Christmas 2024

MERRY CHRISTMAS!                                                                                       

I pray this season brings all of you much peace, joy, and love as we celebrate the birth of our glorious Savior. In looking back over this year, I am especially blessed to be surrounded by loving family, friends, and brothers and sisters in Christ. This is the rich, abundant life God has for us all when we trust in Jesus, and I am so thankful.

I guess the highlight of the year would have to be Tony’s and my 50th anniversary on April 20th. We were fortunate to be joined by sister Lisa and b-i-l Bob for a beautiful week in Hawaii, half on Oahu and half on the Big Island. It was a lovely place to celebrate and, as always, we had a great time together. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect. (for pictures see my anniversary blog entry.)

The kids are all doing well. Everyone is healthy and happy, which makes for a very contented Papa and Bammy/Grammy. Zoey is a high school senior (gasp)! She is a lovely young woman, as beautiful inside as out, and she was honored by her classmates to be chosen as Homecoming Queen. 

Zoey is still considering her options for next year and will doubtless choose the right path for her future. Leo is a sophomore and is on the JV basketball team. He and Josh are in the process of restoring Josh’s grandfather’s old farm Jeep, so most weekends are spent in the garage, getting the Jeep road worthy. When Ruby, also a sophomore, gets her license in March, we will have THREE young drivers in the family! Ruby is the perfect foil for Papa and gives him a run for his money as they “provoke” each other good naturedly. Etta is in 8th grade and is tall, willowy, creative, and so sweet. She’s in a Bible study with Maggie and one of their friends, led by Zoey. So dear! Maggie, our family’s future vet, is now a mouse mom. Our other 8th grader loves taking care of tiny Wanda and Mary Ann (“Goodbye Earl”). Sam is in 6th grade, his first year at the upper campus. He loves football and played on the middle school team. He will be in his final year of Upward basketball after the holidays. All 6 kids love to read, cook, and spend time together. They are my heart!

The moms and dads continue to do a fabulous job keeping up with the 5 teens and 1 almost teen. Jenni not only has her successful doTERRA business, but she’s also baking and selling her delicious sourdough bread. Dave enjoys teaching engineering and robotics at Parish Episcopal School in Dallas and continues to mentor his award-winning students at their annual NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge in Huntsville, AL. They still spend every summer working at Kanakuk K-7 Kamp in the Branson, MO area. Erika loves her job teaching preschool at a Baptist church in Denton and has continually moved up to more responsible positions. Josh is graphic design manager at GMC Financial, which allows him to do what he loves partly from home and partly from the office. 

In September I had the pleasure of spending a week in southern Maine with my childhood friend, Terry. She was the BEST tour guide, driving me all over the beautiful, rugged coast, visiting quaint villages and eating wonderful seafood. Terry and her husband Al will be joining Lisa, Bob, Tony, and me next fall on a cruise to Portland, ME, as well as Canadian ports in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. After a scorching summer I’ll be looking forward to cool temperatures and hopefully some beautiful fall color that we don’t get here in Texas. (Blog entry with photos coming soon!)
Boo is now 4 and is the best dog!

 Her only flaw is loving people too much; in other words, jumping up on her favorites for hugs and kisses. But she is well loved by all her friends here at the condos. Several years ago our dear friend Patty invited me to bring Boo to her lovely fenced-in wooded acre in our neighborhood so this condo dog could run and enjoy the outdoors. We lost Patty to a massive stroke last month, but her precious family is keeping the property and has graciously invited me to continue bringing Boo over every day. Patty was a treasure and we miss her, but her loving, kind spirit permeates the nature she loved so much.

This year, thanks to Jenni's inspiration and tutelage, I've been making crusty sourdough bread from active starter. It's taken a full year to get comfortable with the process and to perfect my technique, but I love baking it and our neighbors seem to love it when their turns come up to receive a loaf.

To you, our treasured friends and family, we send our most heartfelt Christmas greeting and prayers for a wonderful MAGA new year! (I had to slip that in!)  May you all be abundantly blessed!

PS: This will be the last year I’m going to mail Christmas cards and newsletters, but I will continue to post a Christmas letter plus photos every year (as well as anything else I consider newsworthy) on my blog.

Left to right: Jenni Cribbs, Dave Cribbs, Maggie (1/17/11) Cribbs, Sam (10/8/12) Cribbs, Zoey (12/28/06) Cribbs, Mona Leo, Ruby (3/21/09) Cribbs, Tony Leo, Leo (8/27/08) Wiese, Erika Wiese, Josh Wiese, Etta (1/7/11) Wiese