SPRING/SUMMER 2006 FOWLER
FAMILY NEWSLETTER
Hello to Everyone from Kentucky,
Well, we wrapped up another school
year. The kids were finished by May 18th, but the teachers had the joy of
attending a week and a half of training sessions before we were finished.
Too bad the training didn't have anything to do with what I teach, but then
what else is new???
I just returned from a visit with Mom
and the Lister clan out in Iowa. It was fun getting caught up with
them and we had a great time. The kids are growing up too fast.
We leave tomorrow for a trip to
Louisiana. We'll be visiting with Bob's family in Shreveport and then
down in LaFayette. I've been hoping that
Louisiana will experience an unusual cold snap in their weather pattern while
we're there, . . . hey, miracles CAN happen. Right?
So, the first part of this summer is a
busy one. School starts again the 3rd of August - time is going
quickly.
Hope everyone has a great summer and
we're looking forward to hearing from you all. Thanks to Kyle and Autumn for doing the publishing again.
Love, Deb and Bob
******
CARPENTER UPDATE
Once again, it is time to catch you up
on the happenings in our house. It is summer, college is done, summer
school is done, the boys are done with school, but we still seem to keep quite
busy. We enjoyed the holidays here at home, except for a brief get away
to Chicago. We stayed in a hotel with Mom and Dad and Lynda and Phil
stopped by on their way home from Iowa. We just had to see Danielle.
This winter the guys enjoyed the snowmobile as much as they could, I even went
on a few rides and drove it a couple times myself. Joshua was very sad
for the snow to melt until he remembered his bike and now swimming. Now
they are working on an old wooden sailboat someone gave us. They hope to
get it in the water yet this summer. In March I had another surgery, this
time here in Green Bay. The surgery out in D.C. was not as successful as
they had hoped and I was still in a lot of pain. This time they put a
shunt in my spine to drain extra spinal pressure. It did work and I am
finally feeling better and returning to normal life. Also in March, we
became an Aunt and Uncle on Van's side of the family for the first time. Van's
middle sister had her first baby. We have thoroughly enjoyed having them
still here on campus, but they will be moving on to a ministry later this
summer.
By the time you read this Van and I
will be in China, I leave the 4th of July with part of our students and Van
leaves with the rest of them the 5th of July. We are flying out on
different days because the doctor would not allow me to travel when the tickets
were bought for Van and most of the team. We will be in a city
called Chengdu teaching English in the Schools and
Universities there. We are very excited for this opportunity, and are
busy getting ready. We have 47 students from Northland going, so Van and
I will be overseeing also. I will return to the states the 24th, while
Van will stay on another week and half and finish teaching. The boys are
even more excited for us to leave; they are spending all this time at Grandpa
and Grandma's! I am coming back earlier because I think Grandpa and
Grandma can only take so much of their "wonderful" grandsons.
Have a wonderful summer, as always, we
look forward to hearing from everyone.
Loretta
******
Greetings from Valley City (or
Liverpool Township, depending on who you talk to), Ohio on a nice spring
day. Our winter was rather mild this year and it seemed like Spring came early. Oh well, enjoy it while we can.
We spent Christmas day traveling to
Joliet, Illinois, where we met up with the Carpenters and the Skinners joined
us the next day as they were traveling back from Iowa. So that many of us
were together for a little while. Then for New Year's weekend, we
traveled to Iowa to visit the Darrahs.
That way we got to see all of our grandchildren. They just grow up too
fast!
In January, we took a Saturday and went
up to Michigan so that Phil and I (Sharon) could celebrate our birthdays.
On Sunday, March 12th, we traveled up there again as Danielle was being
dedicated. Phil's parents were also able to be there. Then at the
end of April it was up to Michigan again so that I could join Lynda and her
daughters for their Mother-Daughter celebration at their church. We can
do things like this when they live close enough.
Memorial Day weekend we took a trip to
the western side of Wisconsin for Paul's 45th high school class reunion.
Paul had never been back, so it was fun to see if they recognized each other
after so many years. We also spent some time with Ellen, Paul's widowed
sister-in-law, while we were in the area. It was a good trip and we were
glad that we could go.
