Christmas letter Dec. 2009
Psalm 71:17 O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. 18 So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. 19 Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you? 20 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again.
We’ve had a pretty wonderful year! We hope you did too!
Michael started the new year with two new knee joints, on which he was able to dance (unsteadily) within a few weeks. He emerged from physical therapy (where he did a lot of whimpering) ready for anything!
In March our house emerged from foreclosure and we had a much better mortgage! We are so thankful to family and friends who helped us get through this terrible financial time!
Our ballroom dance gown business had a great year. Over two days at one contest we had over 40 dresses on the floor. We’ve added about 26 dresses to bring our total to 70 dresses for sale or rent. We’ve gotten quite a good reputation and have provided dresses for dancers as far away as Georgia!
A real high point for us was our sponsorship of a professional couple who wound up winning the Theatre Arts division at the Ohio Star Ball (that’s the one they often televise on PBS)! Megan and Vince are wonderful, besides being wonderfully talented.
Our business grew so much that we had to get a new (used) vehicle to transport the dresses. We traded in our much loved (and much used) Chrysler 300 for a Cadillac SRX! We got “such a deal” on a low mileage pristine vehicle. Once you’ve had leather seats, it’s impossible to go back to cloth or vinyl.
It wasn’t all great: in February our grand dog Dante and 2 year-old Bichon Yoder escaped and started running the neighborhood at evening rush hour. Although we recovered Dante with no harm, Yoder was hit by a car and killed. Three strangers stayed with him until Michael arrived. On the way home, with the help of other strangers on the street and in cars, Michael was able to find Dante. At home, our neighbors were with us out on the street and were a great comfort to us as we mourned. Two weeks later, our 9 year-old Bichon, Ben was diagnosed with a terminal illness and died within a couple of weeks. Too Sad: he died in Michael’s arms.
Within days of Yoder’s death, we had contacted the Ohio breeder from whom we had obtained him and found two newborn females would be available in a matter of weeks! A quick trip to Ohio with our girls (Briana and Elle), and we brought home the Most Wonderful little Girl: Millie. She is Yoder’s sister and cousin and is completely delightful!
In the spring, Michael’s Dad Byron passed away. It was not peaceful, but it was fairly short. Michael misses not being able to share old movies with his Dad.
In the fall, we were able to start dancing again and even participated in the Holliday Ball Dance competition! Too Much Fun!
It was also the year of Facebook. We are present under our business name: BonniesBelleGowns and have a great time keeping in touch with fellow dancers, friends from church, and old friends and relatives with whom we would otherwise never have had contact!
We are also excited about what God is doing through our church: We’ve had a time of turmoil, then a time of healing, and now we seem poised on the edge of a time of reaching people for Christ in new ways! Bonnie is a mentor mom for our MOPS group. We are involved in a number of different ministries and look forward to seeing how God uses us and the church in the coming year!
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