Fall 2006 Fowler Family Newsletter
Happy Thanksgiving! November
already! Hardly seems possible does it?
June presented a happy occasion for us.
Besides some family birthdays, we were more than happy to welcome Timothy back
home from his year in Iraq. We went out to Pennsylvania the weekend
he was scheduled to arrive to welcome him back.
As you know from the last family newsletter,
Van and Loretta spent several weeks of July in China, so we had the privilege
of having their boys with us. That was different for us, to have kids
around again; but we were glad to be able to help them out in that way.
We enjoyed having them and hope they enjoyed being with us.
Beginning in July and lasting through
September, Sharon had the privilege of serving on our county grand jury, which
met every other Tuesday for those three months. It really was rather
enjoyable and quite a revelation of what all is going on in our county.
And we thought we were safe!
In August, Sharon was able to take off a few
days for vacation and we did some day trips around Ohio. These were very
enjoyable and we got to see some sights that we hadn't seen before. Of
course, toward the end of the month, Paul was back behind the wheel of the
school bus again for another year.
We did get to go to Stacey's wedding and
enjoyed seeing some family members there. It's always good to get
together and catch up on what each other is doing.
We trust each of you will have a blessed
holiday season. We are planning on spending Thanksgiving weekend with
Wesley and Leona, as well as celebrate a couple birthdays in their
family. As plans stand now we will be home for Christmas when Loretta and
family and Lynda and family are planning on spending some time with us.
We always enjoy the times that we have together.
Thanks again, Autumn and Kyle, for your
work in getting this put together for us. We look forward to receiving
news from you all.
Love, Paul and Sharon
Seems
hard to believe it is time to write you all again, time sure does fly. The highlight of our last six months is
definitely our time in China. It was
unbelievable to meet Chinese people, see and learn the culture and history
there. Our travels went well and we
thoroughly enjoyed teaching English. Van
and I team-taught and we had a classroom of college age on up to a 35 year-old
man. Our students spoke English very
well, compared to most students. WE were
able to have great discussions with them, and have them practice speaking
English rather than studying it. They
taught us a lot about their country and culture, and we did the same. We had the opportunity to eat some pretty
weird food, but for the most part we stayed to what we knew and thankfully
neither one of us got sick. We came back
with 1,000 pictures, so Uncle Bill; we can rival your slide shows.
The
boys had a great time at Grandpa and Grandma's (well, duh). Grandpa let them work on all kinds of
projects, as well as fun activities many days.
Benjamin grew so much during the almost three weeks I was gone, that he
outgrew his shoes, he is 6 foot tall now!
He has started ninth grade this year, we are officially in high school
now. Ben has also had the opportunity to
join the college orchestra this fall, a great privilege for him. He had his first concert a few weeks ago and
let me tell you, that French horn section has never sounded better! (of course, I could have a slightly bias
opinion.) Nate is in sixth grade this
year and is starting his growth spurt now - I can't keep up with them. He just
turned 12 and will be out deer hunting next week, his first time. He has gotten a rifle this fall and is
practicing. Nate really enjoys science,
so he is more interested in the deer after it is shot rather than the sport of
hunting. Joshua is a first grader this
year; he also just had a birthday and is now 7.
He is enjoying his classes, although he has now realized he has school
much longer in the day, like his brothers.
He started losing teeth this fall and as his adult teeth come in, it
becomes more and more obvious that my family is getting older.
I keep
up with the usual, the boys, the house, helping out at the library and all the
activities of life. Van had the
opportunity to start PhD classes this summer and will continue them in January. This semester he has been learning German to
pass the exam by next summer. He
continues to teach on the undergrad and grad level each semester, along with
the library, so he has plenty to do.
Happy
Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to all!
We look forward to hearing from everyone.
Loretta
The
Skinners
We are
moving into fall with all the leaves falling.
Hannah and Danielle like to pick them to admire them or at least that is
what
Danielle
is told to do. Danielle has celebrated
her first birthday in
October. She was able to do that with Phil's side of
the family. At the
time we
were out in WA celebrating Phil's grandfather's 90th birthday. It was nice to
get out there and see him and say our last good byes. He passed away a couple of weeks later. We spent a week out there sight seeing and
enjoying Phil's extended family. Hannah
learned to get over her fear of dogs and Danielle had to learn that you do not
pull a dog's tail.
Hannah
is in Cubbies this fall. Between Grandma
J's class on Sunday and Cubbies on Wednesday she looks forward to the
week. I am able to help out in Cubbies
when I am not working. It is so much fun
to be in that age level class as they are just so curious and not afraid to
show it.
