2012 NEWSLETTER

Welcome to the 2012 Newsletter
for A. B. Barthle family!

Front cover

From Margie:

Merry Christmas!

This year has been a lot of the same for me. I’m still working at the Farm Baskets, Monday and Friday mornings. My health continues to be very good and have been able to keep up the yard except the mowing. I can do some of the grove care. My family is soooo good to help me with the things I cannot do by myself.

In January Duane’s son, Jake left for boot camp at Fort Benning, GA. He graduated in May. Most of us went to the graduation. Cinda & Ben joined us there for this event. Jake went directly to Airborne School to learn to jump from airplanes. He got to come home for a couple of weeks after this school and is now stationed at Fort Richardson, Alaska. His older brother, Bret is about to finish school at the University of Florida, in Gainesville. If accepted, he plans is to attend Veterinarian School. Shelbie is now in seventh grade at Pasco Middle School and is on their Volleyball team.

In July, Jessica received her LPN from Pasco Hernando Community College and is now enrolled in the RN program at PHCC. She plans to finish this in April. Allen is still at the Post Office in Zephyrhills and their daughter, Emma is in VPK this year.

Steve and Mae’s son Chris is still working at Busch Gardens and attending the University of South Florida in Tampa.

Mary Beth’s daughter Elise started Freedom High School this year and was chosen to be on the cheerleading team. After Football season she was selected to be on the team to go to competition. She practices 5 days a week, and baby sits at least once a week. Eli plays Soccer and is now in the Boy Scouts. Tampa Palms Elementary school had a Veterans Day program and Eli invited Steve to attend. Steve wore his Navy uniform and Eli wore his Boy Scout Uniform. This was a special day for all.

Renee & Clark are still busy. Clark still has his Tree Service business and Renee still works for the County. She also helps care for Emma when needed for Jessica to attend school or clinical.

This is enough of Grandma bragging. I want to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Prosperous New Year. Love every one of you.

Margie

From Steve and family:

Seasons Greetings to all

This year has just flown by--seems like we were just writing our newsletter only a few months ago! We are all doing good--thank the Lord!

Steve is still very active at our church-he serves as an elder, he is a counselor in the Stephens Ministry Program- (he actually has two care receivers-usually it is one per counselor- he is so very good with both of them). The instructor/coordinator of the program has asked Steve if he would consider becoming a Stephens Minister instructor-the class is a full 6 days-and when he finishes that he will teach others to become a Stephens Minister and that is about 6 months. He is also a co-director of a stewardship campaign with the expansion program which has been in the planning phase for many years to expand our church-which includes administration offices, classrooms, storage etc as our space is very limited--so now we are actively working on getting the dollars to make it work--but there is a long way to go! Steve also remains somewhat active as assistant scoutmaster with the boy scouts and is also the "popcorn kernel" in charge of the popcorn fundraising program--when the boys sell a certain amount of popcorn, they get to throw pies at him--this year it will be 2 pies!! We went to Fort Benning Ga with Mom & Renee' to see Jake graduate from boot camp--we are so very proud of him!! We had a great time! Mae has been very busy as well. She made two trips up to New York--the first was to visit her cousin Ella in the hospital-she was very critical and the doctors didn't give her any chance of survival! But with a LOT of prayers and Gods mercy she started to slowly improve--she was able to leave the hospital and go to physical rehab which helped a little but she could not live alone--so Mae went back up, packed up her apartment and moved her to Florida to live with us--she is now a Floridian!!! Plus she is doing MUCH better!! Ella is now an active member of our church, and has volunteered several times at the Salvation Army kitchen to serve food to the homeless. Prayers are still needed. Chris is doing very well also--he attends USF and doing good--he still works at Busch Gardens--he called us from work one day and said "I have frost bite!!!" HOW DO YOU GET FROST BITE IN FLORIDA???? IN THE SUMMER???? There is a new ice show in the Moroccan Palace where he works, one of his co-workers was told to chip some ice away and......yes... he hit the cooling line under the ice! There were some very tense moments-it looked like they were performing surgery on the ice to stop the leak (which can be very dangerous) so.. he was on his knees kneeling on a pad for about 45 minutes while the line was repaired! The first aid clinic thought he was kidding when he went in and told them he had frostbite!! But all is well--he healed without any permanent damage! Lori is doing very well-she has a full time job in Tampa at Kirklands Home Decor and is an assistant manager--she is working very hard-- plus she is still working at Michaels in Tampa teaching her classes on making cakes! Spencer has decided to take a break from school and has a steady girlfriend--so we don't see much of him. Thats about it for now.

We wish Gods blessings to everyone in the upcoming new year
Love Steve and Mae

From Renee and family:

Greetings to all,

It has been a very busy year for all of us. Our business continues to do well. I am still with Pasco County. Jessica has graduated from nursing school and has been pinned as a LPN and is continuing on to receive her RN. She will graduate sometime in May. We are so very proud of her and she is doing a fantastic job being a mother, a wife and full-time student. Allen is still with the US Postal Service, he is working in the Zephyrhills office. He really enjoys his job, has a great career with a bright future ahead. Our annual trip to Lake Weir this year consisted of Allen, Jessica, Emma, myself, Clark for a couple of days, Dave, Brandi and their little girl, Leah (friends of Allen & Jessica’s) in one cabin. Mom, MaryBeth and her kids were in another cabin and Steve, Mae & Chris in another cabin. We had a great time as usual. Emma, at 4 yrs. old, got up on skis for the first time, we were so proud of her!!

In July, Clark & I flew to Cape Cod to visit with his Aunt Barbara who turned 96 in August; she gets along pretty good for her age. Clark’s sister, Peggy was also there from California. We had a wonderful visit with them.

On September 12, 2012, Clark & I were blessed with a great-grandson, Jude Maxwell Abers. We were all so excited, and since we hadn’t seen them since Jessica & Allen’s wedding, plans were being made to visit. Since Chris (Jessica’s brother) hadn’t met Emma in person yet, they were going to make the trip with us. We found days where there wouldn’t be much interruption with school and the tickets were purchased. So Emma took her first flight non-stop to Arizona and LOVED it. It was great!! We made the trip plans with Chris but didn’t tell the rest of the family. So Terra (our daughter-in-law), Breanne, Johnathan, Jacob or Tihler (our grandchildren) didn’t know we were coming. We surprised all of them except Breanne, Rudy (her husband) and Jude at Tihler’s high school football game. We surprised Breanne, Rudy and Jude the next day. Emma fell completed in love with her family in Arizona, and them with her. It was a great trip!!

We want to thank God for our family and friends and all the many Blessings we have received. May God Bless all of you happiness, peace, love & good health.

It has been a wonderful year and we are truly Blessed!!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Love you all!!

Clark & Renee

From Mary Beth

Greetings from Mary Beth!
Awwww... Where does the time go? This has been a fun year for us! It’s not easy keeping up with Elise (14), and Eli (8) but it is fun trying. Elise is a freshman and cheers on the varsity team. Now that football season is over they are in competition mode which means they practice ALL THE TIME! Paid off too as they won their first competition last night! She babysits Thursday evenings for a neighbor which helps fund her extra financial teenage needs, and is just enjoying being a teenager. She attended Cove Crest, a Catholic youth camp, in Tigar Georgia last summer and can’t wait to go again. She stays very busy and keeps her grade up too. I am very proud of her!

