Dear Family and Friends

We have a white Christmas that came early in November this year bringing with it frigid temps. A repeat of last year was on everyone’s lips. But our temps for December have been in the 20s and 30s, and we weren’t buried under 7 feet of snow. Yikes, Buffalo! So I hope our annual letter finds you all healthy, enjoying the peace and joy that the Christmas season brings.

On July 21, our family was blessed with the arrival of Greenlea (pronounce Green Lee) at 7 pounds .8 ounces

and 18 ½ inches long. But let me back up. I couldn’t write that Scotti was having a baby in last year’s letter because she was only six weeks pregnant. When she and Zack started telling family and friends, they did so in a most unusual way: While friends posed for a picture with Scotti, Zack with the camera would announce “we’re pregnant!” The look on everyone’s face was absolutely priceless, and instead of taking a picture, Zack was taking a video, which were then all posted on Facebook. Ah technology! Scotti and Zack hosted a “gender reveal” party that culminated with mother-in-law Theresa and me opening a box together that held either a blue or pink balloon.

I think Scotti had one of those storybook pregnancies where everything was wonderful until it wasn’t. She had a kidney stone, a pilonidal cyst and labor. Which is worst?   “Pffff,” she says, “the kidney stone comes in a distant third.” Greenlea arrived by C-section two weeks before the due date on July 21, the day after Scotti was a bridesmaid in her friend Ashley’s wedding. Close call? You bet! Scotti called us at camp to say that she might be in labor and we might want to drive in. Well, we did, and she was and we were all there to offer encouraging and sometimes not so encouraging words, “Whoa! That ones off the chart.” We have one picture with Scotti where she is actually smiling because the epidural they gave her kicked in for all of 15 minutes and then nothing. The Dr. said that sometimes the epidurals don’t work.   Zack went into the operating room alone with Scotti, but we were able to get some of the most precious photos of Greenlea in the first few minutes of her life as Zack held her.

Zack and Scotti are so enjoying their new roles as parents. Greenlea, who will be 5 months old this Christmas has captured our hearts. She’s a little ray of sunshine, smiling at everyone, and having her here in Marquette makes us miss our grandsons even more.

Shana, Mike and the boys, who will arrive in Marquette on the 23^rd, have had a great year. Although Shana is not 100 percent back to “normal” physically from her chemo treatments last year, she is doing so much better and is also doing good, as in helping to raise money for the Noreen Frazer Foundation through her blog and getting her readers to #fightlikeagirl and get their checkups. An article titled, “My Year of Breast Cancer” that Shana posted on her blog on her “cancerversary” is a must-read for anyone diagnosed with breast cancer or for anyone who knows someone with breast cancer. Her words and pictures are as honest, brave, moving, and eloquent as I have seen.

Shana and the boys joined us in Gulf Shores (Mike arrived for the weekend), and we were able to get some great photos of the boys:

Big news for Mike. He left Lockheed Martin and is now working as the Chief Data Scientist for Penn Medicine. Instead of working on missiles, he is now working on saving lives (his words).  Shana threw Mike a surprise 40^th birthday party in June in Grand Haven. We drove down for the weekend festivities and had a ball visiting with them and Mike’s family.

For the second year in a row, Shana rented a home in Marquette for her summer visit, and for a month, we were able to see them on a daily basis. So blessed to see the boys that often as they grow up so fast!

Raines, who turns 7 in January, is in first grade and so totally into WWII that Shana and Mike took him to the WWII Weekend, which is billed as the largest WWII gathering in the world, in Reading, Penn. Pax, ever the super hero, loved the Super Megaforce Red Ranger costume we gave him for his 4^th birthday in November.  We cannot wait to see them.

It’s hard to believe that we didn’t get to see Adam and Krysta again in 2014. How does that happen? We had planned a visit and even had plane tickets, but sometimes it’s hard for Bill. Thank goodness for FaceTime, where Jakob and Zachary will pop in for a quick hello while we are chatting. Tall, handsome, athletic—yeah, all of that. So miss seeing them. Watching Jakob play baseball and Zack play soccer is at the top on our bucket list.Adam promises a visit to Big Bay in 2015. Cannot wait!

Adam and Krysta celebrated 20 years of marriage this year just before leaving on what appeared to be the best summer trip ever. They spent a week in London and then traveled to Turkey, enjoying Istanbul in particular, and to Croatia where they sailed from one “amazingly quaint, breathtakingly beautiful seaside town” to another. So excited for them.

 

We have decided not to return to Gulf Shores for our upcoming winter getaway (Arizona here we come). Our six weeks in Gulf Shores during February and March were so cold. I know that most of the country was in a wintry grip last winter, but when the temp in Gulf Shore was 18 and it was 19 in Marquette, my whining about the weather reached a new level. We arrived at our condo just in time to get groceries before the snow/ice storm hit. No one moved for three days due to icy streets. Oh don’t get me wrong, we still so enjoyed the ocean, our dinners with the Schicks and the Schnneiders and

our walks on the beach, but we were often in sweaters and windbreakers.  We loved having Shana and the boys visit. We had plenty of room and hitting the beach to dig for shells by 9 a.m. certainly got the blood moving. It always amazed me how Pax could run in the water despite the chillier temps.

Bill’s 70^th birthday was in a word, amazing. Shana arrived to surprise him with a weekend visit, and I think the 70+ cards and the really great stories you sent blew him away—I know they did me. We were so touched.

He continues to “hang in there”, still walking everyday, enjoying dinners out and attending the occasional high school or Northern game, concert, or play. We made a quick trip to the Mayo Clinic in November for a thyroid problem that turned out to be benign. That’s what we like to hear! Camp is always a relaxing getaway for him, especially when our good friends (thank you especially, Jim Golden) help him with the yard work and upkeep. Zack had taken over putting in and taking out the dock for which we are so grateful.

Bill’s sister Janice and Patrick were able to visit at the beginning of their three-month trip (before Greenlea was born) from the West Coast to the East Coast and on their way back (to see the baby, of course). During their first stop, we celebrated Canada Day with a gathering, and Patrick led us all in the singing of “O Canada.”

On their return trip, Scotti treated Jan and me to a “how to” makeup session. When you add a glass of wine, it makes for a “girls night out!”

So as you can sense, we count our blessings and appreciate what it is we still have as opposed to what we have lost.   I also notice that it’s sometimes more difficult for me to do all the things I would like to do. My term as president of P.E.O. ended in March (a really wonderful experience), and I recently stepped down as treasurer of Marquette’s Beautification Committee, but I do enjoy attending those meetings. I need that gift of time now to better take care of my husband, to enjoy my precious time with Greenlea, and to take better care of myself, which is probably the most difficult of those three.   I run into friends who tell me they are thinking of us and keeping us in their prayers, for which we are so thankful.   So once again, we wish you what I believe is the most precious gift: the gift of time with your loved ones.