Danielle
is walking now. She did not follow the
same steps as
Hannah
so she surprised us when she just got up and started walking. She is trying to keep up with us in the house
and gets upset some times when she gets to a room and we are leaving it.
Phil
has and will have opportunity to use his college training in helping a pastor
out in a local area church a couple times a month until the end of the
year. The pastor has health issues and
is unable to do it. Phil has to do the
whole morning service so it is a little tiring.
It is a small church and they only meet on Sunday morning.
As far
as I know there is not much going on. I
have been back to the eye doctor and she found improvement from last time. I am still
doing
exercises for my eyes. I will probably
do those for some time now as she is wanting me to get to a point where my eyes
are not tired at the end of the day.
With
plans for the holidays just a round the corner, I wish
everyone
a good Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Thank
you, Autumn for keeping us up-to-date with each other and
Kyle,
for getting this on the web site.
Lynda
Hi from Southern Iowa ~
Lucas is on the move all the time, does not
even sit five minutes to watch TV. He
turns two on Thanksgiving Day. Grammy
and Grampy came out to celebrate it with him.
Wesley is working at a job where he takes the
mail from the main post office out too the Grimes and Johnston post
office. It is a split shift job; he has
to be there at 4 am and the second shift does not end until 6:30 pm. Most days he just stays up in Des
Moines. We would like to move up there
but our house needs to sell first.
Leona is mostly staying at home. She subs one day a week at one of the local
schools.
Enjoy the holidays.
Love, The Darrahs
Looking at my last entry I sent in, I do
not have much to write about since then. I returned to my same apartment
I had before I left, still have the same car with a new main computer, but had
to get a new phone number. I am at the same position at Wal-Mart after
some opportunities that were challenging and changes that they are still going
through.
Timothy
P Johnson
Dear Ones,
Our summer began in the usual way with a
visit first with Autumn and Samantha on our way North. Then, a weekend with Sylvia where we were
introduced to her new apartment in down town Charleston, WV, and next a few
days with Judy, Melissa, Rob, and Anastasia in Horsham, PA. Finally we made our way to Iowa where we
spent a few weeks enjoying our trailer at its hilltop site and visiting with
family and friends in the Des Moines area.
While there we enjoyed a visit to the new Science Center and a viewing
of an Imax film about the Titanic. We
are thankful for stress free travel all the way.
In early August we returned home to Florida
where we had a few weeks of relative quiet before getting involved in the Fall
schedule of activities. However, life at
PRC does not leave one wondering what to do for very long and soon the usual
activities got underway - choirs and a couple of small musical groups,
Commemorative Programs, the JAX symphony, Bible study, committee meetings,
etc.- the usual activities all very enjoyable.
The town of Penney Farms business has been
unusually stressful this Fall because of the decisions relating to the
wastewater project and a very controversial development plan presented by a
major landowner in the area. Of unusual
note in our fall activities, was a day trip by Amtrak to Kissimmee, FL. Also of outstanding interest was a tour
through the Jacksonville Naval Air Base nearby.
We have enjoyed good health, though Romayne
injured her arm in a fall while working at Beyer House, one of our assisted
living units. It has healed very well
even if it has taken a long time in doing so.
Now if we can survive the special Christmas celebrations we may make it
to the end of the year.
We wish a blessed celebration of our Lord’s
birth and a wonderful new year to you all.
With love,
Romayne & Bill
The
holidays are fast approaching and our thoughts are with our family members
especially during this season. It seems every time we turn around another
year has come and gone. We are thankful that our family remains bonded
through the updates, newsletters, web sites, etc. Anastasia is going to
celebrate her second birthday next month and we are very excited. She is absolutely
amazing - her teachers at day care call her their "little success
story” the child who starting going and screamed and cried now wants
nothing to do with mommy when she drops her off to see her friends. Her
vocabulary increases at a lightening rate and she is just fun to be
around. Our lives revolve around her and her schedule and we enjoy every
minute of it. We've attached a video that hopefully can be put up on the
web site from Halloween of Anastasia watching herself in the video
camera. Work has been very busy and crazy for all of us and we are
looking forward to the holiday break for some rest and relaxation. We
wish everyone a Happy and Safe Holiday Season and send our love to all!
Judy,
Melissa, Rob & Anastasia
(Foley
& Grodens)
(Video
sent to Kyle to put on website)
Dear Family,
Happy Thanksgiving from Sandy and I to all of
you.
We truly hope that everyone is healthy and
happy and doing well. Hope everyone’s turkey day was filled with over filling
oneself, time spent with family and friends and of course, leftovers. We had a
quiet Thanksgiving with each other, which was fitting considering this years
events and just how thankful we both are for each other, for our families
and the fact we're both still alive and kicking.
