Holiday Greetings from the Michigan Cannons ... and Diaspora

Character Map:

Here's the scoop …

It seems to me that a picture is worth … well, you know. But here is the narrative for those who want it. Let's start with Rachel. She's 12 and in 6th grade. Can you believe it? She spends her spare time reading and indulging a new-found taste for baroque music.

Christy is 15, in 10th grade, and a never-ending bundle of energy. This was the year for her to break traditions, dropping band for the cross-country team. She injured her ankles, and spent the Fall in air splints. She would take them off, warm up, run 3.1 miles, limp back to the bus, put them on, and start the cycle again. Gutsy, huh?. Of course, that was only part of her life. But really fun for dear old dad, the cross-country "has been!"

Liz is 18, and a freshman at BYU. No more explanation needed! She loves to sing; she loves her classes; she loves the life as a student. And she's home sick! Isn't it wonderful?

Jenne is 21 and a senior at BYU in elementary education. She's scheduled to do her student teaching next semester. Wow! That's scary. But the nifty part is that she's really good at what she does. It's so exciting watching her move into this new stage of her life.

Ben is 23. The big event, of course, was his marriage to Annette Hampton. Now they live in East Lansing. He works as a temporary and an avid blood plasma donor. Annette is a senior at Michigan State University in Speech Pathology. She graduates this year just in time to have THEIR BABY! Is that great, or what? After that, Ben will be back in school working on a bachelor's degree… which is a family tradition. We had five kids by the time Hugh finished his graduate program!

Sarah is 25 and a senior in secondary education at BYU… well, sort of. She was home this semester, after having gone year-round to school for two years running. She has been doing substitute teaching and making her parents VERY happy just by being here. But then, it's back to the grind. She is majoring in English and minoring in Math. She looks forward to student teaching in the Fall.

Jim is 26 and works as a financial analyst for Ford's Visteon subsidiary. He's also doing an MBA at the University of Michigan. See? We're all masochists! He and Michelle have a house in Canton, Michigan, where Michelle spends 48 hours a day mentoring the two most precious kids ever invented. At 2, Mikaela is a fountain of intellectual conversation. At 15 months, Andrew is a most attentive protegé.

Sam (28) and Velia have a house in Sugarhouse, almost downtown Salt Lake City, where Sam works as Director of Content for Newsline, an Internet news service. Velia is Assistant to the President of Systems West, which contracts computer programmers to busnesses. Otis, their two-dog-years-old springer spaniel, manages snow removal in the back yard while Sam and Velia are at work.

Bonnie is still a full-time homemaker... well, sort of full-time. She is no longer Relief Society president (the woman's organization for our Church). But she jumped out of the proverbial frying pan into the fire by accepting a call to teach early morning cemetery seminary (a before-school religious class for high-school students). Can you imagine high-school kids getting religion at 6:00 AM?

Hugh still professes ignorance at Wayne State University. He is having a ball... what did someone say about academe – "the last loophole?" In any case, he can't believe that people would pay him (albeit never enough) to have so much fun. This has been a year of committee work, helping to get the School ready for re-accreditation. He is Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee and the Research Committee. He also taught an experimental distance-learning/Internet course and delivered papers in Maui and Izmir, Turkey. Well, someone's got to do it!

Well, there you have it. Can you believe that we would scoop this low?!?

All levity aside, we are thinking fondly of you all, our precious friends and relatives. This is particularly true of this time of year, when we think of the bonds that tie us all together. May the holidays be happy ones for you all, and may the new year be prosperous and fulfilling.

Love,
The Michigan Cannons
 
 

Directory Assistance

Hugh and Bonnie ([email protected]) Christy and Rachel ([email protected]) 30964 Ridgeway Farmington Hills, MI  48334-4621 248-477-5938	Ben and Annette ([email protected]) 3320 Trappers Cove Trail, Apt. 1D Lansing, MI 48910-8243 517-887-1599
Sam and Velia ([email protected]) 970 East Wilson Avenue Salt Lake City, UT 84105 801-463-7004	Jenny ([email protected]) 409 North 750 East Provo, UT 84606 801-374-4778
Jim and Michelle ([email protected]) 399051 Lynn Canton, MI 48187 734-484-9503	Liz ([email protected]) 3116 Hinckley Hall 801-371-4974
Sarah ([email protected]) 870 East 700 North Provo, UT 84606 801-373-6533

newsletter version 1.3
last rev. date 12/30/98

please send questions or comments to [email protected]