Holly and Tom Underwood Family

In just a few weeks, Zach will be two years old! Man, that's hard to believe. The time has flown by and dragged, by turns. Usually both in the same day!
 
Zach's talking more and more every day. He still signs a little bit, usually saying the word at the same time. I am so glad that we decided to use sign language; he was able to sign long before he could talk. Of course, most of his words aren't quite the real thing yet, like mih (milk), pees (please), ankoo (thank you) and oos (juice) but mommy, daddy and bye bye are clear as a bell. He's starting to 'sing' which is totally adorable, and moos, meows or ruffs at animals, as appropriate. We'll, he also moos at pictures of horses, I'll admit.

Zach loves dancing, music and climbing. He likes being outdoors, playing with water in the kitchen sink and blocks. We call him our relocation specialist, because he loves to dump everything out of the laundry basket, pull everything out of drawers, and generally surround himself with mess and chaos. Thankfully, he's usually good about helping us pick it up too...eventually. He's not a very picky eater but we are still having issues with sleep. We intend to try to potty train him some time in the next few weeks. Since it's our idea instead of his it may not work, but since he's eager to please it might. Here's hoping! His hair is in ring curls which are adorable, but tangle like crazy. Paybacks for how little I liked Mom untangling my hair when I was little, I think.

Tom is still working at Dayton Metro Library, thankfully. Times will be rough ahead though, with the big cuts in state funding and an upcoming levy on November's ballot. The Director is figuring out what to do to adust to the state cuts now, and even if the levy passes, more cuts will have to be made in 2010. I'm working for Cityfolk (nearly 14 years now). In October, I dropped back to 8 hours a week, mostly from home. In May, that jumped up to 24 hours a week in the office through our Festival in early July, because a coworker quit. Now I'm back to 8 hours/week. They want to increase my hours, but have not money to do so. Some time in the next couple of weeks, I'll talk to my boss to see what we can work out.

Back in October, we started looking for a house in Yellow Springs. We miss being able to walk and ride our bikes to restaurants and on errands like we could in my old house in Dayton, we like the atmosphere out there, and have lots of friends there. The schools aren't rated as high as Beavercreek's, but aren't overcrowded either, so we're hoping that balances out. Given the upcoming uncertainty with Tom's job, we feel we need to move quickly or wait who knows how long until our incomes are predictable again. We'll see what happens. We have to sell our place to afford to buy, which could complicate things. Luckily, we like our house so we'll be happy if we have to stay a while longer. Either way, we're purging our stuff, boxing up things we'll never miss and doing some simple repairs.
 
Otherwise, we're trying to get back into some kind of exercise routine. We're slowly getting back to traveling a little, though our trips are only as exotic as visiting friends, family and festivals. We love introducing Zach to Lake Michigan and music festivals though! In a few months, we hope to visit Bryan & Leigh in Colorado too. We don't seem them nearly often enough, so that will be a treat.

Pictures of Zach, mostly are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/hollybu/

Bryan Bergman & Leigh Perreault Family

Back in October, 2008, we sold our house in Boulder and rented until we could find a more family-friendly place. We found that house in May and it’s a few doors up the street from our old house, on the other side of the block. It needs a few renovations, which will start later this month. The views from the back deck are amazing.
 
Anna turns 8 at the end of June. She loves skiing, swimming and reading books. She skied her first black diamond run this year! She just completed first grade and is doing well in school. Theo is 5 and is as precocious as ever. He learned to ski this year and loves it. Parenting continues to be a lot harder than we imagined, but we’ve got a great pair of kids. (Mom made these costumes for the kids during one visit. She let them choose the pattern they wanted, and spent a lot of time getting the details right. She did a great job!)

Leigh travels around the country giving talks to physicians about treating diabetes and lipids. Many times, Bryan gets to travel along as the cabana boy and let the kids spend some time at home with the grandparents. This past year we traveled to Rome for a week for a conference, then spent a week in Croatia. Croatia is highly recommended! We were also lucky enough to travel to Atlantis in the Bahamas, Hilton Head SC, Sedona AZ. Good stuff.

Bryan missed training for big races, so this year he’s training for an Xterra triathlon in June and a half ironman in August. It’s tough to find the time but totally worth it. Adjusting to swimming in open water is a challenge. Leigh is preparing for a 50km running race in Sedona, AZ in the fall. And some of the biggest news for the year is that Leigh received a 5 year grant from the American Diabetes Association, which secures her job till 2014. Yahoo!

Bill and Rusty Bergman Family

Greetings Once Again from 5157 Oak Tree Drive in Kettering! Doesn’t it seem as though the time passes by all too quickly??? That said we do like this means of keeping current with all the happening of the Bergman Family Tree and all its branches.