Earlier in the year I scared Sandy, not once
but twice in a months time by having to be rushed to the hospital with a 106
temp and 5 days of intensive care. Thankfully she was here to dial 911 and save
my life; enough about me.
Sandy has had a time of it in the past few
months. First she had half of her thyroid removed due to some lumps. Then the
call came that were our worst fears, the evil "C" word, cancer, and
one week to the day from her first surgery she went back into the hospital and
had the rest of her thyroid removed. Following a 6 week period of special diet
and medicine she had to spend 3 days in solitary as she was given radioactive
iodine treatment which was supposed to get rid of any remaining thyroid and
possible cancer that might have been present. She really disliked the isolation
part of this and how she felt like she was a leper; the staff at the hospital
was only allowed one entrance into her room a day because of the amount of
radioactivity. I visited and we looked at each other through a couple of
windows and chatted by my cell phone and her room phone. She had a reaction to
the medicine, which caused her neck to swell and had trouble breathing but the
Dr. was able to give her medicine to help that. This was just last week and
even when she came home she was to keep her distance from me and the cat, use
disposable dishes and utensils. That has all relaxed now.
Today she went for a follow up at the doctors
and was not given a clean bill of health. They found something in her blood
work that caused alarm and until the 3rd of January she has to wait for the
next follow up to today's visit. She said there was an indication that there
may yet be cancer present but we won't know until after the first of the year.
In the mean time she had a bump on her cheek removed and we're awaiting the
news on that. We're all praying and hoping that there is nothing to report on
that or after the first of the year. Oh yea, somewhere in there I managed to
total my car. Last weekend we got a new car for Sandy, as she's managed to keep
her car since 1999 intact, while I've managed to total 2 cars. Why get me a new
car all I do is wreck 'em!
That's the condensed version of what's going
on here in Cali, as you can see we have even more of a reason to be thankful
this year. We hope none of you can come close to or top our adventures. For the
upcoming holidays we wish all of you the best, and smooth sailing in the
upcoming new year.
Our love to all,
R & S
Hi gang!!
Where do I start?? Well...I am still the
midday personality at the Wolf and loving every second of it...well, trying to
... LOL!! Charleston is such an awesome place and I hope more of you will take
the opportunity to come and visit.
I am still the "webmaster" of our
website and it has been amazing. In the short time we have had the site active
we have managed to set the standards in the company overall. We have had 12,000
new and unique visitors to the site, over 400,000 page views, almost 8 million
hits and we have the most active Fan Club base in the company with 3,000 members.
Keep in mind that the company owns about 20 stations now.
I also keep busy with my love for NASCAR.
Once again, I will be broadcasting my show from Daytona before the Daytona 500
next February. I absolutely adore going there and will get to take a tour
behind the scenes this time. For me it is a dream come true. Another thing
we will be doing next season will be going to do the Richard Petty Driving
Experience at Richmond ... maybe even drive this time. I was in seventh heaven
to be able to ride last time. What an awesome, awesome experience.
Another awesome experience is now you can
listen to the Wolf on your computer! This is something we are all extremely
excited about. We are the first station in the building to do this.
Another first for us was to be the VERY first station in Charleston
to broadcast in High Definition Radio. Anyway, I invite you to go to
our website and listen to me (if you want to).
Other than work I have had a few things
happen...the first one is I have a "new" car!! I sent a pic of it to
be posted on this site but in case it hasn't been, please check out the
stations website and my bio page. I now have my "dream car"!! A 2002
black Chevy Monte Carlo SS!! I love this car!! What's really cool besides
having my dream machine is that it is all mine ... well and the banks ... but,
I did not need any signatures on this one!! Yes, this one has a name
..."Taz". I can almost see Uncle Gordon every time when I go to the
car wash!! HA!!
Other than the car ... I had and am having problems
with my back. This began about a month ago and they got worse. Finally I
gave in and went to see a Chiropractor. The treatments she was giving me were
helping but not solving the problem. So, I had an MRI which revealed a
protruding disc. When I say my tail feathers hurt ... I MEAN IT!! I am in the
process of securing treatment and have an update next newsletter. Thanks
to Mom and Dad, Aunt Norma and Autumn for helping me get thru it. It ain’t easy
when you're on your own ... but they helped ... thank you and I love you guys
more than you know.
I meant to mention that Charleston made the
Record books with the Worlds Largest Uno Game!! It was Uno's 35th anniversary
and they came to the 35th state and held the event at our ballpark. We set a
record and will be in the Guinness Book as there was a rep there from Guinness.
