Merry Christmas 2017

"Home for Christmas" 

We found a quote recently that captures much of what seems important to us: “Fill your minds with truth, your hearts with love, and your lives with service.”  Chief among truths we treasure is the living reality of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world ~ and as the saying goes ~ “the reason for the season.” We contemplate the grace of our Heavenly parents as they sent their beloved son to earth that “whoso believeth in Him might have eternal life.”  We’re grateful to share with you the light He brought, and the joy we feel in His love.

We feel that love from you as well, and treasure our years together ~ they have added so much richness to our lives.  We had opportunity to catch up with many of you via Luke’s wedding to Camilla Dudley in September.  We gathered in Provo, Utah to celebrate the wedding and were grateful to see many of you there.

 

The wedding made a family reunion possible for the second time this year, as we began earlier in May with a family reunion in Cascade, Idaho where 34 of our 35 family members gathered (grandson Alex is a missionary in Romania). 

Luke ~ wishing Camilla would have been part of the family then!

Then again in November, 29 of us were able to gather in Corvallis for a Thanksgiving celebration.  We had such a good time together!

In August, we travelled to New Hampshire to stay at the family cabin on Squam Lake where Rockywold/Deephaven family camps are located (started by Annie’s 2^nd great grandmother in 1897).  We joined Laura’s family there for a few days and also had Annie’s 92 year-old mother, Beverly Howe, with us as well.  After they all left, we stayed on and traveled to Prince Edward Island where Tom’s family of origin has lived since the 1840’s when they emigrated to escape Ireland’s potato famine ~ they are still potato farmers!  We loved our time on that beautiful Island of “green gables” and rolling hills covered with lush farms and red cliffs tumbling into the blue ocean.

“Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables -

Cousins : George and (2)Tom Sherrys ~ Seacow Head lighthouse on Sherry land

 8 mile bridge from Nova Scotia to PEI

 A little over a week after Beverly left us and returned to her home on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, she suffered a significant stroke that permanently disabled her.  What sadness.  Just days earlier she was hiking with us in the NH hills, paddling a canoe, and swimming in the lake.  Now she is confined to a wheelchair and largely unable to communicate.  We are left to primarily love her with our eyes and hugs, giving back something of the wonderful years she cared for and served her family and so many others.

Notwithstanding our sadness, we are grateful for the knowledge that through the atonement of Christ, we will all be healed and made whole again ~ free to love and rejoice in all the many relationships that have become integral to our lives.  With that hope, we send our love to you this blessed season.

                                      Annie & Tom

For those who know some or all of our children:

Matt & Jessica, with Sofia and Lizzie Jane ~ SLC, Utah

Sara & Birch, with Alysee, Nathan, Tyler, Cooper, and Chloe ~ Yakima, Washington

Elder Alex Ditto~Romania/Moldova Mission

Emily & Ryan, with Sage, Hazel, Truman, and Mila ~ Yakima, Washington

Leah & Geoff, with Lucy, Isaac, and Kate ~ Mapleton, Utah

Seth & Caroline, with Cali, young William, and Tommy ~ Corvallis, Oregon

Laura & Jared, with little Rue, Isla, and Sawyer ~ Elko, Nevada

Luke and Camilla ~ Las Vegas, Nevada