Paul has done some pulpit supply a few
Sundays this Spring and has some lined up for
July. At work, I am now doing double duty since mid-December, being
Administrative Assistant not only for the Latin America Department, but also
for the Africa-Europe Department. This latter part is only temporary as
they are searching for replacements.
I think that brings everyone up to date
from our household. We look forward to hearing from all of you and hope
you all have a good summer. Thanks, Autumn and
Kyle, for doing this again for us.
Love, Paul and Sharon
******
Greetings from MS,
I traveled from Iraq to Kuwait on
Thursday, June 8 on a C-130. Then I had to wait in Kuwait until
Sunday June 11 to start my travels to the states. We had stops in
Ireland and Maine for fuel, catering and change of staff before heading to
MS. I am presently waiting to out process and hoping to be in
PA Sunday June 18. There is a total about 2000 soldiers on base
and the out processing center can only do 300 soldiers at a time.
I enjoyed my time in Iraq because I got the privilege to travel to
other bases. The rest of my unit was providing security for the air base
on towers or entrance points. Also our unit had patrols outside the
wire, we did convoys to nearby towns, and controlled the ranges to practice our
skills. The base was run by Marines, and we replaced and got
replaced by Marines. I got the chance to work with other army units,
Marines, Navy and a few Air Force people. At times it seemed
like everybody wanted Catholic coverage at the same time, so it was a
power struggle between the Navy. We
saw more Marines in our travels than any other branch and since
Marines do not have doctors or chaplains, the Navy helps them out.
Timothy P Johnson
******
Happy Summer
from the Foley/Groden Households!
Summer has already started off with a
bang! Anastasia is 18 months old and keep us all very busy. She
recently started day care on a part-time basis to help her get socialized with
other kids her age. It has been a trying, emotional time for mom and dad
and a little hard for Anastasia but we have been getting good reports.
She has a friend who she has bonded with and after the weekend they greet each
other like it is a reunion. We are all excited to see what she learns and
all the new things she will be experiencing.
Work is busy for everyone. Judy's
company has gone through some restructuring and is planning to move locations
in 2007 so the planning has already started. She spends a lot of time
with Anastasia much to the delight and rest of Melissa and Rob. Rob has been
very busy with orientating new members into his band and working several
acoustic shows during the week. We're lucky if he's home two nights in a
row, but being in demand does have its benefits as well! Melissa is also
busy with work - there never seems to be a lack of children who need services.
We are all doing very well and look
forward to hearing how everyone else is doing. We'd also like to take
this time to send our love to everyone and our wishes for a healthy and safe
summer!
The Grodens (Melissa,
Rob, & Anastasia) & Judy Foley
******
I've found the website is really useful
to find out what you were up to the last time the newsletter came out. It
appears that I was in school and Kristen was working at Best Buy. Well, after
that I went to school for another three months and Kristen stopped working at
Best Buy. They really liked her and she thought it was an okay job but she
needed two weeks off at Christmas for all of our travels and they weren't too
excited about that. It worked out good though as she was able to find another
job as a nanny for a baby and a five year old. She really enjoyed the baby but
the five year old was kind of a struggle. Thankfully, she only had to deal with
him a few hours per week after school. It was also nice because they were only
looking for someone for a short time and it was about the time I had left at
school for this rotation.
I also started skiing this winter with
Kristen's family and really enjoyed it. I bought skis soon after my first time
skiing, which proved to be a good lesson in asking your wife before you make
big purchases. I thought I would be nice and get her some at the same time,
which proved to be a good lesson in having your wife help pick out big
purchases that are for her. So we are learning a lot but we also went skiing a
couple times before the snow melted and had fun.
Right now we are living out in Ashland,
Massachusetts and maintaining our ratio of jobs. Actually, the engineer in me
is reminding me that 0:1 probably isn't a ratio but 1:2 is. Kristen is working
at an inn/conference center at the front desk and also as a substitute
teacher at a daycare. She really likes the daycare but the commute is kind of
tough. It only 18 miles away but in usually takes her about an hour. In contrast,
the inn is about a mile down the road our apartment is on which has very little
traffic. She enjoys both jobs though and gets good hours between the two.
