Hello Friends and Family,
Another year has come and gone. Of course it started with Covid 19. We were happy to complete our vaccinations in mid February and received our booster at the end of October. We feel fortunate to have these vaccinations, but we are still careful. We stayed pretty healthy throughout the year.
The year also started with shock and sadness when my brother-in-law Craig Johnson had a massive stroke in January and died in February. The shock was that he seemed so healthy and full of life. Craig and I were friends. Good friends over the years. Ten months later it’s still hard to believe. And of course things like this make us all think about our own mortality and how to move forward in our lives.
Two weeks after we completed our second vaccination we went to Palm Dessert with our good friends Chuck and Debbi. It was nice “getting out of dodge” so to speak. The highlight for me was playing on a Pete Dye golf course and not embarrassing myself. We also went to Joshua Tree National Park and other mostly outdoor things.
Of course we went to Lakeside again for the summer. We had to miss going there in 2020 because of the “virus”. The programming was a little light, but it was still a good time. Before we left we asked Alice and Gary to buy us out of the house we owned with them so we could buy our own place. They kindly agreed. Now each of us have our own house. We can each be as busy or quiet as we want. Our new house is a cozy 1400 sf house which is very nice. We have already contracted quite a bit of landscaping and also insulating the attic. We can’t wait till May 2022.
Wade, Erica, Otis and Isaac all came the same time to visit for a week. It was wonderful having them all there at the same time. Also at the same time Alice had a wedding shower for her son Patrick and her future daughter in law Jane. We had a really full house that weekend. In fact Wade and Alice’s other son Jonathon stayed at the Lakeside Hotel.
My good friend from high school Roal and his wife Denise spent some time at Lakeside and ended up buying a condo there. Roal and I golfed together a lot this summer and will no doubt do more of that next summer. They are fun to spend time with.
When we got back home to Visalia, we began to get reactivated at church. We missed a lot during the worst part of covid. We got a new preacher at the very beginning of covid and I didn’t really like him on Zoom, but now that we see and hear him in person, I really like him…. thank God!
We are sad this fall as our best Visalia friends, Chuck and Debbi are moving up the the Sacramento area. We will really miss them. We love traveling with them. On a good note, they are only three and a half hours from us and we are anxious to explore their new area with them. They also plan to visit us here in Visalia and at Lakeside this summer. All is good.
As the year comes to an end we are looking forward to our family Christmas celebration. Wade is flying a couple of days before Christmas and staying a few days afterwards. Wade, Erica, Otis, Isaac and Diana and I will all be together. I love the ever changing family Christmas traditions we have enjoyed over the years. I am so thankful for the family we’ve enjoyed. I hope and pray for peace and love in your lives.
Enough. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Bill and Diana Lutterbein
