Christmas 2011
"The little child in Bethlehem, He was a
king indeed!
For He came down from heav’n above,
to help a world in need."
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Fun Facts |
Merry
Christmas! We are enjoying a quiet Christmas
in Colorado this year. Over a foot of freshly fallen snow is helping to set
the mood. Soon we will visit our newest nephew, Levi, and spend some time
with the Fishers and Hoffmans. |
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Over 330 people attended the Wheat
Ridge Mid Century and Modern Tour hosted by Wheat Ridge 2020 in September. |
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We continue to do well in our careers.
Ryan was promoted to Technical Lead this year at Comprehensive
Software Systems. He travels
occasionally to Dallas and Little Rock to work onsite with clients and made a
trip to Charlotte as well. Ryan even did some international business travel
to Canada. Britta continues as Executive Director at Wheat
Ridge 2020. Besides low-interest lending and
housing rehab, she is working with businesses and property owners to
establish and improve a main street area. |
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Two nephews born in 2012: |
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Our biggest news is that we are
expecting Baby Fisher in 2012! We are very excited. The baby is due May 7.
Britta has been doing pretty well overall and the baby is looking healthy thus
far. Thank you for prayers for health and our major life adjustment. We will
keep you posted and announce when the baby arrives. |
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2011 Destinations - Minnesota (x4) Recommended reading from Britta: - “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” by
Betty Smith Recommended reading from Ryan: “Memoirs of the Second World War”
by Winston Churchill “Neverwhere” by Neil Gaiman “City of Thieves” by David Benioff National Parks Visited: |
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Our travels this year focused on
Minnesota and Colorado. We went to Minnesota for Easter to see the family
including our newborn nephew, Caleb. Many of you know that we have had a
season of loss and it was nice to celebrate new life. Our next trip was for
the funeral of Britta’s Grandma Norma who lived to be 96 years old. She was a
big part of both of our lives and we miss her very much. We got to go back
for the 100th Anniversary of the Harjes
family farm. It was fun to hear stories, see family and attend the barn
dance. We were also there for Caleb’s baptism and were happy to support him
and his parents as godparents. We hosted many people in our new
home this year. We love having visitors. Our most frequent guest was Britta’s
sister, Krista, who lived in Denver doing the Urban Servant Corps for a year.
We really enjoyed having her here and were sad when she moved back to MN in
August. In May we attended Garrett’s
(Britta’s brother) graduation from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
We spent time around Labor Day in northern Utah. We enjoyed some time in Salt
Lake City, spent several days in the Park City area, and explored the Olympic
sites and lots of canyons. The Utah highlight was Antelope Island, the
largest island in the Great Salt Lake. We also visited Bonneville Salt Flats
(Ryan’s description: very salty and very flat). Our favorite place on the
trip wasn’t planned. We ended up driving to Nevada and visited Great Basin National
Park. It was beautiful. The absolute best was waking at 3:30am to go star
gazing. It is one of the darkest places in the country with very little light
pollution. The sky was vibrant and dazzling with stars and the Milky Way. We
recommend it. |
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Favorite Colorado Trips: - Baconfest
in Keystone
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Life in Colorado We continue to be active at our
church, Ecclesia Denver, where Britta
serves on the Elder Team. Ryan
continues as a regular blood donor (5 Gallons+) and Britta continues to
support the work of The White House Project, which encourages women to vote, run and lead. For fun we continue to hike and
Jeep to beautiful places we can photograph and enjoy. We play kickball,
Britta is in a women’s golf league at Fossil Trace, and Britta is still in the Drinking Club with a Book
Problem. For Ryan’s birthday we took a memorable VIP Tour of Stranahan’s
Whiskey with several friends. With the help of a friend, we brewed our
first batch of mead and really enjoyed it. We watched as much as we could of
the USA Pro
Cycling Challenge hosted in Colorado. It was a great course that included
a time trial in Vail that Ryan biked to watch as well as zipping past our
home in Wheat Ridge on the way to the finish line in Denver. They’ll be back
again in August 2012. Ryan also climbed another 14er this year, Mt. Bierstadt. If you are planning a trip in
Colorado, we are happy to tell you more about our favorite places. |
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We hope you find yourself counting
blessings this holiday season. We are looking forward to a great 2012 with a
new baby expected in May and Garrett’s marriage to Kayla in August. Merry Christmas and best wishes
for a happy and healthy 2012! Britta & Ryan |
