January 11th Mary Wrote

Hello All!!!

I wish to say Happy New Year as Well "Happy New Year". Our family had a great Christmas and New Years Weekend, we entertained approximately 85 people in different parties over the 2 weekends in about 6 different meal party settings. We had Christmas and I had my first Gift treasure hunt. Paul bought me new everyday Corelle dishes to replace our old Tupperware plates and ended up buying 6 boxes of 4 settings each and then he found some new tablecloths, and dish towels etc. to make a total of ten gifts to find so I traveled from the basement to the attic and back and forth several times. Fortunately we had no outside gas tanks to go looking at, (Jim you remember the treasure hunts we used to do for each other, do children still do them or am I aging myself) Paul didn't take me to the mailbox either but we were out to the vehicles. Oh by the way I am not one of those women disappointed at receiving practical everyday needed stuff.

The day after Christmas we entertained some of Aaron's friends to celebrate his 18th Birthday. On Monday, the 27th, I used a bus from Levy's and took our family and Aaron's girlfriend's family out to Lancaster for the day. We did some shopping and then ended at Shady Maple for their smorgasbord. We had a fun time and enjoyed the day together.

New Year's Eve, we had 35 - 38 people at our house to bring in the new year. It was warm enough outside that David started a fire in our fire pit and roasted marshmallows. It was a good place for the teenagers to hang out.

Finally Mom's Party - Thanks to everyone who helped, it was a lot of fun and I am glad we could do it. It was great visiting with some of mom's friends, and I'm glad the weather cooperated, allowing them to be there.

Well 2004 has come to an end. What can I reflect on and what can I look forward to.

- Feb, our family presented our last program as "The Good Family" for this time in our life. We sang and did programs for 4 years, it was a wonderful experience, taught the boys a lot of things, made new friends, improved our "up front" skills, etc.
- March, Paul and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary - I think every year we reminisce about my slip being left at mom's and Jim and Vicki driving (flying) from Q-town to the farm and back to Doylestown in record time (??? 30 min, Jim is that right, or maybe I should ask Vicki, she was pregnant)
- May, we sent our first child off into the big world on his own. God was so good to us during this time, we missed Aaron and I am glad to have him home, but I am so glad he had the opportunity and the desire to go and experience this unforgettable job. The travel and work got tiring and he would have liked to be home earlier but he was committed to staying to the end. (I think this made an impression on his boss, he called last week wondering if Aaron was thinking about returning or if he had any brothers who wanted to come, Dave, Bill here's your opportunity.)
- June, we spent 5 days at Creation Festival, I go as chef and dishwasher. Our group was 5 adults, and 15 children and young adults.
- July, Ho Hum when is Aaron coming home
- Aug, David's surprise 16th Birthday Party - about 30 guests for an outside picnic
- Sept, the start of a new year and bus driver training and passing my test to drive bus. Also driver training for another 16 year old.
- Oct, Is Aaron home yet?, No not yet.
- Nov, Aaron has returned and what joy it is to have him home again. He came home very appreciative of his family and a place to even call home. I sure am glad to be his mom.
- Dec, picking classes and registering Aaron at Bucks County Community for spring semester, to finish his H.S. senior year.

God is good, I praise him everyday for his faithfulness and promise "to never leave me or forsake me". We have had our trials and difficult times and sometimes I just don't like life. Paul continues to struggle with his job, and what does the future have for him. We have had disappointments in the direction of music and ministry, and wonder where God is taking us and how we should be using the gifts of music he had given us. We have not totally settled at Christ Independent Bible Church as far as moving our membership, and I see this as something we are working at again with a new year. Rocky Ridge has an interim pastor (Ray Yoder, who married us at Doylestown Menn. ) who will be guiding them through a healing time. They are having some Wed. evening mtgs. that we are planning to attend. Please remember to pray for us as we seek to know God's leading in our church attendance and commitment to a body of believers.

Well, now you know why I was late with this, there was a bunch of stuff I wanted to share and I didn't want to rush through this, if I have raised any questions feel free to reply, I love mail.

Mary