Update for 12-29-06

It has certainly been a long time since we "blogged". This is a great time of the year but also a busy and hectic one. We were very blessed to have all with us for Christmas except Michael's family who were in CA. We had our Christmas on the 23rd as Kirk (Cassie's husband) who is a minister, had to work on Christmas eve when we often get together. We had a wonderful day with a great meal and opening the presents. I cooked the usual Beef Wellington for those who were not doing vegan. Christmas eve which was Sunday, we had two church services. One at 9:30 (the usual one) and a Christmas service at 6:00 p.m. Kevin and I sang O Holy Night together at the evening service. On Christmas day we all went over to Cassie's who served some special appetizers and a great meal. We had a great time and it was nice to be at her home.

As for many of you, Christmas is a very special time for our family. When I was diagnosed on July 26th, I wondered if I would even be here this Christmas. I was not only here, I had a couple of days where I felt really great. The last few days I have not felt that well but overall good. Just a queasy stomach. We are starting to get geared up to go to Bonaire ( a small island in the southern Carribean near Aruba). We will leave on January 9th and are planning on returning on April 11th. Bonaire is a very laid-back island with no traffic lights and only 11,000 people. World class scuba diving which is why we go there. We have many friends who live on the island and more that we have met who vacation there while we are there.

We will have a pretty quiet New Year's Eve at the neighbor's and like many, I will probably spend much of New Years Day watching football. We wish you a healthy and joyous New Year!

Joe