Happy New Year Greetings!

Hello you lucky folks down at Sandpipers...

Francine and I would like to wish each and everyone at
Sandpipers all the best for this new year coming on shortly.

We had sent our wishes for Christmas but it seems we sent
it at the wrong address so better late than never we hope
that this attempt will be crowned with success.

Health first, money next and the possibility to enjoy both.
Happiness goes together with the two but cannot be
achieved without the first.

Our hearts, our thoughts, our prayers are with you every
single day. Special thanks to those of you who inquired one
way or another about my health. I will be in nuclear medecine
at the end of January to establish the best possible picture
on my heart condition.

I will keep you posted when I get the
results.

Again and again, happy New Year to all.

We miss you soooooooooooooooo much!

*********************

*And a snowy greeting from Patsy & Garland*

Every year, I hear the classic song "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" with a certain nostalgia. Since I've lived in Texas, and mostly South Texas, all of my life, I've only experienced a few white Christmases. These were all at ski resorts in Colorado or New Mexico where you were on vacation and didn't have to get up, shovel the driveway (some employee had already done that), pick people up at the airport, go to work, go to the grocery store. or any of the other myriad tasks of everyday life. We were there to play, ski, sit by a blazing fire (fed with logs provided by another employee), eat, drink, and be merry, or any of the other myriad pleasures of a Christmas vacation in the Rockies.

*
I don't think I'll be able to sing that song again with the same enthusiasm. We arrived in Woodinville, WA on Dec. 20 and found the ground and trees already covered with snow. When we got to my daughter's home north of Seattle, I thought, "Isn't this beautiful!" Her yard with its huge fir trees covered with snow, the jaunty snowman in the yard, the large Christmas tree blazing with light in the living room, the warm fire crackling in the fireplace--what more could we ask for? Maybe more snow?

*
Well, that's exactly what we got! It proceeded to snow without ceasing ("Oh, aren't those big flakes beautiful?) until Xmas Eve when my son arrived from San Antonio. We couldn't pick him up at the airport because we couldn't get out of the driveway any more, so we engaged a limo service to pick him up. The person who took our reservation warned us that they might have to use an SUV with 4-wheel drive at twice the price if the streets hadn't been plowed. Guess what? Yep, you guessed it! They had to use the 4-wheel drive vehicle, but hey, that's OK because we all wanted to be here together for Xmas.

*

Xmas Day was great--opening presents, listening to traditional music, and watching those HUGE flakes drift down outside our windows. On Xmas night, the doorbell rang. We thought it was packages that Chad and his girlfriend Jena had shipped from Texas several days earlier after paying extra for 2-day delivery. But NO! It wasn't the packages--it was Jena herself, a big surprise to all of us except Paige and Doug. Chad was totally blown away, and of course, it really made his Christmas. Jena got to meet Paige and Doug and their boys, Emery and Wilbur. We had met her at Thanksgiving in San Antonio.

*

The next day,Chad continued trying to track the gifts, but UPS finally admitted that the packages wouldn't get here until after Xmas. ("No, we're not open now; No, you can't pick up the gifts in person. No, there is no refund for packages delivered late.") By now, Chad had given UPS a very large piece of his mind and vowed to use Fed-EX from now on.)

*

Today, as I compose this, the snow has melted off the trees but is still covering the yard, the driveway has been shoveled again this AM, it is NOT snowing, Paige has driven Chad and Jena to the airport, and all is well with our world.
We will be here until Sat. Garland is hoping to get out to a casino this week to play poker. All in all, a delightful Christmas. But, I now have a great appreciation for you Winter Texans from the snowy North who NEVER dream of a "White Christmas."
See you soon.
Patsy