A Garden Variety

Our 2009 Christmas Newsletter
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I hope your December started as warm and sunny as ours! It is nearly 50 degrees and the sun is shining this first day of December. Hopefully, this is a sign of a sun filled winter to come. I enjoy sitting in the wooden rocking chair by the sunny west window, with hot mint tea and a good mystery book! It’s been a hectic year and it sped by.
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Carrie & I spent January through March taking Master Gardener classes, and spring and summer we were busy completing the volunteer hours we needed to earn the title.
Carrie’s own business (landscaping/lawn care/house & pet sitting) is flourishing, & she can set her own hours so there is still plenty of time for her writing.

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....Crystal.... got a job where Larry works, at Gentex. She moved to an apartment in ..South Holland... I love her place! All the windows face a beautiful woods and a ravine that has a creek running through it. She’s engaged to Kevin McConnell, and I think he is perfect for her. She left the Robinson Township Fire Department when she got the job, and moved out of our township to be closer to Kevin. She hopes in 2010 to be hired by the Graafschap (pronounced grass cap) fire department where Kevin is employed. (He also drives truck for a company that makes struts.) No wedding date is set, but that’s because she wants it to be a surprise. They might just get married in our minister’s office with just our family present. They might also elope and call us when the knot is tied! Either way is fine with me, just as long as they marry. Kevin is a catch, and I already consider him my “son–in–love”.
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Larry and I both had high school reunions this year (his 35th, my 40th!) and there were family reunions as well, though we weren’t able to get to them all. It was a summer for renewing old friendships and reconnecting with family. (We hope for sure to make it to the next ....Arkansas.... reunion.)
For now, the work I do is all volunteer, but the Master Gardener title and the work with children through 4H and Junior Master Gardeners is a good background, or rather a foundation if I decide I want to start a new career. (At almost 60? Heh.)

Larry made it through the tough times at Gentex when many were permanently laid off, and his work has been steady, for which we are thankful.
From all of us to all of you, Merry Christmas!