Greetings!!!
Merry Christmas!!! Happy New Year!!! Greetings from all of us here in Texas—ville. Time for the annual round—up of news —— especially when we don’t get to see y’all that much. It’s been a busy year!!! I know I’ve written that before ——— like every year. I thought about it and thought two thoughts: (1) It HAS been a busy year, and (2) it’s always written at a busy time, which just might influence the tome. Also, with three, I mean four (that counts the big one), active boys, it’s almost impossible not to be busy, not to mention the job, home, and hobbies.

Where to begin? Let’s start with the head of the ranch, John. It’s been an exciting year, full of a new hobby, more Scouts and camping. The new hobby is an extension of model rockets into radio controlled model airplanes. The first model planes to come home were a couple on wires, but they were not really radio controlled. Since then, the garage has become a workshop for the construction (and reconstruction) of the R/C types. First John built a trainer to learn to fly. Since crashes are common, even by experienced pilots, I was always a little worried when he would come back from the field —— not about the shape the plane, but primarily about the mood of the pilot. Usually the shape of the plane and the mood were directly correlated. After mastering the trainer, he proceeded to build a much faster, more aerobatic 60” EXTRA 300 model, presently in the garage for repairs. In progress are bigger and more compl planes —— a 70” wing—span BINGO, and an even bigger 89” P—5l. He loves this new hobby, and I do think it’s made him calmer. His PMS (Plant Manager Syndrome) has definitely been milder this year. Camping and backpacking with the boys has also seemed to improve his sanity. He took Richard and Robert on their first backpacking trip this spring, and all three boys on several camping trips this year. None of them wanted to come back from any of them. Camping and the love of the outdoors go with his heavy involvement with the Scouts, including being a Webelos leader for Richard’s den. He only wishes he could retire now to do more of all this fun stuff.

Proceeding with the men in my life, we have Richard, who is now 10 and in the 5th grade. In school, he’s a straight A student, in the school choir and on newspaper staff. In the Alpha program for gifted students, he took classes at the University of Houston in art, science, and advanced computer, the latter taught by the programmer of the robotic arm of space shuttle. This year he also started piano lessons and has made great progress. Like his dad, he’s big on airplanes, and is learning to fly the R/C kind. He’s a walking encyclopedia of airplane facts and seems to be always reading some book on aviation. He’s also an avid camper and scout in the last year of Webelos, and looking forward to Boy Scouts next year. Although he’s only 10, he seems to be eating like a teenager. On his trip to Minnesota to visit his Grandmother Cross, he gained about 10 pounds in the week. He’s always asking, “When do we eat?” I was warned of this.

Then there’s Robert, 8, and a 2nd grade honor roll student. He’s also a fanatic camper and Wolf scout. He loves sports and seems to always have a ball in his hands —— a football, soccer ball or baseball. When he’s not outside, he’s inside mulling over his zillions of baseball cards. He loves to read all sorts of books, and has a vivid imagination, that appears quite refreshing in his own stories and drawings. There’s always a little mischievous grin on Robert’s face.

The little sweetheart is David, now 5 and in Montessori pre—school. He’s wants to do everything the big kids do, and does pretty well at keeping up. Although he hasn’t done backpacking, he has been on several camping trips with the guys and can hardly wait to be a full—fledged scout. His love includes books (he can read some on his own), puzzles, and math, especially subtraction. His vocabulary is quite rich and advanced; it’s interesting to talk with him to learn he’s thinking and what new words he’s added to his repertoire. He likes to be helpful and is quite proud of what he can do by himself.

Finally, moi, the mom, aerobicist, scout leader, scientist, travel planner, and home repair specialist. Keeping up with the boys takes lots of energy and that’s why they invented aerobics and caffeinated coffee —— there’s no time to sleep. Being a scout leader for Robert’s Wolf den surely could qualify for the insanity award. Have you ever harnessed the energy of 7 second graders? We wouldn’t need nuclear power. Keeping them going in about the same direction is a minor miracle. Thank God for John’s experience and help, I am surviving another year. In the scientist category, I changed groups this year and began by investigating applications for a new polyethylene product line. In May, I was asked to develop the cocatalyst for both polyethylene and polypropylene for the venture. Both of the jobs started off with heavy travel schedules. Fortunately, one of the summer trips was to Belgium, where I was able to visit a number of our relatives, some for the first time. Although the 4th of July just isn’t the same, the weather was simply beautiful. I expect the next trip there to be in January; I’m packing my thermals!

On the home front, our big project this year was re—siding the house. It was a big job to learn about siding and siders, and a major decision on settle on contractors and colors. We went vinyl, and since it’s guaranteed for life, one must like one’s decision. We are quite pleased, especially since the 3—week travail is now over. Now no more painting or rotting wood, a real problem in our humid climate. Although we grew up in the beauty of nature, we never thought we’d succumb to a plastic house, or a plastic tree, which I bought last year in the after—Christmas sales, since our real ones come to us so dry they’re a fire hazard. But, I guess it all goes with the plastic job, and hopefully, we’ll have saved some real trees for nature.

Speaking of nature, we enjoyed the beauty of the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia during a two—week trip to Oregon this August. We enjoyed several family reunions in Hilisboro and then headed north to Port Angeles, Victoria and Vancouver, B.C., and then down to Redmond, Olympia, and Mt. Rainier, seeing friends and family along the way. We all had a great time; the kids loved it especially when we would visit families with kids, and even more so if those kids had Nintendo. Back at the farm, we took side trips to Cannon Beach and Tillamook, and the Portland Zoo, including its new, fantastic African rainforest exhibit. He also rested, let the kids play with their cousins until they dropped, visited old friends, did some target practice on some old soda cans, and basically took it easy. He tried not to think of coming back to work and school, which for the kids started August 20! He don’t know yet what next year will bring, but we hope it will bring some of you this way. We did have some visitors this year and they can attest to the great weather we have in the Spring. Fall is also quite nice, and Winter sports have nothing to do with snow. Don’t be shy, call us up now, while the reservation lines are still open.

As ever, have a happy and blessed Christmas and prosperous New Year!