Merry Christmas from North Carolina

We want to extend a Christmas greeting from our home to you and your family. In the next few days our family will be arriving for a time of celebration and joy. We wished that we could have sent out a family photo on our Christmas card, but that was not possible prior to our gathering time at Christmas. However, in the coming week we will be able to take some pictures and post them on this site. We trust that you, and your family, will have a blessed time remembering the Savior's birth and fellowshipping together.

We have finished our fall convention travel for the 2008 season. This year we logged over 9,300 miles as we traveled through 19 states and Canada on three different trips. Our first trip took us to the Midwest, and we enjoyed the comfort of our new 5^th wheel trailer.

After a brief two weeks at home we headed out, without the trailer, to Toronto. On the way to Canada and after finishing our convention, we spent time in Niagara Falls. Years ago we spent a short time viewing the Falls during a visit in the rain. This year the weather was clear, although cool, and the view of the Falls was spectacular. We were able to see the Falls from both the US and Canadian vistas. It is truly a marvel of God’s creation.

From Niagara we headed to Kingsport, Tennessee to have a visit with a distribution company that we are endeavoring to work with in the homeschool market. From east Tennessee we headed to Dayton, Oho for another large Christian school convention. Then it was back home for less than a week before we hitched up the trailer to head for Dallas, Texas.

After the first two cold nights we ran into fairly nice weather. This was our third year traveling to Dallas and I had always wanted to visit the site of the John F. Kennedy assassination. But it wasn’t until late in our visit last year that I discovered that the location for that historic event was just a few blocks from our convention venue. This year we planned to slow down after the convention and visit the 6^th Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. We highly recommend this very interesting museum.

The assassination shots were fired from the 6^th floor of what was known in 1963 as the Texas Book Depository. The museum today occupies the entire 6^th floor of that building. There are many photos on display that chronicle and explain the events leading up to, and surrounding, the life and death of President Kennedy. Probably the most fascinating aspect of the museum is that you can stand within a few feet of the window where Lee Harvey Oswald obviously propped his rifle to shoot the president. Also, you can look out the windows on the roadway at Dealey Plaza where the presidential motorcade passed the building.

From Dallas we drove back home at a little slower pace. This year we celebrated Thanksgiving dinner at a Cracker Barrel in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. We are glad to have this opportunity to serve the Lord and see the country.