Christmas Letter

I thought I would share my parents' Christmas letter. My dad is a great writer so I hope you enjoy learning a bit about my family. (KEY: Dianne = mom; Kramer = cat; Eric & Brad = brothers)

Greetings to you all from all of us - with our wishes that you are enjoying this Christmas season. We are all well and thank God for his goodness to us. Dianne and I stay pretty busy between work, family, and volunteering.

Dianne had a dream the other night. In her dream she was pregnant! She was NOT happy. She kept explaining to everyone in her dream that she was too old to be pregnant. She awoke exhausted from the stress, but relieved to find that the large “bump” on her belly was only our sleeping cat (Kramer turned 16 this year!).

I mention that because we did indeed have a “blessed event” this year and did add another member to our family. It’s a boy and his name is Garth - and he is Lindsey’s new husband. They were married on February 16th. We are so proud and blessed to welcome Garth into our family. I never thought anyone could possibly be good enough for my little girl, but I was wrong. We love our new son, and love reading about their life together in Lindsey’s blog, “Learning to be a Wife.”

The wedding was wonderful. Dianne and her sister Karen made the wedding cake! They received the ultimate compliment when we were setting up for the reception. A future bride who was visiting the hall saw the cake and asked the hall manager to find out who made it - because she wanted one just like it. Dianne and Karen were flattered but declined the honor. Dianne says she now understands why wedding cakes are so expensive.

After the excitement of the wedding, Dianne and I settled into being “empty nesters” for the first time. Eric—having graduated from Western in 2007 with a degree in Business—was living and working in Kalamazoo; and Brad was attending school in Grand Rapids. But then Eric surprised us by saying that he had decided to quit his job, move back home, and go to Walsh College to get his MBA. It’s no secret that Eric’s sudden aspirations to higher education coincided with his girlfriend Jessica’s decision to move to the Detroit area to pursue her Masters in Speech Pathology at Wayne State. We love Jess and it is a blessing to have her and Eric on this side of the state. Eric is also working full time for Central Transport and goes to school in the evenings.

Actually, our empty nest status was first “refilled” when Brad moved home for the summer. He couldn’t find work in Grand Rapids so came home and got a job delivering pizzas (He can give you directions to anywhere within a couple miles of the local Pizza Hut). He’s back continuing his studies in Product Design at Kendall College and is doing quite well. One of his professors recently honored Brad by offering him an opportunity to study in Europe next year (Brad is considering). I love looking at his latest amazing creations on his blog, “Kosher Design.”

Dianne and I went to Florida last April to visit her parents, and to Saugatuck in May for our anniversary, but the real treat was when we went to Hawaii in September with our dear friends LuAnn & Ramzi. We were their guests at their beautiful timeshare on Oahu - and it was paradise. What a beautiful place! We had a wonderful time.

God’s blessings to you and your families – Merry Christmas!