Gary and Barbara's Christmas Newsletter 2025

 

Christmas 2025 
Stetson Mansion
Deland, Florida

We hope our newsletter finds you well and able to enjoy this special time of year, however "enjoy" is defined by you.

Our annual Christmas/year-end letter sent to everybody we have ever known and loved is now officially replaced with a blog post. Increased postage rates and arthritic hands have played a big part in this decision. Also, social media enables us to share more pictures. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so maybe our snapshots will speak more than we write. 

Since our first date was just before Christmas, we can honestly say this is our 5th year to celebrate together. Scratching our heads, we wonder how time has flown by so quickly?!

While during these 5 years there have been some major surgeries and half a dozen ER trips, we have still been blessed with good times, a lot of laughter, and a surprising amount of travel.  Neither of us is getting any younger but we are making the best of every day, grateful to be able to say that.

On the subject of travel, we are never away from home for long, which makes it easier to pack a smaller suitcase, avoiding heavy luggage. 

We continue to ride our bicycles nearly every day, which is a wonderful benefit to living in North Central Florida. We bought a good bike rack so we can load up to explore some paved trails, but most of the time we pedal 4-5 miles through the multi-purpose asphalt paths in our +55 community.

We make trips to Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell to visit the resting places of our dear ones. Christmas is an especially beautiful time to ponder memories and blessings.

In February we drove to the Everglades to ride an airboat through the grassy marshes, spying birds, turtles, and gators along the way. 

We drove down to Key West for a brief overnight visit. The weather in February is good for Key West, which translates to "a lot of people." The line to get our picture taken at the southernmost point in the USA was looong, so a passerby took this picture of us a few feet north of the monument. 

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at an outdoor seaside cafe. Yes, it's true, Key West has chickens walking all over. They were underfoot as we ate but they were not a bother.

Also in February we took a day trip to the Greek town of Tarpon Springs, sitting on the Gulf Coast at the mouth of the Anclote River. After a wonderful lunch literally on the water at Dimitri's (doesn't that sound Greek?!!), we took a tour on a boat that collects sponges from the river bottom. The diver gave a very informative talk on how that is done and then shared his helmet with any who wanted to try it on.

In April some of Gary's family did the traveling to see us. We had lunch at Crump's Landing in Homosassa, and enjoyed the mermaids at Weeki Wachee.

On another day of their visit we took them to La Chua Trail in Gainesville to see the gators. There were more than we could possibly count, sunning themselves on the beach.

This year we have visited two historical farms within an  hour's drive (or less of our home). We prefer to embrace the history of "old Florida" instead of the theme parks. 

Gary poked around the barn of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author of The Yearling and Cross Creek. The house tour was very interesting .....

The story was told that for her housewarming party, her dear uncle was not able to attend. He sent in his place a large bouquet of flowers, which she placed in the brand new toilet for her guests to see as they toured the home.

We enjoyed lunch at the rustic Yearling Restaurant in nearby Hawthorne where it is (quoting the Internet description) "well-known for serving local exotic carnivore edibles, as well as the usual fare." We opted for entrees that were not "exotic" but enjoyed the themed decor. 

A few weeks later we visited Dudley Farm National Historic Landmark in Newberry, Florida. The plantation was abundant with history as we learned how the family not only met their needs agriculturally but also contributed greatly to the development of their part of Florida.

Gary does his own laundry at home, so he felt very comfortable in this setting. (need I point out who is the comedian in this marriage?)

July took us to Camp Blanding in Starke, Florida to a World War II Museum. Gary explained to me the particulars of a properly made military bed. 

It was during this very interesting tour that we realized we should pursue the idea of visiting the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. 

So this fall we did just that -- took a road trip to New Orleans (NOLA)! The National World War II Museum is top-notch. Made up of some 7 galleries, it's an immersive experience that informs, shocks, and humbles the visitors. I think I've matured some from learning about that time in our nation and our world history. 

On another day we rode on the top level of the hop-on hop-off tour bus -- twice! It's an excellent way to get a birds-eye view of the city while listening to descriptions of everything we passed. 

On another road trip, we headed way up north. While everybody knows New Orleans sits on the Mississippi River, for this trip we were within an hour or so of where the great river actually begins. I thought it would be fun to get a Christmas card picture with the river behind us but later realized my hair was blowing straight up! So instead it's buried in this Christmas letter - ha-ha!

On this trip we visited family members, some of whom we had not yet met. This year Gary was blessed with his 4th Great-grandchild. Until this trip, he had met only one, the red-haired cutie who came to see us earlier in the year. In this visit we met the Minnesota Twins and their new baby brother. While the littles stole the show, we enjoyed visiting with all the adults.

On our way home from the north, we spent a couple of hours at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It had some mighty pretty cars in there!!! And the history of the Corvette was interesting, too.

