Grand Bahamas

Today we are in the Grand Bahamas soaking in the sun.

It’s hard to believe it is Christmas Eve.  They play Christmas music but it’s definitely a blue and green Christmas!

Nassau

We went to a private beach today by a shuttle boat.  It was pretty windy but a nice ride past the Atlantis Hotel and many other expensive homes.

Once there we walked and checked out the dolphins and sea lions.  There are so smart.

We then took our time to swim with the dolphins…pictures to follow in the coming days.

The princess was at her beach enjoying coconut water.

What a beautiful day!

Getting Ready to Board

This morning the weather was beautiful in Fort Lauderdale.  We took a very relaxing start.  We enjoyed our breakfast at the hotel and coffee by the pool.  We had mentioned to Sarah about seeing a coconut and so she wanted to go on a walking tour.  It turned into a bird exploration with Sarah picking up many new songs.  As we rounded the corner to see the coconut, we saw a bird feeder with beautiful green birds.  It turned out that they were Monk Parakeets. It was a good start to our warm Christmas holiday.

We arrived at the port and got through the initial steps and than there was some issue with the next step so we sat and waited with some patient and not so patient travellers.

And we made it!

The food on the first day was great.

Just Getting There…

Today was the day of just getting to Florida.  We drove to the Park and Fly from the hotel in Toronto and parked our car.  It was a little snowy and felt cold as we waited for the bus to take us to the airport.  I threw my coat into the suitcase before we checked it.  We walked through security.  The line wasn’t too bad.  We then got to Customs and it was pretty good too.  I think we may be just ahead of the holiday rush of travellers.

We boarded the plane and a few rows behind us a disturbance was brewing.  Apparently a child was kicking the back of a seat.  The mother was trying to get them to stop but the “big child” in front was wanting the flight attendants to take care of the child.  The volume got a little louder until the flight attendant asked the complainer to move to the seat in the middle and then he asked him if we could continue with the flight without any other incidents.  All was quiet for the rest of the flight.

We landed in Fort Lauderdale and the weather was rainy and warm.  We took a shuttle to the hotel.  Ron and I went for a walk and saw a “snowman” in Florida.  

There were other things that seem to be make more sense…palm trees.  

You should be careful when you walk under them….

We saw a house with beautiful poinsettias at the front door.  Mine are doing well in the house but here they flourish in the humid weather.

I asked Sarah how her Christmas vacation was going so far…

Made it to Toronto

We started our morning in Tamworth and went to the “Big Breakfast” at the Legion.  Sarah stayed tucked in her bed.  Once we were able to drag her from under her warm blankets, we headed to Napanee.  Sarah visited with Nana and Papa while Ron and I went to a funeral.  A good friend’s mom had passed away.  Even though it was a sad occasion for Al, it was very nice to see Al and Donna’s kids.  They all had spent a lot of time at our house when our kids were young.

We picked up Sarah and got on the 401.  As we approached Brighton Sarah asked for a stop and so we pulled off at the Big Apple.  It had been years since we had stopped here and so we spent some time looking around and Sarah just had to get a Beavertail, which she shared with grandpa.

The Big Apple specializes in apple products (of course) and so an apple cider was a must for Ron.  The production line of pie making interested me.

As we walked out I took a picture of the sign of the many locations.

Nassau, here we come!

Christmas

We have just finished the busy Christmas season.  You may say…well it isn’t even Christmas yet and you would be right!

Let’s step back and get caught up.  I started working (temporarily) as the church secretary at the end of September.  That has kept me very busy.  I probably started at the busiest time of the year with Christmas right around the corner.

It was a learning curve of new programs, deadlines and due dates but so far I’m doing it with mostly a smile on my face.

Then came the Christmas banquet.  Pam and I were in charge of the entertainment and there were lots of other administrative duties behind the scenes.  I had been so tired by the time that it was over that I got sick with a cold.  It seemed to linger on as I continued to work.  Unfortunately I also shared it with Ron and Sarah.

Next came our 50 Plus Christmas event with Gary and Denise singing.  It was a nice event but enough to make me have a relapse of the sickness.  I kept going.

Sarah recovered just in time to be a part of our church drama.  She did such a great job.  She is a talented girl.

