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Christmas Newsletter 2015

Thursday, December 10, 2015

My heart is heavy as I write our family's annual Christmas newsletter. I had been gathering photos and ideas for a joyful newsletter when we go the disturbing news. Our son-in-law, Erich, has a brain tumor. He will undergo surgery next Tuesday. We won't really know anything more until then.

This comes as our daughter Candace and Erich are expecting twin girls on Valentine's Day next year. Valentine's Day is coincidently the day they first met. Candace has been on strict bed rest for the last month. Debi and her poodle, Missy, went to Washington State the week before Thanksgiving to help. The girl's names are Gwendolyn and Penelope.

I will be travelling to Washington State this weekend via Florida. I'm driving to my parent's house to drop off our cat, Sophie. My parents and my sister will be taking care of her while I'm away. Then I'll fly out of Tampa to Seattle to join the rest of the family. Erich's parents are already there. I don't know when I might be back.

We started the year at my parent's house in Florida. We had tickets to a New Year's Eve show in Huntsville, but squirrels chewed a hole in the gas line of my F-150. By the time we got it fixed, we had missed the show. Before we left, Debi took this picture of my parents and me.

Ron and his parents, Ralph and Sadie, in January 2015

When we got home, we discovered that we had a leak in our water line that runs from the meter to the house. We were using about 15,000 gallons a month. The water line runs under our driveway, so I had to replace the line. The rocky Tennessee clay and lousy weather delayed completion until May. On February 26th, we got over 5 inches of show in Tennessee. This is more snow than we normally get. We got some lovely pictures from it.

Debi and I had a chance to spend a month with Erich and Candace this summer. We bought a 5th wheel camper and an F-250 Super Duty to pull it. Our 7-week trip covered nearly 7,000 miles and used over 800 gallons of gasoline. We got to see Candi and Erich perform at a local Renaissance faire, to take a Segway tour of Seattle courtesy of Erich, to take a sunset cruise on Puget Sound, to spend a morning at a local flea market, and to spend a day in the Bavarian village of Levenworth, WA.

Our son Aaron, his wife Cristina, and our grandsons Hunter and Evan are doing well in San Antonio. Evan is playing football and has joined the school band. Both Hunter and Evan continue to advance in the Korean martial art, Kung Jung Mu Sul. Evan is now a Blue belt and Hunter is on to his Advanced Prep belt. Debi completed a number of sewing projects for friends before she stopped to work on bassinet items for Candi. I am still playing guitar every chance I get, and I even got to play the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville with my friend Greg Mitchell. Our local Art League recently elected me as president, and I joined the Rotary Club this year.

Ron's Parents, Ralph and Sadie