The City of Burnet had a big New Years celebration.  The weather was nice with many people and much activity around the town square and the train station.  The Hill Country Flyer rolled in for the evening to witness the lighted ball rise at midnight.  Chuck’s airplane is still under construction, slowly but surely.
    Last year, we had started going to the country and western jam sessions at the Oatmeal community building, this year was no exception.  They have a covered dish and area folks come to sing and play.  Chuck was elected as the president of our parish council for this year.
    Chuck had helped Ellis Winkler install an inline water softener in his water line, so in February Ellis came and put up a "street sign" at our gate with our name on it.  Chuck has been renting and flying a Cessna 152 at the Burnet Airport.  Also in February we finally got a small roof leaked fixed.
    In March, we bought a 4000 pound roller to pull behind the tractor.  We use it to smooth the runway (still to be used) and also to crush and kill the prickley pear cactus.  Chuck spent some time working with the airplane kit company and the engine manufacturer to determine the specifications and design of the engine mount for his airplane.  (The mount finally arrived in July.)  The nanny goats started having their kids, we got about 26 new kids from them. Over the year, our daughter Gini and Chuck took some 34 goats to auction.
    In April, Betty had the last of two cataract surgeries, she now sees better than ever, even without glasses.  Grandson, Trent, and Chuck took in the Confederate Airforce airshow during the Bluebonnet Festival.  They picked up two mosquito control goldfish for the goat water trough as something had gotten the original ones.  On April 25, we participated in the Passion Play at the Good Friday church service.
    On May 6, Trent received his First Communion at Our Mother Of Sorrows Church.  May usually brings a couple of squall lines from the north, this May was no different.
In June, we attended Gene Kranz’s, "Finally Finished the Book, Failure Is Not An Option" party at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston.  We also attended a brunch for Chuck’s fortieth college reunion at Garland and Bill Pohl’s.
Chuck put in a 1000 gallon water tank as a backup source for the well for the goats when we are gone for extended periods of time.  Ellis Winkler assisted  by using his 16 foot trailer to transport the tank.  Also in July, Chuck put up the 20 foot flag pole that our daughter, Carol, had given us.
    While the summer was hot and dry, especially August and September, Chuck, Betty and Chuck’s brother, Dick, took a train ride in the US and Canada, Amtrak and ViaRail.   They covered close to 14 thousand miles in thirty days.
Gini and her kids dropped them off in Taylor, Texas where they left for Chicago, New York, Montreal, Toronto, Churchill (on the Hudson Bay), Winnipeg, Prince Rupert (on the Pacific), Jasper (Canadian Rockies), Vancouver, San Francisco, Denver, Omaha, Kansas City, St. Louis and back to Temple, Texas..  This was a great trip.  We saw polar bears, black bears, elk, bald eagles, a humpback whale, deer, etc.  We saw  cities, towns, water falls, lakes, trees, snow covered mountains, and more.  We walked on glaciers, tundra and rode cable trams.   We met interesting people from all over the world. The weather was usually good, even got snowed on near Jasper.  Again, the Winklers came through by meeting us up in Temple to take us home.
     In October, we helped at the church festival. Also, we ran water, power and telephone line some 250 feet between the garage and hanger.
     All of the kids (Bill, Carol, and Gini) came for thanksgiving dinner and will come again for Christmas.  Check out our web page at http://pages.tstar.net/~cfd/

Have a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,
Chuck and Betty Deiterich