town. As I said earlier, Earl Hesse was my cooperating teacher at the newly opened Goddard High School in Roswell, New Mexico when I did my student teaching during the Fall semester in 1965. I went into the Air Force as soon as I graduated the next Spring, but the lessons Earl taught me were invaluable when I started teaching in 1970, and I have always been grateful to Earl for that.
While Barbara and Jean got acquainted, Earl and I shared memories and funny (for us, anyway) stories from many years ago, just as if we were talking about something from last week. The great thing about Earl Hesse is that if you are his friend, you are his friend for life, and it doesn't matter if you haven't seen each other in two months, two years, or twenty years; the time falls away and the friendship grows stronger.
Sunday, December 30
We were up and out of Hot Springs even before Dark-Thirty this morning in order to get home as soon as possible. When we got to the house around noon, we quickly unpacked the car, threw everything in the spare bedroom, and then I got cleaned up and put on my uniform to go sound Taps for our dear friend Boyd Gilbreath, who had passed away a couple of days ago from cancer.
We first stopped at the funeral home in Quitman to pay our respects to the family, and then headed to the cemetery so I could get with the honor guard and nail down the specifics of how the military honors would be presented.
It was a cloudy, cold, and drizzly afternoon, but the graveside service was beautiful and the elements of military honors went perfectly as we remembered a friend who was a decorated hero of the Korean War.
Following the service at the cemetery, we drove on to the church at Yantis to join fellow members in a 90th birthday celebration for Mildred Nichols, who refers to us as Picture Lady and Bugle Man.
And then it was time to get back to Mineola and settle down for a quiet evening at home. The travel and visits were wonderful experiences and we wouldn't trade for them, but as Dorothy said in The Wizard of Oz, "There's no place like home!"
Monday, December 31
New Year's Eve
Today was a day of unpacking, washing, putting everything back in place, and getting the house squared away.
Our New Year's Eve celebration has become a very small one over the years. We made our traditional phone calls to Gary and Joyce Whitaker, Barbara's friends for many, many years (and mine for 24 years), and Max Johnson, a band friend from my junior high school days in Artesia, New Mexico.
We then watched some TV and, for added measure this year, didn't go to bed until the firecrackers started going off at midnight.
We've been at this journal business for 12 1/2 years now, and it has become tradition to post some form of addendum to the end of the June and December editions to recap highlights of the previous six months. Since almost everything significant in the journal has already been posted on Facebook, the importance of the addendum has been somewhat diminished.
That being said, and everyone who knows us knows that we always have something else to say, we'd like to point out to those who might not have noticed that there has been a proliferation of Peanuts characters memes inserted in the journal/blog posts during the past year.
Son Jimmy Clint Colwell, who passed away December 5, 2010 at the age of 39, was a great fan of the Peanuts characters and cartoons, so to keep his memory alive in these writings about our retirement life, we've included his favorite characters as part of our journey. It's our nod to a family member who has gone ahead of us and is now with those other family members who have also gone ahead. We'll see them all again someday, but for now we have Charlie Brown and his friends and family.
Happy New Year to all...may 2019 be the best one ever!
Jim & Barbara Little
Mineola, Texas
December 31, 2018
The gathering would begin on the 26th, but once Barbara looked at the calendar and saw how close we would be to Harrison, Arkansas, where brother Ernie's family, sister-in-law Billee and niece Candace live, we decided to take a side trip and spend Christmas Eve with them. Barbara and Candace worked out the arrangements, and this morning found us driving east across I-30 to Conroe, Arkansas, and then north to Harrison.
The trip was relatively uneventful and we arrived at the hotel in Harrison with plenty of time to unload the car (or at least the part we'd need for an overnight stay), get a short rest, and then head to the house.
The evening was fun, good food (Candace fixed her homemade pizza), conversation and laughter, and games...just like a family Christmas should be.
Sadly, the evening got away from us in all the fun and excitement and we had to leave to get back to the hotel and get some sleep for another day of driving.
++++++++
Tuesday, December 25
Christmas Day, 2018
We were up early this morning for the trip from Harrison to Memphis, where we planned to meet friends George and Janie Estes. George was Barbara's pastor when she lived in Lubbock, and they have remained friends all these years.
