Happy Valentine’s Day 2021!
Dear Family and Friends,
What a year this has been for all of us! Shortly after we sent our Valentine’s letter last year, our world changed dramatically! Jan was fortunate to fly to Salt Lake and stay with dear friend, Dee Ann Ludwig, and attend RootsTech there prior to everything becoming much more restrictive. In Salt Lake, it was a joy to have lunch with her brother, Barney, and briefly visit longtime friend, Bonnie Bowen, as well as have a fun reunion with former Greenwood Village Ward friends.
This has been a rough year and a half for Fred! Recovering from his total shoulder replacement in October of 2019 and subsequently developing significant knee problems have really restricted him. He is working hard to regain strength and movement, and has made considerable gains.
In March our close friends of 43 years, Wayne and Claradene Stewart, returned home from their mission to France. It was so fun to have them stay with us in March and then again in May.
Also in March, Jan’s long planned trip to San Francisco to see dear friend, Eve Dror, was canceled at the last minute due to Covid. Nevertheless, in July Jan joined Jill’s family to travel back to Utah to see the Stewarts, stay with their daughter Laura Hightower and family, and visit with older daughter, Tami Ward and family. What fun to stay in the lovely “Hightower Resort”!
One of the highlights of 2020 was the May 31st engagement of oldest grandson, Austin, to Elizabeth “Liz” Poppy. We are so excited for them as they finalize plans for their wedding in the Autumn of 2021.
Another trip for Jan was again with the Moyers over Labor Day to the mountains of Southern Colorado, staying at the beautiful cabin of their great friends, Gordon and Fay Beckstead. Their 40 acres of wooded property gave the seven boys much room for exploration, building forts, and (for the teens) shooting clay pigeons (closely supervised).
Our greatest joys continue to be interaction with our children and grandchildren. Most weekends since late May, we have had one or two of the Moyer boys here for two or three days of work (tutoring) and play. Covid restrictions did dampen our Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations considerably, and we can’t wait to resume more involvement with our friends as well as extended family!
Fred and I have really gained a lot of insight into the Scriptures this past year and a half with the “Come Follow Me” program of our Church and all the supplementary materials that are available. We are so grateful to be able to attend Church again, though most of the time we do so remotely. Initially, prior to meetings shared on Zoom, we joined Jill’s family and sometimes their Gates cousins for our Church meetings.
We send our love, best wishes and prayers for each of you that 2021 will return to some normalcy, and that you will enjoy good health and have many occasions and activities that bring you joy!
Much Love,
Fred and Jan
P.S. You will see that most of the photos are of our grandchildren. Jan was unable to label all but a couple of the photos. They are largely chronological.
Father’s Day 2020 - Scott and Jill’s families help Fred celebrate!
Bowen joins us for Valentine’s Day - 2020
Kind man demonstrates his drone to Fred and six eager boys - January 2021 - Jill and Jared took a long weekend break while Fred and Jan “watched” the 7 boys!