As the year draws to a close, and we have the opportunity to reflect upon the past year and what it has meant to us, we each came up with a short list of the things for which we are most grateful. I will precede that with the thought that we are so grateful for this time of year and what it represents. We are grateful for all that we have been given, the blessings of good health and good friends.
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| Carolyn at the Park |
Carolyn (3) frequently at Grandma's while Mommy's at school
One of things that Carolyn remembers from this year is a family trip we took this summer. One of the highpoints of the trip was watching her cousin, Patrick DeFranco, get married in the Palmyra, NY temple.
Another big change for our family this year was when Steve's parents moved into an assisted living facility in Tacoma, Washington. That meant Steve's older brother, Tom, who needs support, had to find a new place to live. He moved out here to Asheville. Carolyn took very well to the change and really enjoyed having her uncle in the house. (He has since moved on to his own assisted living facility, but she enjoys seeing him when he comes on the weekends.)
Another thing that Carolyn really enjoyed was going to her Aunt Marian's house to play with their dog, Butterscotch, (a golden lab, beagle mix) that they recently got.
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| Joshua at the holiday concert |
Joshua (11) in middle school
Both Joshua and Jessica started attending middle school at Cane Creek this year. They are in sixth grade with different sets of teachers, so they seldom see each other. This is a big change for them with more responsibility. The teachers they have are much more stern than those they have had in the past.
A tradition at Cane Creek Middle School for a number of years has been for the sixth graders to go out to Earthshine Lodge near Lake Toxaway, NC. Both Joshua and Jessica went there this year. The lodge offers outside education. Per their website the course is "designed to inspire thought and creativity, as well as encourage students to push themselves to destroy the myth of 'I Can't.'"
Joshua began the summer by going to band camp. He is playing the trombone. He will say that he doesn't like it, but I think he enjoys playing in the concerts and learning a new skill.
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| Jessica at New River Gorge |
Jessica (13) in middle school
Jessica also enjoyed our long road trip we made this summer. We drove up through Virginia, Pennsylvania, and into New York state. We stopped at the Priesthood Restoration Site in Harmony, Pennsylvania. (Harmony is now Oakland, PA.) From there we headed north to Palmyra. We enjoyed spending the day with the DeFranco's and Beth's family.
Palmyra has a lot of church history. We stopped at the Sacred Grove, Hill Cumorrah, the Joseph Smith Farm, the Grandin Building, and the Peter Whitmer farm.
After leaving Palmyra, the family headed for Niagara Falls, which was an amazing experience. You can't really get an appreciation for how massive and powerful the falls there are unless you are there. More than 6 million cubic feet of water go over the falls every minute. (Niagara Facts)
As part of the long road trip, we passed through West Virginia where Steve served his mission for the LDS church. He hadn't been back in West Virginia for any length of time since his mission. The family enjoyed stopping at Cooper's Rock State Park, which provides a dramatic overlook of the Cheat River Gorge.
The family also stopped at the New River Gorge Bridge and Overlook.
Jessica had quite an experience
going over the bridge, which straddles the New River for 3,030 feet and
sits at 876 feet above it. Jessica has
always been quite fearful of driving along heights. She was challenged,
though, to keep her eyes
open as we crossed the bridge and really pay attention to what we were
doing. The intent was to
help her realize what she accomplished, and it worked. Jessica was
excited that she was able to get across the bridge without closing her
eyes and without being too scared. After she told everyone how happy
she was, she declared
she wanted to cross it again... later!
The family also made a trip up to the Cincinnati, Ohio area to be at Matthew and Amelia Murdock's wedding reception. As part of the trip, Jessica enjoyed spending her 13th birthday celebration with her Kellar cousins in Dayton, Ohio. The Kellars were gracious as always and went out of their way to bake and cook all kinds of good food.
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| Benjamin along a creek |
Benjamin (16) in high school
Benjamin is really growing up—sometimes to the chagrin of his parents. For example, he was off at Youth Conference in eastern North Carolina when the family went on our long road trip. Unfortunately, due to the timing we had, we realized we would need to be in two places at the same time. Benjamin was very gracious in allowing the family to go on our trip. It was strange, though, to have pictures we took along the way that did not include Benjamin in them. It emphasized the point that it will only be a couple years before Benjamin is off on his own mission for the church and then on to college.
Benjamin has expressed his appreciation for his family, especially for sisters who are so willing to help.
The experience at Youth Conference was memorable for him. There were over 1,500 other LDS youth from 10 stakes across North Carolina and from Columbia South Carolina. Benjamin really appreciated being around so many other LDS youth who share the same values. He also enjoyed the conversion story that retired NBA basketball player, Thurl Bailey, shared with the youth.
At the beginning of the summer, Benjamin (and Dad) headed to Cumberland Island for a week-long scout camp with his troop. The island is off the Georgia coast nearly to the Florida border. The island is both remote and historical. We hiked in three miles to our camp. Initially, this was quite a hike for our fledgling group of hikers. However, after several ten mile hikes for Benjamin (and some of the other scouts) the hikes got much easier. It didn't hurt that Cumberland Island is one of the easiest places to hike as the elevation is completely flat.
Historically, Cumberland Island, Georgia's largest barrier island, has passed from its aboriginal origins some millennia ago to the Spanish missionaries in the 16th century, to James Oglethorpe who built the first forts there, and up through Thomas and Lucy Carnegie in the 1880's. After several more decades the island is now largely a national park though there are still some private residences on the island. The island shows some of its historical past through ruined mansions left behind and feral horses that have been protected on the island.
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| Martha and Steve-Peter Whitmer Farm |
Martha in nursing program
After a couple years of working at finishing prerequisites, Martha was accepted into the nursing program at Blue Ridge Community College. Many of the courses along the way have been challenging, but this first semester of the program brought some more anxiety for Martha. She persevered though and did well.
Part of the program has been to do clinicals (following a nurse) at Pardee Hospital and Carolina Village. It has provided her with good experience.
Martha has enjoyed watching Carolyn grow up. We may be biased, but we think she is a joyful, spirited and intelligent young lady. (Carolyn describes herself as a 'teenager.') Martha is grateful that Carolyn has so much fun spending time with Grandma and Grandpa Collier while Mommy is away at school
Martha was really instrumental in getting Tom settled in Asheville. We are all grateful that he has taken so well to getting established here.
Steve getting older ;-) and working hard
Steve is really grateful for good health — physically and emotionally. He has been working hard at getting back in shape through strength training and yoga.
This year Steve has enjoyed spending time with family. He went to scout camp and hiking with Benjamin,who passed off his hiking merit badge this year. Of course, he also really enjoyed going on the road trip with the family.
Through a lot of time and hard work, Steve is really grateful that the house has been painted. He's also grateful for the new windows that have been installed. The house has really taken on a new look through all of this.
We are all grateful for good friends, a beautiful place to live, and a loving Savior who blesses us amply.
To all: a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Love, the Garvin family
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