Christmas 2004

December 2004
Dear Family and Friends,
Can you believe it’s already the end of 2004? I’m sitting at my computer on 12/31/2004 starting my first draft of the Templeton Christmas Letter and cannot believe it was only 365-ish days ago I was doing the same thing. Once again, I suggest you sit down with a beverage of choice and imagine the year in the life of the Templetons. Upon request by you, the reader, I have increased the font size since we’re all getting a little bit older and our eyesight is getting a little bit worse. Please let me know if you need the LARGE PRINT EDITION for next year.
When we last left you I was suggesting that this year’s letter may be delayed due to the amount of time I would be spending billing clients of my new-at-the-time consulting business. As it turns out, I have no such excuse. A potential consulting client turned into an actual employment opportunity. I joined a local manufacturing company as CFO in March. It’s been a great opportunity and a tremendous learning opportunity for me since I had never worked in manufacturing. As you can imagine, Beth was pleased although I still had/have the “be-me-own-boss itch.” I do hope to give this business another serious try someday.
Beth continues to be the CHO at our place (Chief Home Officer). She enjoys having the kids at home, and enjoys having them at preschool part-time, too.
We started the year by moving into our new house. You may recall that we moved to Fayetteville in August 2003, and then found the “perfect” house a few months later. Two moves in five months were plenty. We love the new place with a big yard and plenty of space. We kept the first house as an investment property and had a very nice family move into it when they relocated to Fayetteville from Washington DC. They liked the house so much they bought it from us a few months later. So much for my buy-and-hold strategy for real estate.
We worked in a camping trip to Blanchard Springs before starting the new job. My mother joined us for a trip to Blanchard Springs in March. We had great weather and a great time. I think Grandmom found the trip to be not quite as relaxing as she might have expected. (See last year’s letter describing camping with kids and bedtime antics with our small children.)
Georgia celebrated her 3rd birthday in July. The ladybug theme was omnipresent. The party was well-attended by kids of all ages.
August found us heading to Florida for our somewhat annual family vacation. This year we barged in on the Ducketts’ annual Florida trip to Destin. For any of you readers who don’t know the Ducketts, they are some of our very close friends from Little Rock who have been a part of our lives in so many ways for the past 15+ years. They go to Florida every year and usually politely suggest that we should join them sometime. Well, we tricked them this year and said “Sounds great, let’s go!” We had a great time and they claim they did, too. I think they may not have found the trip quite as relaxing as they had in the past (see last year’s letter describing camping with kids and bedtime antics with our small children) but still seemed to enjoy the kids being around. After all, it’s hard to beat seeing pre-schoolers playing on the beach. Beth and I were, of course, merely transportation sources for our kids since they would have never made it in the no-bathroom-stop Duckett shuttle. We’re hoping that in a few years everyone’s memory will fade enough so that it will again be politely suggested that we should join them in Florida.
We were able to have another Templeton/Davidson camping trip in the Fall. We all went to Devils Den for a weekend. Having all of the older cousins around helps out with the ability to relax a little bit. They create a bit of a diversion for our kids and, after all, there’s strength in numbers. We really love having the chance for all of the families to get together doing something we all enjoy. It won’t be too many years more that the older cousins will start going away to college and might not be able to be around as much for boring old family stuff.
We had some sad times this year, too. Both of our beagles, Tracker and Daisy, had to be put to sleep. They will both be missed. The kids occasionally ask us about them and if they’re playing with Gog and Paps in Heaven. We assure them that they are and that they are all doing fine. Santa Claus noted the absence of a hound dog in our house at Christmas and left us a basset hound mix named Polly. She’s about 40 pounds of wanna-be lap dog with big feet and long ears. She’s working her way into the family hierarchy quickly. With the passing of Tracker and Daisy, I had moved from #6 to #4 in the organizational chart, but Polly’s slipped in now so I’m back to #5.
I had my High School 20-year class reunion in October. I think it was enjoyed by all who attended, but then again I worked on the committee so of course I think it was a hit. It was great to see folks I hadn’t seen in 10 or 20 years. We rekindled some relationships and got caught up on some addresses and phone numbers.
