Merry Christmas to All; The Gypsies are back on Marco! A busy year by any standards! It is 15 days till Christmas, 2008 and time to start the yearly chronicle on the “doings” of the Martins. I say we are back and that really means “I” am back from Blue Ridge, GA. Gara Ann had been on Marco most of the summer while I have been in BR most of the summer. We figured that one of us has to work and Happy and I elected GAM. In these trying times, she has been able to keep busy doing her Real Estate thing and still get away for road trips and Mountain Time. Last April GAM bought me a new camper; we had been looking for a few years at upgrading to a larger, more powerful unit but had not found “the one”. We put 70,000 miles on the old one in 8 years and were ready for a newer unit. Bought a 36’ Horizon (the old one was 25’) with a 300 HP CAT diesel and although it was 7 years old it only had 23,000 miles on it. What a treat to drive it and a blessing to own. Soooo we travel! Left Marco middle of April with bike and car on trailer behind camper intending to stay the summer in GA. Traveled to Niece Laura’s wedding in Fayetteville, AR and visited Gara Ann’s mom in nursing home then back to GA. Laura married golfer Nick Rousey and now niece Anna Grace is engaged to another Nick! That means another Arkansas wedding (trip) in July 09. Always special to be part of the Peiser family happenings. It was at this same time that we lost a very special person to the Toalson family, Gerry Villars. Gerry lived with the Toalsons since GAM was 13 and was very much a part of that family! Good news is that we know Gerry is in heaven…and we will see her again. Thanks to brother Bill and Vickie for their good care of her. May 1st… Get a call that we have a offer to purchase on our home on Marco and part of the contract is that we be out by July 1st . In this Real Estate environment you say yes and make it happen, so I park camper in GA and drive Jeep home to empty out the house. Now that sounds EZ! It took the month of June to pack for storage and find another place to live. Gara Ann bought the home across the street as an interim, but could not close till July 15th, and then needed 8 weeks to renovate the new home, so we were homeless till mid September. (a great way to be during hurricane season) We left Marco on July 1st, after closing on our home and on to Blue Ridge to load up the camper. Up to Columbia, MO for Nephew Davie and Megan’s wedding, then to Northern Iowa to visit friends. After 15 days on the road, I got homesick for our cabin (I’ve been away since June 4th) and all those toys… So two ten hour driving days later and we are back home in GA! Now I need to explain that homesick thing; I must be getting old. In the service I did not go home (Ft. Myers Beach) for two years. Later I spent almost two years on the cruise ship with only a week at home each year...No problem! But darn I miss my “kids” (Nephews & Nieces), my friends, the hills and all that goes with it. Mid September we had to go home (Marco) to move belongings out of storage and into “new” home. Ten days later I was back in GA. For MY October!!! Nate and Gina flew up for a week (October) of biking and playing. Friend Steve Oyer loaned Gara Ann & me one of his Harleys and Nate & Gina rode my bike on road trips to Helen, GA and Franklin, NC. The fall colors were peaked in the mountains of North Carolina and the ride was superb. Also got talked into playing in the woods with Nate, cousin Josh and friend Roger Withers on the dirt bikes and four wheelers. I’m getting tooo old for that kind of fun. Took me 2 days to recuperate… Nate dropped the dirt bike in the middle of a creek and came home soaking wet in 50-degree temps. I can’t wait till next year! October and that means colored leaves and to Gara Ann MIZZOU Football so we went to brother Bill and Vickie’s for the Iowa State/ MU game. Great time including fabulous food at D’Rowe’s (Davie’s restaurant) and camping in the Toalson driveway. Also managed a side trip to AR to see Peisers, and Mother Toalson. Thank you Alice and all the Peisers for your good care of mother! High Point of 2008 is our Marco First Baptist…The Family Church…we moved in our awesome new facility this spring and God is truly blessing the work for Him. GAM will be teaching Bible Study Life group in January. I think she misses being there when she is in GA. Our Christmas musical was magnificent. The talent in that church is not to be believed and the new building is like an opera house with all the technological bells and whistles. (Even snow machines). Our real estate venture with Keller Williams is now 92 agents strong, profitable and doing very well. Gara Ann is really working at making the office a success and we have been blessed with some extraordinary staff. God will provide and He did! Carla, Gara Ann’s assistant, is her right hand and a good bit of the left. Those of you who know her also appreciate her value! Nate is doing his music thing and has about 6 different places he plays. Some scheduled and others impromptu. GAM and I have enjoyed a few sets but late nights are not our thing. Still riding his hard-tail-homemade chopper and trying to keep the jungle at bay at his place, “the swamp”. Back home on Marco for the winter; I have turned into a reverse snowbird. GAM made Happy and me come home; said that folks were starting to call her the widow Martin. I did need to come back to see all the other snowbirds and I have some important things to accomplish. Lets see here; Bike Week in Daytona; Engine show in Ft.Mead; swap meet in Webster… I’ll keep busy. Yes, God has blessed this family in many, many ways and we are thankful, but we are most grateful for His Gift of Salvation…Jesus came as a baby and gave His Life on a cross to pay the death penalty for our sin that separates us from our Father- God. This is not a Gift we could ever earn by doing or being ‘good’. We must acknowledge our sinfulness, ask God to forgive us and then accept His Gift…Eternal Life with Him beginning now and lasting forever! John 3:16 Please don’t wait until it’s too late. We wish you a Blessed Christmas filled with God’s Peace and Joy. NEW ADDRESS: 178 Stillwater Ct. Marco Island, FL 34145