December, 2013

Greetings!

It hardly seems possible that another year is almost over, but since the calendar doesn’t lie,
we must accept that fact. We are just thankful for life and health, even though it’s hard to keep up with everything around us.
 

One of the highlights in our life this year came in March when nine members of our family
including three generations flew to southern Mexico.  Left to right: Daniel, Linda, Lanita, Celian, Norman, Ben, Betty, Fred & Diana.

Since we had all spent some time in our lives in Chiapas, it was special to meet with old friends at an alumni reunion for Colegio Linda Vista/Linda Vista University.

Fred, Linda, and Lanita visited with former classmates, while for Daniel he was going back to his birthplace. Some of her students from 40 years ago still call Betty “Profita” (teacher) which brings back happy memories. Fred also returned here to teach industrial arts and computers after graduating from college. Ben spent a school year teaching English and music here recently so he found a few friends still around and even Norman met some friends from New Mexico.

We were treated like royalty and a big surprise came when they dedicated a new Social Plaza building to the Adams Family.  The two fireplaces and rebuilt roof remnants are all that remain from the original school cafeteria, built in 1959.

Daniel with friends in our old house in Mexico.

In April we appreciated daughter Linda taking us to the alumni reunion at Pacific Union College which was special for Betty because this marked 60 years since she graduated from this school. There were about 15 of her former classmates at the reunion, some coming from far away. Since Celian’s family lived there when he was younger, he still found a few familiar places after 80 years.

After granddaughter Kandice worked as a nurse for several years she went back to college in Tennessee and graduated in May with her BSN.

A week later, great-granddaughter Laurel Keeping finished college in Arkansas, also with her BS in nursing. They are both busy now keeping their patients happy.

Another granddaughter, Krista, is also finishing her nursing course and her brother Ben is another future nurse. Kandice, Krista, and Ben spent their summer working at a youth camp in Maine.

Lanita, Ben, Kandice, Kami and Krista Medina at Camp Lawroweld in Maine

Fountainview Academy and Students in Canada

Kami Kay is spending her junior year at Foutainview Academy in British Columbia where she plays cello and harp in the orchestra and sings in the choir.

We were happy for a visit from her in October during Canada’s Thanksgiving vacation.  KK's good friend Amanda Lipke joined us and added to the fun.

That leaves Norman and Lanita with an empty nest, but they keep busy with dental and other duties including creative ways to store your photos.

Creative Memories is now Ahni & Zoe

We don’t get to see great granddaughters Gillian and Emilia very often, but photos show they are growing up and keeping busy with school, karate, and other activities.
 

 Fred, Diana, and Daniel live just down the hill from us but they live a busy life also. Once a month they enjoy teaching a vegan cooking class.

Daniel is active in Big Brothers/Big Sisters and other youth groups, also working at odd jobs in the neighborhood. Since Grampa Celian’s biggest problem is trying to keep up with all the projects he finds around our place, Daniel is sometimes enlisted to help with those also.

Our garden didn’t do as well as we wished this year, but we found that others had the same problem. We were happy for beets, potatoes, and corn, also lots of boysenberries, raspberries, some peaches and persimmons. One thing that always brightens our garden is something we don’t even plant, and that is sunflowers. We did plant some outside our garden this year because that is one thing the deer don’t eat and we enjoy the colorful flowers.

Although Linda still keeps busy as an ER doctor in Los Angeles, we are happy that she
takes time to care for us, including a few day trips to places of interest. The most recent were visits to the tiny town of Iowa Hill and the small town of Newcastle.
 

Visiting the Historical Museum in Placerville

That covers the highlights in our lives for this year and we look forward to hearing from
all of you–our family and friends-soon!
 

~ Celian & Betty Adams ~

P.S. from Fred - I couldn't believe it a few months back when my sister Linda told me that our 93-year-old Daddy was doing stuff on the computer.  Sure enough, here's the proof - doing online historical research while Mom reads the newspaper!