Merry Christmas

December 2009

Dear Friends and Family,

Merry Christmas from our corner of the Ozarks. Excitement is building at our house because we are expecting ALL of our kids and grandkids to be here for Christmas. The stockings are hung by the faux chimney with care …

This will be Emily’s first visit to Missouri. She was born to Lance and Grace on May 16. Linda was able to be in Maryland to help out in May. Emily’s big sisters, Karis (7) and Olivia (5), are good helpers and teachers.

We haven’t seen Matthew and Elizabeth since meeting them at a Cardinal game in St. Louis in August. In March they will add a little David to the family. Matt will need to stop and let Liz stretch and walk around the car several times on the drive to and from Mtn. View.

We haven’t seen Brad since August 2008. His work has kept him in Africa. He has been living in Nairobi, Kenya, which is much nicer than where he lived in Sudan. Nairobi is a modern city and its elevation reduces malaria risk.

After 5 ½ years we are settled (or re-settled) in Mtn. View. We enjoy our family, old friends, and new friends here. Linda stays busy with Community Bible Study and is currently filling in as temporary choir director at church. Linda has also taken up golf this year. Larry stays busy as financial secretary at church and teaching adult Sunday School, along with golf and turkey hunting. In addition, he is an alderman on the City Council.

In July Larry’s mom and dad traveled to Maryland with us to see Emily’s family. They also got to see Lance’s new office opened just this year. His practice is called Annapolis Counseling Center.

In addition to traveling to Maryland and to ball games in St. Louis, this year we spent 10 days in California. Larry attended a meeting of The Wildlife Society Certification Review Board in Monterey, so we also took in Yosemite N. P., Carmel, Pebble Beach, and Big Sur. Larry has now completed his term of six years on the Certification Board, so no more travel to meetings twice a year.

We enjoy hosting guests and showing them the local sites (e.g. Alley Spring, Rocky Falls). We even have a “Hall of Fame” for Illinois friends who have made it to Mtn. View. If you are not yet in the “Hall”, or even if you are, you are invited to visit.

As we have our old-fashioned family Christmas, we pray that your celebration of Christ’s birth will also be joyous. May the Creator God, who left heaven in the form of a human baby, be alive in your heart and life today.

Merry Christmas,

Larry and Linda