I really did not expect to get a Holiday letter out this year. There is no way to describe the year we have experienced this year. At the very least it has had some real high points and some really low points; basically we are glad this one is over.
When I wrote last year we had just arrived in CA from an exciting Fall with company joining us in New Mexico for the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta and attending the College graduation of son in law Dan Jacobi. Pam had been experiencing some medical issues for a number of years regarding stomach pain. This had become a more frequent issue and more intense. As soon as we arrived in CA we were again at Kaiser Hospital but this time it was with a surgeon. She had surgery Christmas week and missed out on the holiday activities last year. Pam has made a full recovery after losing about a foot of her colon. No more diverticulitis.
As I wrote last year, a major event was forthcoming, the birth of a grand daughter to Pam’s son Brian and his wife Christie. That simply didn’t go very well. We have a beautiful little gal named Sadie but she is a disabled child with Cerebral Palsy. The home birth with mid wives ended up at Phoenix Children’s Hospital in Phoenix , AZ where we faced Sadie dying everyday for eight days. In the end she defied all the doctors and went home. Many battles remain to be fought and some of you have followed Sadie’s’ progress on their blog, www.beckfamilyblessings.blogspot.com.
During the past two summers and over several trips to Washington within that time frame we have been involved in selling our Aunt Myrnes’ farm. She found herself being very happy in the Assisted Living home she selected and decided it was time to sell the 20 acre farm. It took the help of some wonderful Bailey relatives, our friend Mary Eden, and others to help empty the farm. After a lengthy battle with County agents over changes they demanded in a drainage ditch they now called a fish bearing stream, the second couple who looked at the farm met our sale requirements. We turned the farm over to them in early Sept. I have to say that it was difficult to let go. My family has many great memories of the farm but in the end Aunt Mryne was ready to sell and we moved ahead. We are now relieved to have this project completed.
As far as family goes, you can deduce from the above that Aunt Myrne is doing very well. She turned 98 on 9/11 and most of you could only hope for the blood pressure, and health that she possesses at that age. She has reduced the things in life that brought her pressure, i.e. the farm, no car, no driving, and has house care, served meals, etc, so I expect we shall enjoy her company for some years to come.
Pam and I are beginning our 6th year together and remain active travelers via motorcycle, motor home or auto’s. Pam has become our travel coordinator with some interesting plans in the future. Karl remains active with the Blue Knights, starting a second term as the Chairman of the West Coast Conference and serving on the International Board of Directors. This position does require travel to Bangor , ME every other January and at least two conventions each year. This year we were in Billings , MT and Grand Junction , CO and then visited a number of Chapters in CA, BC, and AB during the summer.
Daughter Holly remains in Temecula , CA with husband Dan and two children. Holly is still in pharmaceutical sales while Dan continues at Home Depot while looking for positions for which he can use his new college degree. We try to get over into that area of CA every winter to enjoy the grandkids. Emily has started school and remains quite the shy one while Luke is a bit more outgoing. We have started seeing all the grandkids a bit more by using Skype cameras on our computers.
Daughter Stephanie still lives in Orangevale , CA and works from home for HP Computers. Her husband John has his own business providing warranty and other work in the swimming pool field. CD (Cody) is in Middle school taking advanced classes for his college prep goals. Jessica is now playing clarinet and of course playing with her friends.
Son Brian is still working for Starbucks out of Phoenix . His commercial account territory takes him to AZ, TX and NM where he tries to see us when we are there. His wife Christie is back teaching but does it via computer from her home. With all the work baby Sadie involves, that was a good position for her.
I usually tell those up to date on our travels to stop here, you have had enough. This year I will not detail all of our travels but here is our blog address, www.sojouners-1.blogspot.com, for those interested. The blog has Pam’s story of our travels and pictures as well. Basically we spent Jan-March at our RV Resort Happy Trails in Surprise, AZ. April was split between WA and New Mexico while May found us at our home in CA but we took a motorcycle trip to Boise , ID over Memorial Day. June-Aug found us at work in WA on the farm with a motorcycle trip to Billings, MT, Grand Junction, CO and a short stay at our home in NM. Sept-Nov found us on a major motor home trip across the entire country of Canada , down the East Coast of the USA , then back across the middle of the USA to NM, AZ and CA. The motor home logged over 11,000 miles and our tow car an additional 4,000 miles. Late Nov we arrived in CA and will return to AZ after Christmas. You will not believe where Pam has us going in 2011. Of course you can stay up to date on our travels via the blog address listed above.
Happy New Year,
Karl and Pam
