Updated 12/24
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all (from Don and Verlene).
We have had a good year and everyone is well and doing fine.
We are spending a low key Christmas at home. Grandson Geoff is down from University of Northern Colorado at Greeley, spending time with us and his mom.
Walt has his massage business here in Colorado and also has clients in South Dakota.
He is thinking about a new car, since he hit a deer on his way from Alliance to Rapid City. It hasn't deterred him from going to South Dakota tho.
Geoff joined the Alliance lodge of Masons and Bob now has 4 generations in the Masons, Bob, Don, Walt (Scott and Terry) and Geoff
Scott kept busy between Longmont and Rapid city remodeling Terry's and my houses.
I have a cool new kitchen and dining room. He also has jujitsu classes with Don.
Don has his jujitsu classes and odds and ends of construction.
Verlene keeps busy with work, genealogy and sewing.
We enjoy the blog very much, thank you Sharon. ~
Don and Verlene
Merry Christmas from Judy and Larry
HAPPY NEW YEAR, TOO
It is with a very heavy heart that I write this Christmas letter but I am going to get it finished and on its way.I will start with the good news first. Jared and Melanie welcomed Gavin John Mann into their lives July 15, 2010 . He’s a healthy and happy little boy. Keaton, his big brother
loves him so much. Keaton is four now and is attending pre school and is learning so much and will be ready for kindergarten next year.
Cory and Sherry’s two children continue to amaze us with their accomplishments in school. Colter is eight and Chloe will be seven on December 18.
On December 27 of last year, Larry and I left home and met cousin Sharon and her husband Tony in Las Vegas Lake Havasu Quartzsite , Arizona Arizona Algodones , Mexico
On October 26, Mom fell and broke her arm and pelvis. The arm cannot be set or repaired because of her osteoporosis. The pelvis will heal on its own. After spending nearly six weeks in the hospital, she was transferred to Good Samaritan Health Care Center, where she currently resides. She continues to receive physical and occupational therapy. Dad visits her each day and Larry and I and the boys and their families visit as often as we can. My brother has made three trips out from Omaha
LOVE, JUDY and LARRY
Christmas 2010
Hi everyone,
This is Tony’s letter to friends and relatives. My two cents worth is in blue italics. J
Here’s a few lines to let you all know what we’ve been doing this year. As before the year started for us in Arizona, sunny warm Arizona; with all of the winter activities like biking and ATVing across the desert, getting land locked in a flash flood, entertaining lots of people and relatives from up north in the new motorhome, eating drinking and getting sun tanned. We put up with all this until late March and decided to come home because it was getting too hot. When we arrived home we soon found that it was too cold – what a life. We met cousin Judy and Larry Mann in Las Vegas and spent a month travelling around with them. Later we met up with cousin Janice and Archie Lawrence and spent another month with them. Uncles Bob and Leo came down to see what boon docking in the desert of California was like and convinced brother Ray and Judi to do the same ~ cousin Julie joined the party for a couple of days also.
In April Sharon made a visit to son Kenny’s home and brother Ray’s home in Seattle area. In May, we had a lot of visitors (brother Jim and his daughter Brittany; niece Kelly, brother Bill, Janet, and her mother Shirley, brother Ray, Judi, their daughter Dani and her daughter Jacki). Later in May, we went to Green River WY for nephew Cody’s high school graduation. Sharon and granddaughter Cally did the 10 K Bloomsday race in Spokane with brother Bill, Janet, Karla, Toshi and Mae.
In June Terry and Jacqueline flew over and we all explored some places of interest in Washington State. They were here for three weeks and stayed just long enough to experience the US health system in action for my open heart surgery. I shall always be eternally grateful to Sharon who stuck with me day and night (just like she said in our marriage vows) through that experience, and to this day still tells me bits of what went on during those five days when the doctors blanked out my memory.
But here in my second life and later in August cousin John and some of his family made their first visit to USA and stayed with us for a few days and another cousin Linda in Lewiston – only 30 miles away. At the same time, brother Dick and Cindy made a week-end visit so we had one particular evening of fun bantering back and forth between UK and USA relatives.
After a few more months of forced convalescence and a little rehabilitation at our local hospital we spent a really joyous Thanksgiving in November at Jim and Kathie’s home in Wyoming amid the snow, blizzards and ice.
Now we are right in the middle of more family fun ~ Dennis and Kenny’s dad and wife are here for Dennis’ college graduation and Cally and Casey’s (grandkids) Mom is arriving for ten days at the same time. Not sure Moscow is going to be big enough for all these Ex’s. J
All in all it’s been an eventful and fairly busy year and we’re both keeping fully occupied – Sharon has volunteered to help plan two reunions (one for high school 50th year reunion and one for the Phillip Family to honor two 90 year olds (Mom and Uncle Bob) and a 70th wedding anniversary for Uncle Jean and Maxine) in Nebraska next year and from there we’re planning a trip to UK for Neil (Tony’s son) and Becky’s wedding in October. Looks like business as usual in 2011. (We plan to travel throughout UK prior to the wedding to visit all of you ~ we hope to hear from UK friends and relatives that you will be home during September of next year).
Tony and I were looking around our home and realizing that things are going to quit working…they’re just getting too old…and then the trouble began ~ our smooth stove top cracked but…it is still useable and not noticeably cracked. Then my hard drive quit working ~ within an hour I was out getting a new computer (priorities, you know). Next came the microwave ~ and out we went to get a new one. The stove is till useable and still cracked. J
Hope you all have a very happy Christmas and a busy New Year.
email – singo2@frontier.com
