Glory to God in the highest and peace to His people on earth!

                                      2025

 

The year has been filled with many blessings from God. The nativity of Jesus and the Easter passion provide everything that is needed and more. Praise God for His gracious provision for us and for His incredible love for us!

We have had a good year. Our health holds reasonably well for our age. We continue in Borger. Steven is providing pastoral services for Good Shepherd Lutheran Church here in town. We are a very small fellowship, but we have fun, and we try to help out in the community with a project or two each year. 

I recently took over keeping up the church's web page. It's not fancy, but it does cover the basics. And the church got a new outdoor sign with a fancy digital display. Other upgrades to the property include taking out most of the wall paper in the hallways and some of the rooms at church and replacing that with textured, painted drywall. A huge improvement. And the parking lot was resurfaced. 

Travels included trips east to see Zachary and Jenna and Alex and David, a cruise, time with Nathan and Kimmie and Ben up in Angel Fire and down in Houston, other trips to Plainview to see Nathan, Kimmie and Ben. 

No housing projects this year except replacing the torn screen in one of the window screens. We have a couple of backyard projects going on at the moment (projected completion sometime in 2026). We are removing a couple of flowerbeds and the cement that went around them, and we are putting in a paver patio area in the backyard in a spot where grass and even weeds refuse to grow. 

We've learned to take our time with projects and just about everything else.

We hope you have had a good year. And we hope 2026 will prove to be good as well. Merry Christmas!

Highlights for the year follow:

 

Winter 

The highlight of the winter was a cruise to Panama. We went in early March. It had been six years since we had done a cruise. Not too much had changed except us being older so we used the elevators more than we used to. 

It was a ten day cruise filled with people our age. It was probably the best cruise we have been on in terms of the actual sailing and ship experience. We did enjoy all of the locations and ports of call. Panama was much better than I had thought it would be. On our excursion, we got to go completely across Panama to the Pacific. The cruise ship was not allowed into the canal, but a nice bus ride took us to see the canal and then took us over to Panama City on the Pacific. We also enjoyed time in Costa Rica and did an excursion there into a national park in the rain forest. 

Costa Rica

Costa Rica rainforest

Sun rise near Costa Rica

Panama Canal

Panama City and the Pacific

Sunrise near the Cayman Islands

Spring

In early June we headed down to Houston for a church convention. Nathan, Kimmie and Ben were also there for the convention. We shared an Air B & B -- a really nice Air B & B! Steven, Nathan, and I were busy at the convention. Kimmie and Ben did fun kid things in the area. 

Houston

Ben at a park near where we stayed

Summer

Summer saw a couple of trips. At the end of June we went to Tennessee to meet up with Zach, Jenna, Alex and David for a small camping trip. We spent a few days at a brand new Jelly Stone Resort. Great water features and other fun stuff. And we spent a day at the Knoxville Zoo. 

Waterpark at Jellystone

Then in August we went up to Angel Fire in New Mexico for a few days of camping with Nathan, Kimmie and Ben. We spent time in Red River and in Santa Fe. And Ben got to ride his tricycle all over the resort. 

In Santa Fe we went to a living farm. That was fun for everyone. Carla met up with us there and spent the day with us. 

Fun in Santa Fe

Autumn

Fall was prep time for the holidays. And then in early November we headed to North Carolina to spend a few days with Zachary, Jenna, Alex and David. (And we delivered Christmas gifts and treats.) We had fun just hanging out with everyone, and we had a fun day at Dollywood. It was all decorated for the holidays. We got to hear the children's choir sing at church, and we got to attend a community band concert. Jenna is the associate director for it. That community band does a great job! We have heard them several times before.

The first day of our trip back home was cloudy and cold and snowy. We drove through snow showers almost all of the way to our campsite. The snow did not stick to the road, but it was fun to see. 

They played soccer this fall

At Dollywood

At Dollywood

Nathan and Kimmie and Ben came the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to spend the day with us. It was a cool day, but nice enough for Ben to play outside. He loves running the leaf blower. They bring protective eyewear and ear gear for him. 

We still have a few loose ends to finish up before Christmas. Ben's birthday happens at the middle of December. I have a bit of baking and candy making to do for the holidays.

