Monday (P-day) late afternoon we gathered up our lovely friend, Ida, and treated ourselves to a trip to Charleston to visit the Christmas lights spectacular of Shore Acres. The weather was lovely. Not a cloud in the sky and an almost full moon, albeit, a bit cold….. okay, its December so what should I expect? We arrived in time to head down to the pavilion to watch the sun set into the ocean. From there it is a short walk to the Shore Acres garden. We were welcomed by a sweet volunteer who actually greeted us with “Merry Christmas”. Ida and I both gave her a big hug!! The gardens were ablaze with so many tiny lights! I did ask the volunteer how many lights she thought they used and her reply surprised me… she said 300,000 lights. I think she was way low in that estimation! There were a lot of lights! There were also several animated light displays….. A breeching whale, a spouting whale, some jumping frogs, a hummingbird, and some diving seals.
The Caretakers Cottage was so adorable! It was all festive with lights on the outside and so “Christmassy” with decorations on the inside. Upstairs we even caught Santa in the bathtub! Luckily, he was taking a big bubble bath. One of the two bedrooms upstairs had a teddy bear Christmas tree in the corner. Guess which Gramma Bear really liked that one. Downstairs in the parlor they were serving cookies and warm apple cider. This was a good night for warm apple cider.
I think my very favorite spot in the garden was the big pond which reflected the colorful lights in a display that was very dazzling. Of course, the picture does not do the scene the justice it deserves. It was so pretty. It was a wonderful evening. We had planned to take Ida to dinner on the way home but I think we tired her out with all the walking around the garden so we took her home. How about a rain check for the dinner? All these lovely Christmas lights just made me want to put Temple Square in Salt Lake on my bucket list. Someday I will get there to enjoy that incredible sight. Loved this one. It was a good night.
Tuesday we made phone calls and visits. Neana Bergeret is not doing well. Her back is really bad and she is going to a Surgeon on Thursday. Her apartment is a disaster! And her three dogs are so scroungy! Not sure how to help her but we will work on it. We got Connie Jones to commit to working at the Family History Library. I think that will be good for her. In the evening we did our work at the E.A.T. Program.
Wednesday late morning we headed for Medford as Elder Wels has not one, but 4 appointments tomorrow. Our little car had a 3:30 appointment today at the Ford dealer to get an oil change, a tire rotation, and some much needed new windshield wiper blades. Maybe even more important than all that… it got a bath!!!! Color my little Lincoln happy! We also made a stop at Harry and David to pick up some truffles to give to our friends here in Bandon. A little treat from the Rogue Valley for them. In the evening we got to go to dinner with our good friends, Byron & Nova, and Bob & Rita. They took us to Tim’s BBQ. That was some yummy spicy stuff! Afterwards we went to the Johnson’s to watch Seventeen Miracles. Wow! That was a real tear jerker! We have so much admiration for our pioneers! So enjoyed our good friends for the evening! We spent the night in the guest room of our own house. Should have felt weird, right? It did not. Gentry was so sweet and he is taking such good care of our house that at this time it feels like his house. Thanks Gentry!
Thursday morning I dropped Lee off at Dr. King’s and while he was getting his teeth cleaned, I was off to Bank of the Cascades to visit with my friend Peggy. She was one of my first supervisors at Valley of the Rogue Bank 25 years ago. So good to get a visit with her. She is counting down the days until her March 31st retirement date. Go Peggy! Then off to Dr. Tribblehorn so get a few spots on his old bod frozen. Other than that, a clean bill of health there. Next was the eye doctor. Yea, he still has good eye sight and no need for new glasses. Must be a missionary blessing. Thank you! Last appointment was with Robin McBee. Elder Wels’ COBRA Insurance is ending and we need an intrem health policy to tide us over till he can go on Medicare August 1st. All that accomplished, it was off to the Shumway’s for some fun!
