Waters Christmas letter 2011
We are all healthy and well as we send our greetings to you, and as we get older that fact alone brings us to a point of thanksgiving. Wendy and I have been moved to a new city and new roles during the summer and so we are slowly settling into Toronto. Our new home is only a few blocks from where I lived as a teenager. One of the joys of this relocation has been reuniting with a friend from high school days. When we met this summer we hadn’t seen each other since we were 17 years of age.
As we review the year we begin with a very busy January spending some extended time in the Kananaskis area for our retreat and then operating as tour guides for Sandra and Alison. Those were very cold days! I remember that I had to return to Kananaskis towards the end of those days and leaving Calgary it was about minus 30 C, but when I got into the Kananaskis valley it was 10 degrees and sunny as a chinook had blown in! Amazing to see and experience.
June brought our departure from Edmonton as we hooked the trailer on and headed across the country. That was a great drive that we enjoyed a great deal as the terrain changed almost hourly. We continue to enjoy camping and spending time under the awning in a warm evening. The difference now is a much earlier summer sunset as we are so much farther south.
We have found a little trailer park to locate our trailer. The Credit River is near us and we are surrounded by trees. It is a quite place for us and we’ve enjoyed settling into this place of escape. We did decide to take the trailer to Lake George in July where we had a delightful week vacationing with Harvey and Adele. Two words to describe the week – shopping and golf!
2011 was a year of change for Jason and Susan too as they announced they were moving to Ontario. Jason has a job as a Community Services Worker and Youth Pastor for The Salvation Army in Listowel. That little town of 6000 is the birth place of Jason and so it was a return to his roots. He and Susan had a little girl in July – Rachel Emma Waters – and she is a wonderful little bundle of joy. To put it bluntly she has stolen our hearts! We were delighted that Susan and Rachel came through a few tense moments and both are healthy. Susan is now launching her own music business – Rain Drop Music!
Philip and Amanda remain in Canmore where they enjoy one of the most idealistic settings you could imagine. Amanda continues her work as an Addictions Counselor as well as working on her Masters degree! Philip works as an EMT and enjoys the challenge and reward of making a difference in the lives of others. When they aren’t in their lovely home they can be found enjoying the great outdoors.
It was wonderful to have Philip and Amanda join us in September for a few days. We took advantage to have the family join us for a day at our “new home”. And of course everyone wanted to be able to see and hold Rachel.
At the end of September we were once again headed across the border for a holiday in Myrtle Beach with Brad and Sue. The weather was spectacular and we enjoyed walking along the beach, taking advantage of the warm weather, some more shopping, and of course being with friends.
As we look towards 2012 we offer you our prayers for peace in your life, the blessing of God on you and your family and trust that somewhere along the way our paths will cross.
Hybrid Thoughts 