At the end of this year of transitions we pause to reflect. The photo above was taken at the Sandland family farm near Grygla, MN in 1979. Our boys, Brent, 6, and Brian, 3, are on the right with my brother’s children, Dan, Wes and Stephanie. We have other photos through the years of the cousins to track their growth and refresh our memories. Thanks to my mother’s careful photo album keeping we have this and other photos. No, at age 92 she is not scanning these photos. I scanned these from the beautiful photo albums she gave each of these, her five grandchildren, for Christmas. Each album included common family photos beginning with their great grandparents, shared experiences during their lives and photos unique to each grandchild. I grabbed Brent’s long enough to scan the photos. These will be precious keepsakes for each one to be viewed by their grandchildren.
We are grateful for 2011. It was a year mostly spent with my father and mother through August when Dad went to be with the Lord. We have reconnected with friends and realize that we have some others whom we have not seen since before going to Spain in 2009 .... so we have some more to do for sure.
For now, however, this is a time of reflection on God’s goodness to us through many years, places and experiences. Then in 2012 we have to get back on track to see what challenges and blessings are in store. Please pray with us for guidance as we inquire about future volunteer opportunities.
Here are the cousins as teens around 1990.
