Our Christmas plans for 2025 are just like 2024 - we had a joyful time visiting Don's family in Chattanooga and Raleigh, and seeing interesting sights along the way. We got to visit with Taylor (Don's nephew) and Melanie, see Rock City, and do some hiking in the mountains. Then we went over to Fuquay-Varina and visited with Don's sister and her family, all of who live in the Raleigh area. Looking forward to more of the same this Christmas!

2025 was also a significant boating year. Don completed the many requirements for a Coast Guard Captain's license (the Coast Guard call it an OUPV) and it was issued to him at the end of the year. We celebrated with some friends boating the waterways of Fort Lauderdale. Don's sunfish served its purpose in getting the required days of experience, so Don sold it. Now it is a yacht toy. (No, that isn't our yacht, just the sunfish on the deck.)

Although our homeschool days are now in the distant past, Barbara still regularly gets together with her good homeschool mom friends. They often just gather for games and snacks.

Maisley continues to grow in stature and curiosity. Her dad's motorcycle helmet is still just slightly too large. Don and Barbara went to a unique birthday party that was a French cooking class. We enjoyed the fruit of our labor with good friends from church, the Cox's and the St. George's.

Although Sarah completed her Equine Physiology degree last year, she completed two follow-on certifications this year: Equine Assistant Management and Equine Technician. We had to have another celebration party! Richard's extra large flag was a big hit with the community last year, so we flew it big again this Memorial Day. Don got out the sewing machine and re-engineered the hanging method to make it a lot less trouble this year.

We threw a big celebration for Maisley's third birthday, and of course she is all about the cake. She loves all things water and enjoys playing on the back patio. She has quite a network of friends in the neighborhood and finds lots of activities and parties to share with them.

For those of you sharply tuned to pop culture, you'll immediately know who Mira from KPop Demon Hunters is. Don and Barbara had no clue, but Sarah's Halloween costume was a big hit with trick or treaters - almost all of them immediately recognized her. Maisley joined in as Snow White.

Plantation annually hosts a benefit barbecue for our volunteer fire department. Maisley got to sit in a cool brush-fire fighting machine. As you can imagine, Don and Barbara's lives are very full every day. In February, we took a little weekend getaway for our 31st anniversary at a resort hotel on the beach in Aventura. It seemed other-worldly but so refreshing for us to chill our with nothing on our schedule.

No year would be complete without a road trip. This year we did the rim of the Gulf of America. Our first stop was in Tampa, where we enjoyed tasty food in Ybor City with Richard's grandfather, Perry. From there we continued around to Panama City where we enjoyed the squeaky clean sand for a while before we were chased away by a pretty impressive thunderstorm. After Panama, we made our way to New Orleans and connected with our favorite bayou girl, Cece. She showed us storyland and some other fun places to explore. We had a round of muffalettas for everyone where they were invented, Central Grocery. Don loved the live music and was out "clubbing;" every night past midnight.

After the Big Easy, we ventured on to Houston. There we toured some unique art museums, including the Color Factory and Meow Wolf. They had a life-size Lite Bright for those of you old enough to remember those. The confetti room was one of Maisley's favorites. While in Houston, Barbara reunited with one of her childhood friends Chip Cowell, whom she has not seen in decades. An of course we couldn't go to Houston and not visit Johnson Space Center.

Last September, Barbara found out that she had uteran cancer and had to have a hysterectomy. She went through that really well. They have perfected that surgery and she went home the same day she had the surgery. This July, Barbara found out that the cancer had come back. She has had 25 radiation treatments this year and so far it seems to have all gone away. We are praying that it stays away!!!