Many things have changed over the 64+ years of Christmas’s. Starting with all of the years as a child , then young adult, to a spouse, a parent of 1, then larger family, becoming a grandparent. Each chapter added a new level of adventure and excitement. You go from not being able to sleep the night before, to early wake up calls from kids, to now being able to sleep in as late as you want (unless you have an early Christmas Lunch to make ). I my case this morning I got the first wake up call from my youngest daughter Lizzie that she was going to make some Orange Danishes so if I wanted any I should wake up. Then in next moment I decided that it was truly time to rise I got my daily face washing from my puppy Daisy who just cant wait for signs of movement from me every morning. Now as I sit here at my computer looking out our windows and seeing no snow, sunshine, temps heading into the high 30s-low 40s for the day I do think about times past with snow drifts as high as the telephone polls, and piles in the back yard high enough to go sledding and plastic tobogganing that seem so long ago yet so close! Merry Christmas all, and happy New Year…

As we go into the Christmas and New Years Holidays I want to wish everyone nothing but happiness and good fun. Too many times we feel the need to out do last year. That shouldn’t be the course as this season is meant to be a time of reflection about all of the things we already have and not about our wish list. I know that’s sounds corny but at this time, this year, and going into the next please know that those family, friends, and co-workers are your presents. Happy Holidays and I look forward to what the future holds…

Today I learned another hard life lesson originally taught to all of his children by my father. “All ways check your oil and listen to what your vehicle sounds like.” The vehicle I purchased in the spring of 2020 that we were using to transport Lori to all of her cancer treatments was diagnosed with a broken timing chain today and therefore it is not repairable as it completely destroyed all of the gears and has now become a paperweight. I will be reaching out tomorrow to the Rawhide Boys Ranch to see if they can use it and come and get it before the end of this year. Needless to say we are very depressed by this event and now will have to come up with a solution as we are more than a 1 car family with Lizzie working in Fond Du lac WI M-F . I will try and keep anyone who reads this in the loop with updates as maybe this will help them and at the same time provide me with purpose to keep pushing forward…