Welcome to the Welter - Franz
Christmas Web Letter 2000
Dear Friends and Family,
Here is an update on what has been going on in our lives for the past year or so.
Last summer Alex went to Great Britain for two weeks
with the People to People Student Ambassador Program. It was a marvelous experience for him. Seventh grade has been a struggle but we are
pulling through. We hear rumors that
eighth grade is much less stressful. He
is enrolled in a class called Virtual Classroom that has been very
interesting. Check back in the spring
to see the web site they are putting together.
It is called Postcards from Paul at 
http://www.geocities.com/bunyankids/.
Duncan is in the second grade now. I have been volunteering in his classroom once or twice a week during their computer labs. He has become a superb reader and if he is not playing with his trains he is in a corner with a book. In the spring and fall he had a great time running around on the soccer field. Sometimes he has a hard time remembering that it is o.k. to cross the centerline when he is playing offence, but he has a good time. And of course he asked for trains for Christmas.
Carl decided to wait until Alex is
out of high school before going to the seminary. Our friends in Fort Wayne have learned the hard way how difficult
it is to have a teenager and a parent both in school. We transferred our membership to a larger church in Melrose
Park. We looked closer to home but
couldn't find a place where the hymnal wasn't three generations old. It helps that we have friends at this new
church too. We hope to become actively
anonymous in this congregation. Ten
years of positions between the two of us such as President, 
Vice-President,
Recording Secretary, Board of Education Secretary, Financial Secretary and
Tuition Coordinator took their toll. We
don't intend to get much deeper than singing in the choir for a while. It has been nice to attend services and not
have to be distracted by anything more than keeping Duncan from walking on the
pews.
Carl's business is still going well. The bank spun off the division he was working in. But the new company continued to honor his contract and has renewed it into the New Year. We talk sometimes about moving but as long as we are living from contract to contract we will probably stay put. The Chicago area is getting so congested it is hard to consider a more convenient area to live as long as he is working in the Loop. We are in the midst of renovating the house. We will be redoing the kitchen soon and we just repaired all the plaster walls. I keep trying to talk Carl into a master bedroom/family room addition, but he says he would rather move than do that. So fixing up the house may be just for us, or to prepare it for sale. I guess we will see.
I am working as Carl's administrative assistant and doing the "soccer mom" thing. (Yes, we did buy a mini-van this summer). Carl's sister, Julie, was married last winter and I was a bride's matron. (Alex was acolyte). It was an honor to participate in such a big way for my beautiful "fourth" sister. I went to my twenty-year high school reunion in September. It was good to see the "old" faces. There were a few I missed though. I keep saying I will write letters and catch up, but I never do. Maybe that will wait until Alex is in college too.
A year ago we took a family
vacation with our 
friends
Dave and Patty at our time-share in Fort Lauderdale. It was a great time, but, now that Alex is in Junior High, we won't be able to do a vacation like
that during the school year again. Carl and I will be going to Puerto Vallarta
in March while the boys are on spring break.
They will be staying with Oma and Opa.
We haven't had a full week alone together since before Duncan was born,
so we are looking forward to it. We did
go to Vancouver for a weekend in April just the two of us. That was when we discovered it is possible
to spend too much time on trains. The
scenery was incredible though. March
will be a full month for 
traveling
since my cousin, Jessica, will be getting married on St. Patrick's Day.
We spent about two weeks at my Mom's cabin in between Lincoln and Omaha last summer. Duncan spent every minute in the lake and we had a hard time getting Alex off the Jet Ski. The boys had a great time with their cousins too. I was able to catch up with a couple of friends from college and relax a bit. One evening Mom had a girl's night. We kicked the boys out and all the Welter/Egger girls stayed up all night and played. We had a blast out on the deck boat and only got stranded a couple of times.
My mom has been chronically ill since last February. We keep her in our prayers that her health will improve and that medical science will be able to find ways to successfully treat her. She is more herself now that she has become acclimated to the medications; and her new dog, Harley, is keeping her on her toes.
May the Lord bless you and keep you at Christmas and always,
P.S. Please take a few minutes to check out http://www.theartmill.com/thearrival.html it contains a heartfelt message that we would like to share with everyone.
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