Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Christmas 2016

I seem to be writing our Christmas letter a little later each year. I used to have it done by Thanksgiving, then by the first few days of December, and now we’re already into the 2nd week of the month and I’m having to find time to get it together. For those who think that life slows down when you get into the retirement years – think again! I have less time now than I ever did before.

Family – I had noted in last year’s letter that Chris and family had moved to Florida. True to our plans, we made a trip down in early March to stay with them for a week. While their house is small, the grandkids all sleep in the same room so they do have a guest room. But sharing one bathroom with seven people means a little extra scheduling in the morning. The Sunday that we were there we went to church with them. It just happened to be New Member Sunday so we got to witness the entire family being part of it, including Ilyanna who had just completed going through the membership process. We also spent a day at the Central Florida Zoo which is just in the next city. Having a week of 85 degree temps in March is not typical for us, especially since Chris and Pam have chosen to not use any AC. We were glad to get back home to a place that has four seasons.

But this visit may have helped prepare us. In April our heat pump stopped working and we decided to leave it that way for a while. With a few judiciously placed fans we made it all the way to the end of November without heat or AC in the main part of the house. We have a nice in-the-wall AC unit in Kim and Matthew’s area and there is also electric baseboard heat there, so while we take care of the boys during the day we could be comfortable, but we learned to sleep with just a fan at night for the entire summer. It’s now been fixed, at least temporarily, for the winter. But the inside unit is original to the house that we built in 1977. It doesn’t owe us anything, but we’re planning on doing a total replacement one of these days.

There is another housing change coming up next month. The family who have lived across the street from us for the last 25 years will be moving. It’s been increasingly hard for them to keep their family-owned business going with expensive government regulations and competition from online suppliers, so they decided to close the business and move to a second “vacation home” that they have had about two hours north of here. We have also been thinking about Kim and her family – realizing that when we either pass on or need to move to something a bit smaller or more senior-friendly, that they would be left without a place to live as our house would be too much for them to take care of. So we’re in the process of buying the house right across from us and we’ll let Kim and family live there and then leave it to them in our will. The stuff you have to go through to buy a home these days is quite a bit more involved than when we built our home 40 years ago, but closing is scheduled for mid-January.

The home is a 3-bedroom ranch with a fully-finished basement – perfect for their family. It also has an attached two car garage and an above ground swimming pool of the back deck. Since it’s just steps from our house, we can still be involved in helping to raise the boys and taking care of them during the day.

Meanwhile, Ethan is now a 1st grader at Seven Generations Charter School. Isaiah doesn’t make the cutoff, so he won’t start kindergarten until next fall, then Caleb and Asher will be the next two years – it will be nice to have them all gone during the day. It’s pretty hard to get things done around here.

Travels – Since we are tied down a bit with caring for grandchildren we don’t get in much traveling right now.  However, besides our week in Orlando in March and our usual week at Pinebrook in the Poconos with the entire family, we did a little bit this fall.

In September we went to Michigan for the week after Labor Day (taking Isaiah and Caleb with us). It was Donna’s 50th high school reunion, and we also visited all her family who still live in that area. We also stopped to see the “VanDeCar Farm” and got a tour to see all the improvements that the young couple now living there have made in the past few years.

Two weeks later we took a quick weekend to Connecticut for my 50th reunion. Also got a chance to visit with my Aunt Vi. She was the last of my mother’s siblings and has since passed away, so we’re glad that we took the opportunity to visit with her.

For the Thanksgiving long weekend we went to North Carolina to stay with Donna’s brother Bill (taking Ethan and Isaiah with us this time). On Friday and Saturday he was building a new shed for a friend of his and we all helped. The two boys were the “screw carriers,” keeping everyone supplied with appropriate screws. The shed was 12’x14’ with 8’ walls – no small project. But it was great weather and everyone enjoyed themselves.

This past weekend we went to Connecticut again – this time for a reunion with all my siblings, the first time we’ve all been together since my mother’s memorial service 4-1/2 years ago. Donna and I went up early on Friday and took the opportunity to visit with a distant cousin of mine who I recently met online (more on my genealogy below). So we’re not just homebodies!

Genealogy – I’ve been able to build out my family tree quite a bit over the past few years. My research is in two directions. First, doing ancestor research and going back in time. I’ve been pretty successful in this and have traced the Russell name back to its origins in Normandy about 1000 years ago, then several hundred more years following Viking lines (Normandy was conquered by the Vikings in the 900s). Made a lot of interesting discoveries while doing this.

But secondly, I’ve been building out a descendant tree of all the descendants of my great-great-great-grandfather, Silas Russell – trying to find all my living Russell relatives. Doing research that includes living individuals is pretty challenging as you don’t have things like census records to help guide the search (they are not made public until 72 years after the census occurs). But I have made connection with a substantial number of my 3rd and 4th cousins. Last December we visited my 2nd cousin, Robert Russell in Cos Cob, CT just a few months before he passed on at the age of 90. And this past weekend we visited a 2nd cousin in MA who had a collection of diaries that her great-grandmother kept. Her great-grandmother was in attendance at my mother’s bridal shower in 1946.

I blog on a regular basis on a number of topics, including genealogy as well as the history of the town of Wolcott, CT where I grew up (and where most of the families from the town’s history are related to me in one fashion or another). Check out ramblinrussells.blogspot.com if you’re interested.

Miscellaneous I’ve been continuing my weight loss challenge of doing it slowly and steadily, I’ve taken off another few pounds this past year and I’m now down 5” in my waist since I started. Still a ways to go, but I’m continuing to move in the right direction, and by having all of you as a yearly check-in that gives an extra incentive! But I’m also now battling Type-2 Diabetes and trying to lower my A1C and sugar levels (started daily finger pricks a few months ago). Just completed a 5-session class on managing diabetes that should help (and took Donna with me so she can help out by preparing appropriate meals with fewer carbs). [Breaking news – had a blood test this week and my A1C is down over 2 points and my triglycerides down by 2/3!]

Hoping that all of you are doing well. Now that the elections are “finally” over, and the country may start moving in another direction (one that may be more inviting to Christians) here’s wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
            


.Alan & Donna

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