I am back working at Bose until the end
of September and it is going well as usual. I am working in the same group I
did last summer making prototype speakers so I was able to get rolling a lot
more quickly this summer. I think my boss picked up on that as I have many
projects going on but it's exciting and keeps me busy. He keeps signing the purchase
req's when I ask for money for projects so I can't
complain. Actually, next week I will be traveling to our two plants in Mexico
for a project I'm working on so that will be good. I haven't seen the Mexico
plants yet so it will be a good experience. And just to clarify, I still think
it would be a good experience even if I wasn't staying in a hotel right on the
Pacific Beach in San Diego for half the week. Just had to throw that in for my
wife who is a little jealous of what she calls my "work" trip.
I think that is all the news from out
here. We are having fun and seem to be adjusting well to married life. Looking
forward to hearing from all of you.
Kyle and Kristen
******
Greetings
to each of you from Ankeny, IA!
Since
the last Newsletter, I am now completely retired from working at the church,
and as I did mention before, I am no longer teaching the ladies S.S. class, but
still attend. I haven't actually
slowed down that much however, but am enjoying life on a more relaxed schedule
and manage to keep busy with various projects and obligations.
Health
wise, I am feeling much better than when I last wrote, because of diet,
medication, less stress, and consuming a lot of water! I carry it with me wherever I go -
almost. The hearing in my left ear
has decreased as a result of the Menniere's, and the
ear is very "noisy" all the time - which takes some getting used
to. It's hard to ignore, however,
and can be very frustrating.
I
get together often with my friends (who are also widows) for dinner or concerts
at the college, or just to talk and/or celebrate birthdays Š or anything. We'll use any excuse to get
together. All of us used to work at
the college so have that connection as well.
Speaking
of the college, in May I attended the Board of Directors dinner at the college
and seminary and as always, it was so good to catch up once again with these
men of God. It was like
"old-home" week - if you know what I mean. Right now the Board is actively
searching for the man that God would put in place as the next president.
I
also attended an Award Ceremony at Andy's school where he received the
President's Award for being in the top percentile of his class. He has been one busy young man with
maintaining this high academic score, and with his extra-curricular activities
of band, baseball, speech (where he also received a couple first-place
ratings), and of course activities with the youth group at church. Jarrod and Katie also did well in this
past school year, and Jarrod, I know, is eager for school to start again.
Deb
flew out to spend about a week with Cyndi and I. We kept pretty busy while she was here,
plus she helped me with a few things here at the house. Steve and Becky are coming out in
August, and Stacey is possibly coming out in September. Also, Romayne
and Bill will be in the area for about a month, and I know we'll be spending
some time together as well. I am so
thankful for these visits. Plus, I
am looking forward to going to MI in Oct., to be there for Stacey's
wedding.
A
very BIG THANK YOU to Autumn and Kyle for their work
on this letter. Without them, we wouldn't be able to stay in touch, but they
make this possible. I am looking
forward to hearing from each of you.
Love,
Norma
******
Howdy y'all~ (I'm practicing .... read on)
Lots has
changed since the last letter. I moved out of my apartment and back home early
December (my roommate got married a week later). I had an
É letÕs say unfortunate É experience with my former boss in January and I quit
my job. I am currently working at a daycare less than a mile from the
house. I generally work in a room of fourteen 12-24 month olds. I love
that. More and more, I've been having to work in other rooms due to low
attendance in our room and I don't so much like that. But as everyone
keeps reminding me, such is life. I plan on working there through the
beginning of September, and spending that month before my wedding traveling É
visiting Gma Shipp, the Listers,
my best friend and a cousin on my mom's side in Iowa as well as a cousin in
Atlanta and Rick in Florida that month and being back by October 1 to have a
couple weeks to finish up stuff before the big day.
Rick returned from the Arabian Gulf on
March 11 and I was able to spend two weeks (and my birthday) with him in Florida.
