Way Back Machine: New Puppy

In honor of a friend at work, I've decided to start a new set of blogs entitled "Way Back Machine".

Set your "Way Back Machine" to 1999 to see some of the first pictures of Buster as a puppy. He's an old member of the family now that resembles Uncle Bill with a graying beard.

The kids have grown some, too.

Easter Egg Hunt

Three energetic children posed for a picture before changing out of their Easter clothes on Sunday afternoon.

It was always difficult to get them to eat and patiently wait for one of us parents to hide the eggs.

Jackie always took a great deal of time to put together Easter baskets for the kids. I am always amazed at what a great mother she is.


Spring flowers make beautiful children even more beautiful.

Christmas Card 1998

I can’t believe that it is already December. Our family is getting older and a year goes by much quicker. I hope you all are enjoying God’s kingdom on earth as much as we are.

Adam started pre-kindergarten classes in the fall. He has the same teacher that Carmen had two years ago. Adam has matured significantly since starting school. He really enjoys learning with the other children three mornings a week. He is quite the artist. Everything is a creation to him; he may be an architect some day. He sings, dances and acts better than either of his parents. He asks his father to pray for him nearly every night. Occasionally, he moves his parents and grandparents to tears when he prays before meals.

Becca is talking but still sucking her fingers. Adam and Carmen imitate her and claim they are “doing the Becca”, but it doesn’t look near as cute. Her hair is so blond it is nearly white. It was just long enough to tie up in a sloppy one inch pony tail this year. She is still cute. She runs around the house chasing Adam all day saying and singing everything he says and sings.

Carmen can color like nobody’s business. She won a coloring contest and has been coloring more since then. The principal has selected some of her work to be displayed in an album to remember this school year. She is reading this year, too. She will read to anyone that listens. I especially like to watch her read to Adam and Becca. She is also developing some of that same antagonistic edge that drew her mother to her father. This part of Carmen’s personality is not so endearing when Jackie has to deal with the kids by herself all day.

Jackie has had what I believe is probably one of the most difficult years of her life. The Lord has blessed us financially the last few years as we have raised our family in 1280 square feet. Up until this year we have both agreed that God wanted us to become debt free. We had also hesitated for the last few years to look for a house because we were unsure of the direction He wanted us to go. In January, we both felt comfortable looking for a larger house in this area. Jackie was burdened with most of the looking. She rarely was even interested enough to show me a house, still, we drove around just about every Sunday afternoon for a season. In July, we gave up and decided that since God hadn’t shown us a house, He wanted us to be debt free. So we are still here and it looks like we will be paying off the mortgage in January 1999. All of these decisions have been stress producing, and it looks like 1999 may offer more of the same as we begin looking this spring. Please pray for us.

The last several years have been very difficult for our church. Until this year, we seemed to be shrinking in every measurable way. We are just now recognizing a turning point. God’s provision is so unexplainable. He has provided us with encouragement this year.

Our family has experienced first hand the desperate nature of a homeless young con man. I don’t know if you have ever read the book “A Man Called Norman”, but somehow God called us to help this young man for six months until we had to have him arrested to face the consequences of his actions. Adam and I picked him up several nights a week during the spring and summer after he got done cleaning a restaurant and would take him to the church to sleep. There were glimpses of hope in this young man that promised he would stop using people for his gain but ultimately there was too much hatred stored up in his life. The mistreatment that he received loomed much larger in his past than any helping hand or friendship in his present. I admit being afraid at times, often wondering if what we were doing was beneficial, but I believe a seed was planted in his heart and I know that God taught us to appreciate our family. This young man is still in our prayers.

We didn’t have a “vacation” this year but had several retreats to refresh us. We camped over Labor Day weekend at Mammoth Cave and visited our dear Bandy friends in Greenville. We also finally got to visit Bob and Kim Warren in Hardin this fall.

YMCA soccer was new this fall for Carmen and Adam. I coached Adam’s team and had a ball with a great group of kids. It only lasted six weeks and it went by fast. Carmen is playing YMCA basketball right now and is the only girl on her team. That doesn’t stop her from being the best defensive player and ball handler. The boys only teased her before the first practice.

