Cheesh! Time flies!
Some things that happened in the Lance Family that we don’t want to forget that happened 2010
· That dad sent mom charging home in January to help get Joseph and Jeffrey into their own apartment. After a morning of searching we found an apartment that gave Joseph and Jeffrey recognition for the fact that they are grown men, in the military and able to support themselves and the apartment was rented to them on their own credentials. That made them feel so good.
· We are very proud of how they are managing their own affairs, keeping their bills paid, etc. We are thankful that the Lord has helped them find jobs. We were amazed at the many good deals we found to furnish their apartment.
· We are thankful that Jana was able to finish up her training and get not one, not 2, but 3 jobs. Where does she find the energy?
· Grandma Baerwaldt experienced a profound miracle that let her know that her time on earth is not quite complete when the doctor’s basically performed an angiogram that turned into an angioplasty… as she was having a heart attack.
· Mom had a rather ambitious yard project, helped a great deal by John, Joseph, Jeffrey and Jeremy. We made garden boxes for the vegetable garden, hauled a ton of dirt and compost, planted a few hundred plants and made a beautiful archway, walkway and border gardens.
· Courtenay finished teaching 3rd grade, survived a Lance invasion, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy and honored grandpa Baerwaldt by naming him Everett.
· Seth turned 7 and has lost a respectable amount of front teeth. He can stick his tongue out, with his teeth closed!
· Jacob is almost 5. He loves to sing and pretend. We hear that he is a good student. How could he help not being a good student, when he and Seth have the best teacher in the world?
· Lia has become a princess fan, no doubt partly thanks to Amelia
· We enjoyed a quick trip to Sidney to see the Call’s house and visit and play with Amelia and Phillip. We were especially tickled to see Jeremy and Jared having a “tea party” at Amelia’s insistence. They were delighted by the kids’ antics. Remember Amelia playing “timber”?
· The bomb shelter house was one of the highlights of the trip. Jared was ready to move in that very day!
· We were so glad that Grandma Jean was able to be in Utah for Memorial Day. How fun it was to be in the Heber cemetery and hear a Murdock cousin play the bagpipes. We enjoyed the wonderful dinner at Aunt Alice’s house.
· We had some very tender moments with Mary before she died. Jeremy played his guitar softly for her and each of us tried to find small things we could do to ease her final months. We remember how reverent Seth and Jacob were when they came to see her after she had gone into a coma, just before she died.
· We enjoyed a spontaneous family reunion at Mary’s death. Family members came from far and near. All of the Baerwaldt siblings were in attendance
· We were SO thankful to re-establish communications with Carol. So sorry that her friend and husband, Dan died. We were so glad that Grandma Jean, Laura and Sally were able to go to the funeral. Although we are sad that Carol lost Dan, we are so grateful to know where she is. We missed Carol!
W We learned that Grandpa Lynn's peripheral vision has developed significantly in the last 2 years...to the point of driving his car to church and back.
· We remember with fondness Grandpa Baerwaldt building a hen house. We like Grandpa’s “truck”. We will always remember him driving along and dragging the hen house from the neighbor’s yard to his yard.
· We will never forget Chester the Molester and his harem of hens. We were especially entertained by grandma’s almost daily run-in’s with Chester. Remember when James, Seth, Jacob, Lia, Meikka and Grandma Debbie watched grandma beat up Chester with the bucket?
· Many of us enjoyed a run up to Idaho in David’s truck. We had some great times talking.
· We are glad that Jared got to have a special trip to Virginia. He had a great time with Peter, earned his scuba certification, went to Kings Dominion... (went to at least one dance)
· We can still see Jared high atop a ladder pruning Grandma Jean’s roses. We filled every garbage can Grandpa had (we hope that he didn’t go out and buy more garbage cans).
· We have enjoyed watching the video several times that Scott made of Jeremy playing the guitar. We still need to find someone who can make a master mix of all the shootings.