Eli is in the 3rd grade and attends AGP classes. He is in a very active Cub Scout pack and enjoys camping, biking, swimming, and various sporting events on the weekends. He was on the soccer team this fall and plays a mean game of tennis! He has a great personality and certainly keeps us guessing! Eli made his First Reconciliation this week and I am so very, very proud of him too.

I am well into my second year with my Laser Hair Removal studio and my success has pleasantly exceeded my expectations. Not that I’m rolling in the dough by any means, but it’s building nicely. I love what I do, and I relish the flexibility it allows me with the kids. I broke my hand a couple weeks ago (left one thank goodness), had surgery to put pins in, and will have surgery again to take them out, hopefully before Christmas. It doesn’t slow me down much and I love my pretty pink cast!
I pray that my family and yours will have a blessed and joyful 2013!
Love,
Mary Beth

From Duane and family:

All is good...Marry Christmas

Duane and Family

From Lisa and family:

Greetings from the Cold Country! New Hampshire sure is gorgeous, but she’s just plain too cold sometimes.

American Airlines went into bankruptcy last year and the rumors abound. Most of the talk is about a merger between AA and US Air, although Jet Blue sure keeps popping up too. Only time will tell the story. This Friday we will know if the pilot’s have agreed to the new contract proposal. Alan just keeps taking it one day at a time. This is his 4th bankruptcy since getting on with the major airlines, 3 with TWA and now 1 with AA. Although we do find ourselves complaining sometimes, we are truly thankful that he does have a job.

Our little Wisteria memorial tree looks like she is gonna do well. I was worried last spring because it seemed to take a really long time to leaf, and then one day I saw blossoms forming. Honestly it looked really funny to have this very bare, nothing but branches, tree with 34 big beautiful foot long blossoms on it. When the blossoms were mostly opened, the leaves started sprouting out everywhere. I can’t wait to show some of you the pictures. GORGEOUS!

Becca finally got that teaching contract she has been looking for. She is teaching middle school band and is the assistant director of the band at West High School, her alma mater. She also teaches beginning band at 2 different elementary schools. When she was in college she listed 2 different positions that would be her dream jobs and the one she has now is one of the two that she listed. She also purchased a new car after looking for almost a year. She finally found one with the options she wanted and the one that fit the bill was a 2010 Toyota Camry V6. I think she feels like she is driving in luxury. She didn’t trade her 20 year old car however, which brings me to Katie.

Katie is in the 10th grade and continues to cheer on the varsity team. Her team came in 2nd at States this past November. She has been having a lot of back pain recently and we are in the midst of trying to determine the cause. We will know shortly if an MRI is needed. All prayers are appreciated in that regard. Over the summer Katie started driving with me and Alan and she began driver’s education this past October. If things go as she plans, she will have her license before mid December and can think of a perfectly good use for that 20 year old Camry. J I guess her and Becca worked out a deal.

May God Bless you All richly with His Great Love,

Alan, Lisa, Becca and Katie

From Teresa and family:

Greetings to all from the Goodmons,
I hope you are well, and enjoying God's myriad blessings bestowed upon us. Whenever I am tempted to feel sorry for myself in many of my circumstances, I only need to look around me, and I begin to thank God for all the many, many blessings I receive daily. And though I struggle at times, I realize my life is so much better, and filled with so many more comforts than most people in this world. This family is one of those awesome blessings, and I hope to never take that for granted.

We don't really have much that is new going on in our lives except for Caleb. While Jessica and I maintain the status noted in last year's newsletter, Caleb has moved into another line of work. The year-long contract that he had at the airport in Destin was terminated prematurely under very suspicious circumstances, and one of his well-to-do clients hired him on the spot. Caleb is now servicing the many cell towers throughout the southeast. He is currently in Louisiana. He has climbed three-hundred and five-hundred foot towers to attach, repair, and replace cable, lights, etc. He also works on the ground installing lines to the computer systems involved. He has gotten four raises in the six weeks he has been with them. He happened to overhear the boss tell the foreman to "do whatever it takes to keep this guy." They want him to become a foreman. He loves the challenge of the work, but Mama doesn't love the town-to-town aspect of the job. I hate the idea of his home being a hotel room in the next town. Oh well, it just keeps me on my knees. I do love that he is making good money, and calls me a lot more. Jessica is happy and well, as am I, so we'll leave you with a Merry Christmas, and wishes for a Happy New Year. Love,
Teresa, Jessica and Caleb

From Mike and family:

Hi everyone...and....Happy Holidays. We hope all of you are doing good so far and we are doing good too. Jennifer is a freshman student in George Jenkins High School. We cannot believe that she is in high school. Lily is in the 5th grade. She attends violin classes every Wednesday for 45 minute classes. Next year she’ll be in sixth grade at the middle school. I was surprised to have my 50th birthday party at my mom’s house last May. Awesome! Me….fifty years old…..no way. I feel like I’m 35 yrs old. Hee hee ! Happy New Year to EVERYONE!

Mike, Sandra, Jennifer & Lily

From Melinda and family:

Hello everyone! Last February we added a new member to our family, her name Lucy and she is a beagle dog. We got her when she was 8 weeks old. We taught her some sign language signs and she understands us. That's wonderful. Also her birthday is on Christmas. This is the first time we have had a dog in our family.

Last April we went to Atlanta to visit my best friend Krista for her 50th birthday. We stayed there for six days and we all went to Gatlinburg, TN for a surprise party for Krista's birthday. There were 30 people at the cabin. She was so very surprised and we all stayed at the cabin with five floors and two kitchens. It is such a beautiful place and the outside was beautiful too. I made a scrapbook for her that took me four months to make.

Last August Warren got a cut on his eyebrow and he got 9 stitches. His friends and he were playing football and somehow his friend and he popped each other head to head. Warren got cut and stitches and his friend got nothing.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We love you all.

Melinda, Jimmy and Warren

From Bonnie and family:

Greetings! We hope everyone has had a blessed year as God has blessed us. We both are still working for the post office and have been with the same post master general for 4 years, which is causing the post office to lose money still. Rumors continue about all the postal problems but congress makes the ultimate decision. Keep in mind there are 80,000 managers in the postal service and only 32,000 post offices. You do the math then call your congressman for whether they should protect your post office. Our farm continues to grow with more bees, honey equipment, calves and one new horse (filly). Surprisingly the bee industry is doing very well in this horrible economy. It has paid us enough to buy a Bobcat skid-steer. A loader is super handy to move things around on the farm. We did a cane boil the week of Thanksgiving and got 4.5 gallons of cane syrup; which Homer (Mike’s dad) will take with him to the Alafia River Rendezvous in January to sell. He usually sells it all. He usually sells honey too.

Rachael moved out in February, and has an apartment in Lakeland. She quit her job at Citi Trends and she now works for GC Services (Verizon customer service). She really likes it a lot and is already moving up in job promotion. She bought a Siberian Husky and his name is Ghost. The first of November her boyfriend (Rodney) took her Dog hunting for the first time. She texted her dad afterwards and asked him when he was going hunting, I guess she liked it. After Thanksgiving she bought a Mustang car, that’s something she has wanted since middle school. She had a roommate (Warren) for two months then he moved out. Another life lesson.

