The One Year Time Capsule

This weekend my wife and I started putting away the Christmas decorations. The main task was the tree. Taking it down is a very regimented process. 

Paula takes the ornaments off the tree and arranges them on the couch so they can be put away. She separates those that play music. It is my job take those, use the little screw driver to open up their battery compartments and silence them for another year. 

I bring out the compartmentalized storage box and Paula carefully wraps each ornament in paper or bubble wrap. She then places them in the trays to be stacked in the box. I have a tendency to be a bit rough with the delicate items so I let her gentle hand take care of them. 

Once the tree is ornament free, we take the garland off together and disassemble it. I compress the sections and pack them in our large tree storage box. It takes about 2 hours but we are very efficient. After 15 years, we have this down. 

Today, it is my turn to finish undecorating and getting our living room back to "normal". As I get the large plastic containers out of our storage room and start putting things away, I realize the value that is placed on the relatively cheap things I'm about store away. 

I know they're just glass, plastic, ceramic, fabric, ect. but because they represent a consistently specific time in our lives that's associated with many of our happiest times, they are worth more than what they're made of. 

Wrapping the Christmas things in newspaper and bubble wrap gives you a sense of security. You are protecting them with the hopes that they in the same condition when you get them out again the following December. 

Once packed up, you store them in a special place. I don't care what you say, the place you put your Christmas stuff is just a little bit more special than any other closet or storage space. 

Except for looking at the pictures and maybe occasional looks at the boxes when you go into the storage room for something else that's stored there, you completely forget about the Christmas decorations. 

Then the following November or December comes around and you haul out the boxes, open them up. 

It feels like you are opening a time capsule. the discovery of each and every decoration or ornament brings back memories from holidays gone by. 

So that's the process I'm going through today. I am deep into the challenge of finding a box for each item, making those boxes fit into the storage containers, and then getting those containers up onto the shelves where they'll spend the next 10 months or so. 

Putting them away makes me a bit sad but I look forward to opening that "one year time capsule" I've created. 

I want to enjoy what this year holds in store for me and my family but a small part of me can't wait until November. That's when I'll be reunited with the Charlie Brown music boxes, the musical snow globes, the plastic candy garland, and more will be reunited and enjoy the fun of Christmas, past, present, and future, once again. 

Elvis VS Ricky

Today is my cousin, Lee's birthday. It also would have been Elvis Presley's 82nd. Lee happens to be a big Elvis fan. So as a gift to my cousin and a tribute to "The King" I'm going to share an Elvis story that I heard sometime last fall. 

While running errands one day, last fall, I was listening to a special program on Sirius XM radio that featured the sons of Ricky Nelson, Matt & Gunner. They were playing the music and sharing stories about their father. One of them I had never heard before so I want to share it with you. 

Please keep in mind that I am recalling this story on a third hand basis months after I heard it. I will do my best to share the details to my best recollection. Hope you enjoy this. 

In the late 1950s Ricky Nelson burst on the pop culture scene becoming a star by singing on his parent's TV show, The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, each week. He was so popular that he became a rival of Elvis for the top spot as America's teen idol. 

One day seemingly out of nowhere, Ricky received a call from Elvis challenging him and his friends to a "friendly" game of football that next Sunday. Nelson agreed. 

When the two groups met on the field, Presley had brought his "Memphis Mafia" made up of guys of above average size. Nelson just brought his friends who's physical prowess paled in comparison. 

As you might expect the Elvis entourage put a hurtin on the Nelson team. Nevertheless they agreed to meet again the following week. 

But Nelson wasn't going to let the same thing happen. One of the actors his father, Ozzie, used quite frequently on their weekly TV show happened to also play for the NFL's Los Angeles Rams. 

The next weekend when the game commenced Elvis, once again brought his Mafia but Nelson brought a bus full of LA Ram lineman. Ricky got his revenge. Needless to say, that was the last week the two idols met on the gridiron. 

Interesting story right? Well, there's more to it. 

The Nelson twins stated that years after their father's death they happened to meet Priscilla Presley who told them this story. 

One morning she and Elvis were sitting around having breakfast. She had seen Rickey Nelson on TV and that she thought that he was kind of cute. 

As it turned out that breakfast took place on morning of the very same day Elvis made the call to challenge Ricky to a "friendly" game of football. 

Now you know the rest of the story.    

December In The Dark

I have been battling a very nasty virus over the last couple of days so I haven't had the energy to do much of anything. That includes writing a post. 