Our most recent adventure was only about 60 miles from home. The Stetson Mansion, built by the creator of the famous Stetson hats, is another historical treasure. At this time of year it is absolutely, thoroughly and most abundantly decked out inside with Christmas decor. There are multiple nativity scenes in every room, as well as reminders of Santa Claus, the Grinch, snow scenes, and toys. 

Our home is not as thoroughly decorated as the Stetson Mansion, but it's plenty for us. It's our haven where we can shut the door on drama, stress, and conflict to enjoy peace, good food, coziness, and the blessings of love. 

That is our desire for you this Christmas season and into the New Year. Merry Christmas!

Composed/written by Barbara

Edited/proof read by Gary

Snapshots of Goodness and Mercy

 The days come and go, all of them full of graces I recognize and many that I don't even notice. Surely many of my readers will agree this is true of them, too. Yes, there are bumps along the way, but when we trust in the Lord, He helps with that.

daughter-in-law's Peregrina
(also known as Spicy Jatropha)

I'm sharing recent snapshots and resulting observations that design a diary of God's hand upon me with those I love.

Michael, me, and Gary

Since Gary has come into my life, I have more "children." I've gained a couple of sons and their wives, more grandchildren, and in the past 18 months I've become a "step great-grandma" -- three times!!

We have not yet been able to visit the great-grands in person, but one of our sons flew in from Minnesota to see us this past weekend.  It had been a year since the last visit; but the real impetus was so he could check on his dad, post surgery. He came to see for himself that Dad was doing well, and indeed, he is!

Michael

We took him to Barberville Yard Art Emporium. It's an interesting destination for out-of-town guests located about an hour's drive east from us. 

Reminiscent of the 1988 movie, Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss, this place sells giant animals, the Statue of Liberty, the Shoney's Big Boy statue, many other animal statues both life-size and smaller, as well as lots of pottery (most with a south-of-the-border theme), benches, fountains, heavy rustic furniture, and more. With that said, we bought nothing but enjoyed the scene and then headed for lunch.

us by the Hwy 40 draw bridge over 
the St Johns River 

Lunch was at Drifters, which is a very casual biker-bar type of place sitting alongside the St. Johns River, just to the side of a draw bridge. 

I've lost count of how many burgers I've had there with visiting family. One of my very favorite things to do in all the world is to eat within view of water. When there is the added attraction of boats and a draw bridge, you'll find me claiming a window seat.

Gary and his son Michael

On another day of his visit, we braved the I-75 and Turnpike traffic into Orlando for a post-op visit for Gary. Michael came away assured that ol' Dad had weathered surgery just fine and is recovering well. 

While the traffic to Orlando was not bad, returning home through Leesburg was a stop 'n go test of patience until we got to our lunch destination at Longhorn Steak House. This was a hearty meal that the re-routing of Gary's digestive system handled very well. That was a true indication of the success of his surgery!

Tony, Gary, Mary, and Bailey

After depositing Michael at the curb at the Tampa airport, we traveled deeper into the metro area to find the home of another son and his wife. Neither of us had been to their house before and what a treat that was!

fountain in back yard corner

As Mary gave us the tour of their back yard, the first topic of conversation was this fountain. Stunning!! And then she flattered me with a question of what I thought she should plant behind the highest point of the rocks, to help obscure the view beyond the fence. While I know much less about such things than she does, I think it was generally agreed that Bamboo would grow fast, fill out, and provide some privacy.

sign at one of the seating areas

Their yard is essentially a long rectangle that parallels the back of the house. The fountain is in one corner and on the opposite end is a covered seating area where, had there been more time, I would have, for sure, "kicked off my shoes."

Their yard is like something out of a "feel good" movie. I loved every detail and the resourceful use of space. I could have spent hours there, had it been practical that day. Mary says she likes to read and pray in the serenity they've created.

us

Beside the pool and spa we took several snapshots. In this one Gary was giving me his mock frownie face when I told him I didn't want his sun glasses in the pictures.

us again

Although he likes to tease me, I always get his cooperation and this was one of those times.

view of the guys from an upstairs window

The photo session was followed with a tour of the house, which I loved, and then the kids took us to a wonderful diner for brunch. Gary had a traditional pancake and eggs plate while I enjoyed the veggie omelette with sausage and rye toast. All too soon we needed to get back on the road for the 2-hour drive back to our town.

Gary on our back patio

Of course the big news the following day was the eclipse. We didn't get excited about it since our area expected to see only 50 to 60% of the event through some high, thin clouds. I turned on the TV to watch it.

me on the back patio

But then Gary remembered that he had some of the required eclipse glasses tucked away in his office from years ago. He surprised me with them and that's what took us outside to watch. While it was not the stunning event those in the Midwest witnessed (Sister was in Indianapolis!!), it was a marvel to observe even a partial eclipse.

As I close out this post, thoughts about a "blended family" are once again speaking to me. I never thought life would take a turn for me like this, putting me in a place where I get to enjoy not only my own birth children, but also those brought to me in a second marriage. I am blessed with good people in my life. 

Until next time, grace and peace.