We are Happily Enjoying the Excitement of Grandparenthood! Anna, Theo and Zachary are such wonderful grandchildren. We are enjoying helping them learn and grow while having lots of fun every time we see them! Our visits to Boulder are enhanced by Anna and Theo’s experiences and adventures. Zachary is growing so quickly and starting to talk including saying Gama and Gapa, which is close enough for us. So much fun!

Hard to believe but I have been retired Almost 3 years already! Although we staying very busy doing the things important to us, such as getting garage time (workshop), clock repair, woodworking, playing some golf and of course traveling. I am still working doing commercial plan review for the Building Departments of the Cities of Eaton, Fairborn and Vandalia. Not much Architectural Design going on at this time but the plan review keeps us busy enough.

Rusty continues enjoying working for KBEC one day a week, occasionally more to help out.

Rusty and I are continuing to volunteer for the Victoria Theatre Association as ushers for the live theatre productions that go on at several venues in Dayton. We really like seeing live theatre in exchange for our time.


We are maintaining our interest in travel! Last November we enjoyed 3 days in Rome prior to leaving on a 12 night cruise of the Mediterranean. We visited the Cinque Terra; Florence and Pisa; Sicily; beautiful and sensuous Venice; Naples and Pompeii (didn’t spend near enough time here); did the Amalfi Coast drive that had 1200 hairpin turns; and enjoyed Split and Dubrovnik Croatia. During that cruise we met a super nice couple from North Carolina with whom we are planning our next cruise, which will be another 12 night cruise around the Baltics, with a two day pre-stay in Amsterdam.

Rusty and I enjoyed a quick trip to Michigan to do some sightseeing and for me to play golf. The courses were beautiful and the weather wonderful.

In February of 2009, we celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary by enjoying another cruise, this time to the Western Caribbean, leaving on my birthday. We were aboard the Celebrity cruise ship Constellation. Always a great time with our cruising buddies! Rusty and I had great fun experiencing our first taste of whitewater rafting, which was a blast doing levels 1 and 2 in Costa Rica. We also got to the Grand Caymans; Cartahenga, Columbia; Limon, Panama; and Cozumel, Mexico. We drove to Fort Lauderdale from where the cruise started and returned.

This April we did the Masters Golf Tournament! We went with our good friends Ron and Linda Armstrong; we had tickets for Tuesday practice day. On the way down we also visited Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg; drove a portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway; and visited the beautiful Biltmore House. The Augusta National Golf Course is simply breathtaking with beauty at every turn. We had fun walking the course and being so close to the pro players.

In May we went to Hilton Head! We went to meet with Bryan and Leigh (Leigh was there as a Doctor Presenter for Continuing Education purposes). Bryan and I played two golf courses at Palmetto Dunes; the ones designed by Robert Trent Jones and George Fazio. Rusty and Leigh had a couple great Spa experiences. Lots of great food and good times together! The Hilton Oceanfront Resort was an absolutely wonderful experience for us all.

Several trips to Colorado were also part of our year. It is always fun to visit with Bryan and Leigh and get our chance to spoil Anna and Theo. Wonderful Times!! We are enjoying this time in our lives and feel truly blessed.

Our love to all,
Bill and Rusty

Jenny and Justin Henderson Family

What a year it has been at the Henderson household! We welcomed our beautiful baby girl, Gabrielle Diane Henderson, on August 7th and our lives have not been the same since. She has been such a joy. We never knew how wonderful our lives could truly be until she arrived. She is almost 6 months old now and is getting so big. She just had her 6 month checkup and weighed 17 lbs and was almost 27 inches long. She has been sitting up, grabbing everything in sight, and putting it in her mouth. We do not think it will be much longer until she will be crawling. She loves playing on the floor with her toys and loves music, whether it is nursery rhymes or Baby Einstein.
 
I am back to work at M&R Technologies and working from home in the mornings before heading into the office for the rest of the afternoon. Justin is still at GE in Cincinnati and has recently changed roles. He is now leading the implementation of Google Search technology throughout the company. With both of us working, we have great care for Gabby…Family! Aunt Chris is watching her two days a week and my Dad (Proud Grandpa) and Janet are watching her the other three days.

In May, we went to Norris Lake in Tennessee for a weekend of boating with our friends. Even though I was 7+ months pregnant, I lasted everyday on the lake! I had very swollen ankles and was very hot. We were able to take a few day trips to a local small lake, Caesar’s Creek, in June and July. In early September, we took a week on our houseboat timeshare and Gabby went on her first vacation! We booked this timeshare in early 2007, before we knew Gabby was coming, so we made the best of it. My Dad and Janet made it down for a couple of days to join us. Gabby loved boating. We think she will be a lake girl for sure! We are doing swim lessons now to prepare for this summer. Other than those trips, we have had fun taking day trips to the Zoo and Aquarium in Cincinnati with family.

