Thursday, December 31 – South Padre Island

 

Today we went to the beach, we left at 10:30 am and drove 3 trucks to South Pardre. There was Jesse and I riding with Roger and Joyce. Roger and Rene rode with Ed and Marilyn and Kathy and Elgin rode with Carl and Linda.

Our 1st stop was Dirty Al’s for lunch.

We all had a good lunch and enjoyed the company very much. We walked around the pier area to get some pictures of the birds.

We all got back into the trucks and headed to the beach. It was a beautiful day sunny and about 75 degrees. Roger did not have 4 wheel drive, so we decided to sit in the back of the trucks to go on the beach.

It was great fun riding in the back on the beach. We could wave to everyone and they waved back. We stopped to walk around and I got some pictures.

Roger & Joyce

Ed (the birthday boy) and Marilyn

Kathy and Elgin

Ed and Carl

Jesse and I

We sat for awhile before leaving the beach. We stopped at the fish market to purchase shrimp, various fish and scallops.

When we returned to the Resort we walked the boys and fed them. Then we walked down to Roger and Joyce’s to enjoy the continued sunshine and have a drink. After all it was happy hour.

We were joined by some neighbors. I don’t remember Trixie parents names, but the were very nice as was Trixie

Roger let Heidi out to say hello to Trixie. I love the fact that Heidi always looks like she is smiling.

As soon as the sun went down it started to cool off and the bugs were biting, so we all scattered to our homes.

I hope everyone has a safe, happy and healthy New Years!

 

December 31 – Happy Birthday Ed!

 

 

Wednesday, December 30 – Guys and Gals Day Out

 

After their walk and coffee at home Jesse, Ed, Roger, Heinz, Gilbert and Carl went on a “Guys” day out. They chose to go over to Mexico. They went in two trucks.

From their stories telling later in the day they had a good time. They had margaritas and beer, manicure, pedicures(this was a “Guys day out”) and lunch.  For the details of their adventure go to Ed’s blog. 

As they retold the stories from their day, they were deciding on where to go next Wednesday when they have another guys day out.

Gals day out was Marilyn, Joyce and I. I drove because neither gal is comfortable driving their trucks. We were heading to McAllen mall.

Our first stop was Michaels for thread, then Bed Bath and Beyond,where I bought a bread maker. When we had dinner over at Jan’s a few weeks ago she made homemade bread and it was so good that we decided we wanted to get one.

I am going to get rid of my big mixer master to make room for it. (I haven't used it since we started full timing) and I have a hand mixer.

Then we walked the mall. We went into a few stores. Marilyn bought a belt.

We were hungry and it was lunch time so we headed to the food court. Chick-fil-A was our lunch choice, so we all ordered and sat down to enjoy the food.

Refreshed and renewed with our bellies full, we continued to walk the mall. Our next stop was Bath and Body Works where Marilyn and I stocked up on good smelly things.

We left the mall and went to HEB Plus. This was my first trip to a plus HEB. I was not so impressed, but they said the one on the other side of the highway was much nicer. We all made a few purchases before heading home.

When we entered the mall it was cloudy and cool, but we came out to SUNSHINE and warmer temps.

When we got home we found the guys sitting out in the sun having cocktails. They invited us to join them, and before we knew it we had almost the whole gang there enjoying the sun.

We had some conversation about a different adventure for next winter. We all need to look into it more, so I won’t say where yet.

As soon as the sun went down it started to become cool, so we all said goodnight and went home.

I fed the boys and made Jesse and I a salad for dinner. We watched TV and computered for the remainder of the evening.

Tuesday, December 29 – 3 D Movie

 

Today Jesse walked with the guys and when he returned Marilyn and I walked. It was quite cool at 54 degrees and cloudy. It even started to mist towards the end of our walk.

Well, the weather never got any better as it rained all day and stayed cool.

We didn’t care because the plan was to go to see Avatar 3D movie. There were 17 of us total. We Ed and Marilyn  and Jesse and I drove to Mission to Tinsletown.  Because they thought it would be crowded we left extra early. We arrived 1 hour before the movie started and had to stand in line, however we were the 1st ones in the theater when they allowed us to be seated, so Jesse was able to pick his seat. He did so and danced in the isle.

I noticed that the guy sitting next to Jesse looked familiar, but as soon as I saw his wife I knew it was Greg and Barb Jones. I found their blog when Jo and Fred Wishnie sent a link on their blog to them. I knew they were in the Valley because I saw a comment that they wrote on Facebook.

We really didn’t have a chance to visit, but maybe we can get together for lunch one of these days.

Anyway the movie was very long and the special effects were wonderful. The story line was predictable and most of our group enjoyed it.

We all met at Lin’s Chinese Buffet after the movie for dinner and we enjoyed that very much…A little too much!

