Christmas Letter 2008

Dear family, friends and loved ones,

I know what they say about the older you get…the faster time flies. This is too true!! I hope that 2008 was a good year for you. Sometimes I look and my life and wonder why me? I certainly do NOT deserve the blessings God has given me, but yet, He continues to pour them down. I can only pray that if and when difficult times hit, that we will look to Him, Whose grace surrounds us no matter what the circumstance.

Let’s see….when we left off last year...Michael was riding a bike in Mexico; Daniel was working 5 jobs, Tami and Jevon had recently met us in San Diego, Ashley wanted to be president so she could rule the world, Dan was looking forward to retirement and I was still working at our church. Not much has changed, Michael is still riding a bicycle around Mexico (he did go back to Alaska for a while, tho), and Daniel has cut back to three jobs (something else is taking up his time—read on), and Tami and Jevon are busy with three kids and two careers and it’s hockey season. Oh, and Ashley still want to be in charge of the whole world.

We didn’t know last year…..that Daniel was dating a very sweet young lady named Melissa. We knew when actually told us about her it must be heading for serious…. We finally got to meet her last spring, and can only thank God for bringing such a lovely lady into Daniel’s life. We see more smiles on his face now, too. This picture was taken at our nephew, Scott’s wedding last summer—Melissa didn’t catch the bouquet—but she did get the ring. Daniel proposed in November and the wedding is set for November 14, 2009. Finally, I get to make wedding invitations for one of my own!!! YAY!!!

Our favorite world class wanderer is...wandering the world. He had quite a few experiences riding a bicycle 2,980 miles last winter...you can read about it at travelpod.com — just do a search on “Beginning of the Spinning.” You’ll never guess what he did in Mexico — he (gasp) DRANK THE WATER. It about killed him—he lost 24 pounds….in 2 days. I believe this year he is being more careful. After his ride we enjoyed his company for a week as he was heading back up to Alaska to work for the Forest Service in Petersburg. Since his truck (and his kayak) were in Cordova, he took two weeks to make the trek between the two, terrorizing crabs along the way. He also blogged about that at travelpod.com. We had planned to visit him in Alaska this past summer, but his work schedule and Dan’s conflicted—time to try again this summer. He is currently volunteering on an organic farm in Mexico and after the holiday’s plans to bus and bike to Central America.


The Idaho Truex Boys are smoking at Hockey…..Dustin has been scoring 3+ goals per game in almost every game. He is the leading scorer even though he is one of the youngest players on his team. Austin is playing on several Boise teams, since they didn’t have enough players in McCall to form a team and we’ve heard he the best players on his teams and they are glad to have him! I’ve watched both these guys play and they are amazing! Granted I know absolutely zilch about hockey, but you can trust my opinion on this...honest! Jevon was made a partner at his Architectural firm—Network Architects. I have a copy of the 1/2 page spread from the McCall Newspaper that I would be happy to email anyone at any time. ;D. Sadie turned two in November is continues to delight everyone. You can tell she is an exceptional child — just look at her picture. Tami practically runs the McCall hospital single-handedly… (actually, there are usually two nurses on duty at a time from what I understand, so I guess I can’t give her all the credit)….

Since Ashley can’t currently rule the world...we let her pretend to be Cleopatra for a while. She went through a whole book of costumes and of course, she picked the queen. I think she liked the snake bracelet. We made the costume and she was sick the night of the Harvest party and missed it!! She had several other opportunities to try her hand at ruling, so she wasn’t too deprived. We enjoy her so much—she is more like a grandchild than a niece.



In September, my neighbor Traci and I rode in the “Bike MS” bicycle ride — between the two of us we raised over $800 for our 32 mile bike ride. We were so happy to help such a great cause. Our dear friend and neighbor, Mary Rose, has MS, and so does Traci’s father, Scott. We had fun training together, and the ride was a lot of fun.


In November Dan, Jevon and Austin all went on a Mission trip to Navojoa, Mexico, where they helped on a building project at an Orphanage. It was, of course, a wonderful time for all of them,although they all came home SICK of beans! They became attached to the children living there, and given the opportunity might have brought one or two home with them if they could have. More than anything, though, Dan was thankful for the time he could spend with Jevon and Austin.

And oh…. Dan is still looking forward to retirement, and I am still working at our church. Like I said, not much has changed.

We are blessed to know you! We don’t take for granted the wonderful people that God had brought into our lives, and I pray that each one of you will feel His blessing and know His love this year. It is only by His grace that we live, and move, and have our being. We love you all.