{"id":1222,"date":"2017-01-18T12:18:47","date_gmt":"2017-01-18T12:18:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wattmans.com\/blog\/?p=1222"},"modified":"2017-10-27T12:42:41","modified_gmt":"2017-10-27T12:42:41","slug":"2016-christmas-letter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.wattmans.com\/blog\/general\/2016-christmas-letter\/","title":{"rendered":"2016 Christmas letter"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Destination Denton: Matt, Elise, Anna, Judy, Alex and Rick (left to right) gathered for Christmas down south this year. Matt and Elise had to work around the holidays, so they couldn\u2019t come home to Bloomington. Together in Texas we had a terrific time.<\/p><\/div>\n

Big Year!<\/h1>\n

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Anna and Alex were married on October 1.<\/p><\/div>The biggest news in this big year is that our baby, Anna<\/b>, married her best friend and the love of her life, Alex Bauer<\/b>. Perhaps we blinked: we\u2019re not sure when or how the little frog who used to sleep splayed out on our chests–and who also used to scream through the night–grew up. She did and we\u2019re pleased and proud of who she is.<\/p>\n

There is a fun story. We were on a double date with Anna and Alex last January (dinner and a concert by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra). Anna excused herself to visit the ladies\u2019 room, and Alex mentioned, almost casually, “Well, I made an exciting purchase today.”<\/i> What, we wondered, could he mean? <\/p>\n

He grinned and said he had ordered a ring, and asked if he might marry our daughter. Of course we were pleased and agreed with the idea. Then we were sworn to secrecy until he had a chance to ask her himself. We had to play dumb (or innocent) in the many following conversations about future plans between the two.<\/p>\n

He did ask, and she said YES! The rest, as they say, is history.<\/p>\n

They lived in our home this summer, so we were intimately involved in their lives and in the preparations for the wedding. Judy did the flowers, and they turned out beautifully. The ceremony was in our home church, and they are living in a suburb halfway between their two graduate schools. (NOTE<\/b>: The “It\u2019s a Boy!” caption on our card does NOT indicate that Anna is pregnant. Its double meaning says we have added a boy to our family by marriage; and<\/i> that the baby boy Jesus is the one we celebrate at Christmas.)<\/p>\n

We still see them for occasional dinners and double dates. They have invited us to visit their home, and they often visit ours–especially since we are housing their cat, Morris, until they move to a pet-friendly apartment next fall.<\/p>\n

Together or separately, we also visit Elise<\/b> and Matt<\/b> in Texas multiple times each year. Our dream is that they will someday move closer to home to make the journey a less-significant part of each visit.<\/p>\n

Our newly re-emptied nest is slowly taking shape to function without our girls. They are making new homes of their own, though they will always be welcome here.<\/p>\n

We pray you had a Merry Christmas<\/b> and that you will also have a blessed New Year<\/b>!<\/p>\n

Other Highlights<\/h1>\n

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2016 in a Flash: (top to bottom) in San Diego with Theo and Byron [3\/6]; Judy and co-workers in Guatemala [5\/26]; glad to be alive! [6\/29]; at the Cascade River on the North Shore of Lake Superior [8\/10]; celebrating Theo\u2019s 80th birthday [11\/26].<\/p><\/div>
\nRick<\/b> was hit by a distracted driver in June. His car was totaled. God was gracious in that he survived, missing by a fraction of a second being broadsided and surely cut in half. Before he knew it, he had hit his head, rotated 90\u00ba in the road, and the engine compartment was gone. He required knee surgery and weeks of physical therapy. We were blessed to replace the car with an identical model, with similar mileage, the same interest rate (0%), and similar car payment. Paperwork continues\u2026<\/p>\n

Judy<\/b> is still teaching nursing at Normandale Community College<\/a>. She took a faculty trip to Guatemala<\/b> in May. They toured health facilities in the Lake Atitlan region, and worked with an NGO to provide water filtration and fuel-efficient stoves for several families. She also learned traditional weaving, and created a brightly-colored wall hanging.<\/p>\n

Rick continues to work at FaithSearch<\/i><\/b> International<\/a> as Director of Communications; and at the Apple Store<\/a> as a technical specialist. Judy still volunteers at Richardson Nature Center<\/a>, tending the red tailed hawk and American kestrel; and enjoys playing percussion in the worship band at our church.<\/p>\n

Oh! We refinished our hardwood floors; spent several months without a stove until we purchased a replacement; Rick\u2019s family came to visit on their way back from Brule; visited our newly retired friends “up north” at their lake home; and went cabin camping with friends from church.<\/p>\n

Download<\/a> the PDF of our 2016 Christmas letter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Big Year! The biggest news in this big year is that our baby, Anna, married her best friend and the love of her life, Alex Bauer. Perhaps we blinked: we\u2019re not sure when or how the little frog who used … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,3,5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.wattmans.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1222"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.wattmans.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.wattmans.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wattmans.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wattmans.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1222"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.wattmans.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1335,"href":"http:\/\/www.wattmans.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1222\/revisions\/1335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.wattmans.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wattmans.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wattmans.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}