New Baby!

Well, disregard the information in the following Christmas greeting about Melissa and Todd's new baby arriving on December 11th! We wanted you all to know that Henry Andrew Mehall arrived yesterday morning in Dallas to Melissa and Todd and young Madeline. He is strong and healthy despite being three weeks early. He weighed in at 6 lbs., 3 oz. and 19 inches. He fooled us all... extensive plans were in place for his arrival on December 11th by C-section. Thanksgiving night Melissa went into labor and early yesterday am. had a C-section to deliver him. We have six houseguests at the moment so will go up there Monday am. when our other grandchildren and our children have left. Henry is a family name on both sides and Andrew is Todd's middle name. We give thanks for our newest little blessing. God is good. XXOO Sandy and Bob

Christmas holiday greetings 2008

Holiday greetings from our home to yours. We hope this idea of blog works for everyone this year. The photo above is of an arrangement on the kitchen counter with dried candied oranges and nandina berries from the yard.

We are both officially senior citizens now but, thankfully, still can do whatever we choose. Bob stays busy with his scientific deer breeding program and will be doing his annual artificial insemination on December 17th. He also has done many crude oil seminars this year, some of them overseas. He loves being outside so much that the inside paperwork threatens to consume him sometimes.

Bob was honored this past May as a distinguished alumnus of West Virginia University, selected by the chemical engineering department. We went back for the ceremony and it was the first time we had been there since we got married there in 1965. Why is nothing ever as one remembers it? Everything seemed so much smaller and closer together than we recalled, although the school has grown considerably and many new buildings have been built, including the rebuilding of Bob's fraternity house.

I, unfortunately, did not pass the test to be an "official" quilt judge with national sanctioning but it has not stopped me. Like many before me, I am still getting plenty of judging jobs throughout Texas. It is always surprising to see the wonderful work some quilters are creating particularly in rural areas. I finished a pink and white pinwheel quilt for Grace with white on white embroidery, both hand and machine. It includes her full name, date of birth, place of birth and flowers. She thanked me so sweetly and sleeps with it daily...what more could a grandmother wish for? I've done some other smaller projects as well but not so many as I would have liked. I still belong to my Bible study group and just had them here for a fall luncheon and also my book club came out. Garden club and several quilt groups round out my activities.

We took a trip to southeast Asia this fall with our dear friends, the Carters. We visited Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore. It was a very interesting trip with lots of beautiful scenery and familiarized us all with a part of the world of which we knew little. The people were warm and friendly, the customs and the shopping great but the food we were less keen about. We had a great time being together for an extended period and renewing our friendship ties, which stretch back forty years!

John is taking his last set of medical boards on December 1st to be board certified in cardio-thoracic surgery. He is prospering in his practice and loves his work, especially the robotic surgery with the Da Vinci robot, the only one in Colorado. Kara has to pick up the slack in their home and she is quite busy as a chauffeur and Mom and tries to fit in a few activities just for herself. She has built up quite a network of friends in Colorado Springs. She is a wonderful stepmom to Robbie, now 12, who spends quite a bit of time with them and has a whole network of friends in their neighborhood. He is running track and doing well in middle school, seventh grade this year.

Michael, who will be 4 on December 21st, goes to preschool several mornings a week and can write his name now and is very social with other children. He is all boy, yet gentle and imaginative too. He loves the ranch and "Grandpa Bob's deer." Grace is pure girl and wants everything she wears or owns to be pink. She loves her fake high heels and her hair bows and, in keeping with being a girl, can have her moods or turn her charms on and off. She was two on August 4th. She also goes to preschool

Todd and Melissa are excitedly awaiting the birth of a son, scheduled for December 11th. Their lives have been very busy. With impeccable timing and good networking, Todd took a different job on the other side of investment banking in the summer. They did not want to transfer to Houston. He is now investing capital for a private person in Ft. Worth. They put their home in Dallas on the market and have had dozens of showings but the slowdown in the market seems to have prevented a sale as of yet. They selected a home in Ft. Worth but ultimately passed on it which has turned out to be a good thing. Todd commutes the 45 minutes daily. Melissa is also commuting over there twice a week, having enrolled Madeline in a mothers day out program. Melissa quit her lawyering in late summer, anticipating the move and the new baby. She realized it just would be too much for a while. She has kept busy with her huge circle of friends and her activities and has enjoyed the extra time with Madeline. Madeline turned one in early July and had both a big party in Dallas and one at the ranch. She is walking and running everywhere and talking quite a bit. She is a very active child and one cannot glance away from her for a second. She loves her sandbox, her doggies, her books and her push car.

Rachel and Jeremy are closer to us now! They moved to Austin in late summer. They were unable to sell their home in Virginia but were fortunate enough to rent it to a family so the wife could do her residency in Richmond, just as Rachel did. They rented a lovely home in Austin and have decorated it beautifully and settled in well. We took a short vacation with them to the Mexican Riviera and had a wonderful time. Rachel passed the last of her boards and is board certified in anesthesia now. She is glad about that! She is working for a large anesthesia group in Austin, AAG, and rotates to a number of different hospitals and has a range of assignments that surpass the scope of her previous job. Jeremy left the Air Force this summer and has begun the MBA program at UT and was chosen for the investment club, a big extra activity that will begin in the new year. He already got to go to Wall Street and see the markets operate first hand. He is quite busy with all his homework. They both have little free time but did get season tickets to all the UT football games. Both have friends living in Austin that they knew before, which has made settling in easier this time around. We thought we would see them lots more, but that has just not been the case...they are too busy.

Bob and I got to go back to Ohio this summer to celebrate his uncle Howard's 80th birthday and we got to see many relatives we had not seen in years and years. It was great reconnecting with everyone. A couple of the younger fellows are coming down to help with the deer breeding and to hunt.

My Dad is still in relatively good health for someone who is pushing 94. He still gets out, albeit with his wheelchair and goes to his men's club and movies, etc. He is shown here on his birthday last March with his beloved Rosie, a miniature dachshund pup who is really lively. My sister is fine and has a new job she likes. She also sings with the Denver Chorus.

Bob shot his first deer with a bow this year, on a lease Todd has northwest of Dallas. He has not been bow hunting that long so this was a good achievement for him.

With so many different schedules throughout our family, it is so hard to get us all together but the winter shots you've seen were taken when we all shared a big condo in Vail last January. We had good times and enjoyed the chance to be together.

Well, all in all, a year full of many blessings and few heartaches. We know not every year can be this way and we are grateful for the joys and happiness we have been blessed to receive.

We hope that 2008 has been a similarly good year for your family and that 2009 will open to new adventures and pleasures and that sadness will not knock on the door.

Thanks for keeping in touch. Our email addresses are: sandymehall@yahoo.com and jrobertmehall@yahoo.com. Our phone number is 830-980-4131 and the welcome mat is always out.

God bless you all. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Sandy and Bob and family

XXOO