CHRISTMAS IN PA

 On December 18 we went to a large Baptist church in Orlando and had a nice dinner and then saw their production of Singing Trees.

 Trees full of singers along with a nice musical about different memories of Christmas. It was a very well done production. Since we were already through Orlando we decided to head north after the show. We made it just to the Georgia line before stopping for the night.  By  Sunday morning we were sitting in our church in Lancaster for 10:00 service.

 We had a nice visit with Mystique and Eric. Of course we gave a noisy gift to Ashtyn for Christmas.We met them again the next day at Friendly's to celebrate Christmas with Eric's daughter Alivia.

 We were staying with Brian and Dorothy in their lovely old home. On Christmas Eve we had a little Christmas celebration when Mark, Danielle and her family stopped over. Chase has his foot in a cast because he broke his ankle wrestling at Thanksgiving.

 We had a fun gift swap and then a nice lasagna meal.

 Danielle and her three children, Calista, Kyla and Willie. It was nice meeting her oldest daughter. We then all went to a Christmas Eve service.

 A nice family picture in the parlor. Chase is sitting in the chair, Brady, Dorothy, Brian, Larry and me.

 I took this picture so Irina, Brady's girl friend could be in it. Also Chase has their new puppy on his lap. she is non stop movement as you can tell from the blur.

 On foggy Christmas morning we drove to Sharon Hill to celebrate Christmas with my sister and son. What  warm Christmas weather for Pennsylvania, I guess we took it up to them from Florida.

Lynda went to the butcher and had a scrumptious roast for our dinner. We had a very nice visit with all  our families and left at 7:00 Sunday night to drive home.
 Traffic was bad on I-95 in the Carolinas and our phone GPS gave us alternate routes a couple time. Unfortunately on Monday night we were on one of these alternate two lane road when a police car came straight at us, He was passing a line of traffic. It forced three of us off the road, We made it safely onto the onto the grassy shoulder, but the young girl in the car behind us went flying towards some trees. Luckily her car was stopped by the ditch full of water. She was not seriously injured but quit shaken up. We were glad we had On Star to call for help. We made it to our house Tuesday afternoon, and glad to be back home.

HOLIDAY FUN

A group of us went to the church on Wednesday evening for a  Thanksgiving dinner, On Thanksgiving I had two couples at the house for hors d'oeuvres. I had fun making a vegetable turkey platter and a cheese and meat turkey I found pictures for on facebook.

We got a new barbecue grill  and Larry had fun putting it together.

Then he worked on decorating the house.

The first weekend in December is Light up Clermont.  Saturday there was a good parade with

lots of dance groups, baton schools,

high school bands,

floats

and of course Mr and Mrs. Claus.

That afternoon there was a service of Lessons and Carols by the Montverde Academy Music conservatory at the Clermont  arts center.

The choirs performed beautifully and Ben Gulley, an American operatic tenor performed with them. It was a great way to begin the Christmas season.

 The library in Clermont had instrumental programs last Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday was three flutes that played lots of Christmas music and Thursday was Lori Jean Smith who is a very talented violinist. We enjoyed her enough to buy her CD.

 Saturday evening our Boomer Sunday school class had a Christmas party.  We had lots of good food with a lasagna, salad, bread and desserts.

 We all brought a white elephant gift creatively wrapped. We had fun opening and "stealing" them from each other.

The funniest gift was the dog crate that housed a nice stuffed puppy.

 Sunday was our HOA Christmas party. Ham and turkey was provided and we brought all the trimmings. All the food that was left over was given to the fire company when they arrived.

 I took a broccoli Christmas tree decorated with little tomatoes and a yellow pepper star.

 We all donated an unwrapped gift for a child.

 The fire truck came and we passed all the gifts to them and loaded the truck. The toys go to the children in Lake County that are in need.

 Going to see the music and light show at the Citrus Tower is a tradition we enjoy. This year they even had snow for the children.

 I have three small trees decorating the house this year. The snow flake tree by the front door,

 The Santa tree in the bedroom,

and the angel tree in the living room. I really enjoyed decorating the house for Christmas, some of the decorations I haven't had out for 10 years. We will be headed north in a few days to enjoy Christmas with the families in Pennsylvania. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.

KEEPING BUSY

 Our church had a health and wellness expo one morning so we stopped in. You registered when you went in for a door prize  Soon after we arrived my name was called for this cute bear and a gift card for Target. I also got my flu shot.

 The Clermont Community Center is pretty new but we never went to it last year.

 Last Saturday we went to see Menopause. It was a great show, very enjoyable and well done. Larry felt a little out numbered, for there were only about ten men at the show, but he liked the show .

 I saw this on facebook and I had to make one for Ashtyn and Alivia. A felt tree they can hang on the wall and have fun decorating. I enjoyed making it and it got me thinking about Christmas.

HOME ADDITIONS

 At Hudson's furniture store I found a lovely curio cabinet on sale It is perfect for some of the family antiques.

 I wanted to add a little color to this room so I'm back to painting

 Needed a dresser for the guest bedroom and found this on Greg's list.

 Also painted a wall in this room.

 Found that Goodwill is a great place to get pictures at a very cheap price.

 Even found a nice set of new silverware for only $5.00

 My picture from Maui is framed and now hanging in the bathroom.

We are getting settled into our house and enjoying making it our home.

CARS AND MORE CARS

 Close to Kalamazoo is the Gilmore Car Museum.

 The first car.

 A.J. Foyt race car.

 Buildings full of beautiful old cars.

 The Green Book was a guide book for blacks to know where they could get gas, food and lodging, since not every place would serve them until the 1964 Civil rights bill made it illegal to discriminate against customers.

 The Beach Boys Little Deuce Coupe. The actual car that was used on the cover of the album.

 A mustang.

 This museum covers acres with many buildings full of cars. There is even a functional diner and a gas station (not functional.)

 A building dedicated to the Hudson.

 A building of motorcycles.

 Even  a building full of those little peddle cars for children.

 The 1930 Rolls Royce used in Walt Disney movie the Gnome Mobile. ( We got the movie from Netflix and enjoyed watching it)

 The special effects mock up of the car. I am a gnome now.

 Milk truck

 fire truck

and even some old RV's.  So much to see and we even missed one building that was full of  miniature
items, and I was told it was the most fascinating and unusual exhibit.