Whatever your plans for the holidays, we hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

 2024

Another year gone by. And another Christmas to celebrate. We rejoice at this time as we reflect again on the birth of Jesus and on His saving work on our behalf. We send our wishes to you that you will have a blessed Christmas.

2024

A brief summary

Winter

Toward the beginning of January, we tried something new. Instead of going on a cruise, we recreated all the things we enjoy about going on a cruise. The main things we enjoy (and why we find a cruise so relaxing) are not having to clean or do laundry or do any daily chores including cooking and making the bed. So we cleaned and did laundry before we started our "stay cruise." We ordered precooked meals from a gourmet food supplier. And we stocked up on some dvd's of movies we wanted to see. 

We even did a few "excursions." We went to Pampa for pizza, we drove out to Lake Meredith, and we drove out to Adobe Walls battle ground. Mostly we just totally relaxed. After five days, I was ready to get back into our regular routine. We were sooo rested. We would be doing it again in January 2025, except we are going on an actual cruise later in the year.

Looking out across the street

In early March we had wildfires surrounding the town. We could see and smell the smoke during the day and see the glow of fires at night. Our town is very proactive to keep the town safe from fires. Although we were surrounded by fires, we were the town displaced people were told to evacuate to. And the fires came right up to the edge of town but did not burn anything here.

Spring

After Easter, Zachary and his family came through here twice on their way to Arizona to see family and then again own their way home. They spent several days in total visiting. While they were here, Carla came over for a day, and Nathan and his family came up from Plainview for a day. All of the grandkids were together for the first time. That made it extra special! 

In May we went to Plainview to help Nathan, Kimmie, and Ben assemble a new play set for Ben. They had all of the pieces organized in such a way that it took only about four hours to put it together.

In June we got a new pickup truck. It is even a bit bigger than the truck we had. And, like the other truck, it is very comfortable and has plenty of engine to haul around the RV's. It made two trips to North Carolina and a trip over to New Mexico between June and the beginning of November.

Summer

In July we went to North Carolina to visit Zachary, Jenna, Alex, and David. While we were there, we went to Pigeon Forge to a bird place. There were lots of various types of birds to be seen. We were allowed to hold and feed some of the birds. That was fun!

On the way back from Pigeon Forge we drove through the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. That was a first for us. So beautiful!

Kimmie, Ben, Nathan, and Carla in Taos

In September we took the big RV over to Angel Fire in New Mexico. Nathan, Kimmie, and Ben joined us for that trip. We drove over on a Monday and drove home the following Friday. While we were there we spent time in Red River, Taos, and Great Sand Dunes National Park. We had good weather but we were a little early for the best autumn color. Carla met us in Taos for lunch. 

Ben had some firsts on that trip. He slept in a bed other than his own, he had a couple of restaurant meals, and he got to climb a big sand dune. This was also his first trip outside of Texas. He did great with all of these "new" experiences. 

Autumn

At the end of October and on into early November, we were in North Carolina for a few days. With the storm damage from hurricane Helene, we were not sure this trip would happen. That section of I-40 that washed away is part of our route. However, by the time we headed east, there were a couple of alternate routes available. 

The leaves were a bit past prime, but still amazing. While we were there, we went up to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, to the Ripley Aquarium. That's a very fine aquarium. We enjoyed it very much. Getting there meant going through The Great Smokey Mountain National park because I-40 was closed. But that drive through the National Park is so gorgeous. The extra few minutes it takes is well worth the effort. 

Alex is on a gymnastics team. While we were there, her team had a "mock meet" to get the girls ready for their first meet in January. We went to the "mock meet" and enjoyed it thoroughly. 

Halloween also happened while we were there. Waynesville puts on a great downtown event. We went to that. the kids dressed up and got lots of candy. One of the churches even handed out plastic cups full of candy to us adults. 

Nathan and Kimmie and Ben came in November for an early Thanksgiving celebration. On Thanksgiving Steven and I ate leftovers we had frozen from when Nathan and his family were here. 

We are looking forward to Christmas. We will see Nathan, Kimmie, and Ben sometime between Christmas and New Years Day. We took all of the gifts for the North Carolina crew when we made our trip there in the fall. 

I am composing this blog on Thanksgiving Day, and it strikes me that we have had a good year. We never take that for granted anymore. But we are thankful when that is how things go.