What a year! Change was constant with our family this year - some good, some bad. The house is all decorated for Christmas, but we had lots to do this year to get here. Mid-year, Jan and I spent two weeks in Europe; sightseeing, visiting friends and working. But, earlier in the year, I had broken my leg. So, while I was back on my feet, I was still a little lame throughout our trip. We visited friends in Nice, relatives in Sweden, a cathedral in Germany, the Normandy beaches and Paris on Jan’s birthday. Our friends and relatives in Europe were so good to us during our visits. The low point of the trip was when we received word that my father had died at home, at age 93. We attended an international conference in Belgium during the trip too. Such a wonderful trip, it only ended too soon.
Bennie is back in Daytona. He lived and worked in Jacksonville for a time and then was promoted and moved back to Daytona. Right now, he is commuting to Orlando to work but he will soon be working in Daytona across the street from the Daytona 500 racetrack. He’s still managing a restaurant and will have his own store at a food mall here.
Jessy, Mark and Casey are always nearby. We see them almost ever day. Jessy and I still work together. Mark has changed jobs and is now with a large local heating and air conditioning company. He’s doing well there and enjoys his work - he gets to be outside more. Casey grows like a weed! Now, he wants to go outside and "get dirty." He goes to preschool three days a week at the school in our church that Jan helped to start two years ago.
April is now out on her own. She graduated from college this summer - with honors! She wanted to stay close to home and the family too, so she has taken a job with the same company that Jessy and I work for. She’s in a different division and so works several miles away, but she does join us for lunch every day. April and Bennie are room mates - they are sharing an apartment. There’s more - Jessy and Mark are their apartment managers! They live across the hall from each other.
Joy gets busier all the time. She’s in Police Explorers, FFA, played an invitational concert in the University of Miami Honors Orchestra and other concerts and she plays at church on occasion too. After I take a breath, I’ll go on! She’s still on the yearbook staff, she’s a high school senior and doing well, she’s President of Santaland this year and she has also been working at the church preschool about three days each week.
Nicole is in her last year at Middle school. She’s swimming again this year which takes lots and lots of time. She does well and has so many ribbons and trophies now that I have to build her a display shelf in her room to show them off. Nicole also does really well at school and she’s working at Santaland this time of the year.
Jan and Jessy are doing better all the time with their craft business. They display at several craft shows during the year and they have some retail space in a store in downtown Daytona. They’re both always making some more things to sell.
My leg is all healed now and I’m enjoying frequent fishing trips in the river here with Bennie and/or Mark. We go out whenever we get a chance. It only takes a few minutes to drop the boat in the water and be off. The river is really peaceful most mornings or evenings. We’ve located a few good fishing holes to try out.
All of us wish you a great Christmas where you will have time to reflect on the wonderful gift of the birth of our Lord almost 2,000 years ago! What more could any of us ask for?
Our best holiday wishes to you all!
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