But I'm feeling better today so now it's time to catch up with you. 

I have already shared with you in detail where I spent a few days last month including visiting with my sister and her family and time in the Smokies with my wife. 

But Paula and I also spent a lot of our December time together in the dark. Well, not totally in the dark, there was the flicker of the light from the projector. 

Over the course of a two week period, we saw 5 movies. Here's a list of what we was and what I thought of them. 

Collateral Beauty: Will Smith is billed as the star of this movie and he does play the main character but this film is packed with stars. I found this film somewhat predictable and emotionally manipulating. Because I liked the actors I enjoyed the movie. Paula liked it more than I did. If we buy this on home video it will be at her request.

Moana: This holiday release under the Disney name is visually enjoyable. The main character is not as strong as some of Disney's recent female leads. But newcomer, Auli'i Cravalho does a good job as the title character. As always, Dwayne Johnson as the Demigod, Maui, is very entertaining. I didn't care at all for Moana's pet rooster.
  
Because of the polytheistic theme of the film I wouldn't recommend it for kids. I will own this one but only to keep my Disney collection intact. 

Passengers: Take Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence, put them in a si-fi situation that makes them a type of interstellar Adam & Eve and you can't lose right? Wrong. Even though it's visually pleasing and there's a ship that's like a hybrid of the one from "The Martian" and "WALL*E" the movie leaves a lot of potential on the table. Again, I liked the stars so that made the 2 hours somewhat enjoyable. However there's a surprise plot twist that is extremely disturbing. I'd say this is a good date movie. Guys will like the si-fi and the gals will appreciate the romance.

Sing: An animated animal version of American Idol that I think was either too late or too early depend on your perspective. Because of all the singing based reality TV shows over the last decade or so I think that I have become a bit desensitized about "rags to riches" stories of talent show contestants. That's why I think this this movie is about 10 years too late. It would have been a much bigger hit back when "Idol" was the most popular show on TV. 
I also think that because Zootopia was a way much better movie. "Sing" shouldn't have been released until sometime in 2017. By then the Disney box office hit would out of the public's mind and there would be a bit of nostalgia for "American Idol". Still, it's a good movie for the entire family. 

Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them: Although we saw this one back in November, when it was first released my wife wanted to see it again. Just like Harry Potter movies, I was more interested in the world that this move takes place in than the overall "good vs evil" plot. 

I think the main characters were okay but not very impressive. I like the relationship between Chastity Barebone and Kolwalski, the "No-Mag" more than anything else. Still if you are a JK Rowling fan you will enjoy this one. I can assure you this will be our home the very day it comes our on BluRay.

So there you have my impressions of what we saw during December. I'm interested in what you think about any or all of these movies. Feel free to comment on my Facebook page (if you're not already a "FB friend" send me a request) or sent me an email (RHavens1423@aol.com). 

With the start of 2017 there's a list of several movies I'm looking forward to but a lot of them are months away from release. 

I'm usually a bit apprehensive about movies that are released in January.  Historically it's the time of the year that studios release their projects not predicted to do well at the box office. 

But there are a couple that may be worth going to see. I'm looking forward to, Hidden Figures. It tells a portion of NASA's history that has gone untold until now. 

"Patriots Day" which was a December release is also one I wouldn't mind seeing. 

"A Dog's Purpose" looks promising and I will probably go see it. But I'm not expecting much except blatant pulling at my heart strings.   

Going to the movies in 2017 is going to be a bit of a challenge for me. In an effort to be healthier, I have made a resolution not to eat popcorn at the theater until I've made my goal. That's going to be hard but I've done it before just not for so long. Wish me luck. 

Blog Goals For 2017

Happy New Year Everyone. I trust that you all had a fun and safe New Year's Eve celebration. 

It was a quite one for us here. We went to the movies in the afternoon and just enjoyed each other's company until we watched the ball drop in Times Square on TV. 

Don't really have much to write about today but I did want to put something up in regard to the upcoming year and this blog. 

As of yesterday, the end of 2016, I have published 867 posts. According to my blog statistics page I have had 48,830 page views since April 2008.  

Sometime in 2017 I would like to make those numbers 1000 and 50,000 respectively. 

The average number of posts per year over the last 8.75 years has been about 100. With 30 being the lowest and 220, the highest. I want this to be an above average year. Of course, I'd really like to set a record for the most in year in 2017.

