It They Was Were a Very Good Years

Dear Family and Friends,

We want to wish you a very blessed Christmas and a joyful new year!

I have some male friends who made the decision to not get their haircut again until after all the COVID restrictions are lifted. (Actually, I think a couple of them cheated and got trims.) Instead of taking that step, I would like to say that I made the decision to not do another Christmas letter until COVID is over. Really, I would like to say that. It would probably sound better than admitting that I'm just…             Hey, how about those Seahawks!

Enough has been said (and experienced) regarding the pandemic and everything associated with it. 

In 2020 and 2021, we have been very blessed and I will now attempt to prove it in short bites so I don’t put you to sleep. I only wish I could show you a current picture of the whole family. Maybe next year.

Cathy 

• The love of my life had her first two years as a retired person. Our individual impressions about that are the same: WE LOVE IT!!! She does not miss work at all and has been able to keep in touch with some of her former colleagues.
• She has spent her “free time” being on the VBS Training Team (not the official name of it but it is more descriptive) for the Northwest Baptist Convention and Olympic Baptist Association. 
• She is teaching her kids again in Sunday School (observing all of Washington’s rather stringent mandates).
• She goes to the YMCA about five times a week!
• Our house is clean!… all the time!… every bit of it!… but never clean enough. (You always hear folks complaining about having to clean the house. You will never hear my Cathy making such a statement.)
• Our average meal time (dinner) is much, much earlier now that she is not arriving home around 5:45pm after leaving home no later than 6:30am.
• She is happier! (So am I.)

Jim

• I am in my 16th year as the pastor of Kitsap Lake Baptist Church (KLBC), Bremerton WA.
• I still have a passion for seeing people grow spiritually.
• I still enjoy being able to preach from God’s word each week. The preparation time continues to be very meaningful for my own spiritual growth.
• I learned how to record, edit, and put worship services on YouTube.
• I learned how to do meetings on Zoom… all the time… way, way, way too often.
• I have had opportunities to continue doing some writing for LifeWay Christian Resources.
• I know where the YMCA is.
• My body is older. Really. I feel it.
• Hair is overrated.
• I have had some basal cell skin cancer taken care of and my left ear rebuilt.

Us

• We have been able to take a number of trips to spend time with my parents in Eugene OR. For those who want to know: Dad and Mom are still married (75 years the day after Thanksgiving), Mom had back surgery to relieve the sciatic pain (She woke up here instead of in Heaven but wasn’t too upset because the pain was relieved), they are doing well enough physically for being 96 and 92, they still live in their own home but our niece spends most nights there, and Dad had a “significant” stroke in April of this year. On June 18, my siblings, our niece, some medical personnel, and I had a Zoom meeting to learn more about Dad’s health. To make a long story short, he has already lived past the prognosis. He does have increasing dementia but usually does fairly well during the daylight hours.
• We have also made a couple of trips down to Eureka CA to spend some time with Shane, Alison, Cecilia, Avery (our newest grandson, born on August 31), and all their animals.
• In March 2020, we flew down to Phoenix to visit with David, Jordan, Levi, and Maelie. In November 2021, Cathy returned to visit for a week only this time it was to Indiana where David is now on staff in New Albany.
• Like everyone else, we have had a lot of stuff called off and trips cancelled, too.
• We enjoyed the summer, including the vegetable garden and fruit trees.
• We continue to enjoy living close to Aaron, Denise, Sélah, Emma, and our foster granddaughter, and are very grateful for getting to see them frequently.
• We are grateful for opportunities to travel, visiting friends and family. Someday, we hope to do it much more, visiting more friends and family as well as seeing areas of this country to which we have never traveled.
• Sometimes, we hunt for mushrooms. Most of the time, they succeed at hiding from us.
• We treasure the time we have together, now as throughout our 47+ years of marriage.

Finally, Cathy and I want you to know that we are in awe of the countless ways God has blessed us. It is our prayer that you will experience His blessings, too.

Love to all of you!

Jim and Cathy

Has It Been Two Years?

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been just over two years since our last annual Christmas letter. I know. You are thinking, “FINALLY! I’ve been waiting for this since early January 2018!”

But, before we delve into all that has happened in our family since that time, please, share what has been going on with you. Go ahead…

Wow, that is a lot better than what I was going to share so I’ll just end this letter here.

Okay, okay. Stop begging. I will share.

First, the kids—

Aaron, Denise, Sélah (4+ years), and Emma (2+ years) purchased a house here in Port Orchard and have turned it into a warm home. They have a new addition, too. His name is Brodie. We look forward to the day when this energetic puppy is grown and his nails and teeth do not so easily scratch and draw blood. 

Shane and Alison also bought a house where they live in Eureka CA. They have plenty of room to stretch out, let the dogs roam, raise chickens (again), and pick apples. They love going mushroom hunting, fishing, and crabbing. They gained a new addition in November, as well. Her name is Cecilia Lynn and our newest granddaughter is SO CUTE (even if she looks like her daddy’s side of the family)! 

David, Jordan, and Levi (2+ years) were not going to be left out on this thing of expanding families. As a matter of fact, they added to their family back in July. Maelie Jo is also SO ADORABLE! Big brother, Levi, can already say his full name, although a “D” sound is easier to say than all those other consonants so, for the time being, it may sound more like, “Eevi Dames Dandendine.” No matter. He still gets an A+ from everyone.

The thirteen of us (excluding non humans)—

It is such a joy when your offspring and their families come to visit (usually one family at a time) and we had several of these blessed events over the past two years.

