HAPPY NEW YEAR

Please turn your speakers on and take a few minutes to listen to Kenny G's version of Auld Lang Syne. The overlay is a chilling history of the last 60 or so years. We have certainly experienced unforgettable events in our time here in the United States. May the next 60 years be filled with better memories for our grandchildren.

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I hope all of you had your fill of Christmas/Hanukkah meals. Maybe you had your fill of family, too! At any rate, may all of you be full of good feelings and thankfulness for the blessings you received this past year. A few of you have more to be thankful for than the rest of us.

IRENE PIEL BATTS has had recent checkups with both the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor and the plastic surgeon in San Antonio. Both are very pleased with the outcome of her lengthy surgery as well as the results of the chemotherapy and radiation treatments. She doesn't appear to need any more surgery, and the treatments have been successful in eradicating any signs of the original cancer! She is eating some soft foods now. Hurray! The feeding tube is not nearly as satisfying as the taste of real food, although the doctor told her it might be a while before her taste buds are back to normal. When I saw her shortly before Christmas, she had a smile as big as Texas. What a wonderful Christmas present for her and her family!

JAMES HAYS may not be an angel, however he recently got his "wings":

"I got my Christmas gift early, my new flight physical arrived Friday in the mail, renewable annually with a stress test and other stuff for six years. Then they will need a re-evaluation, all just because I had my chest cracked 8 months ago. I celebrated Friday by boring holes all over the sky."

I hope you are very careful, JAMES, as I don't want to hear another story like the following.

BILL KING had a family "incident" that reminded me of the scary events of last Christmas, when my daughter and her family skidded on ice in Colorado and flipped their car into a ditch. BILL sent me the following email:

"Reflecting back to about 24 hours ago to a time that could have been one of the worst times of my life that turned out to be one of the best times of my life... On the morning of Friday December 26, 2008 my youngest son Keith, his wife Lea Ann, and my little 8-year-old granddaughter Bailey headed out to Albuquerque, NM in his 4-place Mooney airplane. My oldest son Terry, his wife Catherine, and my grandson Michael live in Albuquerque. I was at my farm in Ballinger when I received a brief call from Terry that Keith had crash landed his airplane 20 or so miles out of Albuquerque and everyone was fine and they were headed out to the scene of the crash. A few minutes later I received a text message from Keith assuring me everyone was fine and he would contact me as soon as rescue found them. Needless to say I burned a lot of cell phone minutes over the next few hours. Keith and his family were checked out at the scene and had no bad injuries, just sore all over from the bouncing around during the crash landing. They were transported out of the crash area where Terry and Catherine picked them up and headed back to their house.

Talking to Keith later I found out the crash landing was in a small field free of trees in an area that is almost all forest. Anyone familiar with the area east of Albuquerque knows about the heavy forest type area and high mountains. Keith told me he was flying on instruments and was over a mountainous area when his engine failed. He was able to back away from the mountains and started to look for open sky to find a landing site. When he was no more that 500 feet above the ground he broke out into clear skies and all he could see was trees and a small open area a short distance in front of them. His approach to the open area was too fast but he was able to force the airplane down and skid to a stop before he reached the trees in front of them. Take a look at the attached pictures Keith took at the crash site. Might have to work on that propeller just a little.

On this trip Lea Ann was sitting in the back seat with Bailey. Keith was flying the airplane with a vacant seat next to him, or was it vacant? I am not sure if Keith was the pilot or the copilot. For anyone that says there are no guardian angels looking over us I would have to disagree with you. Oh, by the way, I broke my foot on that same day while at the farm, but what a very minor happening compared to what could have been.

Everyone stay safe, and count your blessings."

BILL, I am so happy to hear that everyone came through this horrific ordeal unhurt! Also, we hope your foot heals quickly!

Not everyone celebrates the holidays in the same manner. NANCY THOMPSON BAKER and hubby Jake (Class of '54) decided to hold their Christmas with their family the weekend before Christmas. Everyone was there except their son Rodger (and his wife and children) who is stationed in Spain. We celebrated Jake's 70-something birthday at the same time. Two days before Christmas NANCY and Jake left on a road trip to Tunica, Mississippi, where they had a good time playing the slot machines. NANCY said they won enough to come home with as much as they left with, plus all of their expenses were paid for! Another plus: the temperature was 70 degrees on Christmas Day in Tunica!

I shared a wonderful Christmas with all my children and all but one of my grandchildren in Amarillo at my daughter and son-in-law's home. The kitchen was the busiest place in the house, with three gourmet cooks on hand -- my daughter Carajean, my daughter-in-law Amy, and BOB BURTON, my daughter's dad. There was plenty of food all day long every day we were there. The children had the most wonderful time before and after "Santa". There were five children under 10 and three teens. Unfortunately, so many either had a cold when they got there or took cold when they were exposed, that we didn't get to hear the singing of carols as usual. But we made up for it in lots of domino games, while the children played with the Wii they got for Christmas. It filled the house with music from the "Rock Star" game. (Not exactly Christmas music!) Although Cameron's voice was suffering from a cold, he played a piece or two for Grandmama on the piano. The youngest child there was Kelly, who turned three last month. I really believe she played the hardest.. and possibly ate the most Christmas gingerbread men. As you can see in the photo on the right, she didn't want to give in or give up her cookie, even when she was so tired she couldn't stay awake any longer!

All in all, it was a good time for everyone. As usual, Carajean (and husband Branch) was the "hostess with the mostest". The only thing that could have made it better would have been to have her housekeeper Graciela on hand to help with the cleanup. She was on vacation!

I feel certain all of you remember BOB BURTON's sister Emilie. She was a BHS cheerleader for four years. She and her husband "Doc" live in Amarillo. Emilie stopped by for a visit with us on Christmas Eve. She looks the same as always, with just the addition of silver in her hair.

One can take dozens of pictures at a family Christmas, but still not capture all the memories that we will hold in our hearts forever. I feel more than ever the need to treasure each little memory, as we never know when this will be the last Christmas we share with our loved ones.

The years are slipping away too quickly. Remember when the year 2000 seemed eons away? Everyone was fearing the worst from the Y2K bug. May all of our fears of the passing of time be as pointless as the Y2K scare! And may you all be blessed with the very best in the coming year.

Let me hear all the "good stuff" that happened to your and yours over the holidays! And share your pictures with us.

Peace and love to you all,

Marilyn

HAPPY NEW YEAR!