I thought of all the times we played Uno at the holidays ... too bad we all
couldn't have been there for that!!
Well ... I've written enough. Autumn, much
thanks for not only doing an awesome job on this newsletter but for being such
a great "sis"!!
Happy Holidays to everyone!! May 2007 be one
of your best years yet!! Come for a visit ... the door is open!
God Bless Ya'al
Syl
Hi Everyone!
As I write "my news" for the Fowler
Family Letter (Nov. 10), I am watching big flakes of snow coming down - sort of
diagonally. It's so pretty! There's something about that first
snowfall that just takes your breath away. Some of the
Northeast IA counties have already seen 10 inches of snow this morning!
Thankfully, I can just enjoy it and not have to be concerned about driving in
this kind of weather or shoveling, etc.
The high point this fall was the wedding of
Stacey and Richard on October 14. (I need to clarify what I said
earlier. On our way out for the wedding, we saw snow -- plenty of it as
we got closer to Flint, but the snow I'm seeing today is the first here in IA). The wedding was
absolutely beautiful and well organized (thanks to Stacey, who is a master of
details and organization!) I am thankful that Cyndi, Katie (who was the
junior bridesmaid), Jarrod and I were able to attend. Andy had band
competition that kept him and his dad at home. At the wedding I also had
the opportunity, to see and visit with people from South Baptist Church
(our last church before moving to Ankeny) and that is always enjoyable.
On October 17, Cyndi and I drove north to
Nevada, IA where the State Ladies Meeting was being held. John and Bev
Leonard, missionaries to Brazil, were the speakers. While in Brazil, John
was shot by one of the natives and was flown back to the States in a special
medical airplane. He is almost completely paralyzed, but plans to
return to the field next year, Lord willing. Another highlight for us
was seeing some old friends from the Horton Baptist Church. This is the
church that Gordon grew up in, and we hadn't seen these ladies for
years. Actually back in August, Steve and I drove up to Horton to
see the church (which had been remodeled), and the old Shipp home (which is
pretty sad), and we also walked through the cemetery and saw too many names
that we knew (if you know what I mean). Also, at this Ladies Meeting,
there was a group of ladies from the Eldora Church (where we used to pastor),
plus many, many other friends of ours that we don't see on a regular
basis. It was a very special day and brought back many wonderful
memories.
Cyndi will fill you in on her family - she
promised to write :) Our family will all be together again over the holidays,
Lord willing, in the Chicago area. This has been a tradition for a number
of years now and hopefully we can continue for many years to come.
Many, many thanks to both Autumn and Kyle for
their work in getting "our news" out for everyone to enjoy.
This letter helps all of stay in touch and to stay "close".
Love to all and Happy Holidays,
Norma
Greetings everyone from Kentucky!
It has been a beautiful fall here. It
has also been a summer and fall of record breaking rain. This has been
great for the foliage - not so great when we're waiting for the backyard to dry
out enough to finish off work that needed to be done. Oh well. We
finally have some grass instead of a mud pit. Yeah!!
Things have been very busy since our last
edition. We did make the trip to Louisiana to visit Bob's uncle this
summer. The weather actually cooperated and was hot but not
unbearable. On the way back, we drove along the gulf coast and saw the
remnants for Katrina. It was unbelievable - especially in Biloxi,
Mississippi.
Steve and Becky were able to come down for a
visit in July. It was great to be able to spend some time with them and
to do some sightseeing around Kentucky.
School started again the first week of
August. As usual, things have been hectic. We have two new special
education teachers at our school this year added to the other two already
there. Since I'm the person in the "special ed department" that
has been there the longest - (amazing!) - my boss made me the
"liaison". In simple terms - the person who is ultimately
responsible for getting all the paperwork done on time and completely.
Lucky me. I've barely been able to keep my paperwork in order let alone
following four other people's work. Record review this year could be rather
painful.
Over fall break we went up to Michigan for
Stacey and Rich's wedding. We went up a couple of days early and were
able to spend some time with the family before the big event. We also
finally got a chance to meet Rich. It was a beautiful wedding. We also got
to spend a little time with Sharon and Paul! Later, Stacey and Rich
stopped by our house overnight on their way to Atlanta. I had to go to
work - but Bob got the chance to show them around a little bit before they had
to leave.
Last weekend we had a bit of a scare.
Bob suffered a mild heart attack. The doctors said that there was no
damage to the heart and no permanent blockage so God really took care of
him. But it was a frightening couple of days.
We’re looking forward to Thanksgiving.
Steve, Becky, Kyle, and Kristin are planning to come down for a few days.
