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We hope you were entertained for 79 seconds! You might have to watch it again to figure out what just happened there. That's a lot like 2021 itself, isn't it? "What just happened?" seems to be a theme these days.
We enjoy a bit of levity -- but the whole year was not amusing. The pandemic continues to weigh heavily on us. Gelerie lost several family members to Covid. Just last week we lost a friend from college we've known for 30 years. Again, Covid. Sad things, and we are aware of the pain of many. But our year has not been all bummer either.
Spring break we went to Sanibel Island, Fla., with our family, Erik's folks, and Erik's sister, Rikki Welch and family. After Aubrey's graduation from high school (yay!) we kicked off summer with a trip to Maui where we did the Maui things. We visited Grand Lake, Colo. over Gelerie's birthday. Grand Lake is where we have two of our vacation rental homes. Then we did a road trip to Collegedale, Tenn. to see Aubrey off for her first year of college -- Southern Adventist University. She's taking Business Finance. The times between all those highlights was … mostly boring work, study, and such.
Speaking of "study" -- Erik finished his course requirements for a real estate license and passed the national and state-level exam this spring. That skill set is used to grow and manage our vacation rental home business. Stenbakken Media is taking a smaller role. The "Adventure Through the Bible" podcast that Erik is on just recorded its 100th episode! Gelerie works three days a week with the same group she's been with 15 years. Aubrey is enjoying the non-class parts of college (while still doing well in classes). Finn is (mostly) enjoying 7th grade. He really likes distance learning, and we've had several brief periods of that this year.
It's impossible to adequately express our faith and hope as Christians in a brief post. It's a daily part of our lives. It's personal, not political. And it's even more real during hard times. Christmas is ostensibly to celebrate the first coming of Christ (for the record, didn't resemble much of today's holiday). But that's history. The future has hope because Jesus has promised to come again. Not as a baby next time. Not quietly to a manger. Every passing day brings that 2nd Coming sooner and sooner. It's my hope that we -- and you -- will be ready for that day.
You can Click on the Photos to Enlarge
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| Fishing on Sanibel Island |
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| We paid someone else to take photos for us! |
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| We rented a house with a pool. Yeah. A pool *right at the house!* It was a huge hit. |
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| Sanibel is famous for shells... and we found some! |
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| Erik just minutes after finding out he had passed both the national and state real estate exams (roughly 8 months of study) |
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| Aubrey graduated!!! (from HS) |
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| National Donut Day happened while we were on Maui. One free donut per person at Krispy Kreme! |
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| Our first ever luau. Even living in Hawai'i for a few years (Erik) and visiting often, this was our first! It was amazing. |
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| We got passes to await the sunrise from the top of Haleakala's Summit. It's over 10,000 ft elevation and even for Hawaii, it gets cold! |
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| Cousins and grandparents joined us at Grand Lake, Colo |
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| Early morning, Grand Lake. |
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| Aubrey goes to college. We went to help move :) |
