Christmas 2000 (Beth's mother passes away)

December 2000
Dear Family & Friends:
Year 2000 has come and gone with no significant Y2K-related events. What a relief! Here I am sending out our somewhat annual update of the Templeton life-as-we-know-it. The Templetons have had a very active year: some great times and some challenging times.
We traveled to Oak Ridge TN in June for a close friend’s wedding. It was great to be there and be a part of the festivities. There was a pretty good group from Little Rock that traveled over to “see him off.”
Beth’s mother passed away in late June. She had been battling cancer and her body finally gave into an infection that developed from the treatment. We will all miss her dearly. We truly appreciate all of the support we received from so many of our friends and family.
September saw the Templetons heading to the Emerald Coast (Destin, FL) just in time for the arrival of a tropical storm. We had never seen anything like it. Luckily it was not very “big” so it really only eliminated one half day of beach time. Be assured that the half-day missed at the beach was replaced by some quite productive time at the factory outlet mall. We can’t seem to drive by one of those without checking it out. It must be the desire to compare it to the Branson, MO malls. Clearly, we are hillbillies from Arkansas.
Lawson really enjoyed the beach. We have some great photos of him playing in the sand with his stylish hat and tee shirt. We hope to go back this spring or summer but we may not be able to work it in (see below).
Lawson turned one year old this past October. He enjoyed the birthday parties and playing in the cake. He enjoyed getting to see his aunt and uncle from southern Mississippi who happened to be in town for the party.
Lawson is a real blast. He’s now walking and running and climbing and throwing and all of those things that little boys do. He keeps his parents running around behind him at a close distance.
We spent a few days preceding Christmas in Fayetteville and then traveled to Russellville on Christmas Day. An ice storm came over Arkansas on the 25th and 26th replicating what much of the state had faced two weeks earlier. Travel on the roads was a nightmare. Our home in Little Rock was without power for two days. As of the writing of this letter, thousands are still without electricity. Arkansas really got hit this year.
Lawson is really excited about becoming a big brother this year. Beth is pregnant with our second baby who is due in mid July. We are excited, yet terrified. We’re sure that Lawson will be generally self-sufficient by then so he won’t require nearly as much of our time.
We were hoping to tell everyone about the completion of all of the updates to our home. Since moving in October 1998, we’ve made progress but can’t seem to complete all of it. We started working on some landscaping early in the summer but it kept raining during the month of June, and then got really, really hot! We (ok, only Lawson and Larry) are starting to like the look of the pile of topsoil in the front yard. After all, Lawson does need a place to dig in the dirt. Maybe we’ll have more time after the new baby is born.
The two beagles (Tracker and Daisy) continue to rule the backyard and sometimes the kitchen and den. They seem to like Lawson ok and particularly like his messy eating habits. They have found a plethora of treats surrounding his highchair. Tracker is continually searching for ways to reach the tray of the highchair and is getting closer each day. Never a dull moment around this place.
Just to keep things interesting, I (Larry) will be changing jobs at the beginning of the year. After ten years at ALLTEL, I am going to work for Euronet Worldwide as a Finance Manager based here in Little Rock. I am excited about the move.
In closing, we just want to say how blessed we feel to have such a great extended family and such a caring group of friends. It seems that we often wait for an “event” of happiness or sadness to acknowledge these wonderful relationships. We appreciate these relationships and know that our home is truly blessed.
Contact information is once again provided below including my new “work” information. Please keep in touch. Hope you had a very Merry Christmas.