In April, his sister got married here in Michigan and he was able to take leave
to come up and participate and spend his birthday here with me. A
majority of both of these trips was consumed with many, many, many wedding
tasks but I was able to take a long weekend just last week and visit him for a
"fun only, no wedding stuff" trip. We explored Cumberland
Island, Georgia, the (amazing) Jacksonville Zoo, the mall, a couple movies, the
beach and the pool. It was very good to spend "non wedding planning"
time together.
Because the Navy changed their leave
policy we are now not able to take a honeymoon right after the wedding
(supposedly its coming in Spring or early Summer 2007 but I've learned not to
hold my breath when the Navy's involved). We are going to take 3 days and drive
my car from MI to Jacksonville, FL and then we will be there approximately two
months before we are reassigned. We have gone through MANY "probably"s of where we will land, but the latest is
Texas, most likely Corpus Christi. The earliest possible that we would
know if he's been accepted, (and we will be moving to) Texas would be the
middle of July. We are planning on waiting until we move in
December/January to move my furniture, belongings, and wedding gifts from MI to
the new place, rather than moving it all twice in two months. Just pray
that all the transitions go smoothly and we know soon positively where we will
be moving. There have been what seems like thousands of "probably"s, "supposedly"s,
"most likely"s, "unless something
unbelievable happens" that have all changed or not happened and I'm slowly
learning not to count on anything with the Navy until it actually happens...a
very hard thing for me.
Wedding plans are up and running ...
amuck. We have lost two groomsmen to deployment, lost a bridesmaid, had a
family of two flower girls and a ring bearer move to North Carolina, the hotel
where the ceremony and reception will take place be sold, two photographers
back out, and had many, many "issues" with the paper and formatting
of the invitations and programs É yeah, the list goes on and on ... so this
"fun, no wedding" weekend was great. All in all though, it is
coming together and is going to be fantastic because no matter what we will be
married by the end of the day!
Back to peeling barcode stickers off
all 850 pieces of paper that I special ordered É if anyone has a desire to
memorize my address, I have about 500 places you could practice writing it :-)
Stacey Shipp (& Rick Brill)
******
Thinking back over the last few months
since the last newsletter, and realizing it has been pretty uneventful. Which
is not necessarily a bad thing.
Jobs have not changed in the last six
months, which is really a good thing. With all the changes my company went
thru, and continues to go thru, just having a job is good. So many co-workers
have 'left to pursue other career opportunities', but God has been good in
allowing me to truly enjoy my job. I can't say that I have done that the last
few years, but this current position is just perfect. I am on the road
constantly, traveling between nine different locations, but home every night. I
do not have any of the employee or customer situations to deal with, and that
is a true blessing.
Used the winter time to tear out a wall
in the house and build a small 'mudroom'. I saw the idea in a magazine and it
gave me a project to do. (All right, for those that know, it took longer than
just the winter, but I consider it a winter project) (OK, so it still isn't
done on the other side, but another winter is coming)
Just today, they installed our new
pool. It actually just replaced a nine year old one that rusted out before it
should have, but the company we originally purchased it from, was very fair and
gave us a great deal on this one. Now I have a summer project of making it fit
the existing deck, etc,
Stacey is living back home til she gets married, Kyle and Kristen are living in Boston
for the summer, but they will all fill you in with their letters.
That's about it from Flint.
Steve and Becky
******
As
the weather warmed up so do the urges to get outside. Hannah loves the parks and would love to
be there every day if possible. It
is nice at work that they have a yard to go out and play in,
they also have two swing sets to use.
We have a state park just up the road from us that is nice to go walking
in.
With
Hannah changing almost daily in what she can understand from us and how she can
carry on a conversation with us, we see that she is growing up quickly. She will be three at the end
of this month, which will mean that she will be in a new Sunday School class at Church.
We have met the teacher; Hannah is not too impressed and will be
visiting it to get use to the atmosphere.
She will also be in her first VBS this year. Our church runs them for 7
weeks on Wednesday nights so that the teens can do the majority of the
work. She has likes to teach
Danielle new things that she knows, like songs and stories. Her favorite is anything we can play in
the car. There are times nothing
plays, but the girls. They seem to enjoy each other as they ride. She is fulfilling her big sister role.