Last Sunday, was another enjoyable Christmas program held at the little church in Tamworth.  It was nice to just walk behind the house and enjoy a presentation from the Wesleyan church.  We could just sit and enjoy the music.

This week I worked hard to get things done at the church.  Sarah got caught up at school.  Wednesday night we enjoyed another Christmas program by the Cornerstone Christian Academy.  They did an amazing job.

And now…Saturday morning and we are packed and in the car.  We are off to Toronto to begin our Christmas holiday.  Stay tuned…

She meant so Mutch to so Many

Growing up there were three families that spent a lot of time together….The Steele’s, the Lowry’s and the Mutch family.  There was snowmobiling and sledding in the winter to camping at the bay in the summer and many other activities through the year. In the center of the fun was one special lady and that was Reta Mutch.  She was the biggest kid at any event and encouraged everyone to have fun.

Taken from Reta’s Facebook page 

Growing up close by the Mutch clan, I never heard Reta get angry.  I’m sure her kids may have a different story but for me she was the lady that always had a smile.  I don’t know if I know of another person who loved life quite like Reta.  Over the past number of years, cancer attacked her body and she fought on.

From Reta’s Facebook 

On Thursday, her fight was over.  She said goodbye to this world and went to see her loved ones that had passed before he.  It was a hard day.  It felt like I had lost an important part of my past.

Today was a celebration of Reta’s life.  I sat amazed watching her children and grandchildren stand strong and share about this special lady in their family.

The message that was given is that Reta loved God first. Her family was next and the reason that she held so tightly to life was that she didn’t want to miss anything.  Tears came through the service but her son and grandson brought laughter too.  Reta would have liked that because Reta loved to laugh.

Reta, you will be missed.  

From Reta’s Facebook 

On Thursday, when Reta passed, a memory popped up on our Facebook page.  It was from 13 years ago.  Reta had commented on one of my posts.

I needed to see that right then….so Reta, I will try to keep laughing and dancing through the hard times.

Happy Turkey Day!

Earlier this week Ron received a call from friends at the Tweed church.  Their pastor was on holidays and the one that was supposed to fill in had fallen off a ladder and broke his leg.  The question to Ron was “could be take the service?”  So today, we were off to Tweed with a guitar and a sermon.

It was a beautiful day for a drive.  The leaves are still showing their brilliance.  Along the way we had to stop for some turkeys crossing the road.

 They moved slow as if to taunt us that they had escaped the roasting pan this Thanksgiving.  They flew up to the fence to stare at us as we drove on.

We arrived at the church and went in to get ready.  Ron and Tanya ran through some songs. 

We were so happy that Tanya could be with us.  She has a beautiful voice and a gentle spirit.  It was also nice to be there with some Napanee connections.   Gary is one of the board members at the church and he and I grew up on Robinson Street in Napanee.  He played drums during the service.

Janie, another Napanee girl back in the day was working in the sound booth to get the songs on the screen.

Donna (Tanya’s mom) and I were the groupies for the day.

It was a nice morning and as I ate my Turkey Stack sandwich from Tim Horton’s at lunch I thought about those turkeys staring me from their perch on the fence.

Happy Turkey Day!

Fallin’for Maple

To keep with the fall theme we went to the “Fallin’ for Maple” festival.  

We met Kevin and Pam there and did the walk around.  So many people came to this remote place into the woods.  It is always interesting to see how Tamworth can draw the crowds.

Soon we were joined by the rest of the clan and Sarah was happy.  Forty venders lined the area, selling their products.

The drawing point for many was the horse drawn wagon.  We purchased the tickets and stood in line.  The little guys were excited, waiting for their turn.  Finally, it was our turn.  We climbed in and found our seats.  

The questions started coming.  

“How come the cars are driving on the road that the horses are going on?”

“How come it smells like poop?”

“Did we bring snacks?”

And then there were questions from the bigger people…. “What’s the lines in the fields?”

I smiled and explained that it was the hoses that collect the sap.  This group needs to come back in the spring and experience the whole maple syrup experience.

After our “Fallin’ for Maple” time was done, our fall theme continued for the day.  Ron was off to sing at an “Applefest” and Sarah and I watched the Maple Leafs game.

Maple, apples and hockey…that’s fall for you!!