Merry Christmas 2015!! Year in Review

Once again it is time to do the year end wrap up. We left out pictures of Erik recovering from his rotator cuff repair in April. He is doing well and continues to work at achieving his full range of motion. He continues to do business photography and video.

I have fully recovered from last year's surgeries and am doing well. I still enjoy putting people to sleep and especially waking them up again as an anesthesiologist in Northern Colorado. After many fails, I think I have perfected the technique of making homemade fudge.

Aubrey and Finn are getting bigger and doing well in school. Aubrey enjoys playing the piano and has done some accompaniment for church and school. Finn is also always energetic and enjoys working on Legos.

We wish you all -- peace and joy this Christmas season and in the year to come. Thankful that a Savior has come and that He has prepared a place for us. May we all see each other again someday at that great reunion.   Gelerie

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Erik's annual essay: 2015.

I won't even begin to explain or rationalize this year's Christmas photo. That picture is probably worth 2000 words.

Wow. Cancer and multiple surgeries for Gelerie last year, major shoulder surgery and year long (plus?) recovery for me this year. Here's to hoping next year will be quieter in that regard. Still, we have so much for which to be thankful. And we are. But with headlines such as they are: disaster, pain, suffering and tragedy (and the millions of quiet sorrows that never make headlines) one may wonder -- where is hope? For me, it's in Jesus. The Bible Jesus. The one who got involved in people's lives for the purpose of making them better. The one who is active in MY life. He's real, and He can be experienced. If you're curious, I highly recommend three books: The gospel of John in the Bible; Beautiful Outlaw by John Eldredge; or The Desire of Ages by Ellen G White (which can be found free online or very inexpensively). You can contact me through www.stenbakken.com if you'd like.

Maybe next year I'll get that video done about the time I accidentally left $100,000.00 on the beach. Till then, here's our year in review…

Please click on the photos to enlarge.

Finn is 6 Years Old and in First Grade

Aubrey is 12 and in Seventh Grade

We had a great time at church Winter Retreat over President's Day weekend. Plenty of snow and also caught up with friends from Union College that we had not seen in years. Highly recommend! We plan to be back next February.

Snow Cave built at Wyoming Winter Retreat

Sanibel Island, Florida in March over Spring Break. Perfect weather. Lots of beautiful shells.

Met grandparents and Rikki's (Erik's sister) Family in Naples before we headed home

Finn Graduated from Kindergarten

Finn learned to boogie board

Maui Ocean Center

Snorkeling with Turtles

Aubrey posing with an ad for Greeley featuring her hands and model train at Denver International Airport.
Erik's companies did the media for the Greeley Unexpected advertising campaign.

We also did quite a bit of camping with the Pathfinders our church scouting group. We also went on a caving trip in the White River National Forest. We spent about 10 hours underground.