Cooking has never been my strong talent (just ask Cyndi about our attempts to
make a roast!) - so luckily there will be lots of others to help
out! Christmas plans are already in the works for our annual
Chicago get-together. That's always fun.
Hope that all of you have a great Holiday
season. Thanks to Autumn and Kyle for linking us all up again.
Love, Deb and Bob
Hello to everyone,
Another summer passed all too quickly, but it's
been a beautiful fall so far. The biggest happening in our lives since the last
letter was Stacey's wedding. I won't go into all the details, because I am sure
Stacey will do that in her letter, but it was a great day. Stacey had
everything planned down to the final detail, and everything went off without a
hitch. (Well I guess actually there was a hitch, a 'hitching' anyway. It was
good to see many old friends, and we got a little bit of time to catch up with
Sharon and Paul. We were so pleased that they were able to make the trip.
We spent a week in Boston at Kyle and
Kristen's place and then helped them move back to Flint for another 6 months of
Kyle's schooling. We were able to do some sightseeing while we were there.
Boston is such an interesting place of history.
Becky and I are getting used to just the two
of us in the house. I guess it is unofficially called 'empty nest'. Not quite
sure how it can be an 'empty nest' since we have a basement full of everyone's
things, but we have enjoyed getting to know each other all over again.
Next Sunday at church is Celebration Sunday.
We are collecting an offering for many projects that need to be accomplished.
They range from replacing the gym roof, to sending two of our missionaries back
to their fields of ministry. Typically we have taken special offerings
throughout the year for necessary projects, but this is the first year they
have grouped everything together and gone for just one offering. The goal is to
collect $100,000. I am looking forward to see how God will work through this
offering.
We are looking forward to spending
Thanksgiving with Kyle and Kristen and Deb and Bob at their house in
Kentucky. Then we are planning our regular Chicago trip at Christmas time,
which we always enjoy.
Looking forward to reading all the updates.
Thanks again to Autumn for her leadership in this effort. I hope you all have a
blessed Thanksgiving and Christmas season.
Steve and Becky
Hi Everyone!
Not real sure how to start these family
newsletter things so I'll just start with the wedding since I guess that would
be the beginning of this all wouldn’t it?
The wedding turned out really well and we had
a lot of people show up. Stacey did a really wonderful job getting
everything set up. I really had it easy cause she couldn't give me anything to
do with me being in Florida and out on the ship, but it was awesome anyways.
The one thing I do regret is not being able to videotape the guy take the
pop cans off from the back of the car. I thought someone was messing with
us when they said a homeless guy came up and took the pop cans right off
the tailgate of the car to get their 10 cent deposit. I think that would've
been great to see.
After that packing the car for the drive to
Florida was another interesting feat. When we arrived at the hotel in Georgia
and the valet came and opened the trunk you could hear him stuttering a
little in shock when he asked if we wanted all of it in the room. Our time in
Atlanta was fun and we got to do some touristy things like a tour on Segways
(very fun) and the Coke Museum along with the brand new Aquarium there -
definitely a must see if anyone goes by that way.
We got to Florida and unpacked everything
then just had to wait for the marriage licenses so we could finish everything on
the military end. Now Stacey has her military ID card, stickers on the car
to get her onto base, a health care card, and Florida Driver's License.
Our address here at the apartment is 4301
Confederate Point Road, Apartment 156, Jacksonville, FL 32210. We'll
be here until early April when we'll have to pack everything back up again to
head out to Virginia. Just when Stacey gets used to all the traffic and crazy
people here we'll be going someplace worse. Ah well, it'll keep us on our toes
at least.
For Thanksgiving we'll be spending it
with some family and hopefully I'll have recovered a lil bit after my
surgery I have on the 15th for my second hernia. Right after that its
Christmas and we'll be up in Chicago with Stacey's parents and Dad's side of
the family. I'm sure Stacey will be really glad for that, being so far
away from home now. We're planning on spending some time with my family too,
while we're up in Michigan. From Christmas till April there isn't a whole
lot going on, just the day to day excitement of annoying each other.
We're supposed to get our wedding pictures
tomorrow, by CD, so hopefully we can get a picture or two up on the site by the
time you all are reading this.
Rich (& Stacey) Brill
4301 Confederate Point Road
Apartment 156
Jacksonville, FL 32210
Home: (904) 317-8439
Stacey Cell: (810) 423-0456
Kyle and I have had an exciting summer and
fall. We finished our time in New
England at the end of September. It was
a great summer there and we enjoyed the Cape as often as possible. It might be one of the most beautiful places
I’ve ever seen. My parents came to visit
in July. Steve and Becky came for a visit
in time to help us move back to Michigan, which was a huge blessing to us and
probably a bummer of a vacation for them.