Wendy and Stacy put together a most marvelous fahita dinner, with a little help from Cropper Medical’s newest employee, Miguel. Miguel put in lots of jalapenos! Warm stuff but so good! Such a fun evening for us and so good to be with family! The Skillmans entertained us with tales from their recent catamaran Thanksgiving adventure. Lots of great memories for them on that one! And we enjoyed the stories! Connor and Chloe are bronzed and beautiful from their fun in the sun. They are so cute! We got caught up a bit on the kiddles activities. Congrats Sheralyn on your 2 P.B.s! So I remember in my old age… that is Personal Bests in two swimming events. She is a fish! She will ony get better as the season continues. Go Sheralyn! We are going to miss the Littles piano recital so they sweetly gave me a little private recital. They are so good! Tanner grew yet another inch since we last saw him. He is over 6’2” now! Okay Tanner you can stop growing up now and start growing out! And nice to have newly baptized Nick with us too. He is just a part of our family now. “Favorite Day” was my favorite day! So sweet to hear my grandkiddles say they were happy to see G & G Bear. How blessed we are to have such a sweet family love us!
Friday morning it was last minute errands in Medford. A much needed stop at Food 4 Less for my gluten free bagels and bread. Prices for those are way too spendy in either Bandon or Coos Bay! And then a stop at Costco in Roseburg to refill some things. Bought a Costco broiled chicken. We also made a quick stop at Siskiyou RV for some thoughts on our trailer leak which is still plaguing us! Got home in time to go to a lovely Christmas dinner at the Stockford’s. The Sturtevants came too. Boy, dinner with the Branch President and the Stake President all at once. We were definitely on our best behavior! Marita is a wonderful cook and went way out of her way to make sure the whole dinner was gluten free, even dessert! Thank you so much! We had a lovely time sharing our favorite Christmas memories. Some funny and sweet stories there! And, they got to be the first families to whom we gave our Christmas message.
Saturday morning Elder Wels was again on the roof of our trailer trying to fix our leak. I think he has a handle on it now. But I guess we will have to give it some time to know for sure! While he was doing that I worked on Preach my Gospel and wrapped gifts for the branch. Then it was off to see some members. We stopped by Neana Bergeret’s and actually found her on her feet. That was a first! Her surgeon appt did not happen as she didn’t get approval for it yet. Maybe next week? But I did have good news for her in that I found someone who would wash and groom her dogs for her. Jill Stockford sweetly volunteered as she is trying to become a dog groomer. That is a good match up! Thanks Jill, Neana was happy to know her dogs would be groomed. Finally caught the Tuma’s at home and had a nice visit with them. They are newly baptized members who end up having to work at their jobs at Bandon Dunes on a lot of Sundays. They miss the little missionaries! We have found that a lot. Those boys were really loved and we are having a hard time stepping into their shoes.
Sunday was our first day to attend Church at the Port Orford branch. What a sweet and dedicated bunch of Saints there! Church was 3 very spiritual hours long as we felt the spirit so strongly the entire time! We attended their Branch Council meeting at 8:45 am. They so badly want to reactivate those who have fallen away. And, it was fun to help them work on their Sacrament speaking assignments for 2012. Each talk for the entire year will begin; “If ye love me……..” Of course, keep my commandments came instantly to mind. But then they began to think of so many other topics… “If ye love me….. love one another, be an example, pray always, share the Gospel, learn of me, feed my sheep (service), follow the prophets, attend the Temple, Do unto others, be prepared, seek for the spirit, teach your family, magnify your calling, Believe me, use the Atonement, live within your means…… etc. We certainly felt very welcomed. It was a nice day. After Church we headed for the harbor to eat our picnic lunch. Then it was off to visit with a couple Branch members. We chose the Glemsers because she is Relief Society President and he is Elders Quorum President and Branch Mission Leader. They gave us lots of Branch information. Then we visited with the Durhams. We met them when Sister Durham was in the Bandon hospital when she fell and broke her hip a few weeks ago. We just wanted to check on them and bring a little Christmas message to her since she has not been able to attend Church again yet. And, then we went to the Martin’s. They are old time Port Orford residents and they know everyone and every thing. We had a delightful visit with them. We left our little trailer at 7:45 in the morning and we returned to it at 8:00 p.m.. A long exhausting and exciting day for us. But by the time we got to the trailer I was SICK! It came on suddenly and sent me to bed feeling really cold and without dinner. I was cold enough to wear clothes to bed and a take a microwave heated towel to bed with me. This morning I am weak but oh so much better. Perhaps I am just a bit old for those 12 hour days?! No…. not gonna think that! I am way too young to be thinking about being old!
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