The Story of Christmas 2015

 The story of Christmas 2015 started out like this...

With a happy pose by the fireplace. 

Little did we know that a dark cloud was on the way...

 Emergency room 3 days later at 11pm. 

Our stay lasted until approximately 4am.

Flu. The big bad flu.

 So it was Merry time and we were in the house. 

GHW in the bed, down for the count. 

Poor guy. We missed Christmas. 

And for a person who works at a church, you have to be really sick to miss Christmas. 

 GHW was down for approximately 6 days and after that..

We experienced a few outings by car in the neighborhood.

AND....

Found our favorite house in the neighborhood, with the exception of ours, naturally. 

 

 Then something else really awful happened. 

Somebody tried to poison our neighborhood Brown Dog. 

Other dogs ate the poison instead. Just awful. 

The neighbors are out in full force trying to find the perp. 

 Rest easy. Handsome survived the whole thing with minimal disruption.

Food on time. Pets on time. Head scrathes, snacks, all on time. 

A few days later, GHW decided he was well enough for us to make the trek to Kansas. 

The little neighborhood car trips determined he wouldn't get car sick or something of that nature. 

So we loaded up in the big ol' car and went west. 

I hadn't been home for a little over a year so time it was to go. 

 Driving through Arkansas is really something.

I think the state gets a bad wrap but it really is lovely.

Very beautiful while passing through. 

 And oh yes.  Handsome came too. 

Cat in the car.

 Santa (and the powers that be) brought us cheap(er) gas for the trip. 

Always an added bonus. 

And at last, after the 9+ hour drive, we are at home. 

The home team. 

Patrick, Dad, Mom

Our usual trip that begins on Boxing Day, turned into a trip that was more of a New Year's trip. 

This year started out with a bit of an edge, hopefully good things to come. 

2014 brought many good things of note...

1. the second, third, and fourth semesters of doctoral work

2. another successful year at WKNO

3. a graduate assistant-ship at U of M

4. lots of music making at #dwh2 from my 40+ little students

5. progress on updating #dwh2

6. we actually closed on #dwh2 - lease purchase complete

7. july in New York City (LOVED THAT)

8. a trip to O Canada for Andy and Julie's wedding

9. trip to Destin, FL to our very favorite spot

10. GHW as an adjunct at Memphis Theological Seminary and U of M

11. new friends/old friends

Lots more, the list should never have an end.

Here's to 2015. Hopefully the best yet.