Samson started working in March for a custodial service, cleaning the executive office for Publix and working 20 hours a week. When he graduated he started a summer job with the city of Lakeland. Also after graduating in June, he moved out the next day and moved back in the next month broke. Then in August he started a turbine generator school in Fort Myers. It’s a year and a half school for turbine generator maintenance repair. His plan is to get a job as a technician and continue his education to become a turbine generator maintenance engineer. He has two roommates that he went to high school with. He secured a job in Fort Myers at a store in the mall. We visit him when we can, but it’s mainly to buy groceries, cook dinner and give him money. We don’t have to keep track of when we go, he just let’s us know when he needs us to come (text msg). He came home to speak at the High School for open house about the turbine school, but one mile from the school he had an accident and totaled his car. Both he and his roommate were unharmed. He has to walk to work now. It’s a good thing the mall is really close.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

God bless you All-WAYS!!

Bonnie & Mike & Rachael & Samson

Psalms 62:5 - My Soul (choice) wait thou only upon God;

for my expectation is from him. (LET GO, and LET GOD)

From Mike and family:

We hope everyone has a happy and holy holiday season, and we look forward to any chance to visit in the coming year. Merry Christmas!

Caroline and Sarah, Nancy and Mike

From Bernie and family:

Before I delve into this last year I want to say a very heartfelt ‘Thank you’ to Dan for this tradition. It is such a wonderful way to keep a very large and all-over-the-place family connected. So here goes …

This year honestly can’t end soon enough. We had some happy times in 2012 but faced many unexpected trials that challenged us. In April, Bernie and I, with Cinda’s help (she always offers unwavering support and love) took Nathaniel to a wilderness camp in North Carolina. After 63 days there, Nate transitioned to Discovery Academy in Provo, Utah. As expected he hated it, at first, but soon found his groove and made great strides both academically and personally. He has really excelled at math and physics … gets that from his Dad!

Matthew is in his sophomore year at Georgia State. He moved into a house with 3 other guys just a few blocks from Turner Field. As expected, his life continues to get more complex. In addition to classes, a part-time job, and a social life, he served an internship at TreeSound Studios, getting to see the business side of the music world. He also performed at a couple of open-mike nights at a comedy club in Atlanta.

After spending most of the year in Arizona and New Mexico, as of November Bernie is based near Atlanta. Sometimes the commute can take a little time, but it does allow him to be home and sleep in his own bed.

Nate will be home in time for Christmas. I know this will be definitely be one of the merriest my life!

We all hope and pray everyone has a very Merry Christmas and the best New Year ever!

Jennifer, Bernie, Matthew and Nathaniel

From Susie and family:

I’d start by saying 2012 went by waaaayyy too fast, but know that it went by just as fast as any other year…although, it was a leap year. However, it has been full of activity for the Davidson-Hobby household. Every month provided special moments and now we have the blessings to smile back upon. In January, Jennifer and about 200 students travelled to Washington DC for the Annual March for Life after the bus company they originally hired defaulted on the contract (but took the money) and the organization had to find another option at the last minute. Hats off to those determined kids, they made it safely and had a great time representing Ave Maria University. In February Redding and I travelled to FL for a convention and were able to spend some time with Jenn at school. March started with my promotion and the gathering of much of the family… I really appreciate the support you all show, all the time!! April I found out I’d be commanding in PA for the next two years, and that started yet another move for the family (two really, as Redding and Mikie had to move off Ft Belvoir as well). May was the best month ever!! Redding and I went to Joliet, IL to see his daughter Rachel receive her Master’s Degree from St Francis University. Later in the month, Michael graduated from Mt Vernon High School!!! Didn’t think I would ever see a smile as big as his on graduation night. Redding’s oldest daughter gave birth to their second child, Matthew and I think he looks just like Redding. In June I took command of DLA Distribution Command in New Cumberland, PA. In July Dean, Anne, Tony and Carrie come to visit us in PA and we had a blast, they even helped me unpack a box or two. Jenn returned to Ave in August to help with student orientation (400 new students this year, they are quickly approaching 1000 total) and take on responsibilities as President of the Ave Students for Life organization. She flew up to join us in Atlanta to join the Petters clan for a Braves game, THANKS MIKE AND NANCY!!! What a great time. From there I flew to KY for work while Redd and Mikie drove back to PA only to have to change all four tires about an hour out of Atlanta… at least Mikie got to witness how to use AAA. In September I had to be back at Fort Knox for most of the month and Redd joined me for a weekend when we visited the bourbon country! And yes, we have a used bourbon barrel on our back porch now… what a fascinating visit, I highly recommend touring the distilleries, even if you don’t partake of the fluid. The last weekend of September Redding and I were able to make it to the Ryder Cup at Medina, IL. Rachel’s husband Jake is a green’s supervisor there and was able to get us some tickets….what a cool thing to attend!! October brought cooler weather, and the Army10-miler. Redding and I had a blast and felt a real accomplishment. Mikie ran it in just over an hour. Then on the 25th Mikie took a one-way flight to Hawaii to start his next adventure. The next Sunday a Tsunami warning sounded in HI about the same time as the Tropical Cyclone known as Sandy hit PA. In our duty positions, Redding and I were very involved in the recovery efforts and are both very proud of our team’s efforts! In November, Redd and I travelled to Alabama to visit Rebecca, Billy, Katie Lane and meet Matthew and confirmed that he does in fact look just like Redding! We had a really great time! Following that I went to CA and HI for work and was able to spend a little time with Mikie and we had a blast! He is doing great and I’m very proud of him! Thanksgiving was quiet at our house this year, however, Jenn once again hosted her friends at our house down in Naples and the pictures look as if she has mastered that meal! Redd and I head over to Philly next weekend to attend the Army/Navy game and look forward to USMA winning the Commander’s Cup this year… GO ARMY!!! We are looking forward to Jenn being home for Christmas and although Mikie won’t make it, we have already planned a Skype session and we will have a great family Christmas! We wish all of you the most blessed holiday season and pray that you each feel the blessings sent your way! Please remember all our Troops and all those that serve others across the globe….Merry Christmas!!

From Dean and family:

As the year draws to a close here in N.E. Ohio, we look back at the year that was and realize just how blessed a year it was! In March we traveled to DC to witness and stand with my sister as she pinned on her star. And even though she's heard us all say it, she'll never realize just how proud we are of her! Once again, WAY TO GO SUE!!!

Over the summer, and once Sue got settled in her new assignment at New Cumberland, we took the family up to spend a few days. Highlights included assembling their new grill (only 2 leftover pieces) and showering under their disco showerhead! We finished off the summer with a wonderful trip to Atlanta for a Braves game. Thanks again, Mike, for thinking of such a wonderful outing! It was again great to see everyone!

August ended with the kids going back to school. Carrie is now in 5th grade at Our Lady of the Lake and Tony is a freshman at St. Ignatius High School. Tony has adjusted well to the increased workload and play-load, and really enjoyed marching band season. Carrie is still doing basketball, band and synchronized swimming.

