ONE broken down car
left TWO young men (Andrew and
nephew Evan) stranded in Miles City, Montana on Andrew’s way home from school
in the spring. We found out that there are Godly people living in that city who helped our two stranded
travelers.
ONE new
daughter-in-law joined our family this year.
Andrew married Cierra Su’a on May 17th
in Nauvoo. We love her dearly and she
fits in our family beautifully. She is a
student at the U of Utah while Andrew is at LDS Business College. They are
making their home in Salt Lake City until they both finish school.
TWO are the number
of dear friends that surprised us in Independence, MO, for Andrew and Cierra’s
reception there. They came from Wyoming and it was truly a surprise beyond
words. What joy fills our hearts with such a surprise!
THREE is how many
times Erin has come home to visit this year. We love when she’s home with
us. She’s working/living in Provo/Orem,
Utah. One day soon she’ll move back to
Wisconsin and we will receive her with open arms!
FIFTH places seem to
be the best Tom can do at his Special Olympics track meet. However, his bocce team came home with the FIRST place blue ribbons.
EIGHT is the number of
grandchildren we are blessed with at the moment.
8.2 are the number
of miles around Mackinaw Island. We took
a few days to get away and have a vacation for just the two of us. One of our stops was Mackinaw Island where
there are lots of bicycles and horses.
No cars allowed. We biked the
outside of the island as well as much of the interior. We actually put on a lot
more than eight miles. Another of our
stops was in Paradise, Michigan where we visited the Shipwreck museum on Lake
Superior.
ELEVENth of October is
the day Sammi and Jeff’s twins joined our family. Henry Allen and Lydia Sue are
a joy to have in our home. We recognize
God’s wisdom in women giving birth in their younger years.
THIRTEENth of April is
when Eli Mack Gourley joined our family.
He is the 4th son
of Clare and Clint’s FIVE children. We love getting new grandbabies!
FIFTEEN was the number
of the jersey of our oldest granddaughter’s volleyball jersey. That was the same number worn by her mom and
her aunts! How are we old enough to have a grandchild in middle school?
30+ inches of snow
blessed us from April 13-15th.
That wasn’t the way we wanted our spring to begin but it was impressive
and then melted rather quickly. Driving
home from Milwaukee in that storm was very time consuming. Home felt really good when we got here!
35 years of
marriage were celebrated in January. We
count ourselves blessed beyond measure to be married to one another and be each
other’s best friend.
120 days from
January 1st is how many more days Pat has until he retires from a
job he’s held for 31+ years. With
some restructuring, his job is being eliminated. He gets a great severance and we will
determine what’s next for us in the upcoming months.
150 pieces of fry
bread were made for the wedding reception.
I waffled about what to serve at Andrew’s wedding reception and finally
determined that I would serve his favorite food. Indian Tacos were a hit!
THOUSANDS are the miles we
put on driving around the state and U.P. speaking to the congregations of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints about the importance of doing their
family history and sharing their memories.
We were able to spend a few days in Kirtland, OH at a seminar on that
subject. Check out familysearch.org and get
started!
INFINITE are the
blessings we have received as a family over the past year. We owe all that we have to Jesus Christ and
His infinite goodness. We COUNT ourselves blessed to be able to celebrate
His birth and remember Him throughout the year.
