Ray’s year 2016
As I think back on this year this Christmas morning, I’m struck by how blessed I am. Certainly, there are things that I would like to be different but for most of the important areas of my life, things are quite good. I know life won’t always be good and so I’m concentrating on enjoying today so that if tough times come, I will always remember how good life was in 2016.
The more important aspects of my life involve my church PBCC, winemaking and, mostly, my wife and family. Even work has been good this year but let’s face it, I wouldn’t be getting up every morning and going into work if we didn’t need the money/benefits 🙂
As in past years, I continue to be very involved in the worship ministry as drummer, sound tech and technical consultant. I enjoy playing drums with various teams and I think they’d let me play more often if I wanted. But a long time ago, I heard an elder say to a worship leader that they need to limit their time “on stage” and sit and be fed by the teaching a couple times a month. So, I’m trying to do that. However, we are very short on sound folks and so I’ve been “on” more like 3 times per month this year.
I mention wine making as it is both an somewhat exotic hobby that I enjoy with a group of four other guys (fiveguyswinery.com and that’s my next project to update that site). I won’t say much more about it here since I’ll update that site. Not much more to say that we make wine in Bill’s garage and we’ve done pretty well and made some nice wine.
Alex, Ian, Lucinda and Lynda in Seattle
Now regarding the family, we did spend two of our weekends visiting first Alex and then Ricky in Seattle and Kansas City respectively. First we went to Seattle with Richard and Lucinda King to visit Alex with his room mate Ian. We had a lovely time with them, learned how to play some new games and visited a couple of nice parks. One of my highlights was going to two of Alex’s favorite breakfast joints to test the eggs Benedicts. Overall we are very pleased with how grown up Alex has become and how thoughtful he is about planning his future.
Ricky’s new place!
Next we went to visit Ricky in Kansas City. While the trip to Seattle was planned months ahead, the trip to visit Ricky came more spontaneously when we were invited to a convention in KC with the highlight speaker being George Bush. So, we took the long weekend to spend with Ricky. Turns out he moved that weekend and didn’t want any help but managed to spend time with us touring the highlights of KC. Similar to my previous trip, my highlight was again related to food. This time it was the thin, smashed burgers at some small little joint that I can’t remember the name of. I know you were expecting me to say BBQ and while that was great, it was these hamburgers. Another highlight was spending some time with Ricky’s roommate Alex and other friends tasting fantastic pea soup at an (of all places) an Asian restaurant.
As I said above, this is a good season for us and I especially enjoy life with my wife. We have become cultured now and go to the opera once a quarter. Additionally, we are dancing regularly with the Taecker’s and Irwin’s with whom we get a lesson with Leslie once a month. Every weekend there’s something to work on around the house and we continue to maintain and try to improve it every year. We work well together and enjoy each other. I thank God for such a gift in Lynda. She truly is my best friend and while I know she feels competition from my other hobbies, and she is gracious about that, I do love and enjoy living with Lynda.
As for work, I enjoy a ton of freedom and while no job is ever safe, I have the joy to work with some of the best engineers I’ve ever worked with. It’s a very strong team and we work very well together.
I’m sure that by now, you are ready to move on and appreciate your hanging in with me this long. May God bless you richly in the coming year.
-Ray
10 Comments
Kathy&Rich says:
Your letter was also great…know you know where you “bread is buttered” both spiritually and with your family. Sending you guys all a big hug from us! Miss PBCC but have been connecting with some other “ex’s” and plan to visit their church soon. Will send you a drummer & sound report! ??K & R
02 Jan 17 @ 11am
Chuck Runge says:
Nice letter Ray. It’s been a long time since ONYX and good to hear from you now and then.
02 Jan 17 @ 11am
Arvind says:
Nice letter Ray, as always!
Happy New Year to you and everyone in your family!
Arvind
02 Jan 17 @ 1pm
John Jester says:
Hello Ray!
Thanks for the update! Your website is great. I enjoyed all of it!
God’s blessings to you, Lynda, and your sons,
John
02 Jan 17 @ 1pm
Ricky Barbieri says:
The hamburgers in KC were from Town Topic. Happy New Year!
02 Jan 17 @ 4pm
Kent Cressman says:
Thanks for the update….have a swinging 2017!!
02 Jan 17 @ 4pm
The Krugs says:
We really have quite good food in Colorado Springs, would love to have you visit 🙂
02 Jan 17 @ 5pm
Larry Brown says:
Thanks for your excellent percussion work in leading worship, Ray, and for all you do with tech support.
02 Jan 17 @ 8pm
Derek Sanders says:
Hi Ray! Nice to see your update. 🙂
Everything is great here at Swampfox, you should give Bob a call sometime to catch up.
It looks like you are doing a great job with the wine making. I wish I lived closer, I would sample some. 🙂
Have a great year, Derek and all at Swampfox
03 Jan 17 @ 7am
Ken Kallbrier says:
Nice page Ray and great job on putting the site together. It’s great having you, Lynda and your kids as neighbors all these years. You guys have certainly brought a lot of fun to our side of the street. We love having you for neighbors. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
03 Jan 17 @ 7am
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