For those who missed the wedding. Jamie & Elizabeth.

Kerry, Mollie and Elizabeth July 2008.
Tim & Ruby on Vineyard tour.

Paonia, Colorado. View from Vineyard we visited with Aunt Lois.

December 2008,

It has been a while since I have drafted a letter, so this will be fun. I spent some time a few weeks ago sorting through pictures and organizing them on my computer. It is one of those tasks that I have put off for way too long. I will include some photography signposts to show that life has a way of moving on.

I also want to take this time to tell you how grateful I am for our family and friends. There are times I wish that we had not moved around so much, but then again, there have been benefits to that as well. How would we have met some of you if we had not ventured away from Oregon?

There is a place in me that always longed for the cottage, the settledness of good neighbors and family close by, but that has not been the picture yet. I suppose had that been the case, I would be writing now of longing for the adventure of far away states and places unexplored.

With Elizabeth and Jamie married, and settling in Texas, it stirred up a desire in me for community. We find ourselves still in Colorado, which we enjoy, yet far from friends and family, which we don’t enjoy so much. We are coming to a place of wanting to settle and be near to family and/or friends. I suppose it comes with growing older. We need to take care of few things, but then we hope to turn our steps back towards friends and family.

One thing about Tim and I is that we hope to never stop growing, changing, learning and working towards perfection. I know it comes as a mild shock to you that we still have some things we would like to do better. I am reading a book called “The Black Swan”. It is a book about uncertainty. It is about recognizing that we do not know the future nor can we predict it. That sounds like common sense, yet it must not be if someone feels the need to write a book on it. Anyway, it has caused me to take pause and think about things in hopefully a more realistic way. When life tends to roll along and everything falls into place as we have planned it out, we can start to think of ourselves higher than we should. All it takes is an event to happen that we never thought of or planned for, to shake us out of that rut. How quickly we can be brought to our senses, to the realization that there is a God, and it isn’t me. I found that it is very healthy for me to say, “I don’t know,” rather than hoist my opinions so freely.

Tim’s brother Tom died this year. He was the youngest, 42, and he left his wife Kelly quite suddenly. I have experienced the death of folks who have gone on before they lived their span of years. It is harder for me to deal with than when someone passes on who is older. We miss him. Tom was a good friend and brother. He lived with us in Alaska for a time. We’ve had the privilege of several of Tim’s brothers stay with us over the years.

It was also an election year, and an especially long one. I got caught up in it, despite my desire not to. This stirred up feelings that were not happy ones, because in a contest such as politics, our core values are exposed. Again, I needed to realize that God is my hope; that my future is about my relationship with him, not what goes on in this government. These are good lessons for me.

It was a fun year in many ways too. Elizabeth came and surprised me in July for my 55^th birthday. She had not been back to Colorado since she had gotten married. I didn’t realize how much it meant to me to see her until there she was. All I could do at first was hug her and cry.

I had some other wonderful moments this year as well. We spent some pretty special times with the Ketchums and their clan in Pagosa. We got to see Sean and Dayla and Camden right before they headed off on their adventure to Taiwan, via Oklahoma. I also had a special weekend with Len and Brenda, while Kerry and Kaitlin and Sarah shared Kate’s birthday.

I got to see my friend Shelly, in Oregon, and share her first family wedding. Of course I got to spend time with Mother, and also with Howard and Rosie, and a real nice afternoon with Joan. I know that I’ve come and gone quickly and not gotten to see everyone in an area when I pass through, but reality dictates those moments. I’ve stopped trying to fight the time constraints and just enjoy the moments I have with those I'm with.

The latest visit was just before Thanksgiving.. Larry and Flo came through on their way to Savannah. They spent the night and we celebrated Thanksgiving early. It was just like a cup of water in the middle of a desert. Perhaps it is being away from everyone that makes me so appreciate the times we do meet.

I hope that there will be many more times of reunion. I have not seen college friends for years, nor the Alaska and Silverton crowds for a while. But I want you to know that you all are remembered most fondly. And of course the Pagosa gang have become like family in their own right. And my family is just that, family. That goes for the Shetlers and the Honans. There is something about knowing you belong, and that people care and look out for one another the best they can.

Thank you all for being there and being steady in your pursuits. And thank you for looking out for each other. It is a great heritage.

Enjoy the pictures and know that you are loved.

Ruby

Snuggling with the animals: Sadie, Dee and Spice.