We have a trip planned to Myrtle Beach in May with Aunt (Auntie Granny) Patty and Uncle John. Justin and I are also taking a 5 day vacation to Lake Cumberland for our National Crownline Rally that Justin is helping organize. This will be our first trip without Gabby, although she will be in good hands staying at Auntie Granny’s house. Those 5 days will be the longest 5 days in my life! Other than that we are just having the best time watching Gabby grow up, and learn new things! It has been a true joy. We hope everyone is well and we send all of you our best!
 
Love,
The Hendersons

The Bond Family and Woody Duibley

Hello to all! Boy did 2008 fly by!

As you all know by now GM Truck and Bus is no more. John was laid off in January 2008 and called
back in May 2008. He worked until the end of June and then took the buyout. Smart move! He then went back to the place he left to go to GM.....Advanced Assembly Automation. They hired him back and he has been working there since July. He loves it....hates the hours. He works 8 to 10 hours at day....7 days a week. But with this economy he is glad he has a job!

I am celebrating my 30th year at UD! I still love my job! The people I work with are great! John and I still go to the Flyers home games. We have season tickets. Love the Flyers! This year we are going to the NCAA 1 and 2 round in March at the arena. We went a couple of years ago and loved it. We saw North Carolina, Ohio State, Georgetown, George Mason, Michigan State all play at UD.

Kristi is finishing Nursing at Sinclair. I think she has about 4 quarters left. She took a some time off and started up again in January...that put her a little behind. She is celebrating her 5th year at Dayton Childrens Hospital. That is what she wants to do......a peds nurse. I am very proud of her...she has never given up her goal to become a nurse....just taking her a little longer.

Keith is working full time at M & R Technologies. He does the shipping and receiving or whatever
else needs to be done. He bought his first car in 2008.....a Pontiac G5. It is so nice! He hangs out with his friends alot and is really good on Guitar Hero!

As you all know Jenny and Justin had little Gabrielle in August. She is so cute! I love spending time with her. Jenny has a special name for Gabby to call me.....Auntie Granny! Too cute! She is a special little girl with lots of special angels watching down on her.

This summer Gary and Chris' daughter Ashley got married. Her husband's name is AJ and he just left for the Marines. The wedding was really nice and Ashley seems very happy. Gary's son Darryl graduated from Beavercreek High School and is now attending Sinclair. Their youngest daughter Danyell is a freshman in high school. She plays soccer.

Dad has meet a lady friend and they have been doing alot of stuff together. Her name is Delores Bierline and she is very nice. Her husband and her sold mom and dad the house on Pritz 48 years ago. She lost her husband last August. They have alot of fun together and I am glad that dad has someone to spend time with. Dad and I went to Uncle Fritz' funeral in St. Louis. It was nice to spend time with him!

Jimmy is busy with work and going down to his land is Southern Ohio. He lost his dog Oscar in 2008 and is thinking about getting a new one.

That covers about everyone............hope everyone has a great year! Let's try to have a reunion soon!

Love to All,
Patty

Kitti & Chuck Schreiber Family

Samantha and her boyfriend Eric 2008 graduation. She is now at Purdue University working on her Engineering degree. She is doing great with her classes and loves college life. She will join Eric and his family in May when they travel to Germany for a week and then Italy for a week. She is so excited.

Frederick is holding number 2 in the grand total for Oprah's Big Give - Fort Wayne last Spring. Frederick did have his "second of fame" when that picture was on her Big Give show .Coach Dungy and some big Colts player join in the celebration. Katrina was asked to help take the many, many pictures for the event. She was right there with all the players. They both did a great job.

We are trying to continue to move forward and we thank you for all your prayers. We cherish all the happy memories and happy time we had with Dad. We will continue many of those traditions with our own kids. Dad touch so many people in so many ways. He will forever be with us in our hearts. We love you all.

Love, Kitti

Angela and Kevin Snyder Family

Hi all. Kevin, Nicholas, Anna and I are still in Union just north of Grandma Phyllis and Grandpa Fred. We are all fairly busy with work, family and Nicholas.

Kevin is working as the manager of the Submarine House in Dayton. He is also doing multiple projects around the house like fixing up our main bathroom and starting a garden in the back yard. In November, Kevin had a slight mishap at work and lost the corner of his thumb. He went to a hand surgeon and she said it would heal on its own and it has. When Kevin isn’t working he has tons of fun playing outside with Nicholas.

Angela is doing fine and is keeping up with Nicholas. She has been spending a lot of time with mom (Linda) at the Cancer Treatment Center of America in Zion, IL, just north of Chicago. In March, she went on her first official and old enough to remember plane ride from Cincinnati to O’Hare. Angela has started making picture videos to bring in some money on the side. It is a great job she can do at home while Nicholas is napping. She is also helping Kevin with the garden in the back yard.

