It must be time for the annual Christmas letter again—Sylvia has the tree all decorated and we’ve already gotten the first few cards from overseas. Merry Christmas and the very best wishes for a Happy New Year from Northwest Arkansas! It has been a good year for us with few exceptions, and we are very thankful for a full life, family, friends, and many blessings. We pray that all is well with you and yours and that the past year has been a good one for you too.

  We are even busier than last year. We still haven’t finished fixing up “Tall Oaks,” our country house, alias the “Money Pit,”although we’ve been at it pretty steadily for the past eighteen months. We’re on the downhill side now and can see the end. Perhaps we can move in during the summer, but I think that is exactly what I said in last year’s letter. By the time we’re done with this house, we’ll have learned two things: the skills to do another one and the wisdom not to.

  Again, we had a major sadness early in the year. We arrived in England on last year’s Christmas visit to find that Sylvia’s Mother had suffered a severe stroke a few minutes earlier. She is now in a nursing home, in a wheel chair and unable to speak, but still in good health for her condition and always cheerful. Sylvia went back to see her again in March and we both went over in early November. Lot’s of things we miss in England, like family, friends, food, and “real ale.” We don’t miss the prices with the pound now almost equal to two dollars.

  We stayed a little closer to home this year. In addition to the three trips to England, we made what is beginning to be an annual trip with twin sister Joyce and brother-in-law Kenn. In May we met in Indiana and traveled to Niagara, spent a week at a time-share an hour north of Toronto, and finished up with a nephew’s wedding (sister Judy’s son, Jon) in Wisconsin. Next year we plan to see Peru and the Amazon. Instead of going to Minnesota for the family reunion, it was our turn to host it so we chose Branson, Missouri. Unfortunately, sister Joan couldn’t make it, but otherwise we spent three lovely days on Lake Taneycomo. Did the usual tourist things like taking in a show, lot’s of overeating, a round of golf, and even a little trout fishing. Next year it’s back north to mosquito country again.

  We even hosted a few visitors. Sylvia’s brother Roy and son came over for three weeks in July. Two weeks of that he helped us stucco the country house and then we took a quick trip to New Orleans for some Jazz. In October Sylvia’s other brother Frank and wife Christine stopped by for most of a week on the way to several other more glamorous cities. Al and Sheila also honored us with a couple of visits, first, in conjunction with the annual Wal-Mart shareholders meeting and then for our traditional Thanksgiving dinner. My sisters stopped by on their ways in and out of the family reunion, We also have other interests that keep us off the streets. Sylvia is still helping out a couple of days a week at the local Habitat for Humanity “resale” store. Since April I’ve been her Saturday boss as the paid “Saturday Re-Store Manager.” Last spring was a very busy time assisting the AARP Volunteer Tax Preparation program and I’ll continue with it again in February. Although we are no longer actively looking for antiques, we are still selling some redundant things we brought back from England at the local antique mall, called True Treasures. Most months we make a little more than we have to pay in rent, thanks to Debby, the shop owner who takes good care of us.

  So that’s the news from the Argetsinger’s for now. If you are ever driving US highway 71/I-540 between Bella Vista and Rogers in the NW corner of Arkansas, stop in. We’d love to see you.

 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Sylvia and Jerry
2803 Garden Place, Bentonville, AR 72712
Telephone 479-271-8572
Email: jerry@argets.com
Web site: http://www.argets.com