1994 Christmas Letter

I stopped by my mom's house yesterday after church and she handed me a copy of the Christmas letter she wrote back in 1994, she had been cleaning some things out and found it. I'm so glad she did and even though we're all thinking about summer and not Christmas I just had to share.

Dear Friends:

Well, the tree is in the house and trimmed. I remember how excited the kids used to be about trimming the tree - now, it takes us a little longer (like 2-3 evenings). This year, in an intense wave of nostalgia I bought a train set to put under/around the tree. (the idea just seemed so wonderful to me!) Nowhere on the box did it refer to track dimensions; just '18 pc track' -- that's not much, huh? And, of course, you can't put the track together until after the tree is decorated - you don't want to be stepping on it! THE TRAIN TAKES UP A QUARTER OF THE LIVING ROOM! We had to rearrange the furniture to accommodate the train track! Now I need to wrap a few boxes to fill in all the open spaces! It is fun, tho. It whistles just like a real one! And, I am sure Sydney, and our nieces and nephews, and the neighborhood kids will have a ball with it - we are!

I hope this finds each of you healthy and happy. We are all in good health. It is true, when you have your health you have everything. Our lives have been touched by old and new friends battling cancer this year. Clearly, this life is temporary; our days are numbered before there is even one.

I don't really have any news to report. We are at the same jobs (which is news in itself, I guess); same address; same ol' things. This is Gilbert's third year of putting fur collars (and cuffs) on coats. The corporation he works with has expanded its business this year, which has resulted in more work for him. Also, we went to Las Vegas in April to an International Outerwear Show (we had a great time) and made some new business contacts. As a result, he has been asked to bid a 2000-5000 piece collar job and 5oo piece headband job. He is also working as a fur buyer for a fur brokerage. Needless to say, there are not enough hours in the day or days in the week for him. Some mornings he gets up at 3:00 to work in his shop before going to his day job. With the snows we have had the past few weeks, he has had to start work at 4:30 some mornings to blade or sand roads. He does have a woman working for him closing the collars and cuffs, etc. She is a great help to him. She is also learning and accepting other responsibilities which every little bit helps to take some of the pressure off.

Amanda is a junior in High school this year and has recently entered the work force. She is working at Discovery Zone, a 'funcenter' for children and their parents (not a daycare --adults have to stay with the children). She works in all of the different areas (dining, redemption, the Zone, etc and she does children's birthday parties). I think she is adjusting to her new schedule. (the paycheck helps). She generally works Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; and occasionally takes someone else's shift. So her extracurricular school and church activities are relatively unaffected. Her dating life, however, is pfffffff. I can't wait for the kids to come at Christmastime, she can get us in for free. The equipment is made for adults too; something like that show on tv -- the gladiators.

She has also been given the privilege and responsibility of operating and maintaining her own automobile. It is actually both the girls' car; but Andrea doesn't drive quite yet. However, she wants a her own truck when she gets a license. It has been snowing pretty regularly since before Thanksgiving, which has been Amanda's first driving experience with snow and icy conditions. So far - so good!

Andrea is a sophomore this year. She recently entered a poem in a $500 contest and just received notice this week that her poem has been approved/accepted for the next stage of the contest. We're excited about that. Personally, it escapes me -- I never could write a poem. Andrea worked this summer at the Les Bois race track and is looking forward to doing it again. This year she will be 16, so she can get her license to ride warm-up horses.

I am taking the week between Christmas and New Year's off. We will be going up the Middle Fork of the Boise River for New Years Eve. Our friends, Ron and Suzy, have a cabin up there. We went last year and had a wonderful time riding snowmobiles and soaking in the hot springs at night. What a great way to begin the New Year!

Our best to you!
Gilbert, Lynn and family