Here we are at the end of another year.  We hope it was a good year for you, our Christmas Tree friends.

Park/Arboretum to come: John continues to plan, select and plant trees that will be a part of the Windsor Christmas Tree Park.

Wreath/Sales Barn: Jerry, Peg, Arvid, Mel, John and Janice have been working to improve the wreath/sales barn with insulation, sheetrock, paint and a pellet stove for warmth.

Trees: Seems that this has been a great year for the trees.  There are a still some that show damage from the the tornado, but many are healing up well.  We probably have the best selection of tall trees we have had in many years.  Of course we have a great variety of trees, from the “Perfect” tree to our “Charlie Brown Specials”

The family gathered for Christmas, exchanging “home made gifts”.  An oak file cabinet, four slatted fold up yard chairs, a collage of granddaughter pictures & hand etched coffee cups, a much overdue, and quite wonderful, wedding album, homemade blankets to keep warm while watching movies, and two plant stands, made from the Pat Martin Memorial spruce tree knocked down by the tornado.

Jon and Anne have had a busy year as well. Jon continues teaching and as head of the Science Dept. at Mariner HS. Anne’s “Your Place After School” has closed.  Try as they may the board just couldn't get the grants to pay the rent on the building they were using.  This was very sad, but it frees Anne up to have more time as “Mom”.

Mary continues her love of reading, now using it to learn about the world. She is thriving in the Accelerated Studies school as a 4th  grader. She and Anne attended an over-nighter at a teaching farm, while Grandpa and Grandma cooked for Cindy and Jon.  Great fun for all six.  This summer Mary took a designer class, designing and sewing a skirt.

Sister Cindy, 2nd grader, continues to do very well in school, too.  Both girls are taking dance and piano lessons.  Cindy, is a class act, taking drama while Mary was sewing, this summer.  They also decided that “teacher Mom”, who competed in swimming could teach them more swimming skills.

Paul & Lori have attended most of Josh's football games in Madison, SD and many games out of state, i.e. Wisconsin.  They bought a new car just at the end of the summer, and they now have 8000 miles on it.  That is a lot of driving.  They thought they had another year before Zach would fly from the nest.  Wrong.  Zach finishes his high school classes in December and enters Chadron State College in January.

Josh will be graduating from Dakota State in Madison, SD in May. He still loves playing football, as a mainstay on the defense. This  summer he was accepted into a summer research program at DSU in computer security, his major.  His final paper for the project was favorably reviewed, and he will be going to Washington to a security conference to present his paper and findings from his summer research.  Quite an honor.

Sarah got a summer job, on a trail crew with Rocky Mountain Nature Association.  She was on a crew of four guys and two gals who lived, cook, worked and hiked together for two months.  Three of them ended up climbing seven 14ers.  Emporia College was not a really good fit, so Sarah has transferred to Mesa State College in Grand Junction.  At Mesa she is still pursuing marine biology.  She is also mountain biking, jogging (training and running a œ marathon), hiking, swimming and enjoying her classes, doing quite well.  A much better fit.

Zach threw himself whole heatedly into 6-man high school football and is now in a brace for three months for two fractured vertebrae.  Needless to say sports are out for a while.  He joined Janice for a five day visit with Jon, Anne, Cindy and Mary in Mukilteo WA.  He swam in the Sound several times and the ocean on a freezing cold day.  Rode ferries, hiked a bit, toured the Boeing plant and generally charmed his Washington family.  He also joined Sarah and friends climbing those 14ers.

Andy has accepted a transfer with the BLM as recreation planner on the Dominguez Resource Area outside of Grand Junction.  Paula has gone full time with Mesa County School District as a reading specialist.  Part of her job is to train the staff of the district on how to better teach reading in all areas.  She has also been very involved in a new volunteer program that the district is undertaking.  They love living in GJ again with each other.  The house in Kremling has sold and, they bought a small house in the downtown part of GJ and a lot in Paonia, CO.  This has also been perfect for Sarah, our grand daughter, who is three blocks away at Mesa College.

Jerry & Peggy remain faithful helpers on the tree farm. They took many trips. This year they were off to Texas and San Fran, but they also had a chance to help some folks rebuild after a 100 year flood near Atlanta. Of course there is always much time visiting grand children Ellie, Noah, and Cody.  For the first time since the tornado, they had a chance to get caught up around their house and yard.  In August Lois Rosenburg passed away of congestive heart failure.  Lois was like a mother to Peggy and a Nana to all the kids.  We are all very sad and will all miss her very much.

Audrey & Ned have had a good, but trying year.  Ellie and Noah are growing like weeds.  Ellie is going to prekinder and loving it.  Noah learned to walk and has not slowed down since his first steps.  His favorite pastime, which seems to be most of the time, is picking on his big sister.  Ned has been taking classes for a degree in landscape architecture,and he has seen a increase in business, for which we are all very happy.  Audrey took a tumble on her bike and broke her arm just below the elbow, which resulted in surgery to put in plates and screws.  5 months later she had to have all the hardware taken out, as it was hindering movement in the arm and was very painful. Now her recovery is happening fast.  We are all very thankful for that.

Arvid & Mel & Cody, 3 œ, have been busy putting finishing touches on their home.  They have planted 50 or so trees, planted some grass, and built a fence. Arvid has moved up to assistant general manager in training at the JBS feed lot near Kersey.  Mel is taking a chemistry class this fall and awaiting the birth of #2. She's still out killing rattlesnakes, unfortunately. Cody was in Tball and swimming lessons this summer.  He still loves coming to the tree farm and spending the day with Grammy and Bapa John.

Amanda and Jon have had a busy year.  It seems that everyone that was not married at their wedding got married this year.  They have been from Jamaica to Maine to Virgina to Texas to Colorado and back again.  With the down turn in the economy Jon’s company down sized yet they have had a successful year.  Amanda has taken a promotion with Genentech, with much traveling, which she loves.  And then there is the new light of their lives, Cooper, a wonderful golden retriever.

John and Janice made their many trips to the Harrison area for ball games. They went to Madison, SD to see Josh, to see the school and watch the first football game of the season.  They made their annual spring trip to Mukilteo, in April.  An unexpected joy for them has been being the overnight stopping place for grandkids, their friends and their cousins coming and going skiing and hiking in Colorado.

Andy & Paula talked Paul & Lori into joining them for an eight day 250 mile bike ride through the Black Hills. Lori kept swearing they were “trying to kill her”.  What powerhouses!! John, Janice and DJ had a ball as “Sag Crew”!

Sadly there wasn't a 5th wheeler Forest Service trip this fall.  Somehow we managed to over book our lives, as did our friends the Andersons.  We truly hope we will be “on the road again” next year.

All in all it was a blessed year for all of us. We hope it was for you too, and we are looking forward to seeing you this year to catch up on all the stories.

John and Janice
John and Janice