Nicholas is 17 months and he is walking/running all over the place. He has about 14 teeth and more keep coming in. Nicholas has started saying more words like “ma ma”, “hi”, “pizza” and “bye”. He is really tall for his age but is slim so it is hard to find clothes for him. We are always on the hunt for long, slim clothes. After nap time, Nicholas loves swinging in the backyard in his racecar swing from Lowes. When we are playing outside he likes to walk around and pick up sticks and rocks. It will be a wonderful laundry day when he realizes he has “real” pockets in his pants. He is developing into a really good climber and can already make it onto the couch by himself. Nicholas participated in his first family Easter egg hunt this year. He would pick up the eggs, shake them, and then toss them into his basket.

Anna is working as a shift manager at Dominos here in Englewood. She really likes it and gets a great discount. ;-) She has joined a co-ed softball team with people from her work. They are called the Dominators and they play at a field in Brookville. The rain has kept them from starting their schedule but next week should be better, we hope. In April, Anna spent a week with Angela, Sarai and mom in Zion, IL at the cancer center. It was a fun but fairly lengthy drive. During our stay we went to Lake Michigan and the Milwaukee Public Museum to see a special Titanic artifacts exhibit. At the beginning of the exhibit you get a replica boarding pass with an actual passengers name and at the end there is a large list on the wall of passengers that survived and passengers lost. You can look up the person you were given and see if you survived or not. All of our people survived.

Earlier this year we went to the Auto Show in Cleveland and enjoyed looking at all of the interesting cars. While there, we took Nicholas on a huge ferris wheel for the first time and he got slightly nervous on the down side of the ride. This summer we are really looking forward to swimming and hiking outside with Nicholas.

Schnabel and Ward Families

Hi All from the Wards and Anita

This is a hard letter to write.

Our 2008 started out with Nathan a senior in High School and getting ready to graduate. His Orchestra in high school traveled to University of Illinois in Urbana for a festival, they played Dvorak Serenade for Strings movements Scherzo, Larghetto and Finale they did great. Then they traveled on to Chicago to visit a couple of museums and hear the Chicago Symphony play. Of course they had fun. He had a great Orchestra teacher during his four year in high school. His teacher is great in getting the music out of the kids beautifully.

Prom came and both Nathan and Sarah went and had a ball. It was very exciting to see both kids going off to prom.

Graduation was in May. Mom and Dad and Bruce, Bruce’s mom Phyllis and Sarah and I all sat in the stands to see Nathan graduate and we were really proud of Nathan. The Orchestra played for graduation, which made it even more special.

Then the Wards went on a great Disney Vacation and Cruise. We had a ball. Sarah’s boyfriend John’s family was there at the same time and we had a fun time with each other on all the rides. After 4 days in the parks we were all ready for the 3 day cruise of rest and good food. It was a ball. We would go again but just take the cruise only.

Sarah is now a junior keeps busy with the school plays. She helps with the building of the sets and will be in charge of the set and crew for Peter Pan in April. Sarah also works with the Girl Scouts in the spring and fall giving trail rides to troops. She really likes it and enjoys being around the horses.

Sarah and Nathan are also active in Venture Crews in the St Louis Area. Sarah is the President of the Area 5, which consist of 5 states in the Midwest and Secretary of the New Horizons District in St Louis. Nathan is Vice President of the New Horizons District. Scouting has kept both kids busy. They will travel to North Carolina in a couple of weeks for Venture Crew. In June of 2008 Nathan went to Philmont High Adventure Camp in New Mexico he loves it and plans to work there over the summer. Sarah is going June 2009 with her Venture Crew and hopes to see Nathan there.

In July we gave Dad an 80th birthday party. Lots of relatives and friends came and we all had fun. Our house was filled with love and laughter. Dad really had fun. Kitti did a great job on the cake and we had lots of good food.


Mom and Dad went to Kitti’s for 2 weeks in July. They all enjoyed the visit.

In August things started challenging us. Nathan went off to college, University of Missouri Science and Technology in Rolla Missouri. Mom was told her cancer was back, so weeks of tests were scheduled with Mom having surgery Sept 16. Dad got pneumonia at the end of August and was in the hospital before Labor Day. He was also diagnosed with leukemia and things did not look good from then on. Dad was in the hospital then nursing home and then back in the hospital during Moms surgery then back in the nursing home with hospice. He hung on till Mom was better from her surgery and he passed away Sept 22. Mom caught an infection and was in the hospital longer than expected. Dads’ funeral was delayed for Mom to recover enough to be there, she got out of the hospital the same day as Dad’s viewing.

Then things got even more challenging. The day of the funeral at the family viewing, we were very shocked to see not Dad in the casket but someone else. As some of you know we did have the funeral but with a closed casket. We did not know what to do and later found out that Dad was buried at another cemetery because of the mix-up and 2 days later we had a small funeral and we made sure Dad was buried at Jefferson Barracks Cemetery.