Anne's stepped down as the lead of the Our Lady of the Lake School fundraiser only to replace it with being a subcommittee chair at the St. Ignatius Band Boosters fundraiser. She's still a part-time clerk with the city schools and is also voluteering at the St. Ignatius bookstore when time allows.

I'm still working at NASA, and have slowly been moving to new projects as older ones end. The next year promises to be interesting!

We here in Ohio hope that everyone has a happy, healthy and blessed new year!

Dean, Anne, Tony and Carrie

From Brian and family:

"Rather quiet year for the Montgomery chapter of the Petters family. We had no graduations or major moves this year, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t busy.
Brian continued his job as the business manager of our church, St Bede. He is managing some big projects that should happen in 2013, including a redesign of the area between our Church and Parish Hall. He has also remained active as Scoutmaster for Troop 4 and in the local concert band, The Capitol Sounds.

Vicki entered her third year as Physical Science teacher at Montgomery Catholic Middle School. She is really getting in the groove of teaching, and really enjoys when a student gets a concept he or she had been struggling with.

John is a junior at the University of Montevallo. He is majoring in Math, but has also declared Writing as a minor. He writes a lot of fan fiction, and even has a blog on the subject. However, he is also looking forward to the opportunity to teach. He will have a lot of options.

Ben is now a sophomore at Auburn. He is majoring in Mechanical Engineering. Earlier in the spring, he declared Economics as a minor, but his first Econ class didn’t work out so well. He passed it, but not at the level he would need to keep it as a minor. Still, he will have a very impressive resume when he graduates. He has also been selected to co-op with the Alabama National Guard in the summer, so he will have an opportunity to get some real-world engineering experience. He is also enjoying marching in the Auburn University Marching Band. In the spring, he was in the basketball pep band as well, but this year he will be too busy with school to do that.

Leo is a sophomore at Montgomery Catholic. He is very active in the science and math competitions. This fall, he was the lead builder of the school’s robot at the Auburn BEST Robotics competition. The robot wasn’t able to complete all the tasks, but he and his team got a lot of experience and saw how many of the larger schools approached the problem.

Henry is in seventh grade, and is excelling in all of his subjects. He especially likes band, where he acted as a “band-aid” during the marching season. In fact, he was on the Friday night football highlights when a player was tackled near where he was on the sideline. He also just filled in for one of the drummers at a basketball game. He also competes in math and science competitions, where he scores well above most in his grade level. In the district-level Mathcounts competition, he got into the buzzer round as a sixth grader, where he competed in oral questions against eighth graders. He did well enough to qualify for the state competition.

We enjoyed seeing almost all of the Petters clan when Mike got us together for a Braves game. We also really enjoyed the Barthle get-together this year, and really want to thank Aunt Monica & Uncle Herman for getting it together and Aunt Melda and Uncle Jack for allowing us to stay with them. Last but not least, Brian was able to make the most important trip of the year: the trip to see sister Susie pin on her first star as a Brigadier General in the Army. We are so proud of her.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!"

From Connie and Thom:

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas from Connie & Thom

This year started off simple enough. This year my work with Lanny had diminished, throughout the year. I still do some typing for him, such as invoices etc. Maybe I spend 3 Hours a week working with him.

I am still doing a Bible Study with friends, This year we studied: James, Peter, Jude – The Catholic Letters, Book of Wisdom, Exodus, Job, The Letters to the Hebrews. These are of the Little Rock Scripture Study. We are starting Revelation, we meet once a week. We did Revelation a couple years ago. Doing them a second time is no problem as we learn something new each time we repeat a study .

I have been helping Kathy get Sierra to school on Friday’s and picking her up on Fridays. Sometimes during the week I help get her to Dance. Sometime it is a couple of days a week, Kathy gives me a schedule at the first of the week, so I know what days she needs me to help.

I’m still taking Marguerite (a friend from Church), to the Beauty Shop every other Thursday. After her hair appointment we usually visit the local Publix grocery store, so she can pick up a few groceries and or Scripts.

Easter came and I had 13 people for Easter Breakfast. This number is down from about 21 in past years.

My Class of 1961 had a luncheon on April 13, at Matter of Taste restaurant in Dade City. We had a big turnout of classmates (35 or so). Because of the steps to get to the upstairs dining room is difficult for some of the classmates. We had another luncheon in October at the Kafe Kokopelli’s in Dade City. We had a good turnout.

In early May I took my car to a car wash and they noticed I had a chipped windshield. So I had it replaced.

I went to the eye doctor to get and eye exam, and new glasses. This was in early May. Then on the last day of May, I was taking my vitamin pill and it got stuck in my throat, and I coughed it up, an I had blurred vision in my right eye. So I went to an retina eye specialist. They found blood behind both eyes. They said it would take time for the body to reabsorb the blood. This took 3 months before I was released from the eye specialist.

Jessica ( Jerry & Kelly’s Daughter ) graduated from Sunlake High School, Land O Lakes, this year. Her graduation ceremony was held at the St. Pete Forum in down town Tampa. This year Hunter Himes is scheduled to Graduate from the same school. Next school term Noah is scheduled to Graduate from Sunlake High School.

From Mary and family:

Love you all Hope everyone has a great New Year, and Christmas, Love you all and the best news to start off with Tiffany will be having her baby ( if not this weekend it will be some time Monday so pose to have her there at 5am will let you know Dan..) which make mom a great grandma (and we all know she is a great mom any way). His name will be Lews Hogan Underwood (my dads name is middle name) So we will have a little boy for Christmas, Tiffany & Kenny (the daddy) are really happy and can't wait he also asked her to marry him and we don't know when that will be yet. Lets see this year has been something else, Chris has broken one of his toes not once but twice, I broke my leg, and Joe is the lucky one this year nothing as of this letter.. Oh yeah the 25th Tiffany & Kenny & there friends son were in a accident and the truck they rode in rolled 3 times, thank goodness the Lord was watching after them, Tiffany just had a few little scrapes on her, Kenny broken finger and maybe shoulder still waiting to see orthopedic doctor, and the youngest he got it pretty bad. had to be bay flight to St. Joseph hospital he had pretty nasty head bash they fixed him up very good and he looks better and hes back to being a normal 8 yr old... But otherwise our year has been a event full one for us. Chris is still with Lowes, Joes still with Publix and me I am with no one and still looking and hoping the right one will come along.. Well hope every one will have a Blessed and Happy New Year .
And just a hint there is another great-grand baby for mom coming can't wait to see her also....;)
Love you
Mary

From Joe and Family:

Happy Holidays to all!

Well, another year has come and gone again! Time just seems to keep flying by us.

Life always seems to have new adventures in store for us this year was no different. This year brought new people to our family and we found out we are going to be grandparents.

Let’s see the girls……

Amy got married in June to John Hoy. They now reside in Zephyrhills. She is still going to school and working at Carollwood Long Care Facility as a receptionist. John is currently a manager at McDonalds. They share their love with their Beagle Mac (or Big Mac when his is a bad little doggie).

Nichole informed us this summer that she is expecting. We found out around Thanksgiving that the baby is going to be a girl. She is due in the middle of March and has moved back home and is currently working at McDonald’s.

Baylee started high school this year. She tried out for the high school soccer team and made the team. She also plays TARSA Soccer for our local recreation league. She just finished her 4 season of softball. She got braces on her teeth this fall and should have them about a year and half.

