Dear Friends and Family;

We made it through our second year of self-employment here in south central Tennessee. Ron still supported the software he developed for ManTech international as an independent consultant, and he developed several new websites.

Debi still does sewing when she can. She started off the year making her first quilts. You can check out her latest projects on her Facebook page. Also, along with 25 other women, Debi became one of the founding Council Members of the Leading Ladies to Christ Women’s Ministry at First Baptist Church here in Fayetteville. She is responsible for the Publicity for all their activities.

We had time to make several trips this year. In June, we went to visit our son and his family in San Antonio, Texas. On the way out, we stopped in New Orleans for a couple of days. After spending a week in San Antonio where grandson Evan taught grandpa a new strumming pattern, we stopped in Memphis for barbeque and live blues on Beal Street. Our next trip was to Charleston, South Carolina for a couple of days with a tour group sponsored by the senior adults group at our church. Then in September, we travelled to Sevierville with our friends, Woody and Linda, to attend the Dandridge Scots-Irish Festival. We also found time to do a wine tour and visited all 5 wineries in the area. A few weeks later Ron took his guitar to the North Alabama Highland Games, where he jammed with Colin Grant-Adams. The first week in November found us in Myrtle Beach along with our friends, Woody & Linda. It was too cold to get in the surf, but we had some very nice walks on the beach. For Thanksgiving, we managed to get the kids and the grand kids together at a house on a lake in New Braunfels, Texas. To finish the year, we plan to spend Christmas with Ron’s parents in Ocala, Florida.

Ron continues to play guitar at every opportunity, and he has been working with a local songwriter. They have been playing at events from Huntsville to Nashville. They also did a benefit songwriter show in Fayetteville for a youth minister who was diagnosed with cancer and raised over $4,000. Ron discovered another jazz guitarist living nearby, and they've been playing together at every opportunity. Ron converted the second floor of our home into a music studio. Ron met his friend, Drew, at the Nashville Jazz Workshop in January where they played in a jazz ensemble headed up by Mel Deal.

Candace has been doing well this year out in Seattle after moving there July 2012. She now teaches drama 3 days a week to elementary school children, regularly hosts“Mad Science” parties and events in the evenings and on weekends, and has choreographed several productions as a freelance fight and dance choreo-grapher. This past summer, she also had the opportunity to travel to Tuscany, Italy to teach acting and combat for 5 weeks — two weeks in Florence, and 3 weeks at Paul Newman’s Dynamo Camp in Pistoia. However, the biggest highlight of the year came very recently — Candace’s engagement to her longtime boyfriend Erich on December 4th. They are going to spend the next year busily planning for a December 5, 2014 wedding.

We also had the chance to visit our son, Aaron, daughter-in-law Tina and grandchildren, Hunter (9) and Evan (4) over Thanksgiving. Aaron and Tina are both trudging along with their work. Tina works long hours for the local utility company, but luckily she gets to work from home a couple of days a week. Aaron is still working for ToolMart repairing industrial/professional tools. He has also been spending free time remodeling their home and camping with the boys. Hunter started football this year and said he really liked it. Next semester he will begin basketball. Evan is Evan, a full of energy 4-yr old.

We hope that you had a wonderful year as well. If you’re ever in the Fayetteville area, please stop by and say hello.

Copyright © 2024
Hackett Information Systems Engineering
All rights reserved.