A friend’s condo in Hartville, Ohio
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. ~ John 1:14
We were home in Ohio with family and friends for seventeen glorious, crazy busy, love-filled, joyous days!
And we still managed to squeeze in a concert at our church, The Chapel, a wisdom tooth extraction for me, haircuts (and for me, colored twice), cookie-baking, gift-wrapping, hiking one chilly afternoon, and making snow. We put about 700 miles on the Jeep driving around, plus another 700 each way from and to Alabama, making the grand total 2,100 miles in those ten days!
We stayed in a very generously provided condo in Hartville, Ohio. Our friends, Brad and Jeannine, whom you’ve seen in the past a few times, made the connection for us. Jeannine’s mother owns the condo, and Donna was so kind to allow us to stay there since she was in Maine this year. And when we met there with Brad and Jeannine to get the keys and a short tour, we walked into a Christmas-decorated home! Jeannine actually went in and put up some of her mother’s decorations for us! Wasn’t that just the most thoughtful thing?!? I don’t know that I would’ve thought of that under the same circumstances! We were so grateful for all of their generosity and thoughtfulness! God blessed us abundantly through them!
Our family Christmas was celebrated with both sides of the family gathering at Chris and Elise’s this year. It was kinda weird not being responsible, but they did an excellent job (with a few tips and some help from Mom and Dad 😊) We were sad that Kade and Harper couldn’t be with us that day as they were with their other parents. ☹
20 people need a lot of table space. : ) 
Our oldest, Chris, helping his grandmother (Blaine’s mom) get some appetizers together.
Me, Blaine, nephew Chad, sister-in-law Barb, Matthew, daughter-in-law Elise, son Chris, son Kyle, daughter-in-law Shena,
my mom May, Blaine’s parents Ron and Joan, Blaine’s brother Brian,
Max, Cody, Cooper, Alex
Lance and Logan didn’t make it in time for the group picture.
Family and friends can send pictures to it any time using their phones or email!
The “fun” gift this year! 
At least Cooper enjoyed it, even though 
it was supposed to be for our oldest sons. : )
Thank you Pinterest for helping out with some!
One of the gifts we were most proud to give, were copies of Blaine’s sister’s book, to each of our sons and my mom. Sandy (with the Lord’s guidance, of course) did an excellent job! If you’d like to check it out, you can find it on Amazon and other bookstores: “Consider the Ravens” by Sandy Gamble.
She was taken away from the only home she ever knew.
Could this be a new start, or was this a mistake?
Sandy was born in a small town to a poor family. They did what they could to get by, but life was hard and money was tight. After the unexpected death of her mother when Sandy was only six weeks old, her grandparents assumed custody. Her father, an alcoholic, had been incarcerated and was not able to care for her.
Happy where she was with her grandparents, Sandy grew into a healthy toddler with a zest for life. When Sandy was only three years old, there was a tragedy that changed the course of her life forever.
Because of the circumstances that surrounded this tragedy, Sandy was taken away from her grandmother only to be placed with other relatives. These changes set the stage for her to develop serious eating and behavioral disorders.
Because of her declining condition, the children’s home became involved and she, again, was faced with having to make major adjustments. At five years old, the world is a scary place-a new home, new school, and new friends. Why did this happen? How could God allow this?
Sandy’s story is one of hope in the midst of uncertainties. God’s constant provision demonstrates that God can be trusted in the most difficult of life’s circumstances.
This is the jacket cover description of her book.
So here are the rest of the pictures from our visit. There were so many more we could’ve taken!
A budding beautician? 
Matthew – 6 months 
Gpa’s make great horses! At least Kade, Harper and Cooper think so! 
Isn’t it a beautiful backdrop?!?
And somehow, without consulting each other, we managed to coordinate our colors!
Boys being boys. : ) 
Live nativity at son, Chris’s church 
A budding veterinarian?
(we made a double batch and added extra conditioner until we got it to the consistency we preferred.
Another great thing about this? It actually feels cool to the touch!
Christmas Eve Day was spent with Blaine’s parents, and his brother Brian, wife Barb and son Chad. We chowed down on hors d’oeuvres that Joan prepared, plus some fresh salsa Blaine and I made, and played a couple rounds of the dice game “Left, Right, Center”.
Christmas Day, we were with my mom, brother Lance, wife Kelli and son Logan. It became an unexpected and pretty eventful meal at their place, when Kelli accidently put a 9×13 glass dish full of corn casserole and complete with plastic cover into the oven with the ham! I’ll let you imagine the mess. We all laughed, ate the mashed potatoes made stove-top, and ordered Chinese. We never understood why the Chinese restaurants seem to always be open on Christmas, but we sure were glad this year! Poor Kelli! She took it like a trooper, and laughed along with us, although I know she was heartbroken. I would’ve been!
me, Mom, Kelli
We drove back to Alabama in 11 ½ hours on Monday, the 27th. Blaine drug me out of bed at 3:00am, and we were pulling out a few minutes before 4:00. The first several hours we were sloshing through heavy rain bordering on sleet with the temperature hovering around 34⁰. We even hydroplaned a couple of times!
By the time we hit Kentucky at 7:30am, it was 62⁰ and the rain stopped.
Other than that, the only slowdown we suffered was just past Nashville, sitting at a complete standstill for 30 minutes on I-65 while they cleared away an accident. Fortunately, we were near the front. I’m sure the pile up behind us waited much longer to get going.
I took lots – and I mean lots – of little naps all day long. You’d think I’d feel better, but it actually makes me feel worse when I do that. Something about riding in a car for so long puts me to sleep. My mom can tell you I’ve always been like that. She said they used to take me for car rides to get me to go to sleep when I was an infant. 😊
Carson Village, Birmingham, Alabama
Tomorrow we’ll spend the day setting things to rights, and meeting David one last time for dinner.