Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Christmas 2008 annual card/letter

It is snowing outside this morning and I am thinking about how behind I am getting on these Christmas cards, so I am going to be a bit of a Scrooge this year and send some off by email. It has been another eventful year and we have sure felt the blessings from the Lord.

We spent some great weeks in Phoenix again last Jan-Feb. Some visitors that came to visit were Amy Harvey and her mom Cheryl. Brian and Amy re-connected last fall through friends on the popular "Face Book" on the internet. That love continued to bloom and they were married on March 29th, 2008. It was a beautiful wedding and we are so happy for them. They are also now expecting a baby next May! Rylie (who is now 4) is hoping for a girl and said daddy can just keep it if it is a boy......she cracks me up! (Now that it is offically announced..they CAN give HIM to daddy .....they found out it is a BOY today! =)

We also found out while we were in Phoenix, that Adam and Kristin and kids would be moving to Rock Hill, South Carolina in March when we returned home. Adam took an actuary job down there and is also attending seminary in Charlotte. We went to visit them in their new home in August and loved seeing where they live, work, and all attend school. The kids are doing great in school and enjoying their new home, church and friends. Caroline turned 10 a week ago, Will is 7, Xander turned 6 in October and Raymond turned three in September. They are coming back for Christmas on Saturday and we can't wait to see them!

Andy, Anna, Calvin and Cami are doing great in Lincoln and they are adding a new little boy to their family in April! We will be up to 9 grandbabies next spring!! Cami is such a little sweetie and Calvin is growing out of his wanting to cling to mommy and is such a joy. It is fun now to be able to take him from daddy and mommy's arms and have him still smiling. Cami is three and Calvin is 19 months.

Michael is having a great year! He is still at Region V on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and started a new job at KZ Company out at the Greenwood Interchange. They manufacture sprayer valves and his main job is putting "O" rings on fittings, but they have about five things they have him do. He loves getting up and going to work on Tuesday's and Thursdays and they are so flexible with him with that and also with our going to AZ for a few weeks in the winter.

I also now have a part-time job that I absolutely love! I really believe our (Michael and I) jobs are answers to prayer for us! I am working at the physical therapy clinic that I had been getting treatments for my frozen shoulder from last year. It has been a great distraction after the kids moved. We were so used to having them out for visits and 4-wheeler rides all summer. I'm so thankful that Andy's are still in NE!! My job description is 'physical therapy tech' and I basically work at least one day a week (Friday's) and up to three times some weeks. The patients have been so fun to get to know and the people I work with are fun, crazy, smart and all my kids' ages. I keep telling people it is a little like working with my kids and all their antics. Cory, my boss, also has been great about the busy time of harvest and my getting time off to head to AZ to see the kids in the winter.

Steve continues to farm and was so thankful to have standing corn to harvest this year! After loosing two pivots to tornados and a couple engine covers to another wind storm (and having three hail storms) we were very thankful for a good crop. We got done with harvest by Thanksgiving and he even got the fall field work he wanted to get done before the ground froze up and today's snow. He now is working on equipment in the shop. He was very sad about losing our beloved 8 year old cat this fall. "Cecil the Diesel" as he lovingly called him, will be and is, sure missed.
Jesus came not to a throne,
but to a manager.
He lived not as a king,
but as a servant.
He chose not a kingdom,
but a cross.
He gave not just a little,
but everything.
Holly Gerth

May the Lord’s Great Love bless you this Christmas
Love Steve, Sandy and Michael
Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us. Ephesians 5:2 NIV

3 comments:

Marjie said...

Morning - Saw your beautiful christmas card and was wondering if you would be willing to share the source of the template? I subscribe to a physical therapy blog link that brought up your blog entry.
Happy Holidays!!!!

grammy4him said...

Thanks--the graphics were from kits from Shabby Miss Jenn..(can't say which ones right now as I lost them in the crash of my hard drive. I had no template, just built the tree with 'twigs' and cropped photos and added stroke of red. The reindeer was from another site and I can't remember now..Funky Playground or Sweetshop Designs possibly..not sure now..

Kelly said...

Praise the Lord for His faithfulness and grace to you throughout the past year!!