Christmas Letter 2024

 

Dear friends, family, and Gentle Readers,

We bring you the greetings of the season from our lovely northern New Mexico! 

You may have noticed that no blog post and no Christmas cards made their way from us to you in 2023.  After Chris's mom died over Labor Day weekend of 2023, I simply didn't have the bandwidth to get it together and sent out.  So here we are, updating you on the blessings God has given this past year of 2024.

Ella(7) Carys (10) Emma (14) Everett (7) Ada (12) Ezra (10) Elijah (4)

Our Magnificent 7 grandchildren continue to grow and bring us delight.  Now ages 14 through 4, we enjoy every chance we can get to spend time with them.  This year, we have enjoyed:

March: The formerly Phoenix Finnegans became the Florence Finnegans, with a move to their newly acquired home.  We helped a bit with the move, and met up at the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Farm between Florence and Tucson with the Tucson Finnegans.  It was a wonderful time of blessing to see Ben and Elsa settled in their new home. Ben continues as a Latin teacher at Benjamin Franklin High School, and Elsa is a curriculum editor for Grand Canyon University.  They are all active in their church, and continue to homeschool the kids.

The Florence Finnegans:  Carys, Ben, Ada, Elsa, Everett

Emma, Ada, Ezra, Carys, Ella, Everett, Elijah

April: We kept the Florence Finnegan kids at an air bnb in Flagstaff, AZ, while Ben and Elsa hiked into the Grand Canyon for a stay at Phantom Ranch.  We revisited several favorite National Parks/Monuments together, and enjoyed playing games and hanging out.

At Wupatki National Monument: Chris, Everett, Carys, Ada, Dave

Many fusball tournaments...

Sunset Crater National Monument: Carys, Everett, Ada

Walniut Canyon National Monument

Montezuma Castle National Monument: Ada, Carys, Everett

May: Cousins Camp X (how have we been doing this for 10 years?) took place in Heber, AZ, in the White Mountains.  It was a great time with the six eldest cousins, and  with their parents and Elijah  before and after.

Front:  Emma, Ada, Carys.  Middle: Nikki, Tim and Elijah, Ben, Elsa.  Back: Ella, Ezra, Everett.

It's dangerous when the grand daughter has your phone!

Ada, Chris, Emma

Dave with the Florence Finnegans

Around the firepit.

Dave and I also managed to squeeze in one campng trip just the two of us, at Heron Lake.  We loved birdwatching there, and just relaxing.

In our cozy camper.

An Osprey taking off with a fish!

Heron Lake State Park, NM.

September: 

At the beginning of the month, Ezra had his 10th-Year trip with us.  We took him and the camper, and enjoyed the Dragonfly Festival at Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge, east of Roswell, NM.  It was a great trip full of bug hunting, bird watching, star gazing, and story-listening.  Ezra LOVED the Game and Fish catfish tank, where he spent several hours catching and releasing huge catfish.

Loading up and heading out!

Watching for dragonflies and birds

Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Fishing tank

Camping at Bottomless Lakes State Park

At the end of the month, we joined Ben and his kids in Alpine, Arizona, while Elsa got a little tme at home alone.  We had a fun time of hiking, picnicking, and general adventure.  I loved rising early each morning to listen to the elk bugling, and our day trip to the Catwalk and Mogollon in New Mexico was really lovely.

Dave, Carys, Everett, Ben, Ada

The kids on the Catwalk National Monument trail.

The Mogollon Wilderness

On the Catwalk

Lovely picnic spot

October: We visited first the Tucson Finnegans, then the Florence Finnegans.  I, unfortunately, was knocked flat sick, so we cut short our Florence trip and brought the Florence crew to Tucson for part of it.  Thanks, Tim and Nikki!

All around the table

Watching the comet with Emma, Ezra, Ella, Nikki, Tim, and Dave.

Playing lots of games

Dave, Ella, Ezra, Tim, Elijah, Emma

November: Thanksgiving found us back in Tucson with Tim and Nikki, where we both thankful and enjoyed time at Kartchner Caverns and geocaching, and playing games, and general grocaching and shopping and adventuring. Tim and Nikki both bless Rincon Mountain PCA with their service. Tim manages big project and many people at Raytheon, and Nikki keeps up with two kids in a Classical Christian School, one homeschooled, and a toddler-- a very busy momma!  

Climbing trees and picnicking at Kartchner Caverns

Making S'Mores around the fire pit: Emma, Elijah, Tim, Nikki, Ezra

More games: Tim, Ella, Ezra, Dave, Emma

Geocaching, and Emma has my phone again.

Fun hiking and geocaching up Reddington Canyon in Tucson.

Elijah ready for whatever comes his way...

And books: always books!

December:  And now we are looking forward to having both of our Arizona families here for Christmas!  We can't wait!

Chris's Dad, Jack, has survived a tough year and a half of grieving and health decline.  He is still in his house in Rio Rancho, NM, and Chris's sister, Jeni, now lives there and does the lion's share of helping him.  We see them frequently.  Please keep him in your prayers as he deals with a multitude of heavy health issues. Ella keeps him supplied with pictures.

Jack with artwork from Ella.

And us?  We're older, less energetic, and a bit slower than we used to be.  We continue to deal with health challenges and frustrations and forgetfulness.  But our over-all sense is one of gratitude.  Our kids and grandkids join us in following after Jesus.  What more could we ask? God has continued to bless us with all we need and so much more.  We continue to love our little church and serve it, and grow in our birdwatching skills.  So we are thankful.

And we pray for each of you, as we pray for us this special season, that Jesus would remain your focus and joy.  May you follow Him with all you are, and contnually find Him more than sufficient to meet all your needs!

Sending love to you all-

Chris and Dave