Y2K has invaded almost every magazine, newspaper, newsletter or organization I am associated with. If I didn’t know better, I would think that there is nothing going on other than Y2K and our federal government’s self destruction. So here’s my take. Please be prepared to guide your families and organizations through this next year in a Godly manner. Don’t depend on anything other than God. And by all means, do not let anything else distract you from your relationship with God.

I have tried to raise my children as Boilermakers but it is very difficult when my wife dresses them like this and their friends wave NCAA championship banners in their classrooms.

Christmas Card 1997

I don’t mean to be bold and in your face but I am currently reading a book that has kept me focused about the urgency of the spreading of the gospel. It is the third book in Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins’ biblical prophesy based fictional “Tom Clancy-like” series about the rapture, tribulation and Antichrist and it is absolutely riveting. Don’t worry, I haven’t gone off the deep end and made any plans based on the end of the world happening in 1998 but I have stepped up my pace on the great commission. If you have any friends that enjoy reading Tom Clancy, this book may convince them that Jesus is the Messiah.
Romans 1:16, Matthew 28:19

Another year has passed and our three children are another year older. The news here is that we have not added any children nor is Jackie expecting. Our two and a half bedroom home is full by American standards.

Last year I elluded to the calling that the Lord had placed in my life to be prepared for something different. This year has not produced the direction but we are still waiting patiently. We have so many blessings here in Lexington. The friends we have at our church are precious and the spiritual growth we have experienced is irreplacable.

The small group we are involved in is the largest earth bound contributing factor but the entire church family is a great resource. Several new members have added spiritual gifts and experiences from the world that I have never seen used in the traditional church. It is exciting!

In May, Jackie was surprised to receive a four day Waikiki vacation for her birthday. Her parents and our small group conspired with me to make it a complete surprise. She found out 24 hours prior to departure when she noticed two airline tickets in her birthday card.

I have flown nearly 100,000 miles and have been away from my growing family for 50 days this year but the 4 day vacation seemed to make up for it. We toured, sunned and enjoyed time together while our parents watched the kids in Indiana.

We returned to Indiana to celebrate Jackie’s parents’ 50th wedding anniversary in June which was special for all of us.

Carmen broke her arm the week before her first day of public Kindergarten. She currently has a black eye from crashing into her brother’s head during an everyday scuffle. She enjoys school and is eager to learn to read. She already “reads” many books to Adam and Becca.

In October, I went to Washington to pray with a bunch of other people from all over the United States. Our church and I had the best possible accomodations with my brother Keith who lives only a mile walk from the Washington monument.

Carmen and Adam celebrated their 6th and 4th birthdays in October and had a huge outdoor party with friends, family and “Sugar the Clown” (Jackie’s sister Shirley).

In November, little Becca had surgery to remove a growth on her back. The surgery lasted 45 minutes and her recovery lingered on for another 5 minutes. She ripped the IV from her sucking hand as soon as she was concious. Another Eby that loves pain. She is doing fine, the growth was not serious and was completely removed. Another answered prayer.

Other news is that our most accident prone child, Adam, has not injured himself to the point of hospitalization this year. He still has aspirations to be a cowboy but is leaning toward being a mechanic after seeing his father’s truck in a constant state of repair for the last six months. He is excited about starting preschool three mornings a week in January at a local church.

We are still waiting on God’s call, life is getting very interesting and we are getting prepared. We hope your service to the Lord is as exciting as ours here on earth. People get ready!

Kevin, Jackie, Carmen, Adam and Becca

Christmas Card 1996

Merry Christmas
We hope you are having a wonderful holy day season celebrating the birth of the one and only Son of the one and only true God. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. More importantly, we hope that you can personally stand before God the Father one day and claim that Jesus Christ is your elder brother.

Rebecca Faith is Fifth
We are now really odd numerically. Five of us makes life a little more complicated. On our annual trip to King’s Island , we spent the whole day in the rain with new three week old Becca. Kevin recognized that we must not stop at three children unless someone always wants to wait at the exit of the amusement park rides.

