Been Awhile.........and Merry Christmas-Happy New Year!!

Okay - we know we have been negligent in posting, so here goes the latest.

We left you on our way to getting Matt moved at the end of October. He is now settled into a nice apartment in Columbus. I had a great time getting him somewhat organized and it was certainly nice getting some of the stuff out of our storage unit for him.

From there we went to Waverly to help bring Barb's dad home from the convalescent center on November 2nd (he was there a little longer than they had planned). He is doing very well with his walker and has attempted to use just a cane but needs a little more practice. He is very happy to be home with Ruth and Sammy, their cat.

From Waverly we moved our "base camp" to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. We found that motor homing does have a downside that on the surface seems like an upside -- we eat out a whole lot and that's not real healthy. We decided to enroll in a two week lifestyle change program at the Hilton Head Health Institute. It was very eye opening and a great academic, cardio and body strengthening program. We highly recommend it to any/everyone. It was a lot of work but having delicious meals served to you three times a day made it seem like just a healthy vacation. Besides losing a little weight, more importantly we significantly lowered our cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, etc and basically just feel a whole lot better. It has definitely changed some priorities and we have become much more active.

We have thoroughly enjoyed the "island" and the warm climate (nothing like Christmas shopping in 70 degree weather). Walking the beach, golfing, walking the beach, golfing, kayaking, walking the beach, dolphin watching, walking the beach really has merits this time of the year.

For Thanksgiving we drove the car only back to Waverly, Ohio to visit Barb's dad and see how he was doing with his rehab (very well). Beth, John and kids and Matt also joined us for Thanksgiving Day. Had a great time with Ruth's family (about 20 for Thanksgiving dinner). We also celebrated Barb's dad's 87th birthday while there.

For Christmas and New Year's we are traveling (in the car only again) to Louisville to spend time with Trish, Rick and the kids, then on to Virginia to visit the Beth and John Lossing family, then on to Philly to visit Patsy and Jim for New Year's. We'll then head to western Pa to visit Bill's mother and family. We'll return to Hilton Head to watch the BCS Championship game on January 7 and then head further south (with motor home and car) and begin our trek west.

We missed seeing our Buckeyes in person this year but brought the Buckeye spirit to Hilton Head (there are a lot of Ohio people down here). Picture is day of OSU/Michigan game.

That's all for now, so until our next update, have a very Merry Christmas and we wish you a happy and healthy 2008.

GO BUCKS!!!