2016 Merry Christmas from Ramona and Dennis Dalling
Merry Christmas 2016 from Ramona and Dennis Dalling
We do know there is much sorrow in so many lives
this year, as we have said goodbye to too many family and friends. That is the
price we pay for living so long! We are so grateful for the gift of eternal
life evoked as we celebrate the birthday of the Christ.
It has been another wonderful year for Ramona
and me, as we have traveled and visited so many wonderful family and friends
and places!
We had a delightful trip to Fiji for the
rededication of the temple, just in time for the worst cyclone in their
history! But, the temple was spared, as were the General Authorities including
Pres Eyring, and the temple is now serving those wonderful people again! We
loved reconnecting with so many of our Fijian friends.
We stopped in Hawaii on the way to Fiji for our
granddaughter Katie’s wedding, and it was especially sweet with son Dennis’
whole family together.
Ramona had a little battle with breast cancer,
and won! As soon as she got her diploma from the radiation clinic, we headed
for a cross-country tour with our pickup and camper.
After attending the J L Dalling reunion in Sugar
City, ID, we finally went to see Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse Monuments. We
were impressed with the vision and creative destruction that makes such visual
attractions possible!
Then, we toured the Handcart Memorial at
Martin’s Cove. When the site missionaries found out we were descendants of the
Loader family, we were given the royal treatment! Our Loader family suffered
terribly on the trail, and some died, with so many others, and now it is sacred
ground and is surely worth the effort to get there.
We next stopped at the Winter Quarters Temple
and stayed with our lifelong friend, Marlis, who serves there with her husband,
Guy Alderman.
We went back to Nauvoo, and the beautiful
temple, now with two pageants that teach church history and touch hearts so
profoundly. E & S Gross, our missionary friends from Portland hosted and
fed us very well!
We revisited Palmyra and the beautiful temple
there, and visited with friends from our Fiji mission, the Wettsteins, who
serve in the temple.
There is so much history in Palmyra, where the
restoration really began, that we loved every site, especially the sacred
grove!
As we worked our way through church history
sites, we ended up in Maine, where my main brother, Frank, lives with his wife
Carolyn. They are doing well despite a variety of health problems, and were so
very kind and thoughtful while we were there. Of course, we had a New England
clam bake with delicious fresh caught lobsters!
If you draw a straight line from Portland Maine
to Portland Oregon, you go through several Canadian provinces to get home, and
so we did and that was also lovely!
We finished the year with five funerals in five
weeks, including Ramona’s only brother, Ted, and my little sister/aunt, Ora. Thanks
be to God for the Savior’s plan of happiness that heals all that hurts!
Surely, the sweetest miracle of the year was the
Jan 13 premature birth, and thriving, of our little baby Eden. She weighed in
at 2lb 5oz, and now is the liveliest bright-eyed little girl you could ever
meet! She is our 36th great-grandchild, and we know, at least, of one
more on the way!
We are now experiencing a very untypical
freezing snowstorm in the Portland area, but we are warm and comfortable in our
home, and we hope the same for you and yours.
This year we celebrated 65 years togethering keeping
each other warm!
You are precious to us and we send our love and
best wishes to you for a truly Christ-centered Christmas with all the joy that
brings!
Dad and Mom Grandpa and
Grandma
Dennis and Ramona
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