While we were driving, the miracle of the internet showed itself in a big way. We knew we had some friends from Liberal who had moved to Arkansas, but didn't know exactly where they were. Ronnell and Ron Dickson, who lived three houses down from us in Liberal (and we both taught their son Brian) saw a Facebook post from last night and wrote to Barbara saying that we would be passing within a few blocks of their house in Searcy, and invited us to come visit and have Christmas dinner with them. Well, that was an offer too good to pass up, especially since we hadn't seen the Dickson's since they moved from Liberal while we were still there.
We rerouted the GPS and discovered some roads that only the natives would know about and a few hours later we were in Searcy talking with old friends as if we hadn't seen each other since yesterday.
Again, it was an hour or two of good friends, good fellowship, and good food as we celebrated Christmas and the true spirit of Christmas. Shortly we were joined by their son Doug and his two sons.
Too soon we had to say our goodbyes and head on down the road (one that we probably couldn't find again in a hundred years), but Ronnell's direction were spot on, so we didn't get lost...we just didn't know where we were.
We managed to cruise through the Memphis traffic...much lighter than the regular daily traffic, and found our way to Georgetown and our hotel. We went through the regular routine of checking in, unloading the car, and moving into our suite before we took time out to get some rest.
Later, we called George to let him know that we were in town and asked whether they would like for us to come to their house, or they come to the hotel, or we could meet them at a restaurant somewhere. This being Christmas Day, options for eating out were slim and none, so George invited us to their house to eat supper with them. Their place wasn't far from our hotel, so we drove over and shared yet another Christmas experience with good friends.
When we finished visiting with George and Janie, we drove back to the hotel, opened up our computers, and reconnected with the rest of the world. Imagine our surprise and pleasure when we found this Christmas photo that Mike and Kelly sent us...
++++++++
Wednesday, December 26
Today would be our shortest travel day. It takes just a few hours to get from Georgetown to Nashville, and Interstate 40 between the two cities is usually in pretty good shape, so we took our time getting around this morning. After a leisurely breakfast from the hotel breakfast room, we finally got around to getting cleaned up, packed, and loading the car for the final leg of the trip.
We knew we couldn't get into the condo before 4:00 this afternoon, but since we weren't even sure where it was (and the GPS is notoriously unreliable in certain situations) we got there a little early and waited for the kids, Mike, Kelly, Ava, Jack, and Benjamin weren't too far behind us, and while we were waiting to discover how the combination lock worked, Whitney, Jim, and Jimmy showed up. Heather, Andy, Alexander, and Abby arrived a few hours later, but still in time for us all to share in the beginning of a new family adventure.
++++++++
Thursday, December 27
Happy 15th Birthday to Grandson Alexander!!!!
Today was chock full of family fun, food, and festivities, including time at Nashville's Centennial Park, Downtown adventures, Alexander's birthday party, and a late night visit to Opryland
++++++++
Friday, December 28
This morning was our turn to cook breakfast (each family took turns preparing a meal), so we were up very early to get started. The food was ready by the time everyone made their way downstairs, so we each grabbed a plate and loaded it up...we were going to need plenty of body fuel for another busy day!
After breakfast, we gathered in the living area of the condo to share with the kids a special tradition that we started a few years ago. We wanted the kids to know some history about the military service of their grandparents and great-grandparents. We gave them a gift, not because it was Christmas, but because they should know that others have served so that they won'at have to if they don't want to.
Our friend Frank Palmer of Honored Warriors Ranch created sets of dog tags for each of the kids to wear or display...
The next thing on the group agenda was to drive to Franklin, a quaint little tourist town, for a couple hours of walking around and shop-looking.
When we were finished in Franklin, we all drove back to Nashville for a family meal at The Manor, a world-famous family-style restaurant. It was all you could eat for as long as it took to eat it. Multiple conversations bounced around the table between mouthfuls, and by the time we were finished, we all thought they would have to bring in wheelchairs to haul us out. Good food and good times...what a day!!!
We stayed around the condo tonight to watch the little kids and start organizing our things for packing and leaving tomorrow morning. We did our best to keep inside only what we would need for tonight and clothes for tomorrow...the rest went into the car so we could get out early in the morning without waking anyone up.
It was a fun time with all of us being together for a couple of days, especially since it had been several years since we had all been together, but it was also time to get back to real life.
