Merry Christmas from Branson

Here it is almost Christmas. My how how time flies. We are still working on a new church build in Branson, Mo. Even though it is not as warm here as we would like we feel that this is where we are supposed to spend our winter. Last nights temps were down near zero with wind chill well below that but we managed to keep warm and did not have any problems with the RV freezing up. We also had a little lite snow, just enough to cover the ground Hope this is the coldest we will experience all winter but at least I know we can keep cozy in our RV.

We are working on the inside framing while the company doing the building completed the outside. They finished up the outside this week and the building is now closed in except for windows and doors. This is how the building looked when we got here and how it looks now.

We’ve completed most of the interior framing of the classrooms, offices, restrooms, kitchen, and storage room and now we are working on the sanctuary. Hopefully by the end of the year we will have completed framing all of the rooms. As it is almost Christmas some of the RVers have left for the holidays and another couple leaves this week so not too much help the next couple of weeks. We do have a couple of guys from the church that have helped on their days off and hopefully they will be able to help a couple of day the net two weeks.

There hasn’t been a lot on the job for the women to do but they have been busy fixing a hot lunches and delivering it to the site. Since it’s been cool (or should I say cold) a hot meal helps warm up up. Also the church has provided lunches.

The church gave hats and scarves to every kid in one of the grade school in a poorer area near here. All of the hat were made by the women of the church and they needed a lot more scarves so the women have been busy making scarves. Marge has crocheted about 20 scarves that were given to the kids.

We’ve also had some time to take in some of the sites around Branson. Christmas in Branson is a big deal and begins around November 1st. We have been to see the Christmas show at Dixie Stampede and see Moses at the Site and Sound Theater. Both were very good show. We also went to Silver Dollar City to see all the decorations two shows, “It’s a Wounderful Life” and “Scrooge”. They really do it up right with the decorations. This is just a few, and I do mean few, of the lights.

While there Marge sat on Santa’s lap and we found some mistletoe.

As you can see from the pictures it was quite cold that night.

One Saturday we got a guided tour the campus of College of the Ozarks bu one of the former professors. It’s called “Hard Work U“. Students are required to work in one of the many programs the school has and that along with scholarships and grants all students graduate debt free. This is a picture of their Chapel outside and inside.

They also have a replica of the Vietnam Memorial Wall.

There are many other things to see and if you ever visit Branson visiting this college campus is something worth doing.

One weekend my youngest sister and her family came up to Branson and while here they met us for breakfast. For some reason I didn’t get any pictures but we enjoyed our visit and I hadn’t seen some of her family for several years.

The following picture is for all of our friends from the Chicago area. This is the old Ferris Wheel that used to be on Navy Pier. It is now an attraction on the strip in Branson.

One more Week until Christmas Day when we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Let not forget that real reason and share it with our friends and family.

Merry Christmas to everyone who has read this far. Until next time God Bless.