Blessings and season’s greetings! December 2023
We hope your year has been one of good health and happiness. The years certainly do fly by, don’t they? And yet, we seem to be able to cram a whole lot of living into 365 days.
God has been very good to us this year. We’re still enjoying living in our lakefront condo with 3-year-old Boo, our precious rescue pup. We’ve had a lot of great dogs over the years, but this one is the most special of all—probably because we have plenty of time to spend with her. She’s a great “old people” dog because she gets us outside and moving!
Tony and I enjoyed a Mediterranean cruise in June with Lisa and Bob, visiting Italy (Rome, Sicily, Naples, Sorrento, and Florence), Greece (Santorini, Mykonos, Katakolo (my favorite!), and Crete), Malta, and France (Nice and Cannes). As always, it was fun to get away but great to come back to home base.
In August Tony suddenly developed atrial fibrillation (Afib) and was hospitalized twice, ending up with a cardiac ablation procedure and lots of new medications. This was a unique experience for him because until now he has been in the hospital only once—his birth! He has a great cardiology team that keeps him monitored and regulated, and his medication load has started to be reduced. One of the unfortunate effects of the Afib was a right occipital lobe stroke which caused the loss of ¼ of the vision in each eye. Since Tony already had moderate macular degeneration, this condition was the death knell to his driving ability, thus leaving me as sole driver in our household. Fortunately, “I’m an excellent driver” (Rainman)!!
The kids are all great! Jenni, Dave, Erika, and Josh are steadfast in their dedication to raising kind, creative, godly children, and we couldn’t be prouder of all of them. High school junior Zoey (17 on Dec. 28) is taking a couple of dual credit (high school and college) classes and is enjoying driving with her license, babysitting, and playing varsity volleyball. Leo, 15, is driving with a permit and is doing very well. He recently made the JV basketball team and we are looking forward to going to his games. Ruby (14), is our resident wit who especially enjoys jokingly sparring with Papa. She’s really fun, unwaveringly deadpan, and super smart. Etta (12) is a tall, willowy sweetheart with a sweet soprano and a voracious appetite for reading. She’s doing very well sleeping in the night brace necessary to keep her scoliosis from progressing. Maggie (12) is a master of facial expressions and self-taught skills including the ukulele, and she is already better at crocheting than Bammy. Both Etta and Maggie took part in a middle school volleyball clinic this fall and learned some valuable skills. Sam (11) is in his last year of elementary school and is quite an athlete. His favorite sport is football but he also excels in basketball and pretty much any sport he tries. He has the best, sometimes wildest, head of hair in the family!
We’re looking forward to hearing about
your 2023, and we wish you all the joys and blessings of the Christmas season
as we remember the Reason. May He be very present in our hearts, minds, and
holiday activities, especially during this time of turmoil on earth. But we’ve
read ahead, and we know Who wins!!
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