As for Joe and I were just working and taking care of our girls and waiting on our future grandbaby.

Happy Holidays to all and much love

Joe, Amy, Baylee, Nichole, soon to be granddaughter Carr and Amy and John Hoy

From Amy and John:

Hey everyone!

This year has brought many changes. John and I got married in June. I actually traveled outside of the US which was exciting. John is working his way up in McDonalds management. I got a new job in October at Carrollwood Care Center as the receptionist. Last May we got a beagle named Mac. I am still in school to become a Health Unit Coordinator.

Amy & John Hoy

From Kelly and family:

Well it's that time of year again I can't believe how quickly this year has come and gone. 2012 has been full of ups and downs where to start. I am still working at WellCare doing the same thing, IRS has felt the need to hold my tax return hostage until there fraud investigation is completer good thing is I'm getting 3% interest on it. Jessica graduated from High School is works at PDQ and is adjusting to all the changes and challenges life has faced her with. Noah is in the 11th grade and doing well, turned 16 and got his drivers license, and totaled the truck, it was running he was leaving school taking a friend home and lost the rear ended taking out a light pole (trust me it was much better then the alternative) that fell directly on to the roof of the truck, by the grace of God and help from Jerry neither Noah or the passenger one was injured. I am sure 2013 will be a blessed, productive and prosperous year for everyone.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Kelly, Jessica and Noah

From Kathy and family:

From the Himes – All in all it has been a good year. Hunter is a senior in high school and applying to colleges. He is still working at McDonalds in Wesley Chapel. Sierra is in 8th grade. She made the Tap Team again and will be performing at the Kumquat festival this January in Dade City. She also started Pointe ballet in August and has already been asked to move up to advanced Pointe. They are both doing very well in school. I graduated from St Petersburg College with my nursing degree. I am still working at St Josephs Hospital in the operating room. Life is good! I am so thankful for my amazing friends and family.

We love you all,

Kathy Hunter and Sierra

From Dan and Barbara:

Dan and I have had a very eventful year to say the least! Two trips to California in one year were a little too much!

The Beginning!

January – We arrived back in Florida after a wonderful Christmas in New York with JR, Laurie, Rhapsody, Samantha and JRs parents. Having Nick home for Christmas was the best present we all could have had!!! The girls picked out their first huge live Christmas tree which was just beautiful! We did miss having Danny home!!

February – I went back to New York to do one of my favorite things, staying with the girls while Mom and Dad went to the Superbowl in Indianapolis.

March – Both Dan and I catching up on Dentist and Doctor’s appointments. We also had some really nice lunches and visits with Ralph, Paula and George. We always enjoy our get togethers. We also made a trip over to Boyton Beach to visit with my aunt Mary. We took her to one of her favorite places – a casino in Pompano Beach!

April – The highlight of this month was Laurie, JR and the girls came to Disney for a vacation so we got to spend many days with them. We had a great time watching the girls having a great time!!!! They stayed at the Animal Kingdom lodge which was wonderful!

May – As soon as all Doctor’s visits and yearly physicals completed we pointed the Dan-Mobile to the west! We chose New Orleans as our first stop. We totally enjoyed our riverboat cruise and the French Quarter. This was my first time in the “Big Easy” and it was all that I had expected it to be! There were still several signs of hurricane Katrina which was sad to see after all this time.

We planned many side trips on this leg of our trip west. We stopped at Fort Hood to visit with Grandson Nick. He is doing so well and we are sooooo proud of him!!! We had fun helping Nick shop to get his kitchenware and utensils so he could fix his own meals in his room in the barracks! He is getting to be so domesticated which is a good thing to be.

After Texas we headed north for a lunch date with cousin Sara. She is such a wonderful fun lady to spend time with. I just love her and loved every minute of our visit and we hope to visit again soon. She is so talented! Did you know she is quite the artist (paintings) she plays the piano, plays golf and bakes a fabulous cake? I would love to have the recipe for the cake you served us while visiting – Hint, Hint!!!

Since heading north once more our trip would not be complete until we went to South Dakota for a short visit with Aunt Hilda. She is such an amazing woman and so full of life. Aunt Hilda you are truly an inspiration to all of us!!! She is doing so well and we love every minute of being with her and Deletta. We were sorry that Don couldn’t join us.

Colorado was next as our Grandson Evan graduated from High School. We are all so proud of Evan. Evan is also in the Army Reserve out of Fort Collins, CO. He completed his Army Basic Training between his Junior and Senior Years of High School which several of us attended in South Carolina!! Our son Danny made the trip to Celebrate Evan’s high school graduation as did Evan’s other Grandparents from California and we all had so much fun. All the girls took a day and went shopping at the Outlet Mall and found a Quilt shop too. Evan’s Grandmother from California who worked in the same building as I did quilts too!!!

We left Colorado planning to go to Ridgecrest California to check on our house but we were caught in a bad wind storm in Utah and it stayed with us until we got to Las Vegas, Nevada. The windshield on our coach separated and was moving in and out along with an awning that blew outside of its housing. As soon as it was safe to pull off the interstate Dan had to roll it back in and taped it up. All this was done in very high winds! It was pretty scary and hard to keep the coach on the road. We stopped a few times and drove slow. There are no repair shops for RV’s until we got to Las Vegas. We ended up spending almost three weeks in Las Vegas while waiting for a new windshield. We did make a day trip to CA by car to check on house and new tenants but Vegas was as far as we got with the coach!! We had enough of these desert winds and couldn’t wait to get out of there!!

June - As soon as all repairs to coach were finished we took our time and headed east to make it to New York for Grand-daughter Samantha’s birthday. Thank God there were no winds!!

July- Made it to New York and enjoyed Samantha’s Birthday. While still in New York JR got a very sad call that his Father in California had passed away. His Mother was in New York for Samantha’s birthday too. Dan and I stayed with the girls while JR, Laurie and his Mom Shirley flew back to California.

August – We left New York and stopped at Hershey, PA for almost 2 weeks. We drove to New York by car and picked up the girl’s and brought them to Hershey while Laurie had a Gymnastics Coaches training class in Baltimore, MD. We took the girl’s to a lot of fun parks and of course “The Chocolate Factory” which they love!!!! After bringing them back home we decided to head south.

September – We stayed in a RV park close to Ben and Cinda’s. We had a great time visiting and taking advantage of using their quilting machine to put the finishing touch on a couple of quilts that I had made. They turned out beautiful! Thank you again Ben and Cinda for everything. We always enjoy visiting with you and when not quilting we love our little side trips together.

While in Georgia we got an email from our new tenants saying that they were moving into Base Housing which was made available to them at the end of September so we knew we had to head back to California soon, UGH.

Evan was attending AIT school in Gulfport, MS and we were able to visit with him on the way. We got to spend 2 days with him. While he was there he experienced his first Hurricane!!!! I don’t think he wants to be around for another one!!! We also stopped and had dinner with Nick in Texas!

When we arrived in California we were not happy with the condition of our house! Let’s just say that these tenants did not treat our house very well. It took a lot of hard work and expense to get it back in shape to lease out again. The house is still empty at this time. I wish we could sell it!! We did manage to catch a visit with some of our friends in Ridgecrest. It’s always nice with keep in touch with them.

