Friday, December 28, 2018

Christmas Letter 2018


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. 


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