Dear Friends, December 2008

The New Year started out uneventful which is okay with us. We had a mild winter this past year, but not as much rain as the previous year so plants and grasses are quite dry and brown now. We're not complaining though, as we know some folks had too much water.

Andrew was confirmed in our church this past May. Caroline's Mom was able to come as well as several cousins and great aunts. During the summer we all went on a youth mission trip to the valley (border town). I helped in the kitchen feeding the kids and John and Andrew helped the groups with their manual labor assignments, e.g. painting houses, weeding, gardening, and picking in the fields. It was terribly hot but the kids here are used to it.

John semi retired in August. He continues to work 2 days a week for the Air Force. He keeps on with our church choir and his plants. Caroline doesn't do much of anything except go to a lot of medical appointments. She finished a lot of speech therapy and hyperbaric treatments for her stroke. It has helped some and she is doing pretty good. Her lung still hurts especially when the air is real hot or real cold.

Andrew started 7th grade this fall and joined Boy Scouts. He and John have enjoyed several camping trips already and Andrew is learning lots of new things, e.g. mapping, distances, compass use, rock climbing, etc. He is getting grosser every year. No more sweet little boy!

In October our church celebrated its 125th anniversary. It was a three day celebration with lots of food and activities. The church received a letter of congratulations from President Bush which was proudly displayed along with other historical memorabilia. Unfortunately, John's Air Force Academy reunion was the same weekend so we missed it this time around, but look forward to the next. Sorry we missed seeing those of you who were at the Academy.

Thanksgiving we headed to DC to tour the monuments, Capitol, White House, Smithsonian, and more. Spent Thanksgiving with John's side of the family and had a wonderful time. We plan to stay in Texas and have a quiet Christmas at home. Wishing you Christmas and New Years blessings.

Love, John, Caroline & Andrew