A Christmas Surprise!!!!

We had a great Christmas Surprise this year!! I probably should wait and put it at the end of the blog but I can't wait to tell everybody. DAWN IS GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER BABY IN JULY 2009!!! We are all excited and already getting ready for the new baby. Sean is going to be 3 years old in February so he will be a big brother at about three and a half.

BEFORE: This is the picture taken by David, Dawn's husband in front of the tree before he said "Everybody say (instead of cheese) "Dawn is pregnant"

AFTER: This is the picture of the reaction. Notice how Dawn becomes the center of attention taking the attention off my open mouth.
We always celebrate on Christmas Eve at our house and we had a great time again. Everybody got fine gifts but Caleb got a very special gift. You may have read in my blog earlier this year that Caleb caught a 2 lb Bass all by himself, picking out his own bait and everything. Well, Donald had it mounted and gave it to him. He was so proud of it and we were all proud for him.

Caleb and his first Bass!!

The pictures below are random pictures taken Christmas Eve. I hope you enjoy them.

The Jones (Donald, Caleb, Kim)

The Abercrombies (David, Sean, Dawn)

Caleb and Sean (Boys will be boys)

Jimmy and Dawn

Sean opening his stocking

Caleb (helping Sean with his play-dough) and Dawn

Dawn, Kim and Crystal with Jimmy's mother (Nanny)

Happy Birthday Kim!!

Caleb helps Kim blow out the candles on her cake. The only candles we had was a "3" and a "5" so we added three extra candles to make 38.

Celebrating Kim's birthday always brings back memories of taking her home from the hospital on Christmas Day in 1970. Well I guess her age is no secret any more. Kim's birthday is the 22nd of December but Dawn did not get to Augusta until the 23rd so we celebrated it on that day. Kim had to work so she just came over after work and we had pizza and I baked a pineapple upside down cake.

From left to right we have Dawn, Crystal, Kim (with Sean at the table), Donald, (with Caleb in the red shirt)

Valencia Lakes

Valencia Lakes is the place Jimmy's brother, Sonny, and his wife, Mercedes, live. It really is a great place to live. They have just about everything you could want right on the property of Valencia Lakes. Sonny and Mercedes have a lovely home and are able to take advantage of the amenities on the property like the full gym, sauna, jacuzzi, and swimming pool. They also have several clubs like fishing club, bowling club, cooking club, etc. Florida really knows how do put together "retirement communities" like no other state. Then there is the sunshine....it is almost the middle of December and it will be 75 degrees today.

Mercedes cooked a large pan of Paella for us. It sure was good and we ate almost all of it for lunch. Paella is a Spanish dish made with yellow rice, chicken, and many different types of seafood. Mercedes did a great job!

Mercedes did the cooking.....

....and Sonny opened the wine.

After lunch we all went over to the Club House and learned how to play "Pickle Ball"....yes, there is such a game as "Pickle Ball". It is played similar to tennis but with a smaller court and different rules.

Mecerdes and I played Jimmy and Sonny. We thought we were pretty good but we lost the game 11 to 2. I think it was our serve that cost us the game.

After "Pickle Ball" we went back to their house and then back to Ocala. We really enjoyed our visit and plan to return again.

Thanksgiving

I guess it is appropriate that the first picture is of Dawn and Sean saying "Thanks" in sign language for the cookies that Kim made for us to eat while we cooked. They were Pumpkin Cookies and they were great.

Dawn and I really had a nice easy Thanksgiving. We fixed most things the day before like the Pecan Pie and the Pink Salad. Of course our pride and joy was the cookies and the cupcakes shown below. Sean wanted one of those "baby turkeys" to eat all day but we made him wait until Thanksgiving.

Cupcakes and Cookies

Sean is lucky to have three sets of grandparents. Three grandmothers....

....and three grandfathers!
Of course we had too much food!! That always happens on Thanksgiving and all of it was really great, but...a picture is worth a thousand words.

FOOD BEFORE........

....FOOD AFTER!!

And Sean finally got to eat his "baby turkey"

Dawn has a sign over her front door so that it is the last thing you see when leaving the house and I think it is very appropriate to end this Thanksgiving blog.

Cruise to the Bahamas!!

Jim and I went on a four day cruise to the Bahamas. We left on 26 October and returned on 30 October, with stops in Freeport and Nassau. I want to show you some great pictures I took, it was so beautiful!!

This is the beach where "Pirates of the Caribbean" was filmed. It is just perfect!!

While in Freeport we got the most delicious frozen drink, with Mango, Pineapple, and Strawberry flavors from the lady pictured below.

These are things we did not buy in Freeport. They are all beautiful but you can't buy everything.

Then we went to Nassau!!

Nassau is the most populated island in the Bahamas. It is called the "New York of the Bahamas". Nassau is also the home of "Atlantis" which is a very upscale resort, water park, hotel, and casino.

This picture of Atlantis was taken from the ship. We took a trip to the casino that evening. It was just like being in Las Vegas.

I think the most fun we had was on the "Segway Tour". We got about 15 minutes to learn how to "drive" the Segway and then away we went into the forest for a great ride. We went up and down small hills and through miles of trails. I don't know how much they cost but I sure would like to buy one.

This is our "Segway" instructor. She has lived her whole life in Nassau. She was so nice and funny.

This is me and Jimmy after we became "ONE-WITH-THE-SEGWAY". They will go up to 12 miles per hour and are really fun!!

Of course I have to show you the "towel animals" we got every night in out cabin. They are so cute and I even purchased a book to show me how to do them.




"Walrus"








"Elephant"

"Dog"










Not sure, "Waterhorse" maybe?




Some things we saw but did not buy on Bay Street.


Boy, you really have to want a fish head real bad to pay $150 for it. I did not want one that bad.

But.....I have saved the best for last......I won the $500 BINGO game and it paid for all of our on-board expenses except for $28. If I had stayed away from the slot machines they would have had to pay us to get off the ship.

Who is the queen of the small picture frame??

Happy Birthday Crystal!!

Crystal will be 23 years old on the 8th of October. I really can't believe she is that old but she is in her last year of school to become a teacher. She will be a great teacher and good teachers are so important to the generation coming up today. We got together on Sunday to celebrate because she has school all week and won't have time. She still works teaching gymnastics and had to go to work this afternoon.

Just the girls, Kim, Crystal, me, and Denise (Donald's twin sister)

Caleb, Crystal, and Donald.

Crystal and Caleb