Mom moved to our house and she is now living with us. Mom started chemo in October and got very sick with septic and a bladder infection and was in the hospital for a week. I just kept thinking what next is going to happen. Mom has had 4 chemo treatments and is doing better. She might have her last chemo in Jan.
Nathan is doing great in college keeping up with his music playing in the Rolla Community Symphonic Orchestra and Sarah is enjoying her junior year at school.

I don’t know how we made it through all of this, but prayers and lots of crying helps. Family, Friends and our church family helped us get through all of the hard times. We miss Dad not being here but we have lots of nice memories and fun times with him that we will never forget.

Thank You all for being Our Family
Love the Wards and Anita Schnabel

Linda Nauroth Family

Greetings from Mason, OH

Hello everyone. We can't believe that it is our turn to write again.

We pray that everyone is doing well.

Linda has been going to the Cancer Treatment Center of America (CTCA) in Zion, IL (one hour north of Chicago) since March 09. They have given her lots of hope. They treat the whole person not just the disease. She received 30 treatments of radiation, which went well, and is receiving chemotherapy every three weeks. She had scans on May 6th. Her doctor informed her that the tumor in her lymph nodes by her right lung had shrunk and was no longer ("glowing") cancerous. Also the cancer count has decreased. Linda returns to Zion on June 1st to meet with her radiation doctor to see how effective the radiation treatment was to the cancer area on her stomach, right side. That is the only place there is/was cancer.

Her doctor in Cincinnati told her that there was nothing else that could be done. That continuing with chemo would slow down the cancer from going inside her body, but that it would eventually get there. He told her that the average life span for someone with inflammatory breast cancer (the cancer she has been diagnosed with) is about 30 weeks. She decided to get another opinion, thus going to the CTCA.

She has been taking Naturopathy medicine to help with the side effects from chemo, to give her energy and boost her immune system. She has been feeling very good since starting on these meds.

Thank you for all of your prayers for her and her family.

Dave is still working for Roadway. He celebrated his one million miles, injury free! His company had a special luncheon for him and a cake. They sent him a plaque and gave him his own parking space, very close to the terminal, with his name on a sign.

Roadway merged with Yellow trucking and are now called YRC, Yellow Roadway Corp. They asked all the workers to take a cut in pay. They took a cut of 10% in pay. It is better than a 100% cut, anotherwords, no job at all. Dave has said he would like to retire, but he is not old enough yet. If he retired now he would get penalized due to his age. He just hopes there is some retirement when he is eligible.

Sarai is as smart as ever. She is 9 years old and is in 4th grade at St. Susanna. She really loves her school. It is nice for her to attend a small school where there are 75 kids in her grade instead of 750 kids in her grade (Mason public schools) She is a member of the American Heritage Girls, a Christian based group for girls through school. They collect money, clothes, diapers, etc. for the pregnancy centers, visit the elderly, collect food for the poor, etc. They sometimes work with the Boy Scouts on some community service projects.

She played volleyball and softball for St. Susanna school this year. She loves playing those sports. She wants to attend volleyball camp this summer. She is also considering going back to horse camp this summer. She just loves horses. She was voted in again, by her fellow classmates, to represent their class, as a member of "Peacebuilders". This is her third year being chosen. She loves her teachers this year.

Sam is a second grader at Mason's Western Row Elementary. He attends a typical and special education class. He is verbal, off and on. He using a magna doodle to write down what he wants, says the word(s) (sometimes) or points to pictures to communicate. We have limited his intake of gluten and milk products. That seems to help with his attitude/temper and also makes him more verbal and sociable. It is hard to stick to this diet when the food items he eats are very limited and most of them have gluten or milk in them.

Sam was awarded an IO waiver from the state of Ohio. He is able to collect assistance from the county for camp, respite care, home improvements, communication devices, etc. He also has a medicaid card which helps with his medical visits, therapy and medications. He has been fortunate to have a case worker who has helped a great deal.

He still likes Veggietales. He usually has one of the aides, at school, draw him a veggietales picture, based on a video story. He likes to run around in his 6ft, privacy fenced in yard. He runs bare footed on the round stepping stones with little rocks in them. He swings and climbs on his playset.

Please pray for Sam that he may conquer this autism.
God Bless Everyone!

Linda, Dave, Sarai and Sam

Hal and Joan Bergman Family

OK EVERYONE , WE ARE WAY PAST DUE ON THIS PIECE, SO LETS SEE WHAT WE CAN COME UP WITH!  