We were also blessed to have everyone here for this past Christmas. A classic example of how formal we are during these gatherings was when we posed for pictures. Well, perhaps “posed” is not the most accurate word for what went on. Despite taking over 180 pictures—individual families, grandparents with grandkids, and the group photo—the best picture was… let’s just say “natural” or “casual”… or chaotic. Yes, that is more accurate. But we had a wonderful time figuring out and demonstrating how four established families (and their “way of doing things”) can get along with patience, grace, and, most of all, love.

The two of us—

We both stay very busy as part of Kitsap Lake Baptist Church. This March we will celebrate fourteen years with this wonderful congregation. This past summer, Cathy joined me for the annual Kids Camp. She was helping with all the food preparation (and clean up) while I served as Camp Pastor. I hope she will continue to join me doing this each year but it is up to her. She continues to serve as the lead teacher for our Children’s Sunday School.

Cathy and I had one of those “experience of a lifetime” things when we went through the Panama Canal as part of a big vacation in Spring 2018. A few days before going through the canal, Cathy let me take her parasailing and she loved it! We would (and, hopefully, will) do it again without hesitation, given the opportunity. A big bonus was learning how to make  salsa, guacamole, and chili rellenos with poblano peppers from a chef in Mexico!

2019 was been a year of joy and sadness. On March 3, my dear mother in law, Dorothy Van Scyoc, entered into the presence of Jesus at the age of 93. We know that she is forever full of joy but we are saddened that we will be without her for the remainder of our time on earth. Cathy’s parents were very dear, generous, loving, and godly people. Their four children are proof. This was also the reason we made three trips to Oklahoma in eleven months, with the last trip culminating in driving a rental truck back to Washington State, carrying precious memories that are now part of our home.

I did say that 2019 included joy. The greatest of these were the births of Maelie Joann on July 11 (a real 7-11 baby) and Cecilia Lynn on November 2 (late, just like her momma). Added to that, we took a 7-night cruise to Alaska with our dear friends, Danny and Cathy Herron. We rode a real live steam train out of Skagway all the way into Canada on the same tracks travelled by the gold miners. The train passed within inches of the rock faces created by dynamite. The other side dropped off hundreds of feet to the river below. It was just like being at Disneyland!

This past Summer and Fall, we were also able to get some work done on our house, adding a cover to the patio, replacing the worn carpet, and making some other helpful improvements. I reckon we won’t be moving anytime soon. 

Finally (yes, there is an end to this novella), the big, big, big news: After 33 years of working for The City of Tacoma, Cathy retired on July 1. To celebrate, I took my wife on a wonderful nine-night mystery trip that included Branson MO, Disneyland, and her very first non-tourist train ride (Amtrak in a sleeper car). I am so grateful for all the years she spent helping to support our family as well as carrying the major burden of maintaining our household. Now, she gets to do whatever she wants! (I hope it includes taking me on vacations.) Oh, I almost forgot: The City of Tacoma dedicated the training room to Cathy and named it after her!

That’s it.

Happy and Merry all-those-special-days-and-holidays-during-the-year!

Our love to you!

Jim and Cathy

Gantenbeins' 2013 Not-So-Annual Christmas Letter

You are right: There was not a "Gantenbeins' 2012 Annual Christmas Letter." We were waiting for something in particular to develop. It did, so let's get right to it with an abbreviated timeline.

2012

~Jim and Cathy turned 60!

~May 26 — On our 38th anniversary. We met Shane Calhoun and five minutes later Alison surprised us by showing up at our front door for a visit. We began to wait for that relationship to develop.

~September - October — A rare and cherished blessing as we were able to visit with each of our children twice while on vacation.

~Christmas — The whole family was home for Christmas! (The picture at the top of this page.) We continued to watch the relationship develop between Alison and Shane.

2013

~March 16 — Cathy and I began the Ideal Protein Diet.

~Spring — A lot of emails, text messages, and phone calls between Alison and us regarding possible venues for the not-yet-official upcoming event.

~May 5 — Alison sent us the picture that officially confirmed that the relationship had developed as all had hoped and expected.

~June — David came for a brief visit while attending his high school 10-year reunion.

~August 9 — Alison was shocked when she saw me two days before the wedding. I had not told her about the weight we were losing.

~August 11, 2013 — Shane and Alison were married!

~November 23 — I finished my weight loss after dropping 100 pounds. Cathy continues to slim down.

~Christmas — The whole family was home again!

And now, for updates on the family:

Aaron and Denise continue to live and work in Winston OR where Aaron is Associate Pastor of Community Baptist Church and Denise works hard to develop the Children's ministry. This summer they were heavily involved in World Changers as their church hosted this event. We are praying for Denise's family. Her father is battling cancer.

Shane and Alison continue to settle in to married life in Ontario CA. Shane is on faculty as a counselor at California State University, San Bernadino. Besides each other, they enjoy their dogs, Cody and Dexter, their pallet garden, and Shane's pottery.

David continues to live and work in Phoenix where he stays extremely busy as Student Pastor of Foothills Baptist Church. He is still single but is not opposed to changing that status should a relationship develop with the right lady. We are not opposed to it, either!

Cathy and I are pretty much the same as in our last Christmas letter except we are two years older and many pounds lighter. We are looking forward to having grandkids…someday…maybe…nothing yet… but are happy we are able to be with the grand dogs.

Even though this has been relatively brief, our lives are very full. We thank God for His increased blessings and for your friendship (or "relationship" for those who have the distinction of being family). May 2014 be a year of blessings for you, as well.

In His love,

Jim and Cathy