Friends,
God was in Christ personally reconciling the world to himself -- not counting their sins against them....(!!) 2 Corinthians 5:19 Phillips

What good news to ponder as we meditate on a babe in a manger born king of kings...and as we look back on a year of God's protection and blessing:

We traveled to Moscow, Florida, Texas, and Paris. That is Moscow, Michigan; Florida, Ohio; Texas, Ohio; and Paris, Illinois! but we were home enough this hot summer that we were paying the air-conditioning bill past Thanksgiving.

RON's year included Men's Bible study, paying hundreds for report cards, reading The Body and Lord, Teach Us to Pray with Sandy, fighting virus in computers, kite-flying with boys, making improvements on 3rd floor of house.

Ron studied water treatment at Gull lake and via video teleconferences. Ron enjoyed many mulberries on lunch hour near work in June; he found dozens of bushes/trees on his walks. Ron's job took him twice to Illinois, once by car, once by plane (My, how Midway Airport has changed since Ron's pilot days.)

SANDY coaches the Bible Quiz Team at Guardian Lutheran School (GLS) where Paul is captain. They are undefeated so far this season.

Sandy decided she preferred a hardwood floor to carpet in the dining room so she pulled up the carpet while Ron was on a trip.

Sandy planted a garden this year of tomato, cucumber and bean plants Ron really enjoyed the beans; Joy too! Not just eating the beans but also picking 'em. Ron built a "suspension bridge" for them, extending one pole to 25' above ground; one plant climbed to 24.5'! (Thank you John G. for rototilling.)

650 beggers plied our door Halloween; the previous 2 nights Ron patrolled to chase the house-burning Devil out of Detroit.

Last Christmas both PAUL and MARK received a 286 computer for Christmas; before starting 8th grade in the fall, PC despised his PC so much he gave it to JOHN and bought himself a Pentium and an HP660 deskjet (perhaps for a fee, I'll be able to print this on his printer). And Paul now has a computer mouse instead of the kind that eat. Before he was 13 he was taller than his dad at 5'8"

We have been learning about high schools with Paul: including Luth HS Westland, Divine Child, Cass Tech, Catholic Central, Country Day, Southfield Christian, to name a few. Also we have been learning about SAT tests and ACT and Midwest talent search, SAT software. He ran track and played soccer, and busted his braces on Joys head! PCS went to IBLPS. Paul and Mark's soccer team had a winning season -- only one call away from winning the league championship.

6th grader MARK is developing muscular shoulders with a heavy [punching] bag -- each time he gets frustrated. He's been doing an autopsy on a broken xerox-type duplicator; also, playhouses, telescope, bikes, soccer, basketball, vision therapy, and helping Dad fix washer and dryer and sink leak, and "too much homework" filled his year. Mark went to Mackinac with Uncle Bill again this year. Mark and John sailed (much more successful at sailing than their dad ever was -- and he was their only coach) at Camp Mahn-go-tah-see while Sandy worked at a Lutherans for Life planning meeting there. Joy and schoolmate Anna LeBeau traveled there with us also, and enjoyed the water.

Son JOHN started in the leaf-raking business and expanded into snow removal services: raking earnings were reinvested in better rake and a shovel. He rakes for neighbors for pay; since Sandy doesn't think we should pay our kids for such fun, Ron has had to do most raking here! (John and Mark make money off the neighbors; PCS makes money off John and Mark doing their turn of dishes!) John bought a sax and gave his old XT computer to his grandma and aunt Judy. Last year he won the GLS geography Bee that folks here thought Paul would win! Bored in school, JW is home-schooling again -- taking 5th and 6th grades in one year; but we think he'll be back in regular school again in the fall. His classes include childcare as he babysits at MOPs on Fridays. John's home schooling education is rich in field trips since Sandy (one of few "non-working" mom of GLS students) drives for many of them.

Yet another teacher finds [now 3rd grader] JOY a joy but Paul's all A report card beat Joy's.(one B) She's still giving and getting cuddle awards. She had 4 birthdays this fall and may still have one more! With a big appetite, she is shooting up and running a close second to Paul at the meat at dinner time! This summer she caught tadpoles with cousin Carole who also taught her how to hold a cat. She notes she was first in her grades "math facts" game. Last June she had all A's and is almost that good this year. Joy was the last to have her own computer -- an IBM XT -- but she also received a 4' long doll house that Mommy and her have yet to finish building. She gave Daddy two treasure boxes in '95 to put all the treasures into that she has given him. She sends little love messages to Daddy in Morse code. She's been rough on eyeglasses -- probably rougher than John and Paul -- but the competition has been tough! She continues to study piano but Paul took over John's lesson time.

