Back from Springfield

I guess this will be my final post of the year. It has been a week since I last put anything on this blog, so I have some catching up to do.

On Christmas Day we went over to the Dobbs for a Mexican meal. (Next year will be a shrimp boil.) There were about a dozen people there. We played Dirty Santa. I was excited to win a waffle maker, but Jonathan took that off my hands. What I ended up with was much less impressive, so unimpressive that I do not recall now what it is.

As we opened the presents we tossed the wrapping paper into the fireplace. That my not have been the best thing to do for soon we had a roaring fire in the fireplace which set off a chimney fire. We all evacuate the house, and someone called the fire department. Soon they were on the scene with three trucks and a police car. It reminded me of the story by Dylan Thomas A Child's Christmas in Wales -- although it was not as funny.

On Sunday we observed Kzanzaa at church. Three drummers played African drums. Due to our guests, we had a larger than normal congregation. The three drummers plus their families added significantly to our small numbers. We must have had at least a dozen people there for the service.

On Monday, Gail came over and we practiced the duet we plan to play for the service this coming Sunday. The title of the piece is Walnut River Rag. We also played several other pieces which we might play at future services.

On Tuesday, we left for Springfield. J's brother Rick along with five others were heading for Springfield on something of a vacation. My son Nick was already at Branson on vacation. We all met in Springfield and took a picture of the four generations of Nerrens.

We ate lunch/dinner at the Golden Corral around 2:30 that day. There were 14 of us. The Golden Corral is always busy no matter what time of day you go there.

Rick and his wife both work at the auto assembly plant in Kansas City. They have plenty of money which they lavished on the grandchildren. A. was so impressed with Rich that she asked for his autograph. One day, Wednesday I think, we went to Branson and attended a show. We saw a group of singers by the name of New South. It was an all male quartet, but they had others as part of their act. Altogether they probably had a crew of a dozen. They sang a variety of music. They are basically a south style gospel quartet, but they also sang some Elvis songs, plus songs made popular by the Everly Brothers, James Brown, and more. It was 10:30 by the time the show let out. We went to the candy shop for a free sample of fudge. Nick and his family were staying in the hotel associated with the act.

We spent Thursday night with my parents at The Abbey. We drove home today. It is always good to get back home.