Merry Christmas 2024!

Hello, and Merry Christmas from the Blue Ridge Mountains! Here is an update on us this year.

Things are going well for us as we close out a busy year. Alex is in first grade and David in Preschool. Both are being taught at home by me. I am enjoying teaching the kids. Besides school, Alex is on the Pre-Team for gymnastics and is taking swimming lessons. She’s on her way with swimming, and after a few more sessions, we will switch kids. David will then pick up swimming lessons and probably do T-Ball again in the Spring.

This has been a big travel year for us. In the Spring we drove to Arizona (with some time in Texas) to see family. We stayed with my sister and the kids had some fun cousin time. On the way back we stayed with Zach’s parents and were able to have a good family get-together there as well.

In the Summer, we made a trip to New York City for my 40th birthday. We were able to stay with my cousin outside the city and they helped guide us on our excursions. It ended up being a big celebration with family and friends joining from Arizona, Virginia, and Connecticut.

In the Fall, we had a trip to California to see my mom. She wasn’t able to fly out here because of her health, so me and the kids went West. Despite some sickness, we had a fun visit. The kids are into the “Jr Ranger” badges, so we did the assignments up at Lassen Volcanic Park and they earned a badge.

Alex’s Social Studies curriculum this year is a study of the 50 states. This year, we have traveled to/through 14 states. It’s been fun connecting our travels with school.

On top of our travel, we had a couple visits from Zach’s parents. The kids always have fun and enjoy getting to hang out in their trailer. We even went over to Gatlinburg and visited the aquarium on their last trip.

As for me, I have been officially hired as the “Associate Conductor” of the Haywood Community Band. It’s been fun working with the band on a weekly basis. I also have been leading the choir at church, and began a Children’s Choir. It feels good to lead some ensembles and to be involved with various music groups.

Many of you will have seen on the news the disaster from Hurricane/Tropical Storm Helene. Our area was one of the places it hit. Asheville (about 25 miles away) had it worse, but there were many people here who lost everything. The flood water (from the creek across the street) came up on our driveway, but never reached our house. We ended up keeping our power through the whole storm, but lost all communications. It was very strange to be completely cut off. No cell or internet. We were also supposed to conserve gas and stay out of the way if we didn’t need to be out. So, for almost a week, we only had communication if we went over to the church. Several afternoons, we would accompany Zach to work, just to get a few messages out. A couple of months later, things are still being cleaned up. Zach has been busy for the last several months with assisting volunteer crews with the cleanup effort. Our church has been host to several groups and there may be more after the new year. It will be a long road to recovery for many here, especially those who live near the rivers. We were thankful to have no damage.

Well, I hope you all have a lovely Christmas. We miss being near our family, but are enjoying our time in the mountains.