2015 in Review

Well it was a year with peaks and valleys.  We had a great time on our trip to Japan to visit Joe and Samantha and Ryker. It was Becky's first trip overseas and she handled it well. So that was a highlight.  We also were blessed with another grandchild - number 8.  Young Sterling Howard made her entrance in Columbus in December.  So that was another peak.  But Becky lost 2 sisters this year.  Her oldest sister, Evelyn died of cancer.  Then her sister Nancy had a stroke and died in her sleep.

 My Uncle Vaughn passed away this year too.  He fought cancer for quite a while and thought that it was in remission, but it finally overcame him.  When I was younger, he was probably my least favorite uncle.  Always seemed grouchy and grumpy. But with the passage of time I learned to appreciate his directness and learned to like him.  In a sense, it seems sometimes. that life is a series of hello's and goodbye's and new folks arrive and the aged depart.  You hope that you can leave a positive impression inbetween the hello and the goodbye.

Chad's wife, Sarah, has a job as a junior high teacher over in Richmond.  Junior high is a tough age to teach.  Young'ish teenagers trying to push their boundaries.  So the first year is an adjustment for her I am sure.  Both Cash and Serenity are doing fine.  Cash enjoys tinkering and inventing little things.  Serenity seems to waffle back and forth between being a tomboy and a princess.  Chad rebuilt his Chevy Sprint for the umpteenth time.  He seems determined to keep that thing running as long as NAPA makes replacement parts for it.

Vanessa and Eric are doing fine in Covington.  When the kids start to do sports I will have to learn to sit in the stands on the home side and cheer without gagging.  Elaina is doing OK at school, hard to believe that she is 9 now.  Young Violet has started kindergarten and seems to be thriving.  She dresses loud like Chelsea did.  And I do see some athleticism in her.  Young Elliot is bringing up the rear, but I am starting to see signs that he does not like to be pushed around by his older siblings.  He is tall for his age. At some point his sisters will be looking up to him.

Chelsea has returned to school - taking bio-technology at Ohio State.  And if that weren't enough, she just had child number 2.  So a lot of change in a short period of time.  I wonder if she trying to out do wonder woman or something.  Anyway a lot on her plate, but she seems to be handling it.  Dan has a job with power company as a customer service rep.  Seems to like it, so he is bring home the bread for now.

Young Annabelle is adjusting to having competition for Mom and Dad's attention.  So she is having to adjust as well.  Dan has been working with her at softball and she seems to get it and is showing some athleticism too.  When we let them hit the ball off of the tee, she did as well if not better than the older kids.

It was a pleasure to see Joe and Samantha in Japan.  We let them be our tour guides and they showed us a great time.  They took the time to ask around and find the best places to go. We went to some unique places and even got to see the emperors palace.  Young Ryker was a trooper throughout our visit and we got to spend some time with him. He seems like a people person.

 Joe will be leaving the air force soon and coming back home.  He is unsure what exactly he wants to do.  He enjoyed doing automotive upholstery but he might have found something with his father in laws company - they are thinking of expanding into solar power.  So he might try that out.  He is still young and should have the GI bill - so if he doesn't find anything he likes, then he can go back to school and find something new.

And finally we will be feeding into the star wars frenzy by watching star wars next week.  So support the empire - the Micky Mouse empire that is...