1997

When Christmas morn is dawning I wish that I could be
There by the manger cradle God's Son, newborn, to see.
How kind of you, our Savior, For us to come to earth
Oh, may we not by sinning Despise your lowly birth.
We need you, 0 Lord Jesus, to be our dearest friend
Your love will guard and guide us and keep us to life's end.
--Abel Burckhardt (19th c.)

14 December 1997

Merry Christmas!

It gets harder each year to remember just exactly what happened during the year. There were some momentous times to remember, I think.

We did have a trip or two: In February a usual dental trip into Chicago, and an unusual trip (for us) for Iowa dental alumni to Scottsdale, AZ. Vince's class also made it a 40th class reunion and that was fun.

In June we went on an 18 day trip with my sister and brother-in-law (Sharon and Dalen) to the northwest. We saw, sometimes briefly, Glacier, Lake Louise, Banff, Vancouver, Victoria, Portland, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Big Horns, Spearfish-Passion Play, Black Hills, the Corn Palace, and a few places in between. We traveled in Dalen's RV - now that's togetherness!

It was fun to see Annie (my friend of old) and Bob in July - they stopped in for an overnight - we visited and visited. Annie wanted to see the Medical Museum at the University - that was interesting and we had never seen it. We also went to the Amanas a little bit. Annie and I roomed together at LBI, & I was her maid of honor, she was my matron of honor.

Vince took early retirement the end of August - he was given a nice retirement party - such plaudits! I've been told that retirement is twice the husband at half the pay. And the very next week we drove to Centreville, VA to visit Dawn and her family. (Any time we see any of our kids is a treat - it isn't nearly often enough.) Dawn's kids are growing up, too fast we think. Heather is 13, a sweet young lady, and Andy is 9 (nearly 10). Andy is going to be a proficient fisherman - Grandpa showed him how to cast.

Since October we have been trying to be as much help as we could to Jené - she had a high risk pregnancy and had to go on bed rest. The day before Thanksgiving she gave birth to John William Daub, III. He was a preemie and had to spend about 10 days in Intensive Care, but is now home and doing well. He seems so small - how soon we forget how tiny newborns are. BrandiAnne is 2 and is getting used to have a little brother around. John got a teaching position in Traer, IA and so they moved there in August. It is different not to have them in Iowa City, but it is only an hour and half away.

Mark is still in Carson City, teaching and doing some performing. Arik is still in Portland, helping to manage a rental company. We haven't seen them this year except for a brief stop in Portland when we were on our RV trip.