So we’re settled back in Flint.
We spent the first few weeks home preparing
for Stacey and Richard’s wedding. It was
a tremendous success – the hotel was beautiful, the bride gorgeous, the food
was delicious, and of course, now they’re happily married! Stacey did an incredible job planning and
decorating for the wedding. She should
really be a wedding planner! The only
unfortunate part of the deal is that now they live in Florida, which is too far
away in my opinion.
Big news for Kyle and I! We had our offer accepted on a house last
week! It’s downtown Flint, about half a
block from Kettering University, where Kyle goes to school. It needs a LOT of love, but it has great
potential! We still have to go through
the inspections and appraisals, but if there aren’t any major problems we are
scheduled to close on Dec. 15. After a
lot of removing, replacing, and painting, we will have our first home!
Kristen and Kyle Shipp
Hello
Everyone!!
Well,
it's a good thing Autumn did her usual extension because if I didn't get this
in I'd never hear the end of it from my mom! Thanks Autumn. :-)
Things
here have been changing by the week it seems. O.k., probably not quite
that fast, but some days it feels like it.
Andy
is in 10th grade at the high school and just finished up his first season of
marching band for the Ankeny Hawks. It was an incredible experience for
all of us. Mom and Dad learned how to shell out money at an amazing rate
of speed and that volunteering to help the marching band each game ended up
feeling like you just played an entire game of football. For Grandma,
Jarrod and Katie it meant going to the games, climbing up in the bleachers and
then trying to get back down (an amazing feat) after the half-time performance.
But, most importantly, for Andy marching band meant early morning practices,
evening practices, commitment, memorization, wet aching feet and
teamwork. Ankeny Marching Band is known statewide for its performances
and the incoming sophomores have to grow up fast. But he would tell you
it was well worth it. He's anxious to do it again next season. If
you want to see pictures and such go to … Toussaint Engineering presents Ankeny Bands
Jarrod
is in the 7th grade and just finished his first play. It was called
'Cactus Pass' and he played Ollie Scroggs. He walked around the stage in
these overalls that looked like they'd come out of a shredder and had to play a
guy who was the local redneck bad guy along with his brother Orville. It
was really cute and the plot took an amazing twist at the end!! So
exciting. He's still our resident scientist (yes, which means
experiments) and social bug. He and his friends from school are constantly
becoming involved in something. He plays percussion in the Parkview band
and also became a part of
the
Parkview Jazz Band this year so you'll find him drumming with imaginary sticks
everywhere he goes.
Katie
is in 5th grade and actually enjoying it this year. Last year, in 4th,
she was trying to talk us into allowing her to quit school and she'd work at
McDonalds and live with us forever. Needless to say, we weren't too fond
of the idea and thankfully 5th grade has dropped that idea out of her
head. She chose not to be a part of band. She didn't like the early
morning band rehearsals (doesn't like mornings just like her mom!!).
Instead she is going to become a part of the choir next year when she's in 6th
and they offer an actual performing choir. She is singing in Ankeny's
Festival of Choirs for which she had to audition for. It was her first
time to audition for anything and she made that choir plus the opportunity to
sing the National Anthem with some other children for Ankeny's Spirit
Night. This Festival is a big deal I guess with nicely printed
invitations, a dessert buffet and sold out crowds. She's looking forward
to it.
Doug
is working two jobs and going to school. He's taking Microbiology, which
is about ready to do him in, but he needs it to pursue his degree in Registered
Nursing. His jobs at UPS and Iowa Health Systems are going
well and we're so thankful that he has two good jobs. Half the time he
doesn't know whether he's coming or going, but I don't think any of us would
know what to do if he had it any different. His schedule did change
somewhat in that now he's home for dinner and for the evenings on most
nights. That was a HUGE adjustment for all of us - we can all give you
our own testimonies on how that initially affected our lives :-). But for
once Dad can go to all the after school activities and conferences. I
tried to tell him that it was time for me to stay home and him to go for the
next 5 years, but he didn't fall for that.
I
am still the resident chief, cook and bottle washer (water bottles now). ***And my family - quit laughing that I
said 'cook'!!!*** I have also become a veterinarian (Sam, our dog has
diabetes and has to have 2 insulin injections every day) and I am now a
full-time employee outside the home. I have quit working for Dr.
Van Oort's as there were just not enough hours for me. Since I was
part-time, whenever he was out of the office I couldn't work. It ended up
that he was out of the office waaaay too much. I thought I had an
opportunity to have a full-time job here in Ankeny, but I kept hitting a brick
wall - God kept closing that door. I was so frustrated because I was just
sure that the job here in Ankeny HAD to be the Lord's will for me.