Lawson had a cowboy birthday party in October, complete with hay-ride, hotdogs, and root beer. I’m not sure what else is required for a 5-year-old to have a big time. The weather cooperated much better than it did at his 3rd birthday in Little Rock.
Beth and I made a trip to San Francisco in early December (no kids). We had a great time. We stayed downtown over the weekend, did some shopping, and did some touristy things. One of my high school classmates who lives out there was having his birthday party that weekend so we got to see him again. We enjoyed our visit out West and were ready to come home, too.
A group of long-time friends from our church in Little Rock usually try to get together every year around Christmas and this year was expected to be no exception. However, the weather didn’t quite cooperate. Central Arkansas received a meaningful amount of ice and snow on Wednesday before Christmas: the night of the party. The party was postponed by one night but the weather continued to be a challenge. We left Fayetteville at 1:00 pm on Thursday, drove to Conway (about 20 miles outside of Little Rock), sat on I-40 at a dead-stop for a few hours, turned around and headed back to Fayetteville, and got back home about 11:00 pm. That 10-hour trip probably counts as one of the least productive drives I’ve ever made. Usually if we leave home and drive for 10 or so hours, the beach or other point-of-interest is involved and we actually reach our desired destination: not so this time.
Our first Christmas in our new home was wonderful. We had my family over for Christmas Eve and then Christmas Day. Lawson and Georgia were apparently perceived to have been “a good boy and girl” for 2004 based on the amount of things Santa left. Polly was a nice surprise, too (see above). A couple of days after Christmas, some of Santa’s elves’ helpers arrived with a swing set that was apparently too big to fit in Santa’s sleigh. Our backyard is now apparently a desirable destination for some of the neighborhood kids who were previously unimpressed by our fenced-in-but-otherwise-plain backyard. Polly likes to have the kids over, too, since it gives her a chance to chase and trip small children.
We had another Christmas tree “incident” this year when I was adjusting its stand to get the tree a little bit more vertical. Unfortunately, the tree ended up being entirely horizontal with me also horizontal. I called out for Beth and she came running only to find our beautiful tree laying down and my two feet sticking out from under it (a la the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz). Next time I’ll listen to Beth and the tree salesman when they suggest purchasing a larger stand.
The day after Christmas we headed to Arkansas’ River Valley and Pope County, Arkansas (Russellville and Atkins) for festivities with Beth’s family. Once again: good food, family, friends, and fellowship.
I guess I should wrap up this letter, but not before some general reflections about the year. Beth and her brother wrapped up their father’s estate late in the year and sold the house. It is a relief to all to have that completed but obviously emotional, too. We are happy and sad to have that behind us.
Lawson has completed his first two seasons of soccer and is really liking it. He’s getting better and better, but it still primarily consists of a herd of 4-5 year olds moving around the field in chaotic unison.
Lawson and Georgia have been participating in gymnastics and seem to enjoy it. Lawson’s continually exhibiting lack of fear / reason when attempting new tricks. Georgia likes to wear her little gym outfit and do jumping jacks. Both of them look forward to the close of the class when suckers are awarded to any well-behaved participants…we don’t always receive suckers.
We have really enjoyed being in Fayetteville and really miss Little Rock, too. Despite some of the sad moments of our lives in recent years, we have been so blessed with so many things. We are so fortunate to have our health, comforts, conveniences, relationships, and prosperity.
As I’m writing this letter, over a hundred thousand people have lost their lives and millions have been displaced by the natural disasters in Asia. Thousands have lost their lives through military actions in the Middle East. Throughout our nation and the world, we know of hardships that dwarf most of the challenges we face. Let us try to be thankful for what we have, and pray for those who need our support and God’s comfort.
All of our contact information remains unchanged from last year’s letter, but you may still have our Ridgeway address in your address book (our first Fayetteville home). Take a minute to update your address book so we don’t miss out on any of your potential correspondence in the coming year.
We hope you had a great Christmas and New Years!