The post composition is totally dependent on me, I know, but I need your help with the page views. 

You know I appreciate you reading this blog. I don't ever want to take you, as a reader, for granted. But I'd like to make a bit stronger appeal for something I ask of you quite often.

Please share my post notifications on Facebook on your timeline. Also, share a link to my blog with anyone you think might enjoy reading it as a means of connecting with me. Even if you think they may enjoy the subject of one particular post, share it with them. That will help me get to my blog goals for 2017. 

As far as my personal goals for the new year are concerned, let me just say this. I have made a list of 17 goals for 2017. Many of them are carry overs from last year

I am not going to share them right now but I will as I achieve them. 

I encourage you to make the change of the calendar the starting point for making changes in you. Pursue your passions this year and embrace anything that helps get you there.

Let's make it a great year. 

16 Things To Remember about 2016

Okay, so the last post was not the final one for 2016. This one is. I'm going to take the time to review 16 things I will always remember about 2016. 

Now I know that this past year was unlike any we've seen in a long time. From the deaths of so many significant public figures and celebrities to the unprecedented political campaign; it's events will have long lasting effects on our society.

But these 16 items are all personal. A few I have written about during the year; some recently. Others I am mentioning in this post for the first time. Either way they are included because they made a difference in my life; good or bad. Here in no particular order is my list of 16. 

Two Surgeries: The month of May saw both Paula and me have major operations. Her's was scheduled; mine was not. On the 10th my wife had rotator cuff surgery.  On Memorial Day weekend, I had surgery to remove my gall bladder. 

It took us both a couple of months to recover and effecting our lives and our bank account.  

March Trip To Walt Disney World: The 

picture below is the quintessential reason 

Paula and I decided to go to Florida with

James, Brandi, and Aria with about 3 weeks 

notice. Look at the smile on my granddaughter's face. 

This was a physically exhausting and emotionally sentimental trip for me but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. 

Essentially, this was the first vacation we went on with both our grandchildren. 

In this group pic with Mickey, we are all there but my grandson cannot be seen. Still his heart was beating and he was already part of our family. 

I wrote an extended 13 post series detailing our vacation in Walt Disney World on my Goofy Guy 909 Blog . To read them just click on the link. 

I'll have more about our time in Florida with Aria later in this post. 

The Quigley's Move Away: 

In April of this year, our best friends, Patty & Mark Quigley, moved from about 10 miles from us all the way to Saint Louis, Mo. 

While we are happy that they followed God's leading in their lives and are now living very close to their 3 grandchildren. But they are now 5 hours away from us. 

One of the best ways to describe our friendship with the Quigleys comes from the Old Testament book of Proverbs, chapter 27, verse 17. "As iron sharpens iron so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend."

Although we will continue to keep in touch with them and have even visited them in their new home already, since April our lives have been a little "dull" without Mark & Patty around.   

A VERY unwelcome "visitor": In the middle of June the advantage of living in the country became a temporary curse.

On the evening of June 10, we had a very unwelcome visitor, a skunk, at our house. It effected our house, our dog, and our lives for almost 6 weeks. I wrote about it my June 18 post. Here's a link to My Skunk Story .

Visits From The Pearsons: I wrote about my sister's family visiting me in August in my "10 Things From 4 months" series a couple of weeks ago. 

The 2nd weekend of December they came back again.  The main focus of their visit was to meet my new grandson and spend some time with Aria. But it also gave my Kentucky family and part of my Pennsylvania family, for the first time ever, the chance to share a little bit of Christmas together. 

I count it a personal blessing that my sister and her family made the choice to come see us this December. I’m so happy they got to enjoy being with my grandchildren and the rest of the Kentucky branch of my family. I can never thank them enough for helping to make my 2016 Christmas season extra special. 

Becoming "TCB" Guy: You can cue the Bachman Turner Overdrive music for this one. At the start of 2016 I had become very unhappy at my job as a driver for Ron & Brenda's Transportation. Paula was finally rewarded at her job with a promotion she well deserved. 

These circumstances combined to allow me to do something we had talked about for a while. I was able to leave my job and start taking care of business at home. I will elaborate on just what that "business" was in just a few paragraphs. 

It was a big step and maybe only a temporary one but the arrangement has helped us at least begin to get our home the way we want it to be. 

Downsizing and Organizing: One of the things I will remember doing at the house in 2016 is beginning the process of downsizing and organizing the rooms. Our storage room at the far end of the house had become packed full of stuff some of which we really didn't need. 

