Odie's Christmas Memories Past- 1999

Good morning! This is Odie! Before I launch into my Saturday post I want to update you on my Papaw Danny Morgan. He came through open heart surgery fine. The doctor said he did four bypasses and that the surgery could not have went any better. He said his heart and arteries look very healthy and that my Papaw should feel 10 years younger in a few weeks. Of course the first few days after open heart surgery are still very challenging but we are so glad to report he is doing well at this point. He sat up several hours this morning. Thank you for praying and thank God for helping.

Christmas Memories Past - 1999

1999 was a year of change for us. We moved to Wichita, Kansas in that year when Dad became the Pastor of New Horizon Holiness Church. We lived in Kansas until January 2003 so we were there at Christmas time for four years. Although we usually went home right before or after Christmas I really missed being home with the family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  But we do have some incredibly happy memories from the Christmas seasons spent in Kansas from 1999-2002. 

We spent Christmas Eve 1999 eating pizza and listening to Christmas music. We decided to attend the 11:00 PM Central Christian candlelight Christmas Eve service. Central Christian was a large church and we did not know a soul there. We slipped in and enjoyed the music and service. It was a fun way to end our evening and we still laugh over a few memories from that cold winter night. 

We arrived home after the late Christmas Eve service and it was very late when we finally went to bed. I had my alarm set for 7:15 AM. As a 14 year old girl I was excited for Christmas morning. I had several gifts under the tree that I was anxious to open. Several of our family members had sent packages from home. With those packages it seemed to me we had a piece of the family there with us. Christmas morning could not come quick enough. Mom and Dad were always teasing me about oversleeping and missing Christmas but that was not about to happen.

Well my alarm went off at "7:15" just like I had set it to do. I woke up every morning at 7:00 AM for school and in December it was very dark at 7:00 AM. When I woke up Christmas morning at "7:15" There was bright sunshine streaming in my windows. I remember thinking, what is going on here?  As I walked through our living room to wake up my parents I quickly realized the correct time was 9:15!

Now, for the rest of the story.  After I went to sleep on Christmas Eve my parents changed my clock. They wanted to trick me and sleep a little longer in the process so they set my clock back TWO hours. I was not thrilled with them at all but we had a good laugh about it and had a great Christmas morning anyway. Now days I am all for sleeping late on Christmas morning or any morning for that matter!

We went on to have wonderful family day. I remember several nice gifts from that year. I am still thankful for the clothes, desk chair, clock radio, and computer game to name a few things. 

One little gift mom did not know if would like was a 4 Square ball. It turned out to be one of the best gifts of the year! We had so much fun with that ball. Most of our afternoon Christmas Day was spent bouncing the ball back and forth. We are an easily entertained family. All it took that year was a cheap grocery store gift. 

That day taught me to cherish family time and to enjoy the small things. I also learned to hold on to memories because they last a lifetime. 

Have a great weekend and enjoy the small things during this busy season. 

Odie 

Pray For Danny Morgan

Update 2:20 PM: Danny Morgan, Kelly's Dad,  is out of surgery and in the special ICU unit. The family should be able to see him soon. The doctor said the surgery could not have went any better. He said his heart and all the tissue is very very healthy. 

Praise God for His help. Thanks for praying. Please continue.

Odie with her grandpa Danny Morgan.

Although we have much to write about our busy day yesterday, we do not have much time. Kelly Jo's Dad, in the picture with Odie above, did not get good news from the heart doctor Thursday

They told him he has four blockages and needs open heart surgery immediately if not sooner. We plan to be there by 6:00 this morning so that means not time or much inclination to blog about all of the other exciting stuff. 

I will try to update at the top of this post when he comes through the surgery. Please ask God to help Danny Morgan today. Please pray as well for Kelly Jo's Mom and the rest of their family.

Thank you. 

Davy

Travel Days - From Wichita to Ohio

The girls left Wichita about 6:15 Wednesday morning and I pulled out about 10 minutes later. They were able to drive 75 MPH most of the way to Kansas City so they were at least 40-50 miles ahead of me by then and they missed the freezing rain and sleet that I was blessed to drive through. I must have hit it just right. It was bad for about 60 miles on me.

I noticed the rain hitting the windshield had turned solid about the same time I started noticing cars and trucks all over the median and sides of the interstate. Some had slid off the road, some had hit the guard rail, some had hit each other, some had turned over and some had done all of the above. I slowed way down and stayed off the brake as much as possible.

Once I cleared all of that about 30 miles east of Kansas City it was pretty much smooth sailing all the way to St. Louis. I hit the suburbs about the beginning of rush hour and only a few were rushing as they were weaving in and out of traffic. The rest of us crawled through.

I stopped right about there at a Quick Trip Truck Stop that we used to always stop at when driving back and forth between Wichita and Ohio. I normally would have waited about 300 more miles to fill up but diesel in Illinois was 3.69 and diesel at Quick Trip in Missouri was 3.19. That's 50 cents a gallon or a savings of $56.55. We paid $3.79 a gallon for our last fill up. 115 gallons at that price would have been $68 more than we paid today. 

It pays to pay attention to the prices.

I was feeling pretty good on the west side of St. Louis where I stopped for fuel. By the time I had cleared the city traffic and then endured a few construction zones in Illinois, I was ready to stop. I pushed on to the Flying J at Effingham, Illinois and parked for the night.

537 miles is pretty good for me in the bus now days.

Kelly Jo and Odie made it all the way home. They can drive faster than I can pulling this U-haul trailer and it is easier in the car anyway. They pressed on because Kelly Jo's Dad is scheduled for a heart cath today and she wanted to be there. I am glad they made it. 

I stayed at Flying J about seven hours but only slept about 90 fitful minutes. After I realized that was all the sleep I was going to get I decided to drive a little farther.

I went outside and emptied the holding tanks and hit the road. The roads were clear, the weather was good and I made it into Dodds church about 5:35 AM eastern  time. It was 277 more miles.

I am laying down to sleep until Kelly Jo calls me and brings the key to the barn. Then I will pull over there and park the BoggsMobile in the barn for the first time.

Thanks for reading.

Davy