We are home now and it is still raining so we will just hunker down for the evening.

Monday, December 28 – Decorations put away

 

Sunday

Jesse and I went to the grocery store and to the office supply store. Other then that we just hung out inside.

Monday

We went to breakfast with E&M and Roger and Joyce at Mingo’s. We enjoyed the conversation and then home again.

Jesse had brought in my craft things for me to unload in my wicker storage tables and I also took down the decorations.

Jesse went over to Ed for awhile to help with the computer. I took the boys to the dog park for some exercise.

I had made chicken chili for dinner yesterday and we had leftovers today.

Nothing too exciting!

Hugs

Saturday, December 26 – A Lazy Day

 

Today Marilyn, Joyce and I were to walk after the guys returned from their walk. However it was misty when they returned, so it was decided not to walk.

It stayed very cool, low 50’s, and wet most of the day. I spent the morning getting caught up on reading blogs and emails.

I also got the kitchen straighten and did several loads of laundry.

Jesse went to HEB to rent some $1.00 movies for us to watch today.

One was Harry Potter which I am not too interested in. I was on the computer while he watched the movie.

We had leftovers for dinner, it amazing how good they taste sometime.

I never went out of the rig today and Jesse only went out to get the movies and walk the boys. It was wet all day.

Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow.

Thursday-Friday, December 24 & 25 – Christmas Celebrations

 

 

Here I am playing catch-up again.

I am starting with our 2nd annual gathering of our RV family at Christmas Eve brunch at Pat and Dan’s. Everyone brought a dish or two to share and we ate all the really tasty food.

There were scramble eggs, scones, potatoes, quiche, fresh fruit, sausage, French toast, mimosas, desserts and other goodies too numerous to remember.

After all the good food was eaten we sat and visited for a while before doing the gift exchange.

Each couple had drawn a name earlier and were to purchase a gift for that couple with a $10 limit. You were not to tell anyone who's name you drew until today. Because I had on a Santa hat they decided I was to give out the gifts. So one at a time the wives opened the gift for the couple.

It was lots of fun and some really nice gifts.

Jesse and I overloaded with food came home and just did almost nothing for the rest of the day.

Christmas Day

It started with coffee while we watched the boys open their stockings.

Of course we would love to be with our families during the holiday’s, but today was spent with our very good and loving friends Ed and Marilyn. We talked with all our family members throughout the day to wish them

Merry Christmas

Marilyn and I decided to make dinner for the 4 of us and she was our hostess. She set a beautiful table.

We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, gravy, cranberries, fruit salad, waldorf salad, green beans and wine. I made a pineapple upside down cake for dessert.

Everything was so good and made even better because we were sharing with these good people.

After dinner the guys played with Ed’s new toys, a bug zapper and a infra-red thermometer while Marilyn and I got the food put away and dishes done.

Then it was time for a game of double domino. It was lots of fun and I won which made it even more fun!

Then it was time for dessert and football, which I am not too interested in the latter. So we stayed for just a little before packing up and going home. Back at the house we watched a movie on TV and then off to bed.

It was a very nice way to spend the holidays with food, fun, laughter and good friends.

Hugs and God Bless!

Wednesday, December 23 – Back in RGV

 

 

I arrived back in the RGV with Jesse and the boys last night. My flight was very bumpy into Harlingen, but we made it safely.

I really enjoyed my visit in Baltimore. It started snowing on Friday night about 10pm and snowed until Saturday night until 10pm. There was about 20 inches of the beautiful white stuff.

 

It was good to see the family and Kelsey’s party was very nice. Because of the weather there were not as many people as expected, but we had a good time.

                       Setting up                                                The Cake                         Kelsey  & Debbie

                     

                    Debbie & Gene                              Blowing out the candles                 Caked by Jason

 

Brian, Shannon and the girls surprised Kelsey and showed up with a baby lamb

The lamb’s Mom wouldn’t feed her so they are nursing her with a bottle. They keep her in a baby travel crib.

Jesse had the rig all spic and span when I came home and I really appreciated that. We met Ed and Marilyn, Roger and Joyce at Mingo’s for breakfast. It was great to be back with our RV family.

After, Jesse and I went to the store to pick up a few items I still needed to prepare for our Christmas Eve brunch.

I did 5 loads of laundry and hung them on the line to dry. It was 80 degrees and windy to day.

In the afternoon we walked down to E&M’s and enjoyed a drink with Roger, Joyce, Carl and Gilbert. Then E&M and Jesse and I bowled a game on the WII. Ed won I lost, but we had fun.

Jesse and I came home fed the boys and I made us dinner. I made tilapia, salad, vegetables and apple sauce.

I am now going to just relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Hugs!!