Christmas Letter 2020

 Dear friends, family, and any gentle readers that remain here,

Welcome to our 2020 Christmas Letter.  I ended last year's Christmas letter this way:

So as we look ahead to 2020, what surprises are ahead?  I'm sure there will be challenges, but I know to the core of my being that there will be blessings to meet those challenges, and joy to surround them.  Our prayer for you, dear family, sweet friends, and Gentle Readers, is that you may know the abundance of our good God in the coming new year. May we all see his provision clearly.

That seems almost prophetic as we  look back on this past year.  Who would have thought?!

Challenges

We all have a LONG list of these this year.  In addition to the isolation, distance from family, and cancelled plans that we have all been experiencing this year, we have faced a few particular struggles.  

Dave has endeavored to be a faithful elder in our church and lead it through a tumultuous time full of government restraints, fear, and conflicts of vision. We would appreciate your prayers for our little church family as we struggle to be faithful amid change and disillusionment.

We have been kept away from Chris' parents due to the pandemic, and isolated with Dave's mom, Marilyn, as she has increasingly lost her memory.  We are unable to help either of them as we would like, and it is tough figuring out how to support them as they age.

And, of course, we age along with them.  Dave is remaining free of cancer and serious illness, but continues to deal with the imbalance, headaches, and jaw/teeth problems that former chemotherapy and radiation treatments have made a mostly daily part of life for him.  Here at the end of the year, after successfully going an entire year without infusions for her auto-immune disease and cutting down to very low doses of her immune-suppressant, Chris has had a flare-up of her disease and must start increasing her meds again.  We know these things are more irritants than serious health problems, but would covet your prayers all the same.

Blessings

As is often the case, the blessing far outweigh the challenges.  

In June, we spent a few days in Phoenix helping Ben and Elsa move to a new home and Ben to a new school.  How graciously God provided for Ben and his beautiful family! And we got to celebrate Carys' birthday, too.

Eliana, Everett, Carys, Ezra, Adeline, and Emma

We celebrated our 6th annual cousins camp with the four eldest grands with a trip to Brianhead, Utah in July, followed by a celebration of our 40th wedding anniversary with both our kids and all our grandkids.  There were blessings abounding!

Pampa and the the four Cousins Campers at 11,000 ft.

FinFam 40th celebration.  Here we are at Bryce Canyon National Park.

The grown-ups

In October, we got to spend a long weekend with the Tucson Finnegans at their house, followed by a camping trip to Southern Arizona with the Phoenix Finnegans. While our visits have been few, they have been most precious.

A different kind of family portrait on a sunset picnic in Tucson.

Hiking at Patagonia Lake in Southern Arizona with the PHX crew.

We are both grateful: we are both still loving retirement, both living cancer-free, and both trusting the God who has so abundantly blessed us to carry us into the future, whatever it brings in 2021. 

We pray you are able to count many blessings along with us, dear ones.  May we truly rejoice in the Savior born for us, and continuing to make a way for us where there doesn't seem to be a way.

With much love,

Chris and Dave

The Tucson Finnegans:  Ezra, Nikki, Emma, Eliana, and Tim at Cedar Breaks National Monument.  And they have a three-month-old foster baby, too!

The Phoenix Finnegans: Ben, Everett, Ada, Carys, and Elsa, at Bryce.

Dave and Chris at Brianhead Peak.

P.S.  Feel free to hunt here for more details, photos, quilting projects, books I've read, etc.!

Summer/early fall projects

I completed a few things for gift-giving in the summer and early fall.  I thought I'd post pictures for you while I am hard at work on Christmas projects!

I made some purses/treasure bags for Cousin's Camp, and I made each of the children a whole-cloth quilted large placemat/table topper.

I also completed a felt activity book and a little purse for E3's birthday.

 And now, back to Christmas sewing!

A poem for every day:

 

40th Anniversary Adventure

Immediately after Cousin's Camp in July, we moved to a larger condo in Brian Head, and the rest of the family joined us for a week of celebration for our 40th anniversary.  We enjoyed Cedar Breaks National monument, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Lake Panguitch, and much more beautiful territory around the area.  But mostly we enjoyed having everyone together.  Here are a few photos from our time.

A great time was had by all, no one got sick, and we are so grateful to have had this time in the middle of the Co-Vid summer!  God blessed us with this celebration, and continues to bless us with our family!

Cousins Camp VI 2020

 Well, here we are in August, with July's adventures only fond memories!  It is such a strange world in 2020, but both Cousin's Camp and a get together for our 40th anniversary actually happened.  Isn't God good?  

We picked up the four eldest grands in Tucson and Phoenix, and headed to Utah.  We held Cousins Camp (our 6th annual, amazingly!) based from a condo in Brian Head.  We enjoyed the Wildflower Festival (and the kids became flower rangers) at Cedar Breaks National Park, rode a chair lift up to 11,300 feet and hiked down the mountain, went fishing, hiked to an alpine pond, and made crafts, read, and enjoyed one another immensely!  our theme this year was Psalm 121, and we memorized it during our three days together.  Below are some photos of the festivities and the beauty (in both the people and the scenery).