Happy Belated Christmas!

We're back at Millwood Landing in Ashdown, Arkansas and have finally had a few days to sit and try to catch up after a very busy December.  Well, at least I've been able to catch up some (no sitting)... Johnny's back at work. 

I had a great trip to Fargo, North Dakota (well, at least if you don't count the snow and cold and nearly not getting a flight out...) the weekend before Christmas to celebrate my niece, Alicia's (also Goddaughter) graduation from North Dakota State University with her degree in Repiratory Therapy.  She passed all her boards and is working at Sanford Health there in Fargo.  Here's the lovely graduate, Alicia.

This is the view from her apartment the day I arrived. 

 It was great to spend some time Alicia, my other niece, Amanda and my brother John and his wife Dorothy. 

Don't I have some good looking relatives?


Made a quick run up to Velva to see mom before flying back to Austin and then driving over to Ashdown.  Luckily I was able to get a flight out between blizzards.  I got the last flight out of Minot and they managed to keep the runway clear in Minneapolis long enough for us to get off the ground.  They closed the airport shortly after we left...

For Christmas we headed down to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to spend the holiday with Johnny's daughters and the grandsons.  We had a great time and it was fun to watch the boys playing with their gifts.  Preston and Conly are growing up SO FAST!  I don't remember being so mature at 8 and 10!  They recieved iPod Touches for Christmas and from what we understand they can send and recieve text messages so we're hoping that helps Paw Paw stay in touch.  Bennett is such a little bundle of energy at 2 and really loves his tools and tractors!  The family is anxiously awaiting the arrival of Barrett -- grandson number 4 -- in mid-January.

Since we got back her to Ashdown on the 26th I've been trying to make sense of things in the 5th wheel and make some room for my stuff.  Funny how one person can expand to fill all the available space!  Hopefully by March I can be here fulltime.  Assuming I can get the house emptied out!

I've also had to make room for the wii and the wii fit that Johnny and I gave each other for Christmas.  I did a couple of the fitness tests -- one said my fitness age was 60 and one said 54.  I think it's because I can't seem to hit a moving ball.  Need to work on that! 

Johnny also gave me a Nook Color, so I'm trying to get that set up and figured out.  It's really cool!  I wanted to get the Nook Color because it lets you see get e-magazines that look just like the newsstand versions.  I thought it would be great when we're on the road so that we can still get magazines without the mail issue.  Now I just need to get someplace with a wifi connection so I can download some books!

We had a quiet New Years celebration.  Went out to dinner in Texarkana.  We ran into one of Johnny's co-workers -- also named Johnny -- and his wife, Connie.  Since there was quite a wait for a table we invited them to join us.  It was nice to get to meet one of the guys Johnny works with and made for a pleasant evening.  Came home and had some apple crisp I had put in the little crock pot before we went out.  It was a nice treat!  Spent New Years Day relaxing and watching college football.  Does anyone else miss the days when bowl games were done the day after New Years???  Just wondering...