I
kept trying to push that door back open until one day when my mom got a letter
from the place where she purchased her hearing aid. They had sent a
letter out to all their clients asking if they knew of anyone who would be
interested in a full-time position in their front office. I was hesitant
because its in Des Moines, but I thought I'd send my resume in and see what
happened. I e-mailed it and didn't hear anything for over a week so I
decided I'd e-mail the gentleman I had sent it to and ask about the
process. He wrote right back and said that he'd been having problems with
his computer and didn't get my resume. Would I please send it to him via
snail-mail. I did and within 3 days of me sending it he was on the phone
with me setting up an interview. The rest just flew. Talk about
those doors flying open!! Within 2 weeks tops that I had sent my resume -
I was hired. They had been without a person for the front office since
last March and had been getting by with temps because they couldn't find the
right person. They received over 400 applications, but God was holding it
for me. I am so thankful.
I
now work for Woodard Hearing Aid Center in Des Moines. It's a small
office with 3 audiologists and they also have 12 satellite clinics around
Iowa. My boss, Paul Woodard, is very family-oriented and made sure that
my hours didn't conflict with family. He had me start at 8:30 every day
so that I can get my kids to school in the morning. It's only a 20-minute
drive from Ankeny so I can drop the kids off - get coffee and be on the
road. Doug is home during the day and when they get home from school and
G-ma's on duty on Wednesdays - so it works out wonderfully.
Another
big change for our family is that we switched churches. We left
Saylorville Baptist, after going there for about 25 years, and went over to a
new start here in Ankeny called Community Baptist Church. We started
there on October 1st, which was the first time they met on a
Sunday. (They'd been meeting on Wednesday nights for about 2 months prior
to starting Sundays.) As soon as we walked in the door we knew we'd
found our new church home. So far, we've averaged about 30
people on a Sunday morning. We meet in a school on the Northeast
side of Ankeny. The youth group has 4 teens in it, two of them being my
boys. I thought it would be a struggle for my kids to leave a huge youth
group and all their activities, but Andy was actually the one who sat down
with Doug and said, 'Dad, we all love this church. Just because you've
gone to Saylorville for 25 years doesn't mean that we should stay there.
It's time we moved on and joined Community'. I was shocked! But
Doug sat down that night and sent a letter to Saylorville asking that we be
dropped from the membership. We absolutely LOVE our new family. And
as a new church start, we've had to all do our part going door to door
letting people know of our church. Talk about stepping outside of our
comfort zone. But we were all there to participate and had some
great contacts.
O.k. now you all slap
yourselves and come alive from reading this novel. I'm
sorry that this went on so long, but since I missed the last family letter
- I'm allowed extra space?!? You ccan blame my mom too - she made me do
this. (Love you mom.)
We
have so very much to be thankful for as the Fowler family this season don't
we? Some of us have
had, or are having, health issues and other life-altering situations,
but we have a family that keeps in touch and prays for each
other. Many people do not have that blessing. I hope all of
you have a wonderful Holiday Season and we will keep you all in our thoughts
and prayers.
Love,
The Listers
Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas from
the Ruckmans !!
Now if I can only stay under Cyndi’s length
on her newsletter I’ll be doing great and Cyndi will take over my throne for Queen
of Verbage !! (JUST KIDDING CYNDI … love
you - but just couldn’t resist!!) =)
Well, guys I’m so excited … we had 100%
response on this newsletter and every family is represented. I changed the order of things this time and
put it in family groupings so hope I didn’t confuse you too much. Once it goes on the website you won’t know we
had such a good response since it goes on as additions to your section so
wanted to be sure and thank each and every one of you for taking the time to
update us all!!! This keeps us up on each other and lets us know what we can be
praying for … for each other. =)
As for the Ruckmans, I’ll start with
Fred. He’s still working for MaxJet
Airways, Inc. and is on the road a lot and his days home are so filled with
cramming everything into those few days that need to be handled and him still
having to work from home, that most of the time we don’t even feel like he’s
been home. And he’s traveled all over
the world since our last newsletter as well.
He’s been to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and to Mauritius off the coast of
Madagascar looking at prospective airplanes to purchase for the company. They have 3 airplanes in the air now and 2
more that will be in the air the first of 2007.
The goal I believe is to have 7 in the air by the end of next year. His laptop and Blackberry are his best
friends (ha ha) … actually he hates being on the phone and on the computer and
his job keeps him there all the time. He
just had another PSA, keeping an eye on him for any more cancer, and it was
0.03, which is FANTASTIC. The numbers
just keep going down which means the radiation he went through helped.