Danielle
is eight months old this month, where the time went, we are not sure. Danielle has finally learned to roll
over; her sister was helping her get the toys. With that, she will be crawling and
making nothing safe soon. She has
broken in her two teeth on the bottom which opens up eating for her. Danielle tells us when she has had
enough and when she wants to be picked up and entertained. We think that she will take care of her
own with Hannah when she gets a little bit bigger.
Phil
is starting to work on our property.
We all made it out there to see that the grass needs to be cut with all
the rain we were getting. The help is
on it way for that. Along
with his full-time job, plus overtime some weeks, he is still a deacon, and
involved musically in our church.
He will be teaching a couple of times this summer.
I am
still employed by the same couple.
Their jobs are still intact so that leaves me with a job. In April, I had eye surgery that got me
off work for a week. I could have
had numerous side affects, but the red eyes was all I
experienced. I think due to some
serious praying of many. Once
the girls got use to them, it was not a problem. We felt the surgery was
successful, with me doing some exercises to strengthen the muscles. I will go back in three months to get my
eyes measured again. I am just
amazed the results I did get and what they can do. I am trying to get my classes finished
up for my bachelor's degree by taking CLEP tests. They are cheaper than taking a class
plus less work. The down side of it
is I have to do all the studying on my own during the day. I am excited to get this done and get my
degree in my hand.
That
fills you in on our lives. I hope
that everyone is able to enjoy their summer. Thank you Autumn
and Kyle for keeping us all in touch.
Lynda
******
Dear Family,
We look forward to reading all of the
events that have taken place in your lives since our last newsletter. Our
schedule seems to be as busy as ever with choir, menÕs and women's choruses,
bell choir, and a new group called "Penney Men" that has just
developed in the past few months. As some of you may remember, I was involved
as chair of the music committee in hiring a new minister of music.
Finally this past February one of our new residents consented to be that
person. He has been a wonderful addition. In addition to the groups
mentioned above he has recruited 12 of us - mostly couples - to be in an
ensemble. We have sung at several meetings and we will be singing in
church on June 11th.
We enjoyed a short visit from Syl in February. She had been sent by the station to
cover the Daytona "500". She'll no doubt mention this in her
article so won't elaborate further. But we were happy that she could
finally see where we lived, etc.
In March, we went with a group of 30
from here, on a bus trip to Washington, DC. We saw a great deal in our
short time there and also on the way home saw the famous Aquarium in Baltimore
Inner Harbor - a fabulous place.
We have done quite a bit of typing this
Spring. I've done the usual "Writer's
Booklet" which includes stories and poems by some of our people
here. But also this year the same group has compiled a cookbook and I was
involved in typing up some recipes for that. Bill, as chairman of the
Commemorative committee, puts together the programs
which means gathering the program information and also background
material on the people being honored. He also is producing every month
the birthday invitations for the first Wednesday of the month. That plus
his work with the Town Council keeps him busy.
Things are slowing down here some and
we are looking forward to making our usual trip to Iowa by way of Charlotte,
NC, Charleston, VA and Horsham, PA. It's been two years since we've been
in Iowa so we are anxious to see how our trailer has fared in that time.
We of course will enjoy seeing Norma and the family there as well as our friends
in the church we attended when we lived there.
I think that covers things from
here. Once again we thank Autumn and Kyle for
the great job they do in producing this for all of us to enjoy.
Love, Romayne
& Bill
******
Dear Family,
Hope all of you are doing well. Here on
the west coast, besides being warm, things have been a little unusual for us.
Where to start, Mother's Day weekend, I'm feeling sick, like having the flu but
100 times over, went to the doctor, went home, and when Sandy got home from work
I was in such a condition it scared her, and I am sorry for that. I could hear
Sandy asking me questions but was unable to answer. She called 911 and it was
good she did, I was boiling my brain with a temp of 106.Got put in Critical
Care for 4 days and released from the hospital the following day. What brought
on this ordeal was an infection in my leg that had come back with a vengeance!
