(Click each photo for a larger view)

It’s been an "interesting" year!  The most interesting event came in May when Paul’s mother was stricken with pneumonia. She was comatose for several days, and with some tears we decided to put her in a hospice facility. "Mom" was apparently happy to be out of the hospital because less than 24-hours after her arrival in hospice she woke up. She was a chatterbox soon afterwards and within a few weeks was back at home pretty much taking care of herself. We all spent time with her but Paul’s sister-in-law, Jean, and Mom’s neighbors did the bulk of the on-site support.

Danny and Crystal have moved into the house of Crystal’s mother, who passed away last year. They’ve kept quite busy cleaning and painting, selling some antiques, and reorganizing the rooms. They’ve acquired an additional cat which is quite at home with their other two cats, the huge lizard, and several fish. Crystal is now working at PetSmart. The change was necessitated by the owner at her previous job deciding to close down without notice. Danny is still with Pizza Hut but is thinking about a career change as well.

Angela is in her third year as a veterinary student at Texas A&M. She’s performed several "neutering" surgeries on cats and dogs from shelters....so far all her patients have survived! She moved (again) and is renting the second floor of a house owned by the mother of one of her Texas Tech friends. She is bemoaning the fact that this past summer was "her last REAL summer" since she must do clinical work next summer as part of her education. Hopefully the summer after that she will be working. She and a friend from school have planned a pre-Christmas trip to London and France. On a sad note, we are mourning the loss of Angela’s dog Ruby, who died just before Thanksgiving.

Becky kept busy in her woodworking shop this year and is currently attempting to redo or replace our kitchen cabinet doors and drawer covers. She spent a couple of weeks in Ohio completing a make over of her mother’s kitchen. She did some painting and gave orders as her brother helped remove the counter top and sink...and the installation of the replacements. While in Ohio Becky was able to visit with family and friends, including Brianna and Corissa, the new twin daughters of her nephew Chad and his wife Bernice. The trip north in October was Becky’s second of the year to Ohio. She and Angela drove up as soon as Paul’s mom was put in the hospice facility to visit and help out.

Becky got something this year she never had before - Good eyesight! Toward the end of Spring Becky tossed away her glasses, hopefully for good, after getting Lasik surgery. She still needs drug store reading glasses for close-up work and fine print but is otherwise pleased with the results.

Paul was also in Ohio twice this year and as usual did not drive straight there or straight home. On the way up in May he visited the state capitol buildings of Tennessee and Kentucky. On the way home he was accompanied by Angela, and they headed East before heading back to Texas. Their travels included a lunch visit with Paul’s friend Fran Howell at the "World’s first Wendy’s" in Columbus. Then it was on to Pennsylvania to look at covered bridges and to take in a Pirates game. After a quick stop at the West Virginia state capitol building it was back to Texas. On his second trip to Ohio Paul spent a day in Marion visiting friends Jeff Ruth and Lisa Powell and also stopped in Metropolis, Illinois to see a larger-than-life statue of Superman.

Becky and Paul took two short trips together this year. We went camping in Austin, primarily to see the thousands of bats under the Congress Street bridge fly out for feeding at sunset. The other was a weekend visit to Rusk, Texas for a last ride on the Texas State Railroad. Due to a lack of funds, the steam train and vintage passenger car attraction is scheduled to shut down for good after December 31st.

We had several visitors this year. Paul’s cousins from Lubbock, Dick and Becky Larson, visited in February. It was hardly a social call, as Becky Larson spent most of the time in Hermann hospital undergoing major heart surgery. Dick split time between our house and the hospital. We were pleased to host Darrin, Amy, Evan, and David Larson at various times. Shortly after the Larsons’ return to Lubbock, Lisa Powell flew in from Ohio for a quick visit. We always welcome visitors, so come on down!

After getting a new bicycle for Christmas last year, Becky talked Paul into beginning bike riding for exercise. Now some of you may remember that Paul was somewhat of a bicycling maniac as a teenager. Well, some of the lunacy is back. After discovering it is possible to pedal into his office without getting killed Paul replaced his 30-year old bike and now two-wheels the 14-mile round trip to the office whenever possible....with his computer strapped to a luggage rack. On the cooler weekends we both ride together.

Have a great Christmas and a wonderful 2007.

Copyright ©2008  Paul Van House