Awake: 8:03am Temp 23 sleep 7+54 snowing overnight @ Nicktown.
Merry Christmas to all of you out there somewhere. After a small breakfast, K & I motored to Indiana & joined the Foote family @ a church that was serving free meals to anyone who wanted to come, hoping to serve especially the poor & needy.
Melissa, Kevin & family helped serve hot meals @ this church last yr & Kathy wanted to serve with them this Christmas. We arrived about (20) min after the Foote family & already Melissa had herself & Matthew set up to serve coffee, juice & water.
Unfortunately, there were not many customers & nothing for Kathy & me to do. I was reluctant to be involved in this project to begin with & felt guilty eating a dinner without doing any sizeable work to earn such a treat. Though about a half dozen or so families did come & eat, most of the tables were empty save for the Foote family & us.
After the Foote boys ate a smidgeon of good food, (only Matthew ate well), they moved on to the playroom with a few other tots their age & the room was loaded with different toys & interesting things to do.
K & I met Pastor Jim & he brought us up-to-date on his church & how slow & tough it is to increase his membership. Melissa did her best to look busy & help the few visitors with their drinks, etc., but she did admit that they will not do this again at this church next Christmas.
The present workers were quite capable of doing their jobs & didn't need or want any outside help.
From here, we motored to the Foote Castle to spend the remainder of the day with the Foote family. The Foote boys were so dressed up; I just had to have a photo.
We were somewhat disappointed this Christmas that our family would be separated due to geographic locations. But, Kathy & Nick talked a few times on Skype & arranged for us to bring her Apple computer to the Foote house so we could at least see & talk on Christmas evening.
Meanwhile, around 4:00pm, we watched the Foote boys open their presents & start playing with said presents. Orchard Harvest game (very good). A few Lego kits; (very good). More Brio parts to construct more track layouts.(very good), etc.
About 4:25pm, my sister Corinne arrived from Pittsburgh to join in the fun of Christmas.
So we chatted with her, read books with the boys, played games & whiled away the evening, anxiously waiting for Skype time to see & talk with our West Coast Family.
I think the target time was @ 8:00pm Eastern time. Kathy set up her Apple computer on the chest in the living room which is located just to the right of the front door. Kevin even made a cell phone call & Nick told him they were out walking & would be ready in about 20 min.
So, Kathy was at the computer waiting for the Skype call to come thru, when the front door opened & in walked Nick, Eriko with Momo, Jerry, & Katrina. What an exciting, memorable surprise!! We were not at all suspicious that they were coming in. Nick prided himself on never lying just not saying the full truth.
Eriko with Jerry & Matthew
and our Katrina.
and Jerry.
We learned that the kids started planning this when they were in PA for my surprise birthday in Aug. & in 4 months none of our kids gave any hint, nor did Corinne & Don who also knew.
We don't know how our kids & my sibs learned the Art of Deception, but this kind of trick we could readily accept!
Zack, who was visiting with his fiancé's (Katie) family in the Chicago area, called earlier & we all took turns talking with him. He gave no indication of his siblings coming to PA.
The arrival of Nick & family & Katrina added a most joyous spirit to our Christmas. Now, at least (3) of our (4) kids were with us.
Nick & Kathy discussed how we would have to accept Zack not being here since he was now engaged & felt an obligation to be with his future in-laws. Nick did call Zack & suggested that we all Skype with him at Katie's but Nick reported that Zack was too tired.
Many thanks to Melissa & Kevin for once more hosting the family & subjecting themselves to the chaos & lack of sleep! Accept for Zack & Katie's absence, we had a perfect ending to an enjoyable day & went back to the MH counting our blessings.
Lights out: 12:17am.
Merry Christmas to all of you out there somewhere. After a small breakfast, K & I motored to Indiana & joined the Foote family @ a church that was serving free meals to anyone who wanted to come, hoping to serve especially the poor & needy.
Melissa, Kevin & family helped serve hot meals @ this church last yr & Kathy wanted to serve with them this Christmas. We arrived about (20) min after the Foote family & already Melissa had herself & Matthew set up to serve coffee, juice & water.
Unfortunately, there were not many customers & nothing for Kathy & me to do. I was reluctant to be involved in this project to begin with & felt guilty eating a dinner without doing any sizeable work to earn such a treat. Though about a half dozen or so families did come & eat, most of the tables were empty save for the Foote family & us.
After the Foote boys ate a smidgeon of good food, (only Matthew ate well), they moved on to the playroom with a few other tots their age & the room was loaded with different toys & interesting things to do.
K & I met Pastor Jim & he brought us up-to-date on his church & how slow & tough it is to increase his membership. Melissa did her best to look busy & help the few visitors with their drinks, etc., but she did admit that they will not do this again at this church next Christmas. The present workers were quite capable of doing their jobs & didn't need or want any outside help.
From here, we motored to the Foote Castle to spend the remainder of the day with the Foote family. The Foote boys were so dressed up; I just had to have a photo.
We were somewhat disappointed this Christmas that our family would be separated due to geographic locations. But, Kathy & Nick talked a few times on Skype & arranged for us to bring her Apple computer to the Foote house so we could at least see & talk on Christmas evening. Meanwhile, around 4:00pm, we watched the Foote boys open their presents & start playing with said presents. Orchard Harvest game (very good). A few Lego kits; (very good). More Brio parts to construct more track layouts.(very good), etc.
About 4:25pm, my sister Corinne arrived from Pittsburgh to join in the fun of Christmas.
So we chatted with her, read books with the boys, played games & whiled away the evening, anxiously waiting for Skype time to see & talk with our West Coast Family.
I think the target time was @ 8:00pm Eastern time. Kathy set up her Apple computer on the chest in the living room which is located just to the right of the front door. Kevin even made a cell phone call & Nick told him they were out walking & would be ready in about 20 min. So, Kathy was at the computer waiting for the Skype call to come thru, when the front door opened & in walked Nick, Eriko with Momo, Jerry, & Katrina. What an exciting, memorable surprise!! We were not at all suspicious that they were coming in. Nick prided himself on never lying just not saying the full truth.
Eriko with Jerry & Matthew
and our Katrina.
and Jerry.
We learned that the kids started planning this when they were in PA for my surprise birthday in Aug. & in 4 months none of our kids gave any hint, nor did Corinne & Don who also knew. We don't know how our kids & my sibs learned the Art of Deception, but this kind of trick we could readily accept!
Zack, who was visiting with his fiancé's (Katie) family in the Chicago area, called earlier & we all took turns talking with him. He gave no indication of his siblings coming to PA.
The arrival of Nick & family & Katrina added a most joyous spirit to our Christmas. Now, at least (3) of our (4) kids were with us.
Nick & Kathy discussed how we would have to accept Zack not being here since he was now engaged & felt an obligation to be with his future in-laws. Nick did call Zack & suggested that we all Skype with him at Katie's but Nick reported that Zack was too tired.
Many thanks to Melissa & Kevin for once more hosting the family & subjecting themselves to the chaos & lack of sleep! Accept for Zack & Katie's absence, we had a perfect ending to an enjoyable day & went back to the MH counting our blessings.
Lights out: 12:17am.
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