THIS PAST YEAR HAS BEEN PRETTY MUCH LIKE ALL THE REST OF THE YEARS, ONLY WE ARE GETTING OLDER, WHICH I GUESS IS OK! STARTING LAST YEAR IN OCTOBER--WHEN COMING HOME FROM ST.LOUIS  

THERE WAS BONNIE, MARSHA, ANNETTE, HAL & MYSELF. EVERYTHING WAS GOING ALRIGHT UNTIL WE ALL MADE A PIT STOP IN ILLINOIS.  EVERYONE MADE A BEELINE FOR YOU KNOW WHAT--SOME OF US MADE IT AND ONE OF US HAD TO FALL ON THE BRICKS OUTSIDE JUST SO SHE COULD GET A BIT OF ATTENTION--GUESS WHO !!!  I ENDED UP BREAKING MY LEFT HAND AND BRUISING MY RIGHT ONE--EVERYONE WAS GREAT. BON & MARTY STOPPED AND GOT ME AN ICE PK. AT WALMART AND KEPT ME ON ICE UNTIL WE GOT HOME, THEN HAL & I WENT TO GREENVILLE HOSP. TO GET X-RAYS . YEP ! IT WAS BROKEN AND I'M LUCKY BECAUSE THE WAY I HIT THE BRICKS IT COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH WORSE.  ILLINOIS IS NOT ONE OF MY FAVORITE STATES.

 WELL, THAT IS HOW THINGS HAVE BEEN NEARLY ALL YEAR LONG.  HAL HAS BEEN IN VERY GOOD HEALTH AND DOES NOT STOP FOR ANYTHING--HES' LIKE THOSE BATTERIES THAT NEVER RUN DOWN. HAL DOES ALL THE YARD WORK AND TRIMS AND DIGS WHEN HE NEEDS TOO. PRETTY GOOD FOR 78 YRS YOUNG.  

WE CELEBRATED OUR 57TH. ANNIVERSARY IN AUGUST --NOT BAD FOR TWO PEOPLE THAT WEREN'T SUPPOSE TO MAKE IT. GRANDPA BERGMAN SAID IT WOULDN'T LAST. GUESS WE FOOLED HIM!
 
WE DID GET A NEW DECK ON THE FRONT OF OUR HOME, IT FACES EAST THERE WAS NO NEED TO PUT IT ON THE BACK, DUE TO THE WESTERN SUN HITTING THERE WHEN YOU WANTED TO STAY OUTSIDE. JUST TOO HOT. OUR SON-IN-LAW MIKE DID ALLTHE CUTTING, MEASURING, LAYING OUT THE PLANS . IT REALLY LOOKS GREAT!  MARSHA'S MIKE IS THE ONE.  11 YRS. AGO BONNIES MIKE BUILT OUR SHED IN THE BACKYARD, HAL ADDED ONTO THAT ABOUT 3 OR 4 YRS. AGO . IT REALLY HELPS HAVING SONS-IN-LAWS THAT CAN DO SO MANY NICE THINGS. THERE IS SO MANY OTHER WORKS THAT THEY HAVE DONE TO HELP US OUT. 

WE ARE VERY FORTUNATE.  WE DON'T VACATION OR ANYTHING LIKE ALL THE REST OF YOU DO, BUT THAT'S OK!   YOU DON'T MISS WHAT YOU NEVER HAD?  I'M GLAD THAT THOSE OF YOU WHO CAN GO AND SEE THE SIGHTS, DO SO ! ENJOY YOUR TIME TOGETHER ! HAL AND I JUST DON'T DO ANY OF THOSE THINGS,WE DO ENJOY OUR DAYS TOGETHER.

LAST YEAR WE HAD GIVEN TO US 2 MORE GR.GRAN BABIES. PAUL & AMANDA GAVE US ONE IN APRIL 08, LITTLE ADRIANNA MARIE AND THEN MATT & LINA GAVE US LITTLE HANNAH MARIE  IN AUGUST 08. THIS YEAR AMANDA AND PAUL HAD ANOTHER LITTLE ONE IN MAY09, AMARA ADDISON, THAT MAKES MARSHA GRANDMA 6 TIMES JUST WITH PAUL & AMANDA.  THEN ADAM & LINDSEY HAD A BABY BOY  IN OCT.09 CADEN ADDISON BERGMAN OVER 9 LBS ALMOST 23 IN.LONG. A COPY OF HIS DADDY, THOSE TWO ALSO HAVE A DAUGHTER WHO TURNED 1 YR. THIS PASS JULY--KALEIGH YVONNE.  THAT MAKES 3 BORN IN 08 AND 2 BORN IN 09.  ACTUALLY  I DID FORGET ANOTHER 2 WERE BORN IN 06, THAT WAS CHRIS & DANIELLE HAD JESSE JAMES IN NOV 06 PAUL, AMANDA HAD ARIANNA ALAINE IN DE, 06.  WE HAVE HAD SOME HARD DAYS ALSO IN 06 PAUL & AMANDA LOST THEIR ONLY SON AT 9 MOS. LITTLE JOHN PAUL AND MAY GOD BLESS HIM ALWAYS. SO ROUGH ON THE PARENTS AND ON THE GRANDPARENTS TO LET A LITTLE ONE SLIP AWAY.