It's called cellulitus and it is just short of a staph infection. Heavy duty antibiotics daily and all is well ... or so we think.
A week ago I'm feeling once again like
I have the flu but 100 times worse. Sandy comes home from work and I send her
to get a thermometer, by the time she returns my temp is actually low, but
increases quickly. No ambulance this time, we drove to the hospital and they
sort of had me waiting like many before me until they realized I was about to
explode from fever and was totally incoherent and acting weird, so I am told.
This time I had a spinal tap done, yeeoooouuuch, do
not recommend, a cat scan all while in the emergency room. Was transferred to
ICU hard core this time was there for 4 full days and 1 day in the regular
hospital. This infection doesn't seem to want to leave me,
I can't see why I really don't treat it to nicely. So were out of the hospital
and off for another week taking antibiotics and crossing our fingers it's gone.
It all came about as a complication of my diabetes, my weight, my smoking,
among other things. Presently, my diet and weight loss have made the doctors
take me off daily meds for diabetes, I've quit smoking, and thanks to my lovely
and caring wife now eat much healthier, hence the weight loss and exercise more
often than in the past, having a treadmill helps, living 6 blocks from the
ocean we're talking about walking at the beach soon.
Enough about me, Sandy is the one who
has had the worst of it. Not only has she had to try and talk with me when I'm
completely unable to communicate, she's had to go through my being hospitalized
twice so close together, do her job and then fit traffic to come and visit me.
She is a strong lady and a force to be reckoned with. She has done a wonderful
job caring for me and keeping everyone informed I'd be lost without her. I don't know anybody who could have done
all this; I truly am blessed.
Our love to all of you, I'm glad I am
around to write you all as there have been two recent occasions where I almost
checked out, it's not time for me yet!
Love to all
R & S (Randy and Sandy)
******
Greetings from WV!
Not much time to tell ya'all what has been happening É check out the website and
you can see what I have been up to. Otherwise, ya wanna know ... come to the source ... me!! LOL Syl
******
A big hug from North Carolina to
everyone,
Where do I start, because this year has
been a year of firsts for us, with many changes and because IÕm known to be
long winded, IÕll do my best to keep this as brief as I can; thereÕs just a lot
to tell you about.
First off, Fred still works for MAXjet Airways and although it started out as a international airline only, itÕs now branching out into
charter work within the United States, their first charters from Stansted, England to Orlando, Florida. TheyÕve just added airplane #3 and
believe that #4 and #5 are in the works and you can be sure that Fred will have
a good look at all of them before they become part of the fleet because thatÕs
his number one job. Right now the
primary goal is to get the modifications done to #3, and any repairs completed
so it can be added to the flight schedule.
Fred travels a good deal, so that means that Samantha and I are on our
own a lot but we manage to tear up the roads while he is gone and stay very
busy.
Justin just finished up the first session
of summer school at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, and
as soon as his lease runs out (middle of July), heÕll be making his way back to
Charlotte. HeÕs picking up the
graphic design work faster on his own than he can learn it in school and
because all the Ņforecasted schedulesÓ to get his degree in graphic design will
take him another 3 or 4 years, and because heÕs ready for a break from ŅschoolÓ
in general and ready to put more of his talent into practice, heÕs decided to complete
his education with a CommunicationÕs Degree here in Charlotte at the University
of North Carolina. HeÕs going to
find an apartment in Charlotte with hopefully a roommate or two to cut costs
and to be close to the school and to his job that he already has lined up. HeÕll be doing graphic design work
part-time for a company, basically working as many hours as he wants and heÕll
continue to do websites on the side for different individuals. HeÕs already completed several websites
for political candidates and is working on another one as I write this. He has his own website which is a
collection of newsworthy events or things that you wouldnÕt normally know about
(heÕs all about making people think and broadening their scope of knowledge)
and that keeps him pretty busy as well.
His website stands out in the crowd of websites, and earned a place as
part of the 9Rules forum so weÕre pretty proud of his accomplishments.
