Christmas 2015
I looked at my calendar the
other day and realized that another year was approaching completion and it was
time to write our annual Christmas letter.
Family –
Finally, a year without a new grandchild! Looks like we’ll be stopping at seven.
Chris and family decided this year that they would be
moving from New Jersey to Florida. Their best friends from Lockheed both moved
to the Orlando area (one staying with Lockheed and the other going with
Wycliffe Associates). That left a big hole in their lives, so they decided to
move there as well. Chris filled out an application and sent it to several
groups at the Orlando Lockheed facility and was accepted. Of course, moving
that far meant a lot of work – both to get their current place ready for sale,
for the move itself, and then finding a new place to live in FL. Lockheed paid
for a trip down to do house hunting, but they did a lot of looking online
before going. They settled on a small (960 sq. ft.) place that needed a bit of
work, but that had a pool in the backyard (or perhaps I should emphasize that
had a yard as they had just a small lot in a trailer park in NJ). After some
negotiations and an inspection, they took ownership a few weeks ago and moved
in just before Thanksgiving (they were staying in an extended-stay hotel for a
few weeks in the meantime).
We made one last trip to NJ
in October to stay with them for a few days – and to help with some of the
preparations for moving. So not only were we their first guests in NJ, but now
we were their last guests there as well. We’ll miss having them close enough
that we could just run down for a weekend. A trip to FL is going to require a
lot more planning and will have to be longer than a weekend with the amount of
travel time! But we’re already starting to make plans for a trip in the early
spring!
One of the
things that keeps us tied up here is taking care of Kim and Matthew’s four
boys. Ethan started kindergarten this year at Seven Generations Charter School.
We (Kim as well as Donna and I) decided that taking a 45-minute bus ride to
school every day was a bit much for a 5-year old. But we discovered another
family who lived just down the foot of our hill had the same thought (they have
three girls with the oldest being Ethan’s age). So we have a
carpool arrangement – I take Ethan to their house in the morning and Addie’s
mom drives the two of them (as well as her other two) in. Originally Kim was
going to pick them up on her way home, but her job changed (more on that
below), so I drive in to Emmaus in the afternoon and bring the two kids home.
Ethan and Addie have become best of friends and even sit at the same table in
the same room (there are three kindergarten classes in the school). While it’s
an extra chore to do the driving every day, that also means that there are only
three boys home during the day to take care of, so that’s become a little
easier. Only four more years until they’re all in school! Since we’re going to
be associated with the school for several years I have joined their Board of
Trustees.
Besides Chris’s job transfer,
Kim also decided to make a change this year. The company that she’s been in for
the past 15 years was going nowhere. Penn Treaty is officially in “rehab”
meaning that the state has taken them over. They thought that once they came
out of rehab that they could become a third-party provider of long term care
claims, but the state has been dragging this on for so long that it now appears
that there will be other more established claims providers and that Penn Treaty
will be disappearing before too long. So, rather than waiting for that to
happen, Kim decided to apply for one of the other providers that has a better future.
She got a promotion (to assistant manager of operations) out of it and a nice
raise, but it also means that she has a one hour commute instead of the nice
15-minute drive that she had before. So she’s not home until a little after 6pm
these days (work day is 8:30-5:00) instead of having a 7:00-3:00 shift and
getting home before 4pm. Her change as well as the move for Chris and family
all took place in November – so we’re still getting used to new routines.
Travels
– Since we are tied down a bit with caring for grandchildren we don’t get in
much traveling right now. However,
besides our usual week at Pinebrook in the Poconos with the entire family, I
did have one very significant trip this year.
I was selected as a flight chaperon for AFS this year and chose to
chaperon the exchange students returning to Ghana at the end of their year
here. Since part of the requirement is that the chaperon stay in the country
for a week, I stayed for an extra nine days and spent the time with our
exchange student daughter, Shirley. Picture above is me with Shirley and her mother
on the beach by the hotel. I asked Shirley for a recommendation for a hotel
that was near where she lived and told her that I didn’t want to do the typical
tourist things, but to spend time “with the people.” Except for a few other
westerners who were in the hotel for the weekend when I first arrived, I didn’t
see any other fair-skinned folks for the entire time I was there. It was
wonderful!
One of the highlights of the trip was getting an audience with the
Ruler of the Ga tribe (the tribe that Shirley is part of). His Royal Majesty
King Odaifio Welentsi III is the Overlord of the Ga’s, the Paramount Chief of
the Nungua Traditional Area and President of the Nungua Traditional Council. In
the picture below I am wearing traditional Ghanaian garb in preparation
for my audience with the king.
Miscellaneous – We finally decided to
make the move that many have been and eliminate our “landline” phone and depend
solely on our cell phones. So the number that we’ve had for the past 37 years
will no longer reach us. Our primary number will be my cell, since I have it on
all the time – 610-703-5545. Please erase our old number and use this one
instead. Donna is still getting used to keeping her cell phone with her and
keeping it charged and on, so she may not always answer, but her number is
610-739-6210.
Continuing my weight loss
challenge of doing it slowly and steadily, I’ve taken off another 6 pounds this
past year. 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!
Helped publish yet another
book this year – this one a series of devotions and memories that was written
by a lady who is related to a few of the older members of our church (and who
went there from birth to age 18 – but that was over 65 years ago). Completed the
project in a record six weeks. Now she’s already working on part two!
Planning a visit to
Connecticut in a few weeks to meet some distant Russell relatives that I have
discovered during my genealogy research. Getting to know these “long lost”
relatives is fun.
Hoping that all of you are
doing well. This may not be politically correct these days, but here’s wishing
you all a very Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year!
.Alan & Donna
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