I went through a lot of it and we decided what we wanted to keep and I made plenty of trips to the Goodwill store to make donations. 

I finally "thinned my herd" of t-shirts, personal memorabilia, Legos, and other things. 

There's a lot more to do in this aspect in the coming year but when we are finally much more organized and have more space I will look back at 2016 as the starting point.   

The Year Without A Ventriloquist: I will remember 2016 as the year I went without performing ventriloquism in public. I didn't avoid it on purpose, just didn't pursue any opportunities.  

I made an unconscious decision to step back and think whether or not I wanted to keep doing "vent". 

I sold some of my vent stuff, such as a learning course and some "how to" videos. I also sold my vent figure, Ruben. 

I liked him but I just never found a way to make him likable to an audience. At one point the potential for a "geeky nerd" type character was there but I didn't pursue it. So I let him go to someone who just might be able work with him. I will miss him; but I know some of my family members who won't. (Right Heather?)

So now that I've reduced the number of puppets I have I can focus on getting back into being a Vent and concentrate working with a small troupe of well defined characters and not a menagerie of shallow ones. 

Home Repairs and Improvements: One of the reasons I began staying home was so that we could get some of our home repairs completed. 

The skunk episode in June led to the outside vents to the crawlspace under the house being repaired and resealed. We replaced a section of the floor and the toilet in our half bath.  

We had a new pull down attic door installed. 

Improvements and repairs to our main bathroom included: putting up a magazine holder; reorganizing the stuff in the closet and on it's shelves and James and my brother-in-law Bob installing a vent fan. 

For our Christmas present our family got us a new dishwasher and James put in a new faucet in our kitchen sink. 

 I'm sure there are other things that were repaired or improved that I am forgetting. Point is we made progress and had the means to do what we needed/wanted to do this year. There's more to be done but at least it's a start. 

Paula's New Office & Wardrobe: The biggest home improvement of the year was converting what used to be Michael's bedroom into Paula's office/den. 

We started in the spring by having a painter come in and make the walls gold. 

 Then we added a rug...

... A desk, a computer, and a treadmill (her idea).

And finally curtains, and some furniture. 

Throughout the summer we worked on her closet; a major project that included purchasing and assembling  and modular storage units and a clothes rack. Then we placed them in the closet for maximum storage potential.  

Paula was the heart and soul behind the entire makeover. Everything that her new room is reflects her creativity and imagination. A job well done. I hope as the years go by it's a place she enjoys. 

Also in the summer, my wife was introduced by a co-worker, to a clothing line called "LuLaRoe." It immediately became her passion. 

This line features styles and designs very different from what my wife had usually worn up until then. Soon dresses, leggings, blouses, ect. were arriving in the mail several times a week over the next few months. 

At the end of the year, she has a more than fully restocked closet with clothes that are comfortable, stylish, and make my wife feel as comfortable with her wardrobe as I've seen her in a while.

Those are just two of the hundreds of things I could mention about my wife in 2016. But they will be among our top recollections when we talk about 2016 in the years to come.   

These next few things are all mentioned in detail in recent blog posts so I won't go into them. You can go back and read about them for yourself. Just wanted to include them because they made my memory list for the year. They are: 

• Angel's Surgery In October
• Long time Friends, Gene & Larry visiting me in September
• My Birthday solo trip to Walt Disney World
• Our Anniversary Getaway to the Smokey Mountains

Next is something that seems like its just technology but there's a lot more to it. 

Streaming TV Shows And Movies: 

While this may seem rather frivolous compared to the other things on this list and things that are supposed to be important in life but there's more to it than what you may think. 

First I need to say that, for Paula and me, the ability to watch entertainment when we have the time is an important element of spending time together.  

Whether we're accessing cable "On Demand", NetFlix, or Hulu Plus, our weekends at home were when we binged on episodes of: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Stranger Things, bloodline, Dare Devil, Luke Cage and Chance. We also caught up on network series like: Scorpion, NCIS, This is Us and Designated Survivor.  

Occasionally we also rented movies that we missed in the theater on pay-per-view. 

Yes, we've watched more streaming TV together this year than we had any year before. Time spent together and experiences shared that only serve to bring us closer together.  

Aria's Year: Parks, Play Doh, & Ponies: How do you summarize a year in the life of a 4 year old? The growth,the changes, the learning, the experiences. I could never do the task justice on this blog much less this post.    