Samantha is just growing up too fast,
she just finished her junior year in high school and YES, I have a senior on my
hands. DoesnÕt seem possible that
just yesterday, she was running around on her tippy
toes, busy doing whatever her little mind conjured up. IÕm enclosing one of her prom pictures
from this year so you can see how she has grown up. For many of you, you havenÕt ever seen
her, and for others, you will be amazed at what a young lady she has
become. The picture includes Justin
as well; canÕt have a prom without your big brother showing up to take pictures
and be part of the festivities. ***smiling***
Samantha and her best friend, Lacey,
headed up the music program for Vacation Bible School this year again and it
was a complete success. They even
had the children perform the VBS theme song (with motions that Samantha and Lacey
made up) for the Sunday morning church service as the childrenÕs time
focus. SheÕll be going on a mission
outreach trip with the youth at church the end of July, called M-Fuge and theyÕll be reaching out to the communities in
Charleston, South Carolina at probably one of the hottest times of year for
Charleston. And she is busy reading
the required 3 books that she has to complete for her summer reading portion of
her AP English class this fall.
SheÕll be taking 3 AP classes this next year in an effort to hopefully
get college credit for some or all of these classes eliminating some from her
college curriculum.
She also is part of the Concert Choir
at her high school and they were selected out of over 350 high school choirs
from across the United States to participate in a National Choir in New York
City at Carnegie Hall this Spring. This was a fabulous honor and you can
bet that Fred and I made a weekend trip to New York to hear them perform. It was a 422 voice choir made up of
several high schools and it was such an experience to hear them fill Carnegie
Hall with harmony !!! TheyÕll be going to Orlando, Florida
this next year to compete with other high schools.
As for me, itÕs been quite a different
year getting used to Dad not being here and being such a major part of my
life. Hard for me to believe that
heÕs been gone a year now and I still miss him and our times together. IÕve dived into even more work at church
and get such joy at seeing things come together. IÕm presently hard at work on a church
cookbook committee, where we have close to 700 recipes for and IÕm one of the
few typists in charge of getting it ready to go to the printers. LOVE this kind of work. Along with that IÕm the secretary for
the Personnel Committee and we are searching for a part time pianist and in the
process of compiling a Policies and Procedures Manual for the job descriptions
and operations of the church. This
is an overwhelming task but yet again, IÕm in heaven just being a part of
it. And IÕm also on a WomenÕs
Missionary Union nominating committee to help motivate and secure people
(mostly women) to fill the spots that we have open for the coming church year
working with our children on Wednesday nights. IÕm still in the choir and doing hand
bells and help teach the Children in Action on Wednesday nights, so you can see, I donÕt have much time to sit still. I enjoy being in the background on
committees and sorta part of the unseen folks that
pray and watch the Lord work.
My biggest news is that I had the opportunity,
thanks to MAXjet Airways footing most of the bill, to
go with Fred to Stansted, England the end of May,
while Fred worked for a week and then we had some vacation planned to celebrate
our 28th anniversary and we traveled to Scotland, York and London. I could go on forever about the sights
and sounds I saw and heard and I have to say that Scotland, with itÕs beautiful
luscious green fields, that are untouched by growth and development, were my
favorite sights. There were sheep
everywhere and beautiful landscaped yards and countryside. Fred took over 700 digital pictures
while we were there and IÕm working on an email to send out with just a few
pictures attached and a description of what we were able to see. MAXjet wanted
Fred and I to be together for our anniversary and since they needed Fred to do
some work in Stansted, they paid for me to travel
there with him and all my expenses for a week while there. They also paid for the first and last
day of our vacation. Have I told
you how wonderful this company is to work for? =)
So thatÕs the latest for the Ruckmans.
Thanks so much for getting in your updates and making this newsletter
something we all look forward to reading.
WeÕre only missing a couple updates and hopefully when it comes time to
do the fall/winter newsletter, weÕll hear from them and catch up on their lives
as well. YOU make this newsletter
what it is !!!!
=) Kyle and I are just part
of the process.
Love you all and have a great summer !!
Fred,
Autumn, Justin and Samantha