We said our goodbyes to everyone when the got back to the condo and went upstairs to get some shut-eye.
++++++++
Saturday, December 29
We were out of the condo and on the highway early this morning, well before any of the others were awake. We drove about an hour to a small town just off the Interstate to have breakfast at a quaint little restaurant we had stopped at the other day.
Then it was back to I-40 and the straight shot to Memphis. Memphis traffic is always interesting, but it wasn't too bad by the time we got to the downtown area and across the Mississippi River.
The reason we left early this morning was to get to Hot Springs, Arkansas, a place we visited for the first time a year or so ago and have always wanted to see again. Also, I found out this week that my cooperating teacher from my student teaching days in 1965 was going to be in town this weekend (he lives there, but spends quite a bit of time on the road), and we were going to get to visit.
We also wanted to get downtown to see some of the sights we had missed on the last trip, but by the time we got to the hotel and checked in, it was cold, windy, and rainy. We opted instead to go down the road a bit, have lunch at a seafood restaurant, and then go back to the hotel to rest until the evening.
Tonight we met Earl and Jean at a Mexican food place in town. As I said earlier, Earl Hesse was my cooperating teacher at the newly opened Goddard High School in Roswell, New Mexico when I did my student teaching during the Fall semester in 1965. I went into the Air Force as soon as I graduated the next Spring, but the lessons Earl taught me were invaluable when I started teaching in 1970, and I have always been grateful to Earl for that.
While Barbara and Jean got acquainted, Earl and I shared memories and funny (for us, anyway) stories from many years ago, just as if we were talking about something from last week. The great thing about Earl Hesse is that if you are his friend, you are his friend for life, and it doesn't matter if you haven't seen each other in two months, two years, or twenty years; the time falls away and the friendship grows stronger.
++++++++
Sunday, December 30
We were up and out of Hot Springs even before Dark-Thirty this morning in order to get home as soon as possible. When we got to the house around noon, we quickly unpacked the car, threw everything in the spare bedroom, and then I got cleaned up and put on my uniform to go sound Taps for our dear friend Boyd Gilbreath, who had passed away a couple of days ago from cancer.
We first stopped at the funeral home in Quitman to pay our respects to the family, and then headed to the cemetery so I could get with the honor guard and nail down the specifics of how the military honors would be presented.
It was a cloudy, cold, and drizzly afternoon, but the graveside service was beautiful and the elements of military honors went perfectly as we remembered a friend who was a decorated hero of the Korean War.
Following the service at the cemetery, we drove on to the church at Yantis to join fellow members in a 90th birthday celebration for Mildred Nichols, who refers to us as Picture Lady and Bugle Man.
And then it was time to get back to Mineola and settle down for a quiet evening at home. The travel and visits were wonderful experiences and we wouldn't trade for them, but as Dorothy said in The Wizard of Oz, "There's no place like home!"
++++++++
Monday, December 31
New Year's Eve
Today was a day of unpacking, washing, putting everything back in place, and getting the house squared away.
Our New Year's Eve celebration has become a very small one over the years. We made our traditional phone calls to Gary and Joyce Whitaker, Barbara's friends for many, many years (and mine for 24 years), and Max Johnson, a band friend from my junior high school days in Artesia, New Mexico.
We then watched some TV and, for added measure this year, didn't go to bed until the firecrackers started going off at midnight.
++++++++
ADDENDUM
We've been at this journal business for 12 1/2 years now, and it has become tradition to post some form of addendum to the end of the June and December editions to recap highlights of the previous six months. Since almost everything significant in the journal has already been posted on Facebook, the importance of the addendum has been somewhat diminished.
That being said, and everyone who knows us knows that we always have something else to say, we'd like to point out to those who might not have noticed that there has been a proliferation of Peanuts characters memes inserted in the journal/blog posts during the past year.
Son Jimmy Clint Colwell, who passed away December 5, 2010 at the age of 39, was a great fan of the Peanuts characters and cartoons, so to keep his memory alive in these writings about our retirement life, we've included his favorite characters as part of our journey. It's our nod to a family member who has gone ahead of us and is now with those other family members who have also gone ahead. We'll see them all again someday, but for now we have Charlie Brown and his friends and family.
Happy New Year to all...may 2019 be the best one ever!
Jim & Barbara Little
Mineola, Texas
December 31, 2018