October – At the end of this month we finally were heading back to Florida! We stopped again in Texas had enjoyed a dinner with Nick! Evan had already graduated from his AIT School in Gulfport and was back in Colorado at this time so we didn’t get to see him again this leg of our trip.

November – Catching up with Ralph and Paula, Doctors, Dentists, and haircuts etc. It seems like I spend more time in Doctor’s offices these days!!!!! We did have lunch with a couple of Dan’s school mates from Dade City and enjoyed that visit and planned many more in the future!

December – Getting ready for our Christmas trip to New York to be with our daughter Laurie and family. This is my favorite time of year! I love seeing the Christmas decorations on the homes, in the stores and listening to Christmas music as we shop!!! I love being in the cold weather and snow this time of year. I guess you just can’t take the love of winter out of this New York Yankee! Dan does not share my enthusiasm for the snow and you can’t take the enjoyment of warm weather out this Florida guy!!!

We are sorry we haven’t visited with more family members and were sorry we had to miss the Family reunion. We sure would love to hear from all of you from time to time. We do think of you and hope to get to know you better and visit with you in the future.

We want to wish everyone a “Very Merry Christmas” and a “Blessed New year”!!! We hope you get to share your days with your families and friends! We Love you All!!!!!
“PLEASE DON’T LET ANYONE TAKE YOUR BELIEF OF JESUS CHRIST’S BIRTH AND YOUR CELEBRATION OF CHRISTMAS AWAY FROM YOU”!

From Laurie and Family:

May God our Father in Heaven, bless you and keep you safe. I pray this through His Son, our Ransomer, Savior and King, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Wishing everyone a wonderfully "Merry Christmas" and prosperous "Happy New Year!"

The House of Walden

From Cinda and Ben:

Wishing everyone the blessings of the season and a wonderful new year!

2012 has been a good year for us.

We had a quick visit from Melda and Jack in January due to the passing of Jack’s Aunt Lenora who lived near us here in Smyrna. Even at a sad time, it was so great to spend some time together.

In February, we were able to make the trip to Washington DC for Susie’s promotion to Brigadier General. What an amazing event. We could not be more proud of Susie and her many accomplishments. Thank you, Redding and Susie, for your wonderful hospitality and for all you do in service to our country and to us.

Had an overnight visit from Dan as he couriered Nick’s car to Ft. Hood, since Nick’s deployment plans were changed.

In May, we had the privilege of attending Jake Denney’s graduation from Army basic training at Ft. Benning. We are so thankful and proud of Jake and others in his generation who have chosen to serve our country in defense of our freedom. And it was such a pleasure to spend some time with many of the Denney clan. Congratulations, Jake!

Monica and Herman sponsored another wonderful Barthle Reunion at the end of June. It was so great to see and visit with many of the families again. Thank you so much Herman and Monica for this special blessing, and to all who came!

In July, Ben came down with a surprise case of pneumonia. He spent six days in the hospital, but thanks to IV fluids, antibiotics, and lots of prayers….thank you all so much….he ultimately recovered. Whew!

It was wonderful to see many of the Petters clan when they got together in ATL for a 40-year Braves game reunion in August.

Later that month and into September, Dan and Barbara came within range, so we had a great chance to hang out together. We even put a couple of Barbara’s completed quilt tops on our automated frame/setup and quilted them while we visited. It was such a fun time for us… we also found several new restaurants and quilt shops along the way!

Our grandchildren, Ryan (9) and Millie(5), are growing up so fast and are, of course, both a source of exuberant pride. Though they don’t see each other often, they are so great at playing together, even for their age difference. We just had a chance to spend a wonderful Thanksgiving together with them and their families. We are so truly thankful for loving families.

May the Lord bless and keep all of you at this Christmas season and throughout the new year!
Much love, Cinda and Ben

From Rebecca and family:

Greetings to everyone! This year has been fairly busy (it's hard to remember everything that has happened). In January, Millie and I both had a day off of school so we got together with some friends and took our kids ice skating for the first time. It was hard work but a lot of fun. In April, Millie spent a couple of days at her Nana and Papa's and then went on a week vacation away from home (without her parents) at her other grandparents' house in North Georgia. She didn't want to come home. In May, she graduated from Pre-K and celebrated with a pool party afterwards.

In July, we took Millie camping for the first time at Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park. We all stayed in the back of Jacade's van. Although it was cramped, we had a lot of fun. We went another time to Red Top Mountain State Park. In August, Millie and her classmates had the special honor of singing the National Anthem at the Braves game. How awesome to be able to walk on the field and sing in front of all those people. She did great though and we enjoyed the game afterwards.

Millie is now in Kindergarten and is doing so well. She is advancing in her sight words and has been working in a first grade workbook all year. She loves to read and just has an overall thirst for knowledge.

Jacade started his handyman business again in the middle of the year and has been steady ever since. He has done quite a few jobs and has met some great people along the way.

And I have been plugging away in college. At the end of Summer Semester, I received three scholarships. I was able to purchase my books for Fall Semester and a new laptop computer. After the Fall Semester is finished, I will only have one more semester and I will graduate with a dual degree in Internet Specialist - Web Site Design and Web Applications. So I will graudate from college and Millie will graduate from Kindergarten.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas and blessed New Year. We wish you the best in 2013.

Jacade, Rebecca and Millie Long

From Melda and Jack:

Merry Christmas!

2012, as usual, was a busy year for us. Recapping a few events, we took a long weekend to Smyrna, Georgia, in early January for a funeral of one of Jack’s aunts and we stayed with Cinda and Ben and appreciate their wonderful hospitality.

Things worked out so that we could attend Susie’s pinning at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. We are so proud of her for her achievement and appreciative for her service, as well as all those in our family who are veterans and those currently serving including Nick, Evan and Jake. We cherish our freedom more now than ever and it not something we can take for granted. Our country is exceptional—and it wouldn’t be if it were not for our military.

We appreciate Monica and Herman hosting another family reunion. It was so nice to catch up with many of you.

We are looking forward to 2013 and wish each of you good health and prosperity in the New Year!
May God bless you all,
Melda and Jack

From Rebecca and Family:

Hope this note finds everyone well. The year has been a whirlwind as it always seems to be. Our girls are growing up so fast! Leah (age 5) started Kindergarten at Holy Family, and Lauren (age 3) is attending Pre-K3 three days each week at the same preschool that Leah attended. Leah played on a soccer team this fall (her 2nd season), really enjoys working on various art projects, and “teaching” school to Lauren. Lauren has begun taking ballet classes this fall and fortunately for Leah doesn’t seem to mind endless hours of playing “student”. They both love to read books and play imaginary games, too.

Rebecca's business continues to grow and she enjoyed her usual work travel periodically throughout 2012 with meetings in Las Vegas, Nashville, San Diego, Miami, and NYC a few times. Our girls went on vacation for a few days to Travis’ Mom’s farm in Virginia in late June while we escaped to Punta Mita, Mexico for some sunshine and margaritas! Travis’ eleven year technology career with Citigroup unexpectedly came to an end a few months ago, so he’s exploring some other opportunities. I’m sure when we get around to having retrospect, it will be the best thing that could have happened. Time off to refocus his career priorities and determine what the next game plan should be.