· Jeremy and Jared had a great time at EFY at the University of Utah. Jeremy made his first solo guitar performance by playing “Bristle Comb” for a few hundred people. About prayer… Remember “ on your knees, or on your feet, but never, never on your seat”?
· Both John and James (and wives, of course) have had a strong interest to buy a house and each time they have felt that neither the time nor the circumstances were right.
· Dad joined us in time for the guys to enjoy a high adventure trip complete with white water rafting. They had such a great time that they decided they should have a Lance men’s trip every year. We learned that Jared is highly co-ordinated and Jeremy inherited his mother’s “I have to think through every action before I move” trait.
· Justin and Jenni made at least 3 trips to Utah. The first time they slept in mom’s room in the basement, the next time with Charity and the 3rd time in James’ basement. They spent many hours on the road, poor things. Jenni gets lots of crocheting done on those long trips.
· Dad enjoyed a week with his parents, Scott, Jonathon and Shawn. I don’t think they had any big projects this trip.
· We had a great family reunion for Joanna and Cory’s wedding (Dad got to attend the wedding and both receptions), and another Lance reunion in our back yard with about 40 in attendance.
· Jana made a nostalgic trip back to Ohio. She had a bitter-sweet time exploring all her old haunts and visiting many friends.
· Jana’s high school buddy Alicia surfaced. Alicia’s life is full of drama which has Jana scratching her head. How can anybody enjoy that much drama?
· Jana has had some unbelievable run-in’s with jerks. Everything from guys still married and wanting to date to players who are eligible and don’t want to or don’t know how to have a girl friend to lawyers trying to pick a fight. It could be funny and ridiculous if heartstrings weren’t attached.
· Joseph has had an unbelievable time trying to get to welding training. First the school changed locations and then the school still wasn’t finished, then classes were unbelievably backed up. He actually made it to the school in September only to be sent home until further notice. Joseph has almost jumped ship with each blockade and then decided to stick with it. He finally got a loan and grants and is going to do a semester of school and hope the Army makes good on the April school date.
· There was tremendous grief in the house when Jared accidentally burned up his long anticipated and hard earned Wii… on his second time playing it. Ouch! He has almost earned it back.
· Dad has been most grateful to have Jeremy and Jared back. He loves charging out of the house each morning with them in tow as they head out to the gym for a good workout.
· The boys are really enjoying their new piano teacher, Amy Bangerter. Plus dad has provided some unbelievable incentives for learning to be more diligent about playing the piano.
· Every day, dad loves his breakfast shake, 2 fried eggs, ½ a sandwich, cheese stick, a couple of cherry tomatoes, apple slices, yogurt, slimfast etc. The only variety he gets is dinner. Some things don’t change… or change gradually.
· The guys have had a number of death marches, most notably going from the Dead Sea up 3,000 ft to Makawr and 3,000 ft back down to the Dead Sea. They have some great photo’s of themselves covered in flies.
· Jeremy got his scuba certification in October and both Jeremy and Jared had a great scuba trip in early December.
· Jeffrey was relieved to finally get a job. He is working with a company that clears houses after they are reposed by the bank. He seems to enjoy it. It’s something different every day.
· Dad made a HUGE impression on the scout troop. He has gone on 2 campouts this year and taught the boys how to build fires, make fuzzy sticks, cook in cast iron (several men in the troop went out immediately and bought their own cast iron pots), hike and numerous other skills. The boys were especially entertained by his stories.
· Uncle Fredrick was a great visitor. Dad actually took time off work to drive us all down to Petra. We enjoyed all our conversations on the trip and each evening he was here.
· We found out that our next assignment will be to Jerusalem. We are still working out details, but chances seem reasonable that mom and the boys will also be able to go.
· Mom made a bad decision to buy some necklaces from the hawker’s at Petra. It’s best to just ignore them. Once a conversation is started you leave penniless! She probably could have gotten a better price at the Holy Land souvenir shop. Good thing she had enough sense to take only a limited amount of money with her.
· Mom was dragging there for a while with 2 and sometimes 3 events in a week. Entertaining is all right, but there should be a limit, right?
