Christmas Letter - 2019

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Christmas, 2019



Dear Family and Friends,

Our tree is up, cookie baking has started and it is time to reflect on this year and share our happenings with you.

We celebrated 40 years of marriage on May 12. We took the whole family to dinner and then at the end of June we took them all to Hawaii for a week. Our kids arranged for a photoshoot while we were there (hence the Hawaii pictures on our card) and we all had a great time seeing the sights, enjoying the sun, sand and surf. Dolphin watching and snorkeling was a highlight.

We did a fair amount of traveling this year - 28,000 miles or so. Besides Hawaii, we took a trip to Greece with our church friends following in the footsteps of the apostle Paul. Amazing to think we walked in the same places in Corinth, Ephesus and Athens. The trip ended with a four day cruise on the Aegean Sea. We drove to Cape Cod with John, Sasha and Xochitl and spent a week there. We started the year with a trip to West Virginia and in April took a short trip to St. Louis. In November we traveled to New Braunfels, TX, driving through Oklahoma City where we spent the first year and a half of our marriage. It was the first time we had been back — so we drove past our apartment complex, the church we belonged to and the State Capital checking to see if the oil wells were still there. 

Kristin and Scott got engaged in March and are planning an October 2020 wedding. We are happy for them and have spent time looking at wedding venues and going dress shopping. Xochitl turned one at the end of May and John and Sasha threw a big party to celebrate with lots of family and friends there. We enjoy spending time with both of our kids and count it fortunate that they both live in Chicago, relatively close by. We all attended nephew Jake’s wedding in Port Byron, IL in September.  We enjoyed Thanksgiving week with Gail’s mom here and dinner with Sasha’s extended family - about 30 people all together. 

After 20 years of working in the library at Beye School, Gail decided it was a good time to finish working there. It was a great job, and all good things come to an end — though she still volunteers in the library and subs for the librarian every once in a while. Paul continues his work at Mayer Brown - next July he will have been there for 35 years.

Our Good Shepherd congregation is still worshiping at First Baptist in Oak Park after a fire in September 2018. Rebuilding has finally begun and we look forward to returning. Gail still chairs the GS Connects committee — which focuses on fellowship and caring for each other. She still sings in the choir and teaches Sunday school as well. Paul continues working on genealogy and putting together family histories.

It will be a quiet Christmas this year. John, Sasha and Xochitl are going to Florida with Sasha’s family, so it will be us, Kristin and Scott to celebrate the day. Quiet can be good and we are glad to be at home and enjoying life together!


Christmas Blessings!


Gail and Paul

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