We’re looking forward to seeing family and friends over the holidays. Hope that each of you have a wonderful Christmas and all good things in the year ahead! Love, Rebecca, Travis, Leah & Lauren

From Rob and Family:

Hi all! 2012 has been another great year for our family. The kids continue to grow so fast with Landon turning six last January and Laney turning eight in May. Casey still teaches and serves as Athletic Director at the same school our kids attend (1st and 3rd Grade, Corpus Christi). I'm really enjoying my work at the Tampa Bay Sports Commission. Our organization hosts nearly 120 events each year now, so that definitely keeps us busy. Casey and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary in September and feel blessed to have such a wonderful relationship and family.
We wish everyone a great holiday season and the happiest of New Years!

Sincerely,
Rob, Casey, Laney and Landon

From Monica and Herman:

Merry Christmas to all!!

What an exciting year!

Susie’s promotion ceremony was scheduled for March 1st, and we were able to make a quick trip to Washington, DC for a wonderful experience! From the pizza gathering the first night to the last meal together, it was an honor to be there! The promotion was an outstanding event and to be allowed to be there among such a large group of Generals and distinguished military personnel was certainly a once in a lifetime opportunity. We are so blessed to have a family member that is a General!!! Congratulations again, General Susie! So thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the family for such a thrilling moment! Had an opportunity to visit with most everyone and as always was amazed at how much the children had grown! So proud of each one of you! The evening before our return trip Dean treated all of us to dinner at a Mexican restaurant (many thanks, Dean!) and it was one of those times you want to remember forever – you know, brothers and sisters eating, talking, laughing, remembering…the love was tangible! The humidity gets high just thinking about it! Thank you again to everyone who made it such a wonderful trip!

In July we gathered together at the lake to enjoy each other’s company at the Barthle Family Reunion. There are no words to say how much we enjoy this. It was so wonderful seeing all those able to make it! This year our next generation (Bill, Luke, Shelley and family, Natalie and family, Mandi and family) did most of the work and we got to enjoy their company on work days as well as the BIG DAY!

Herman had surgery on his right eyelid in September. It had been drooping more and more over the years and had gotten to the point it was blocking some of the vision in that eye. The surgery went well and he is happy to be seeing better.

Earlier this month Herman was treated for pneumonia. It was a tough job getting better, but he seems to be finally mostly over it…he still occasionally coughs, but is greatly improved over even a week ago.

He continues to work with the groves. Greening has infected most groves and presents a new set of challenges as researchers and farmers try different alternatives for saving the groves and crops.

Joe’s wife, Anne, graduated from George Washington University, passed the bar and is now an attorney! So proud of Anne’s accomplishments! We really missed our trip to DC to spend a little time with Joe and Anne. We are looking forward to a trip as soon as schedules permit!

Bill continues his work as a fitness trainer and loves his work. The business is growing and he and Joel opened a box at a new location on 54 across from Applebee’s.

May God bless all of you in this Christmas Season and in the coming New Year!

Love,
Herman and Monica

From Shelley and family:

Welllllllll, I missed last year’s newsletter, too much juggling… Here we go two years with the Oliver’s on the fly; because that is EXACTLY the way it happened!

Well In June 2011, Luke graduated from high school. He had worked 30 hours a week his entire senior year, as a shop technician, at C&N Foundations in Ridge Manor. The Monday following graduation he went full time and on Friday he moved into his first place. A SWEEEEEET one bedroom stilt house on the Withlacoochee River just minutes from work and the woods, as well as SR 50, I-75 and US 301, which lead to everywhere else. He continued to work second shift at C&N full time and helped out a friend in his tire business in the mornings and weekends. In 2012, he left C&N and went full time with Team Tire a mobile tire service. He really enjoys having a service truck and his boss Robby is great! He still has two dogs, Harley, a black lab, and Hazel, a hound dog. He is still driving his faithful blue Toyota, but has several project trucks in the works, a 1980 something Toyota for mud bogging, and my old 1998 Chevy Tahoe (Momma wants to bog too). He recently acquired his first broken bone. A right hand boxers fracture. The orthopedist wanted to pin it, but said there was a 50/50 chance it could heal with just casting. Mr. Stubborn, said, set it, cast it, it will be fine. I wanted him to fix it 100% with surgery. He is 20, he wins. He wore the first cast for 2 weeks and then got a new cast that he cut off three weeks later because it was messing up his ability to shoot. I just don’t know where that stubborn comes from… Wooooooo look at all those smiles, ok so maybe we kind of know. He is now fully healed, and the surgeon says it looks great. Luke is currently single and spends all of his time working, chasing the young ladies (when they aren’t chasing him), and hunting. He hunts anything, anytime, and anywhere, that he gets a chance. He got a gorgeous 10 point just this morning. We are VERY PROUD of him, I know you can’t tell. :oD

In June 2011, Darrell, Hunter, Sarah, Rascal dog, Scout dog, Chewy Lewis bunny, and I, all moved to be closer to Darrell’s work in Sarasota County. We found a house in the very nice community of North Port, Florida. I continued to work from home for Gould & Lamb writing medical legal reports and Sarah stayed at home with me. Darrell continued to manage the local branch of American Eco-Systems a pond management company. Hunter attended Lamarque Elementary School for fifth grade. The kids enjoyed the children across the street and Sarah acquired her first pet, a guinea pig named, Chippy. But, largely we just didn’t feel like we fit there. We did fit well at the Monica & Herman Schrader long weekend Birthday Bonanza in South Carolina. It was SO NICE to get to see all of my siblings in one place at the same time. I never get enough hugs, but I certainly got a lot more caught up! I appreciate everyone coming together for this VERY SPECIAL event! It was awesome! Nice coordinating job Mandi! I love you ALL!

So on the last day of February 2012 we moved back to central Florida. We are currently living in Ridge Manor, one street over from Luke. We have enjoyed being closer to family, growing a garden, and living a touch slower country life. Hunter likes D.S. Parrott Middle School, but hates getting on the bus at 5:45AM. Sarah is enjoying Kindergarten at Eastside Elementary. Hunter is enjoying being back in 4-H, and Sarah is loving her first year in the Blanton Valley 4-H group. The kids have made a few friends up this way and have enjoyed riding horseback, becoming river rats at Luke’s, and driving Hunter’s go cart. Sarah is even learning to drive the riding lawn mower. We haven’t hunted or fished much as we would like, as Darrell lost his job right after we moved here, but at least we weren’t still in Sarasota, GOD IS GOOD! Not long after settling in Chippy got sick, within an hour of me noticing he was acting funny, he was gone. Sarah was devastated, but we had a very nice family prayer, and buried him near the garden so he could rest peacefully.

Darrell has dealt with a back injury of and on since December 2006. After years of trying to work through it he decided to undergo surgery on June 21st. He found a neurosurgeon that specializes in sports medicine. Dr. Geoffrey Cronen is the surgeon for the Tampa Bay Lightning Hockey Team and has extensive history of working with large framed, heavily muscled athletes, which have many of the same physical challenges as has Darrell had. Dr. Cronen was AWESOME!!! He loved meeting Hunter and asked Darrell about him at every visit. Darrell was pleased to be up and around enough for a short visit at the family reunion at the lake in July, we were just disappointed we couldn’t stay longer. He has healed and although Darrell continues to need to stretch to keep the muscles loose, he is so much better than before.

