Christmas Letter 2011
Dear friends and family,
Once again, I'm going to use the Internet for our Christmas greeting!
It's been a disappointing year only in that we did not get to see enough of our wonderful friends. We spent our 'winter' completely renovating our half-basement that had some water damage. May came and again Jim loved his time in North Dakota 'helping' at the Hagens farm. It was so wet that during his 2 weeks, except for one day, he was the only one able to get into the fields as his equipment was light enough and the planting equipment was not. He did finish his task by spreading 1,250 TONS of fertilizer!
There is a highlight for the year in that our wonderful friend Bob Lill of North Dakota went to the Mayo Clinic for a second opinion on the course of action for diagnosed prostate cancer. The Mayo Clinic did what others would not do and successfully removed the prostate. Unfortunately, a growth of unknown origin formed in his abdomen which was removed on Dec. 7 and now we hope no other complications arise!
Genealogy research continues to consume our time. The highlight was that an article Jim wrote for the SC branch of the National Society, Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims, was published in the national magazine! I think it was selected because it proves that it is still possible to research and document every generation back to a pre-1700 immigrant. Click here to see the article. If you are a “Remington” descendant – you can join the organization – it is inexpensive and lets those who follow you join easily.
Jim had his first major physical problem this year with what turned out to be a badly blown disk resulting in very successful surgery but it sure ate up the second half of the year. Special thanks to Dave for his extraordinary effort to get me home from harvest efforts in North Dakota when I finally gave up and asked for help. Amy assisted with real-time phone support leading Dave to find me in ND just hours after I told them of my desperation – quite a team. They got me home, then Bev took over and provided great sympathy and care!
We travel to Denver with Dave and his family to be with Amy and her family the week after Christmas and we look forward to that time greatly!
It's been an outstanding year – I can't remember the death of any close relative – lets repeat this for 2012!
Love to all,
Bev and Jim
|