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Not this year!!!<\/p><\/div>\n
Well, we had our champagne and our glass of wine and turned on the movie.\u00a0 We did OK until about halfway through, and we both fell asleep.\u00a0 The kids teased us that it was the first time Mary and I slept together; they were right.<\/p>\n
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Out cold!!!<\/p><\/div>\n
We missed the end of the movie, and the kids thought that was great.\u00a0 We were made for each other!!<\/p>\n
Mary brightened up my life during this season and has been making life wonderful ever since.\u00a0 I am a fortunate man indeed.
\n<\/dir><\/p>\n
Visit our Daily Diary entry from December 25th, 2020<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n At 4:00 am this morning, I woke up thinking it had to be Santa on the roof, but it was only the VERY HEAVY rain, which sounded like someone was there!\u00a0 We headed to the kitchen, unloaded, and reloaded the dishwasher in preparation for today’s festivities.<\/p>\n Around 9:00 am, we made a series of phone calls, starting with Colleen, and then we went through our kids, leaving messages or talking to them.<\/p>\n By 11:00 am, we were getting ready for the expected visitors:<\/p>\n Join the fun with all the pictures on our website.\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Our family and guests began showing up right on time, 5:00 pm.\u00a0 Our live Christmas Tree alerts us as people approach the front door.\u00a0 \u00a0Is he worried about tree fires this year for some reason?<\/p>\n Mr. Tree is making sure he does NOT catch on fire.<\/p><\/div>\n The feast is open for business, and Chinese food disappears at an alarming rate.\u00a0 Eddie goes first to make sure everything is OK.<\/p>\n The dinner bell has chimmed.<\/p><\/div>\n The front room erupts in laughter as stories are told and retold about years gone by.\u00a0 Bob tells of the dinosaurs that roamed the area when he was a kid.<\/p>\n Stories are told in the formal dining room.<\/p><\/div>\n Bob, not being able to restrain himself, adds fuel to the laughter fires.<\/p>\n Bob has stories to tell, also.<\/p><\/div>\n It’s time to prepare the Mulled Wine.\u00a0 We filled the punch bowl with two bottles of dry red wine, then added some sliced oranges, courtesy of Jeff, our neighbor, and our own lemons.\u00a0 \u00a0The metallic bridge was affixed to the top of the bowl, and a sugar cone was carefully positioned in the center.<\/p>\n The Kraken was liberally splashed onto the sugar cone, soaking it through and through.\u00a0 We drew straws to see who would light the flames.\u00a0 I lost, so I pulled out my trusty lighter, and with a whoosh, flames shot into the air, frying several gnats and leaving marks on the ceiling.<\/p>\n The sugar cone is soaked in Kraken.<\/p><\/div>\n As I supervised, Mary carefully played in the fire, adding Kraken to the melting cone.\u00a0 The liquid sugar dropped through the bridge directly into the bowl, making for a delightful after-dinner drink.<\/p>\n Here comes the fire.<\/p><\/div>\n THEN IT HAPPENED: a spark from the mulled wine drifted over towards our tree, and the tree caught fire.\u00a0 We were lucky to have three members of the Orange Auxiliary Fire Department with us this evening.<\/p>\n In seconds, Amy, Dianne, and Donna changed into their firefighting equipment, and with the help of the Grinch and several bottles of champagne, the fire was put out.\u00a0 The smell of burnt pine needles and steamed champagne filled the room, leaving several people asking for more!<\/p>\n These three brave and versatile ladies saved the evening!\u00a0 Santa hats off to the fire crew!<\/p>\n Dianne comes to the rescue.<\/p><\/div>\n Donna is also a part-time fireperson!<\/p><\/div>\n Amy puts out a tree fire.<\/p><\/div>\n The party continued with cups of grog being consumed.\u00a0 Charlie and Alex, our grandsons, were assigned to firewatch duty.\u00a0 We wanted to make sure no additional sparks were flying around.<\/p>\n Visiting goes on all night long.<\/p><\/div>\n The grog hunt was on.\u00a0 Bob, our resident German, gave us a passing grade on our efforts to recreate this delicious drink!<\/p>\n Bob and Donna look for grog refills.<\/p><\/div>\n Robn and Mary sat back and rested after watching the exceptional firefighting performance.<\/p>\n The girls decided to sit and rest for a few minutes.<\/p>\n All kinds of weather Just like “White Christmas”<\/p><\/div>\n Meanwhile, back in the formal dining room, Mae West had the most challenging job in the evening: keeping an eye on Fast Eddie!<\/p>\n Mae West keeps an eye on Fast Eddie.<\/p><\/div>\n The girls gather around the table while the boys find a comfortable place to swap stories.<\/p>\n The boys talk about the desert trips\u2014Joe on the left (Son) and Zack on the right (Grandson).<\/p><\/div>\n Becca and Amy are both teachers, so they always have a lot to talk about.<\/p>\n Amy and Becca talk shop!<\/p><\/div>\n Mary revealed how she influences Santa.<\/p>\n Mary influences Santa.<\/p><\/div>\n Bob Duda set up the camera to capture all sixteen of us!<\/p>\n Yeah, yeah, the gang’s all here.<\/p><\/div>\n As the evening wore on, I thought a lot about my life.\u00a0 \u00a0I have been fortunate in my 81 years on this planet.<\/p>\n Good night, all, and Merry Christmas!<\/p>\n We had one more glass of wine before retiring to the TV room.<\/p><\/div>\n “Cookie little boy???”<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It is now December 2020, and Sue has been gone for almost ten months.\u00a0 Christmas would have been sad except that Dr. Mary entered my life, and my kids readily welcomed her into the family with open arms.\u00a0 I introduced … Continue reading \n
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We stick together
The same in the rain or the sun
Two different faces
But in tight places
We think, and we act as one<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/wp-content\/dailydiary\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2025-12-24-christmas-day-176.jpg\")
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