So allow me to share with you Aria's year in regard to time she spent with her Nana & Papa. 

The most important thing was spending time at our house where it was just the 3 of us. There she was treated like a princess. 

She really looked forward to playing with Legos with me. In fact, the very first picture I have of her from this year is one where we are showing off our first Lego models we ever built together. 

Her favorite things to do was play with her Nana and Play Doh. She also loved to just chill on the couch with Nana and watch her favorite shows on her Nana's I-Pad. 

Of course when she occasionally spent the night during the year, she would get to sleep with Nana, while Papa bunked on the couch. 

During the warmer weather, playing outside with Nana in the front stone filled flower bed or drawing with sidewalk chalk was the playtime choice. 

And the newest playground for Aria and her Nana was Paula's new office. They spent lots of time back there playing with the Disney Princess paper dolls Nana had gotten for her. 

Of course the most memorable experience of the year with our granddaughter was our week visiting Walt Disney World. 

Precious memories with Nana were abundant in the Disney Parks. Here are my two gals hanging out together...

 ...with the Woody topiary at Epcot's World Showcase. 

But without a doubt their best moment came when Aria took her Nana by the hand to show Minnie Mouse, Nana's painted finger nails. 

Although, I did have fun with her, there were not many pictures of just Aria and her Papa in Walt Disney World. Here's the only one and we're not alone and not exactly together. 

But here is a pic of one of our special times together in the Windsor Hills Resort pool. We had a lot of fun. 

Over the course of the year Aria's choice for what she wanted to watch while at your house went from Disney's The Aristocats to Pocohontas (she pronounced it "Cocohontas") and finally settled into an obsession with "My Little Pony". 

Her obsession with the cartoon show was not just at our house she was "My Little Pony" almost all the time. 

One thing additional thing I must mention about Aria and me this year. It was in 2016 that our little game of tickling knees really became a thing for us. Its the only game that I remember my grandfather ever playing with me. So I had to pass it on to her.

While rubbing on her knee I say "Tickle, Tickle on the knee. If you laugh you don't love me." Depending on her mood she would either hold back or laugh for all she's worth. It's a game that makes me smile every time. 

Just to show how much she has grown over 2016 here's one of the last pictures of my granddaughter from this year. It was taken during their family's Christmas picture session. 

My she's grown so much. I will never forget this year with her. My hope is that she remembers it too. 

Gabriel Alexander Is Born: Of course, even if everything else about 2016 is forgotten, it will forever be remembered in our family as the year our grandson, Gabriel Alexander was born.  

That October day was one I will always remember especially holding him for the first time. 

It's hard to believe that he's now 2 1/2 months old. Here's a picture of him from just a couple of days ago. 

Such a cutie. He's growin like a weed and eating every chance he gets. I look forward to seeing him turn into a toddler in the coming year.

So there you have the 16 things I'll always remember about 2016. What's on your list? Was it a good year for you? I hope so. Try and make your memories of 2016 as positive as possible. You can't go back and change it now. So just look back for a bit and keep moving forward. God Bless y'all and Happy New Year. See you in 2017. 

Anniversary In The Smokies-Part 3

Monday December 12 was our 14th wedding anniversary and our last full day of our time in the Smokies. 

Unfortunately, on the last day of our getaway, both of us were still feeling a bit under the weather with symptoms of a cold. Paula felt pretty bad and needed to rest. I was still fighting off the effects of feeling poorly the entire time there. So we spent a little longer at the condo than we had planned that morning. But we eventually felt good enough to go enjoy our special day.  

It started with a late breakfast at the Applewood restaurant in Sevierville, one of our favorite places to eat. 

 Although I didn't take the shot below it's the exact view we had of the dinning area. We sat at the table in the bottom right of the picture. 

We try to eat here every time we are in the area. The muffins and fruit spread you get to start off your breakfast is worth the trip all by themselves. But everything else is always good too. 

We did a little bit of shopping while in the area. The weather was a bit rainy and damp but was supposed to clear up later in the afternoon. So we went back to the condo to rest a bit more.

As the sun began to go down we headed back to the parkway to do some Christmas shopping for our grandchildren at a Carter's outlet. 

Along the way Paula took some nice pictures of the light displays outside some of the attractions and hotels. 

Our next stop was the Christmas Village. It's the largest Christmas shopping outlet in the South. This place was incredible. The outside was fully decorated. 

