Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to each one of you.

We have joined the electronic age in sending our greeting this way instead of snail mail this year.

2009, our year in review:

It has been a sad year, but we have also been very blessed this year. The Lord is still in control.

Ted lost four siblings this year. Troy in January, Alvie in February, Geenita in March and Bill in December. He has two half sisters, Wanda & Betty, left in California.

In April Patsy’s ashes were brought back to Texas and laid to rest in the Hermleigh Cemetery beside Diane’s Uncle Otis. Their daughter Tisha and family made the trip out from Georgia for the family Memorial burial.

We were blessed to get to travel some this year. In February we took a short Carnival Cruise to Mexico. Not for sight seeing but just for the relaxing time on the ship. Diane said she needed some time to be waited on and not have any responsibilities . Ted decided a cruise was best option, got him off the hook of being the one to do the waiting on. LOL  Of course he also enjoyed being waited on during the trip.

May was a busy travel month. Diane made her annual weekend trip to Ruidoso, NM with the ladies of her Sunday School Class. Later in the month Ted and Diane went on a bus trip with the church to Glorietta and Santa Fe, NM. Diane also had that BIG birthday in May, she is now 65. Ted had his 66th birthday.

June and July were uneventful. Diane did reach her Weight Watcher goal and achieved life time member. Now the hard part. Keep the weight off. It is too easy to slip back into the old bad eating habits.

In August Ted was told that he had some vacation time built up at work and if he did not take it this year it would be lost. We had bought a new car in April, and decided this would be a good time to try it out on the road. We drove to Springfield, Ill. Stayed with Carolyn, a dear friend that we met online several years ago. She was the perfect hostess and showed us all of the sights in that area. We saw all of the Lincoln museums along with many other neat places. Diane even got to do some fishing in her pond and caught a big catfish. One the way home we met Charles and Karon (ex pastor here) in St Louis for lunch. Next stop was in MO at the home of Wil and Carol, another lady Diane has become friends with via the internet blog. They took a whole day out of their busy lives and drove us all over the area. We saw so much that we would never have found on our own thanks to these people, not to mention the fun we had visiting with them.

In September we took another tour with the church to Granbury Texas. Stayed in a neat bed and breakfast. We shopped, went to a live theater and even drove over to Dallas and toured the new Cowboy Stadium. It was very impressive. We took our car. Ted rode the church bus home and Diane took the car to Wylie to stay with Lana’s family while Lana recovered from Hernia surgery. It went well thanks to Lana’s preplanning and the calendar & lists she made for Diane so she could keep up with all 4 grandkids and their schedules.

We were able to fly to California in October and visit Ted’s sisters, along with Diane’s only remaining aunt, Tolly, and Ted's nephew, Jimmy and his wife. It was a very special visit even though the weather did not cooperate and they had one of the worst rain and wind storms in recent years while we were there. Because of that we lost one day of planned travel and did not get to drive on down to Bakersfield.

For Thanksgiving we went to Lana’s. It is much easier for the two of us to make that 350 mile trip than for them to come here with four young children. Tina and her family were there also. We celebrated Lelia Rose’s first birthday.

Christmas will be celebrated with Tina and her family here on the 23rd then they will go to Tracy’s family. We will drive to Wylie and spend the 25th with Lana’s family, provided the weather permits.

Those were the “big” events. We also keep busy dancing (our exercise program) and visiting with friends. Ted and I usually make 2 or 3 dances a week at various Senior Centers in the area. Sometimes it would be nice to skip and just stay home and relax, but we know that would become a habit too easy. Time for that when we are not physically able to go and do. Health wise we are still doing good. Mentally I am not so sure. I seem to be getting very forgetful. I got a iPod Touch as an early Christmas present. I am hoping the calendar keeps me on track a little better.

Grandchildren are growing up. Tina and Tracy still live in Lubbock. Their son Aaron is now 14 and goes to Lubbock High. He is in JrROTC this year and enjoys it. April is 12 and goes to Hutchinson Middle School. She has been involved in drama, music and acting this year. We enjoyed seeing several productions she was in. John and Lana live in the Dallas area. Their children are now 1, 6, 7 & 8. Lelia Rose, Elianna, Matthew and Charles. Charles enjoys sports, Elianna is in Girl Scouts this year, Matt is still interested in anything musical. Lelia Rose is a happy baby that enjoys everything.

Ted & Diane

Duke & Ruby2