Justin is living home with us for now (which
we all love, especially Samantha) and finishing up his college at the
University of North Carolina in Charlotte.
He’s learning the graphic design on his own faster than he can study it
in college, so he switched to Communications and will be graduating with a
degree in that … probably a year or so away.
He has his own website that he updates almost daily, that is sort of a
newsy blog on things that you might not have heard about out there in art,
literature, movies, design, technology, etc. and is just not your typical
blog. He’s writing for the college newspaper
and going to redesign the layout of the paper as well as design a new logo for
the Wind Ensemble (that he’s also a part of).
His toughest class probably is Chinese this semester (can you believe it
… ??? … but he wants to have a grasp of it for the future design work he’ll be
doing because they have such a major influence in the design world). Still can’t believe I have a 22 year old.
Samantha is a senior and is 17 and keeping
track of her is a full time job for me.
She’s been applying for scholarships and we’ve been visiting colleges
and she has her heart set on Western Carolina University which is about 2 ½
hours from home and in the mountains.
She’s going to major in Special Education and possibly double major or
minor at least in Spanish. And she’s
already signed up for the Creative Movement Team at the Baptist Student Union
there on campus and can’t wait to be a part of it. She’s going to try out for one of the choirs
on campus too and right now is working on a number to try out for the musical
they’ll be doing at school in the Spring … Wizard of Oz. Concert Choir and the other choirs that she
has auditioned for and made it into, have kept her hopping, along with singing
in the youth choir at church and singing duets and solos in that. She has a beautiful soprano voice and is even
singing second soprano with me in the adult choir for the Christmas
Cantata. I sing the men’s tenor though …
two babies has lowered this voice of mine.
Samantha was in a 5 car pileup a few months ago that wasn’t her
fault. She was the 4th car
and took the brunt of the impact and thank goodness her seatbelt held her
fine. The truck behind her didn’t stop
and hit her at about 40 miles an hour and shoved her into the car in front of
her. It totaled the van (which was
Dad’s) and that was the hardest thing for her … she just started weeping when
she saw them haul it away and said, “that’s the last part of Grandpa we had and
it’s gone …”, bless her heart, we assured her though that Grandpa would just be
glad she was alive and okay. She was
pretty sore for about a week and we took her to the doctor and had her checked
out just to be sure. And things are
settled now and we are now driving a 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe and it’s really
nice.
The biggest thrill for me since our last
newsletter was a trip to England and Scotland around our 28th
anniversary the beginning of June. We
were planning on going for a week, but Fred’s company offered to fly me over a
week early while Fred was working and paid for putting me up in a VERY nice
hotel with Fred so I just couldn’t pass it up.
We loved England but Scotland was my favorite. The weather was beautiful and the countryside
was breath taking and I’ve never seen so many sheep in all my life and so many
castles !!! I’d go back there in a
heartbeat for its peacefulness and the friendly people and the beautiful
scenery. The hardest part of this year
for me was coming to terms with this ole
body of mine and facing the problems I have in my back and shoulder. After many tests and an MRI and possibly
another MRI in my future on my shoulder, they found a lot of problems. I have several discs that are slipped
forward, they call it degenerative scoliosis.
Those discs are putting pressure on the nerve bundles and although most
of my problem is on my left side, I have problems on the right side as
well. But they’re focusing on the left
side. So we’re trying one more nerve
block shot, tomorrow morning (Nov. 29th) and depending on how that
does, I go from there. More than likely
it’s going to involve surgery and there’s two types of surgery that I’ll have
to decide on. Then I have a bone spur in
my left shoulder that overhangs the rotator cup and keeps catching on it. I knew something was really wrong because the
kind of pain I’ve had just doesn’t come out of nowhere. I also have bursitis in that shoulder so they
gave me a cortisone shot and we’re trying to get that cleared up. If it doesn’t clear up then they are going to
go in and shave off the bone spur, but only after they do an MRI and make sure
I don’t have a tear. If there is a tear,
then it’s a whole different procedure and surgery. It’s been hard to maintain my busy schedule
holding down the fort while Fred is gone, and all my responsibilities at church
and has meant pushing through the pain in a lot of cases, so although I’m
petrified of surgery … at least we are getting to the bottom of the problem and
hopefully getting it fixed.
That wraps up the Ruckmans and we all hope
that you have a WONDERFUL Christmas and holiday season. We do have so much to be thankful for and
it’s just so good to be in touch like this and know how to pray for each
other. Talk to you all again in the
Spring … now it’s all up to you Kyle … work your magic !!! =)
Love you all,
Fred, Autumn, Justin and Samantha