December 30, 2008 - Christmas Past -

Another Christmas has come and gone, but I must say this was one of the best that I can recall. It was hectic, but relaxing too at times. Christmas Eve was spent with Travis and his family. We enjoyed a great dinner that Rosa prepared and a Christmas Celebration around the tree before Travis left for work. It is always so much fun watching kids open gifts and the looks on their faces is priceless. Later that evening we took the whole crew to Arabian Nights for the dinner show (where Travis was working). Christmas morning found us on the road by 8:15 a.m. to Venice, Florida for Christmas with Mom & Don. Again, we enjoyed a delicious dinner after Travis and family arrived and then another round of opening gifts. It was gorgeous in at the Beach House. Couldn't have asked for better weather with temps in the low 80's, sunny blue skies and a slight breeze.

Rudy, Elani and I stayed with Mom & Don for the rest of the weekend, with trips to a couple different Beaches in the area, the Jetty, the ice cream store, a little after-Christmas shopping and then some just plain relaxing.

Sunday, we left fairly early so that we could get back to Apopka to catch the bus with the Church Choir to sing at Epcot for the Candlelight Processional. It was a late night, but definitely worth the trip and time as we heard the story of Jesus' birth and sang the songs to minister to the 3,000 guests at each Show at Epcot.

Back to work this week for a short 3-day work week and before you know it 2009 will be upon us and we will be off and running again with all kinds of activities (already planned and scheduled).

We will be in Daytona for the "Roar Before the Rolex" in a few days and then to the Daytona Pre-Race Thunder FanFest later in the month. That should keep us tied over until NASCAR race season starts in February.

See ya on the Road!!!

November Pictures

November Recap

November was a fun-filled month and it just flew by. We were in Homestead-Miami for the last NASCAR race of the season for a nice long weekend with friends, camping out at the track and attending the races. Rudy and I arrived with the Coach on Wednesday night around midnight and after getting all set up we hit the bed. Thursday, we had all day to ourselves to wander and just relax. Cully & Janine arrived late on Thursday night. Friday we attending Practice and Qualifying, Bob & Charlene (from CA) arrived too. Friday night, Janine and I had a very relaxing quiet evening to ourselves. Saturday morning we all went on a Garage Tour courtesy of Jeff Gordon Network and the Speedway. It was one of the best tours we've ever been on. We saw lots of drivers and was even right down on Pit Road when the Nationwide drivers were Qualifying. Sunday, Race Day was perfect with lots of sun and just the right temps for attending a Race. After the Race, I was with the Official Nascar Members Club and was a part of the 3-Time Championship Celebration of Jimmie Johnson and his Team. Got lots of great pictures and even got to have my picture with Jimmie on the Stage with his trophy. While waiting we were able to see Carl Edwards also in Victory Lane as he won the race. Definitely worth the long wait before our actual picture time. Being a member of ONMC has its perks. We had a great weekend and I've got far too many pictures now to try to scrapbook.

Nov. 21, Friday: This day we were on the road early heading to Disney Boardwalk to try and catch a glimpse of the Top 10 Nationwide Series Drivers, including Champ, Clint Bowyer and Carl Edwards. We arrived just as they were giving out wristbands for an autograph session at the ESPN Club. We hung around chatting with others, taking pictures and watching as the Drivers came out of the club to do interviews with NASCAR.com. While waiting in line friendly Mike Wallace came out and said hello to the crowd before doing his interview. He made a special point to talk to Elani, picked her up and took her to tease Jason Leffler about his hair and joked with her before doing his interview. Carl Edwards came out of the Club and when he did, Elani ducked under the ropes to tell him Hi. Carl picked her up and hugged her and chatted with her too. He then set her on his lap and did his interview. He made special point of mentioning her and calling her by name during his interview (which aired on NASCAR.com) for a couple of weeks under Video highlights and was also on Roush-Fenway.com. She has become a little star and loved hamming it up with Carl during his interview. And Carl was so gracious and looked like he was enjoying himself as well. As we proceeded down the line to get autographs each of the 10 drivers personalized a Hero Card to Elani. She then sat with Clint Bowyer for pictures. I won't forgot this day for a long time and it will be fun to show it to Elani when she gets older and realizes what really happened.

November 27th - Thanksgiving: 22 of us gathered at Aunt Judy and Uncle Don's for our potluck Thanksgiving Dinner with the family. It was a great day with lots of great food and wonderful fellowship and time to talk and play. I took family pictures of individual families as well as a group picture of all 22 of us. (more for me to scrapbook).

November 28th - Black Friday: Rudy and I were on the road and heading to the stores at 5:30 a.m. We found the bargains we were looking for, plus more. We were totally exhausted and eating lunch at 11:30 before picking up Elani and heading home for the rest of the weekend.