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!