Sunday, December 27, 2015

Monday was our day to travel from Cherokee, N.C. back to PTC.  We have grown to LOVE the beautiful Great Smokey Mountains and love being there every chance we get!!  Even with all of the clouds, it was beautiful driving through.

On Tuesday, I had an eye appointment to get my 'regular' shot in the eye!!  (I get them about every 6 - 8 weeks).  I was able to sit in the waiting room and finish this baby afghan!  That felt good to get it done.  I even gave a 'few lessons' to some ladies who asked how I did that!!  :-)

AND.....then it was SHOT TIME!!!  I guess I am getting used to these now.....after all it has now been 3 1/2 years of regular shots!

On Wednesday Elder/Dr. Allgaier and I attended a Georgia Atlanta Mission 1/2 Mission Zone Conference.  We love going to those.....because we love the spirit and get to see a lot of missionaries!  Here is Elder Dimanche signing Elder/Dr. Allgaier's bat (a tradition we picked up from the Kentucky Louisville Mission...where the Little Slugger Bat Factory is......you know about that because you have heard it from us many times!).  BTW....Elder Dimanche is now an AP!!!  We are so proud of him.  He will be great.

 It has been POURING rain all week.  And, look who came inside after having biked over from their apartment.  They were soaked from head to toe, clean through.  Bless their hearts!  If they catch a cold, they at least know where to find us!  Sisters Hunter and Barrett....and they were just called as brand new Sister Trainer Leaders.

Oh how sweet!!  We got a package from Finland.  And look what one of the things in the package was.....a handmade Finnish Flag....made by a little old man up in Lapland Finland.  We are so excited to have that here with us in Georgia.

And, speaking of Finland, this foto is a throwback to our trip to Lapland Finland in winter 2009.  We LOVED visiting there....complete with a visit with Joulupukki!!

 Yup, for those who know Rodney, he came over for a visit to see us, with Bella, of course.  Rodney used to be our neighbor until he moved away about a month ago.  We had him sign our bat too!

On Christmas Eve we were invited to a Progressive Dinner with 3 families in the ward.....The Allen's, The Haycocks (Bishop) and The Hinds.  We ended up at the Bishop's home.  After fix-your-own ice cream sundae's, it was time for the kids to portray the Christmas Nativity story.  It was so cute.

On Christmas Day I happened to look out our apartment window and noticed ALL 3 of the puddy-cats were basking in the SUNSHINE, which we have not seen for a while.  It was so cute.

Dad and I took a chance and went out to dinner on Saturday afternoon to celebrate our 47th Wedding Anniversary a day early.  We LOVE going to O'Charley's and our favorite is the cedar planked salmon.  And we topped it off by sharing a piece of delicious chocolate cream pie!!

 On Sunday, we helped the Elders teach a Primary class.  Not sure who had more fun coloring......the kids in class or Elder/Dr. Allgaier.

And, Elder Norland and I got a little coloring in as well.....

I got a little doily made to send to Finland as a thank you gift to Anu!!  Anu has been my 'personal shopper' for the past couple of years.  She owns a 'Made in Finland Only' on-line store.  Well, as of December 31st of this year, she will be closing her store.  I will surely miss her.  Just my way of saying 'KIITOS PALJON' for all she has helped me with!!

And, last, but certainly not least for this week......Dad and I celebrated our 47th Wedding Anniversary today.  WOW....not sure how that snuck by us so fast.  It is amazing, as we look back, at all that we have accomplished in those 47 years.  I am sure there are things that we don't remember but you kids may remember!  It has been a WONDERFUL LIFE.  And we look forward to many more years.  We are grateful for eternal families.

I remember an anniversary dinner that we were out celebrating on.....December 27th, 1974.  We were at the Bavarian Inn in Charlestown, W.VA.  It is one of our favorite restaurants.  I didn't feel too great while we were eating but we still had a great time.  Well, low and behold, I realized the very next day why I didn't feel so well......WELCOME TO OUR FAMILY.....KEVIN EARL ALLGAIER, born on December 28, 1974!!  Total worth not feeling well.  We were so ready to have Kevin join our family!!!  And we will celebrate that special day tomorrow!!!  :-)