Fulks Christmas Letter 2017

Diane & Daniela soak in August's Eclipse

This was the year of literal cold feet, escapes to Branson, Bolivia, binge-watching on Netflix, and questioning a dive-into-new-technology. Jeff does not identify with one of these; guess which one.

What is jolly, round, ours wears a white belt, grants wishes, weighs less than a pound, and is the greatest HoHoWho? It is the Echo Dot, specifically Voice Servant Alexa (Diane repeatedly called her Alexis, but that does not work). As everyone knows (because we are behind the times) upon request she plays Christmas music, turns on the dining room Christmas tree lights, and announces the outside temperature. We love the weather feature. She also has a timer and a host of other silver bells-and-whistles to learn. Turning 62 has its silver side, namely brain exercises around every corner and two $10 each life-time senior passes to the National Parks.

Jeff’s spring missions trip flew him to his favorite city in the world, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Visiting with long-distance, decade-long friends was particularly deja-vu. Our daughter visited Santa Cruz with Jeff 12 years ago, and maybe Homebody Diane can save enough pennies to join him (for the first time) on his next trip there.

Jeff’s Bolivia trip coincided with Diane’s visit to Chicago in March, for youngest Grand’s 2nd birthday. For that drive, Nana and DeDe road-tripped together. Keeping track of three young grands (today, aged almost 7, 4 ½, and 2 ½) required two sets of eyes. Visits keep us in-synch, specifically March, June, August, October; and, slipped into July the two older grands traveled to our little neck-of-the-woods for their first-ever solo “grand camp” (in other words, no mommy and daddy who were kitchen-renovating) which positively stretched us all. Our in-between Facetime visits are second-best, but they are still connections. Our greatest moment this entire year was hearing that our almost-7-year-old wants a Bible for his December birthday.

In August 26-year-old International Guest Daniela helped us celebrate turning 62. We felt honored to have her with us for 3 weeks. Way back in 2005 Shayna attended Daniela's "Quinceanera" party (the name for Daniela's big 15th birthday). Bolivian Daniela was a trooper. She road-tripped with us to Branson (for shopping), Chicago (visiting Shayna and the Grands), and Tulsa (visiting Nathan). The Solar Eclipse seemed specially scheduled for her final day in Springfield. Take-aways from Daniela’s visit include adding whole-kernel corn to Diane’s pancake batter and, temporarily, we felt like younger parents. One of her take-aways: "Americans have a lot of machines" (like our dishwasher that she thought was a "cabinet" for dishes after they are hand-washed).

It has taken over a year, but Diane finally feels fairly situated in her job at Evangel. Housing students in 54 rentals is a challenging kind of fun, especially when a 30-day notice is not given, an unauthorized pet is discovered, and super-busy is every March. #SomeoneIsWatchingOutForDeDe was and still is Diane’s mantra. Jeff coordinates Evangel's MOL and Behavioral Health programs and he is still a gifted teacher. He stays young doing morning runs at Lake Springfield.

Thanksgiving was the "our-turn" holiday. Three families and two granddogs created one active household. Taking the Grands to the park, swimming, presents-opening, food prep and eating, and playing with toys were sardine-packed into 4 days. Having our son with us is always eye-opening. He introduces us to surprises, like apple peelers, a selfie-stick tripod with remote control (for 2017's family photo), stream-lined travel routes, and ways to do almost anything better.

"There is no spoon"... or trike  (The Matrix)
Youngest Grand chooses to carry the trike

On a sad note, Jeff’s 91-year-old Uncle Bob left this earth 2 weeks before the holidays, and both his widow (they were married 70+ years) and all of us will miss him. The funeral provided Jeff the rare opportunity to be with his East Coast sister, maternal cousins, and his aunt. Times with family are brief and fleeting, but special. For those who have lost a loved-one this year, we send thoughts and comfort your way.

We are reminded of Jeff's Dad, who was an Illinois/Indiana Assemblies of God pastor for over 40 years. Back in the 70s he oversaw a church design and building and chose high ceilings in the main sanctuary. With a recent re-model of the church, the current pastor acknowledged and admired the foresight of Pastor Fulks. He was a true visionary in many ways.

For the first time, Diane has succumbed to the Hallmark Channel’s endless Christmas-a-thon. It keeps her December movie-watching. One can’t help but soak into the Christmas spirit as well as the fun of giving. Diane’s recent read, “Be Nice (Or Else!)” coincides with the Christmas "pay-it-forward" spirit. Guided give-a-ways to others, like Halo oranges and a nativity set or two, don’t feel like we have less afterward… instead we daily receive more, including the depth of who God is... the Ultimate Giver. He sent to earth the Greatest.Gift.Ever: His Son Jesus.

We trust that your 2018 will have value-added extras and meaning. Our family wishes you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy and giving New Year!

2017's Family Photo
Oldest Grand has the power, to press Nathan's remote, taking this selfie-shot
Middle Grand holds his reward for cooperating
Youngest Grand cooperates because her older brothers are cooperating

A link to chuckles: Echo for Seniors, Ho!Ho!