CHRISTMAS 2016

MERRY CHRISTMAS  and  HAPPY 2017!

Someone asked us what we did this past summer - nothing?  I was surprised that I couldn’t think of anywhere that we traveled.  Then I realized I should be more concerned that I couldn’t remember!  Maybe! 

Anyway, as usual, we visited family on the way home from the South - the Ellefson families in GA, and Sandra and her family in DE.  Carrie was with us and loved that Diego ran over from the back yard to give her the first hug!  In October the Padilla family, including Sandra’s parents, were able to fly to Denver for a medical conference and visit with Terrie and Nathan.  This was the first time Terrie had seen them since the wedding in Venezuela in 2003. 

Our summer was busy with hosting at the Albion Academy Museum, inventory projects there and a couple of fund-raisers.  Gary went to more Honor Guard funerals this year than Shriner mini-cars parades.  We also joined our Campers’ Club at least once a month.  For my May birthday we went to Horicon Marsh birding - 70 species ID’d this spring!

Harry Potter came to Edgerton in October.  We stayed for the 3-day festival to help staff the Book Store, the Edgerton Alumni Foundation headquarters.  On Saturday Carrie and I, using her wheel chair, strolled around town to all the venues available to festival-goers.  Beautiful fall weather for the whole weekend and lots of families in town.  There were even several Quidditch tournaments - no broomstick flying, though.

On our way South the last week of  October we took Carrie with us to Denver to visit with Terrie and Nathan.  A highlight of the visit was to spend the Saturday night before Halloween at the Wolf Center in Divide, CO to see them get their pumpkins of meat, and listen to them howl at dusk in response to our human “howls.”  We put Carrie on a plane to fly to Milwaukee on Halloween Day.  THANK YOU, Sylvia, for collecting her at the airport and getting her home!  (Her wheel chair arrived on a later flight :( but is missing one foot rest after its stay at DIA!)

We drove on to KS to visit the National Orphan Train Complex at Concordia.  250,000 children were removed from the streets and orphanages of New York City and placed in new homes across the US from 1854 to 1929 - a massive emigration!  And, surprise, there is a German POW camp from WW II there also with a few buildings still standing.  Every state had at least one camp and many, like KS, had several!  Where were the camps in WI?

Family visit with Cliff and Dorothy Brown in AR before moving on to our winter campground in AL.  Not so many snow-birds returning this year, and the campground is almost full with permanent RVs and working singles or couples who don’t come up to the clubhouse.  They will be harder to get to know, but we’ll see how many join us for Thanksgiving dinner (about 30!).

God bless you all during this holiday season.  May His Spirit fill you with love, peace and patience.  Enjoy your families and friends and the time you can spend with each other.

Love, Gary and Nancy