Inside the many many shops was over 60 decorated trees and every type and style of Christmas ornament and decoration you could imagine. 

Most of it was, what I call "serious" decore; not my style. (Anyone who has seen my home during the holidays knows I tend to go for the more whimsical.) It was also a bit on the high end price wise. But just about every where I turned I saw something I wouldn't mind having at our house.You could spend a mint in this place. 

There was even a small toy store, a place to get hot chocolate, and Santa was there to meet the kids.

In the middle of our trek through this amazing village I found a bench to sit and rest. Paula sat with me. As we sat there a nice older lady came up to us and offered to take our picture. I hadn't even realized we were in the midst of a unique photo opp but she did. 

About halfway through the Christmas Village we realized that we weren't going to get through all of it so we decided that it was time for dinner.

Our anniversary meal was going to be one one that involved giving an area restaurant a second chance.

For the 2nd day in a row we went to The Island. We decided to give Paula Deen's restaurant another try. 

Back in May 2015, we had a very negative experience during our initial visit. The food was good but we were seated in an area of the dinning room where the sun hit us directly through the glass windows. We felt like ants under a magnifying glass. It was so uncomfortable, Paula almost got sick from the heat.   

Because the food was so good we decided to go and try it again but, this time, after the sun went down. 

The building that houses the restaurant is 2 stories. The dinning room is on the 2nd floor. The 1st floor is a retail store filled with Paula Deen merchandise and other products she endorses. 

There's a check-in desk to the right just inside the door. It's where you get your name on the waiting list. It happened to be a slow night so we were told to take the elevator up to be seated right away. 

This time our table was on the main level of the split level dinning room. Here's a couple of pics that shows our view of the area outside from our table.

We ordered Chicken & Dumplings, Cheesy Meatloaf and Roast Beef for our entrees. Creamed Corn, Candied Yams, Mac & Cheese, and Green Beans were our sides. 

The food is served family style but its "all you can eat". Unfortunately we can't eat all that much these days. But what we did was very good. 

With only 3 desserts to choose from we got the banana pudding. It was not made the way we like it. For what it was; it was not bad. 

Overall, our second time to Paula Deen's at The Island was a very nice experience. We'd go back again but most likely, only with another couple or group of people. 

After dinner we walked around the area again. This time we did a little more serious shopping; looking for a something to take home to our grandchildren. 

As I do every time I visit The Island, I took some pics of The Wheel. This time it was in Christmas lights mode. 

Even though it was chilly outside, the water fountains continued to present a show every half hour; this time to Christmas music. Here's a video of their dance to "Winter Wonderland". 

I also videoed the fountain during another song; Tennessee Christmas by Amy Grant. Here's the link to it on my You Tube channel. 
Dancing Fountains @ The Island Christmas Edition

The final thing we decided to do on our anniversary turned out to be one of the coolest Christmas things we've done in a while. 

On a very densely foggy night we drove 9 miles out to the baseball stadium that's the home of the local minor league team, The Smokies, during the summer. In the parking lot is an amazing Christmas lights display called "Shadrack's A Christmas Wonderland."

It's a drive-thru display that has two parts. Initially there's a series of fixed displays some of which are animated. 
Here are some still shots of what we saw.  

Here's a short video of the animation. 

The 2nd and most impressive half of the display is a field of trees, lights, and decorations that are coordinated to Christmas songs you listen to on your car radio. Here's what I mean. 

I was so excited about this experience that I went on Facebook live and shared it with my FB friends. 

I also took some video of the lights moving to one of my favorite Christmas songs by a group called "Go Fish". 

Here's a link to that video on my You Tube channel. 

Shadrack's Christmas Wonderland: "It's Called Christmas"

We stayed at the lights display for about 45 minutes until it closed. 

We then drove back to our condo in the fog. After some initial packing in preparation for leaving in the morning, we called it a night. Our 14th wedding anniversary was over but it was a good one. 

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and recollections I've shared with you in this series of posts. 

As I wrote at the beginning of the first post, The Smoky Mountains resort area is where we choose most often to spend our vacation time. If you have any comments or questions about this series or the Smokies just send me a message on FB Click Here or email me, RHavens1423@aol.com. I'll be happy to hear from you. 

Also if you know someone who would enjoy this series of posts share it with them on all your social media. I would greatly appreciate it. 

More than likely this is going to be the last blog post for 2016. So I'd like to wish you and all of yours a Happy and safe New Year's celebration and a great and blessed 2017. See you next year.