12/18/16 Home for Christmass

    We wish to let everyone knoww we are at home after having Both Sides Now hauled and are having a few small details taken care of with her.  We wanted to have the bottom checked after being aground and all is fine.  A little paint missing on the skid but fine.

 We rented a car and drove to Maryland and spent a couple of days with Francie's family.  We also visited with Joe & Jody Frost and Richard Hackett, who are leaving their boats at home this year.  We continued home with some cold weather and we had left our longjohns on the boat.  Shorts to longjohns in two days, what a shock.

  I must admit it is good to see some snow and plan Christmass with family. We have experienced some cold days on the negative side of the thermometer with serious wind chill. Skipper is frolicking in the snow and seems to have lost a few years, is ready to come in to lay by the wood stove in a non convenient spot so I can trip over him.
   We were fortunate to have had the help of our two youngest granddaughters in selecting and cutting a Chrismass tree(the first one) from the ones we planted before starting our cruising.

 They even helped trim the tree.  We will manage to see most of our family before returning to Fl.  Tuesday Dec 20 granddaughter Madison arrives at Burlington airport, on break from Ft Leonard Wood, Mo. She is in Basic Traing there, but home for Christmass. Granddaughter Jenna flew in from college at Las Vegas, NV to be with all, but leaves on the 25th to go back. We managed to go to a school Christmass concert with our two youngest grand daughters,

which was quite a treat as well.  We will be enjoying Christmass dinners from the 22nd through the 26th and head back to Fl after that. With 4 children, 14 grandchildren, 1 great grand son and associated families it is difficult to get all in the same spot at the same time. We shall certainly have to rest up after all this fun!

   Merry Christmass to all of you, our followers, and we hope to see some of you while here.