We took an air conditioner to Dad's place in Lawrenceville, allowing Ron to retreat and think between projects. Among this summer's projects was a catwalk for cats! And we were at Zion 6/25 for Sharon Potter's last Sunday preaching there. We swam a lot in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan this hot summer.

Also, It was the year of the playhouse: In S. Illinois, we with chains and pulleys and rope put the 8'x 6' treehouse up in the tree. Last winter it served as a garbage house. (Sandy found poison ivy at Dad's place and got it on her face!) In Detroit, Mark and his dad built a stilt house (so far minus the stilts) in time to fill with bikes etc. from garage so that Ron's vehicle could go in garage for winter. The only camping we did this year was to spend a night in the tent in our own back yard!

A tradition established in 95 is Ron's Sunday evening "snack": Sandy rests one meal from cooking and Ron makes a meal for all of a week's leftovers; Ron has pretty well forgotten how to cook as Sandy does such a good job. Another tradition established in '95 was the whole family Hug-a-round tradition. This year Sandy has us reading tear-jerker Christmas stories, with an eye to making this an annual (?) tradition. In Lent we listened to the whole New Testament on tape; maybe we will make that a tradition too. We got so busy in '95 that we got a machine to answer the phone!

Bro BILL's job at GM Truck & Bus moved to the Centerpoint campus in Pontiac. It's his first experience with an "open office". He shot his 32nd buck this year -- one of 2 shot at Mustache Hunting Club; he was tapped to represent the east side of swamp at Consolidated League meetings. Again in '95 Bro Bill was able to negotiate permission to have our wonderful children for a weekend in exchange for our tab at a January couples retreat!

Ron's sis KAREN wasn't able to get her crops in on the farm this year and the farm was assessed "recreational". She did have a memorable honeymoon weekend there with JOE. Son MICHAEL joined son JIMMY at building a fortune as busboy at My Granny's. Karen was an essential gov't employee while many federal employees were layed off. With a gas line being layed near her farm, the nearby well may be producing by next Christmas letter. -- Maybe even by next Christmas! Son JAS III picked up on a deal for some kind of lake cottage but it doesn't have a landing strip, so sister CHRIS has to drive her new LeBaron when she wants to visit there.

DAD & MOM V. had some thrill in Nov: As they cleared clothes off the line at their S. Ill home, they saw a ball of lightning atop their house as big as their house, learning later that it *blew pump fuse block out of fuse box, *burned up water pump control box *burned up VCR and some of Judy's DSS dish system *fried some water tank parts. Dad says "Yes, Lord: You want to say something to us?"

Sandy's bro JOHN G. is still working in Midland; after living up there for months, he's commuting again from Royal Oak.

Sandy's sis JUDY works heavy OT at Good Samaritan as medical transcriber on afternoons. The P M shift and OT probably help Judy and Mom get along!

Oh! -- Sandy and Mom and Judy went to heaven .. excuse me .. the U. P. (Marquette) and had a grand time.

Sandy's sis CINDY left 1st Federal to work for the state Dec 18. She gave us tickets to an Ice show in April, where Joy claimed as her own (to the endearment of Ron) the song "My Heart Belongs to Daddy"!

Doris Foley and Judy, Cindy, and DONNA traveled by train to NY, NY and had a great time doing the sights and seeing Broadway shows. With the wild west ever calling their names, John, Judy, & Cindy traveled to Banff & Jasper Nat'l Parks in Canada (with a 2 hr stop at the giant mall in Edmonton). They stayed in Youth Hostels...you just have to hear Judy tell their stories, especially of John's $13 speeding after just getting out of Montana!

Ron's cousin Ivan Hanson died in January. Sandy's Uncle Stanley L. died in August. Her Uncle John (Dodge) died May 22 and Aunt Beulah went to a better realm May 25 And, Ron's Aunt Hattie Rakow, at 83, her work done, joined her late husband Ernest there Dec 20.

May the year of our Lord 1996 hold special blessings for you and yours -- and remember Jesus is coming again -- perhaps in 1996!

with love,

Ron, Sandy, Paul, Mark, John, Joy