I'VE PROBABLY FORGOTTEN SOMEONE AND I'M SURE THAT I'LL BE TOLD. NATALLIE & ALEXANDRA  ARE IN ARCANUM BAND, THEY WENT TO COMPETITION AT OHIO STATE AND CAME IN 2ND IN THEIR CATEGORY LOST OUT TO 1ST PLACE BY 1 POINT .  I COULD WRITE A BOOK JUST ON THOSE 2 GALS. NATALLIE WILL GRADUATE IN MAY OF 2010. IT SEEMS LIKE YESTERDAY WE WERE CHANGING HER DIAPERS. TIME GOES SO FAST. ALEX IS IN HER JUNIOR YR.  AND THEY HAVE A LITTLE GAL FROM BOLIVIA AS AN EXCHANGE STUDENT ANALI IS HER 1ST NAME AND FOR THE LIFE OF ME CAN'T REMEMBER THE LAST. ANALI IS REALLY A VERY SWEET LITTLE GAL. SPANISH IS NOT ONE OF MY THINGS--BUT WE CAN CONVERSE.

MARSHA IS HAVING HER SHOULDER BALL REPLACED IN HER LEFT SHOULDER THIS COMING NOV.11,09. SHE HAS BEEN HAVING SO MUCH PAIN AND FOR SUCH A LONG WHILE. SAY A FEW PRAYERS FOR HER, SHE IS ALOT LIKE HER DAD, NEVER COMPLAINS. 

I PROBABLY COULD GO ON FOR A FEW MORE CHAPTERS, BUT AS U CAN SEE WE ARE BUSY, DON'T RETIRE BECAUSE FOR SOME REASON WE ARE BUSIER THAN EVER.

"GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU OUT THERE IN BERGMAN LAND" OUR FAMILY HAS DONE A LOT TO KEEP THE BLOOD LINE GOING.SIGNING OFF  FOR NOW , HAL & JOAN, WE ARE THE ONES WHO STARTED ALL OF THIS AFTER GRANDMA AND GRANDPA BERGMAN STOPPED . NOW DON'T TAKE ANY OF THIS WRONG BECAUSE I'M NOT OPEN TO CRITICISM!!                  "GOODNIGHT ALL"

Fred and Suzanne Bergman Family

Greetings All, hope everything is well within the families......

Fred and I are very busy keeping up with our family and all the activities.

Fred is very busy at Grandview Hospital, working many odd hours and making sure the Linen Room is managed well. He just finished his 3rd year working there. He keeps busy being involved in many extra curricular activities like bowling with the Knights of Columbus with Jason. He also enjoys having season tickets to the Dragon games and a occasional Reds game here and there. The grandchildren are involved playing sports as well. This past fall we attended Dakota’s basketball games while Katie was a cheerleader for his team. All the grandkids are involved playing baseball except Katie who wants to take Gymnastics and Dance. So we are busy going to games and seeing that they get wherever when Tina and Jason need us. Fred is excited about getting out and doing some fishing. It is his relaxing time but the fish aren’t biting yet. He spends time with his dad taking him to there favorite restaurant for wings (Frickers). He is helping his parents with things that they can no longer get out and do and that keeps him pretty busy. Besides that he accompanies me to the thrift stores to find the bargains. It’s amazing what people give away or throw away. He always seems to find the items that have Vegas associated with them. He still would like to visit Vegas more often if he could. The excitement there seems to make him happy. He is very lucky when it comes to the slots and has his own strategy how to play and win.

I am busy with church and work. My boss seems to depend on me to run things when he isn’t there and that’s a lot of the time. I am still working 10 hour days and it get hectic at times. Business as everywhere is not the greatest. Our industry has been hit pretty hard and the lack of customers and money has become a concern. But we are surviving! Besides that I still cantor at church and have been doing that for years. Also I am a Eucharistic Minister at least 3 months of the year. Being involved with church is important to me. In my spare time I love spending time with the grandkids and all their activities. I hope to be able to work in our yard this summer and plant my flower gardens. Yard work is my time to meditate and find inner peace.

Watch out there is another driver on the road! Joe just got his temps and loves to drive. He is a pretty good driver and hopes to someday buy his own car. He is a junior at Northridge and cannot wait for summer to begin. Joe just recently attended his first Prom at his girlfriends school: Wayne. Look he’s quite handsome in his tux and even though he’s not Fred Astaire on the dance floor had a great time at the dance. His girlfriend is Melissa and they have been dating for nearly 5 months now. Joe is looking for a job for the summer, not an easy task with the economy being the way it is. Joe enjoys the outdoors and travels with his girlfriend and family to Lake St. Mary’s for a little fishing and boating.