In the early morning hours of August 23rd, just a week before his seventh doggy birthday, Scout dog decided to go on an adventure and was hit by a semi. Luke was leaving for work when he noticed a dog down on the road. He called to make sure Rascal and Scout were accounted for as, well they are beagles, which means escape artists. When we couldn’t find Scouter, Darrell went down and found him. It was such a tough day for all of us. Luke picked him out of the litter when he was 4 weeks old and we brought him home at 8 weeks. He had been a part of our family for seven long years. Rascal had followed Scout and must have seen him get hit, as he started having seizures, wouldn’t eat, and was really depressed. We thought we were going to lose him too. After a few weeks, with a lot of babying, Rascal stared to slowly get better. Now, he is pretty much back to normal, he just doesn’t have any desire leave the fence anymore without his sidekick.

Okay, so newest news in our house this week is, Darrell’s sister is moving to Kansas. As Darrell is still working on getting a new job, he had the time to help, so he got to travel to Kansas and see a part of the country he had not experienced before. The whole trip is planned for ten days. It has been so weird not having him here. Plus we are dog sitting his sisters Dorkie and his mother’s Morkie and Shitzu. I think I am living in a Mighty Dog commercial. LOL!
We Love You ALL!!! Be faithful, be blessed!
The Oliver’s

From Natalie and family:

Merry Christmas to my wonderful family!!

Jayden is still the princess of the house…lol…she continues to dance at Sally Blackwood Studio’s and loves every minute of it. After 4 years of just taking Ballet, she convinced us to let her take extra classes. So now she is taking Ballet, Acro and she performs with the Little Stars performance group. She performed 4 times in one day for two different local schools. She performs in the Christmas parade this Friday and then 2 more times on Saturday at the Dade City Christmas Stroll. Then we get a break until the first of the year…. J She is also a part of the Chorus at school. She has to be at school an hour early once a week for rehearsals. She is also in 4-H and raising a hog for the Pasco County Fair in February. It’s fun to watch her go from tights and a leotard, to her boots, jeans and getting in the pen to feed her hog. She is in the 3rd grade and still loves going to school and loves learning every day. She also loves bed time…lol.

Dylan ended up in the E.R. on May 1 due to torsion of the testicle, a very painful and time sensitive issue. While waiting for the Urologist to get out of surgery, the E.R. dr was able to manually rotate everything back into the correct position…. When the urologist finally came down he said since it twisted once it will do it again. We needed to schedule surgery over the summer, unless it happened again before then, to have a stent put in to keep them from twisting again. At the end of June he wound up with an abdominal hernia. I contacted the Pediatric Urologist who said he could take care of the hernia and torsion issue at the same time… Surgery was July 31 at All Children’s Hospital. All went well and he came home to finish recovering. Thanks to Mom and Mandi for helping me with the recovery process…. Trying to keep a 12 yr old still for 10 days was NOT easy. He is in the 7th grade this year and still playing the trumpet. He has been having a great time learning new things on it this year. He did get a nice 6 point buck this year on one of the trips to Georgia.

Ty is 17 and a Junior this year at Pasco High. He has been dating a girl Shelby, who we love, for the past 8 months. He spends most of his time being 17 and hanging out with friends. He is still doing really well in school and we are still getting letters from colleges that want him to consider them. We took him and his best friend Reid to the USF/FSU game this year and they had a blast. Ty bought himself a bow this year and killed a doe in North Florida. He also bought a gas powered RC race car that he spends time building and re-building the motor for.

I have lost 35 lbs and feel better than ever! On that note, lets back up a few months…. On February 6th I came home from work like usual, fed the kids, and went to get Jayden in the bathtub. I knelt down next to the tub to wash her and instantly knew something wasn’t right. I had a sharp shooting pain on the left side of my back…and knew EXACTLY what was wrong… Yup.. KIDNEY STONE! I went and laid down on my bed and sent Ty to the store for cranberry juice…by the time he returned I knew this one was bad. Jon took me to the E.R. After a few scans…I was admitted. I had surgery two days later to remove the 5mm stone from my left kidney. In May I was sent to a new Neurologist at USF to help me with some of my other issues. I learned more in the first 2 hours of my first appointment than I did in the 5 YEARS at my old Neurologist. In late May I was diagnosed with Non-Typical Rheunoids, Lupus and Sclaroderma. I also found out I have an Atrial Septal Defect with regurgitation. I will have to have heart surgery again when my breathing gets too labored due to the blood building up in my lungs. But for now I am just enjoying every day that I am given. I still work at McBath Medical and LOVE every minute of it… I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to work with!

Jon is staying busy with our business, as well as chasing Jayden down at all of her functions. He did get in a new hunting lease this year that is actually in Florida (instead of GA). The guys have made a few trips up for work days, but he hasn’t been up to hunt yet….hopefully he will get to go soon. He did get a doe earlier this year.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed Christmas and thank you for all of the prayers !!

Natalie, Jon, Ty, Dylan and Jayden

From Mandi and family:

Life is a journey and we are learning every day to enjoy every minute of it. This year our journey included: moving from Virginia to Florida; kids getting registered for school in FL; house hunting; finding the perfect house; summer break, parties at the lake, late night fishing trips, trips to Eddie's roller rink, going to Clearwater Beach to meet Winter, a family reunion, made new friends/neighbors, Megan starting VPK, Lane joined Boy Scouts, Lane turning 13 (holy smokes we have a teenager!), Chase joined 4-H, Chase turning 10 (double digits!!), cookouts, family pictures, a perfect Christmas tree, and new beginnings...

I would like to say Thank You to everyone in my family for being a part of our journey. At one point or another you have been there for me or someone in my family when they needed it and I really appreciate it. I love you all.

Hugs and Kisses,
The Milam Family (Mandi, Billy, Lane, Chase and Megan)

From Ralph and Paula:

Christmas Greetings to Everyone,

Hope all of you are having a good holiday season.

The year 100 score and 12, has been a busy one. Paula attended General Susie's (can we call her GenSue?... Or is it BGenSue?) promotion ceremony in Washington D.C. in early March. It was quite an amazing event as described by all who were there. Congratulations! Your family is very proud of you!

In April we went on a (two night) trip to New York City as part of a Kia Finance promotion for Paula's company. Had a great time visiting the sites and had dinner one night with Caroline. Seeing the Statue of Liberty and touring Ellis Island were the highlights of the trip. But the most emotional part was visiting the memorial at ground zero. A moving experience to be sure.

In May we started the renovations on the house. Our contractor raised the roof, added structural beams, and upgraded several other items. We also added insulation in the attic, what a difference that makes. And with a new laminate floor, it turned out pretty good. There are still a few (smaller) projects on the to do list.

Was fun to visit with everyone at the family reunion at Herman and Monica's. A big thanks to them, and all who pitched in to make it the big event of the summer.

In August, we attended a Braves game in Atlanta with the Petters family. Always learn something fun and interesting hanging out with them.

In October we flew to Louisville with the USF Bulls for their football game, and took a tour of the Louisville Slugger bat factory while we were there. Another fun trip.

We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Love to all, Paula and Ralph

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