Jessica can’t wait for her first year of teaching to end. It was a trying year and some of her students were a real challenge. But she’ll be ready for the next bunch this next fall. She teaches Math and Language Arts to 6th graders at Miamisburg Neff Elementary. Her boyfriend Matt graduated from UD just last week. He is searching for a Police District that is hiring before he attends the Police Academy. He has had no luck and has even tried in Washington D.C. and Dallas Texas. Jessica and Matt did have fun sight seeing in Washington and sent us pictures via the camera phone. They have been together for about 6 years now and are making future plans. Jess was considering on teaching summer school but with all the stress during the year, time off in the summer was sounding better all the time.

Jason and Tina are busy, busy with the kids and working. Jason just received a beautiful bowling ring that he earned getting a 300 bowling game while at tournament with the Knights of Columbus. Fred almost had a chance for one two but missed it by 2 pins, that’s a heart-breaker. Jason has been very busy at work since his boss relies on him solely to do all the installs since he had to get rid of a real slacker. Jason is really good at what he does at the Stripe Shop located on Woodman. Jason has become the barbecue King of the neighborhood. He just purchased a monster of a combination grill and smoker to grill ribs. Pork chops and barbecue chicken? Yummy! One can smell the aroma from my house to his, just a stones throw away down the street. In the evenings we like to sit around the fire pit and enjoy s’mores and hotdogs. Don’t leave anything out because from afar the raccoons are awaiting a feast of left-overs.

Tina is still waiting to get off of third shift at Wal-Mart and go onto a day shift. But Wal-Mart is not cooperating and gives her all kinds of excuses that she needs to stay in maintenance. Those dirty toilets can be a crappy mess! Ha ha!

Matthew turned 14 on May 12 and the twins will be 8 on the 22nd. Karen is now 10 and as always time does not stand still with kids. Summer is right around the corner and school will be out.

Everyone is awaiting the Summer Fun!
Suzanne

Collins/Bold Family

Hi, everyone. 

We are enjoying our grandson, Benjamin. He is growing so fast; last Saturday he was 8 months old. He has advanced in his baby food selection to meats, veggies and fruits. He is starting to drink from a sippy cup. And he is getting up on his hands and knees – looks like crawling is in his near future. He is fond of music, as he loves when you sing to him or give him a musical toy. He has beautiful blue eyes and a smile that melts your heart. We have a blast with him.
 
When his brother (Rudi the dog) chases his ball and plays with his dog toys, Benjamin smiles and laughs.

The Easter bunny visited Benjamin for the first time this year. When the basket was placed in front of Ben on the floor, he knew exactly what to do – he tore right into that paper. I think he liked the paper best of all – he loved the crinkly sound it made.

As far as traveling, Frank and I, Doug, Christy, Benjamin and Rudi all went down to the house in Florida for a week in March 09. We drove down with Rudi and the kids flew down. We stopped overnight on the drive and stayed at a dog friendly Marriott with Rudi. Since we had him with us, we ordered room service for dinner. Rudi ordered a cheeseburger off the kids menu. Ha – when we told the kids about that, we all had a good laugh. (Grandchildren – and grand dogs – are made for grandparents to spoil, right?) We had a very good time – went to a dog friendly beach, saw a Red’s spring training game in Sarasota – Benjamin had more fun looking at the people and flirting with the ladies behind us in the stands. We ate a lot of seafood and just relaxed.

Frank and I went to Vegas Jan 09 and actually came back with a little money. We are going to Boston in June for one of Frank’s business conferences. We will drive through Connecticut (Foxwood’s Casino to be more exact!) on the way up and go up through Boothbay Harbor, Maine and Burlington, Vermont and stop at the Finger Lakes in central New York on the way home. Then in July we are planning a trip to Sonoma Valley and San Francisco.

I can retire in 18 months, then we can do even more traveling!!

That’s all for now. Have a good year!

Debbie

Fred and Phyllis Bergman

During April when my legs started to ache we headed for Urgent Care with Freddie Allen driving. They refused us. We were sent to Good Samaritan Hospital where they kept me for almost a week. They cleared up the cellulitis in the legs but I needed to exercise the legs. Finally the cement contractor completed the driveway with asphalt leading to the road. Medicare has provided nurses and aides to help us. Thank heaveen for our daughter Deboah and Frank who fook us Dr. Russell and that provided an opportunity to visit Millanos for yummy Italian food.

See you next time
Love Fred and Phyllis

Allison and BJ Curtis Family

The Curtis family gained a member in October: William 'Liam' Cannon Curtis was born on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 @ 8:50 p.m. He was 8 lbs and 21 inches. The family is doing well, as these photos show. [Holly's note: When converting this to Blogger in March 2012, I didn't find any photos to go with this post. Sorry!]