Carmen Enters Rat Race
Our oldest child enrolled in a rigid twice a week, three hour long preschool class at Immanuel Baptist Church. She really enjoys going to school like the big kids. Mom and Dad also forked over $12 a year to the parks and recreation department for tumbling classes.

Summer Vacation
We took a summer vacation to Sunset Beach on the Carolina coast with John, June, Michael and Amy Rutledge . We postponed the vacation by one day because of hurricane Bertha but had a blast anyway. We caught some crabs and had some entertaining nights out with five children.

Adam Goes West
This is the year of the cowboy for Adam. He is completely outfitted with Ben’s old boots, new cap guns (with holsters) and red cowboy hat from Grandma and Grandpa Etsinger. He also has a horse on a stick. We named the horse “Mr. Red” because of a red spot on his forehead. We later discovered that the red spot was not part of his coat but merely an inspection sticker that was easily removed. The name stuck.

Kevin Reaches Gold
Reaching Gold Medallion status in Delta Airlines frequent flyer program was the most significant thing to happen to Kevin in his career at Lexmark. This means that now every time he travels abroad he can fly first class and stay in attended “Crown Rooms” at airports.
This is really important to Jackie as she waits hand and foot on three very impatient children alone for weeks at a time.


Carmen Teaches Adam
Adam knows his ABC’s, has learned to write and is familiar with repeating integer series mostly as an over spill of Carmen’s academic pursuits. She’s a great big sister.
His writing skills began with scripting the letter “E” only to discover that although there is an “E” in Carmen there is no “E” in Adam. Dad pointed out that since there really was no orientation to the “E” when written on scrap paper, it could also pass as a rather square “M” that is in Adam. Progress continues with “A” and “D”.

We think Adam is really advanced for his age mathematically from his understanding of repeating series. When playing hide and seek Carmen and Dad have a long time to hide because Adam counts to ten in the following manner. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,8,9,10,11,8,9,10,11,8,9,10,11 ...

Jackie In Beauty Contest
At Thanksgiving, Jackie, Cheryl, Shirley and their mother all put $2.50 in a pot to be collected by the lady that lost the most weight by Christmas. So if you send us candy before Christmas, Kevin and the kids get to eat all of it.

This is the first Christmas in six years that Jackie has not been trying to get pregnant, pregnant, or recovering from being pregnant so we are looking forward to a less stressful time traveling this year.

Blue Eyed Becca
If you have seen the six month pictures of Carmen and Adam in the bucket, you will notice that Becca is not the same. Becca has blue eyes and is not as heavy, rugged and rough as Carmen and Adam were at her age. If Becca is to survive, she will become tough. For now, we are enjoying her petite differences. She just started crawling at the end of November and is making attempts to pull down the Christmas tree.

Happy New Year!
As the Eby family heads into 1997, we are listening for direction from God. The Lord has begun a stirring in Kevin that we believe will call us into something different. We don’t have a clue as to if this means we will be heading to the Far East, Russia, South America or possibly as drastic as moving across the street.

We pray that you will look forward to God’s new mercies every day of 1997.

Christmas Card 1994

In years past, Jackie has always written a long letter and I have edited it to the point that it is a short letter from both us. This year Jackie has been extremely busy as the director of the Children's Christmas Program at church so I am in charge of the letter. The program was spectacular, the highlight was the five year old cancer patient angel narrator who was released from the hospital the day before the program.

Keeping up with two children has been very time consuming but we would not trade the time for anything else. Carmen is currently sitting beside me with her Bible, she noticed mine open on the couch and has come to my assistance. Her conversations are very interesting. Jackie and I often stop and observe her carrying on a conversation with Adam and imaginary friends.

Adam has been bruised and abused his first year. His older sister is quite the ruffian and he takes it very well. Adam has jumped off the couch, climbed over the back of the chair, somehow made it out of his crib with an assistant, and just this morning flopped out of the bath tub. He regularly attended the adult cantata practices this year where he fell off many items providing comic relief for the choir.

Probably the most significant thing that we have experienced this year is the new ministry at our church that Jackie and I have prayed for and longed for since 1992. We began meeting in January and multiplied that single group of fourteen people into seven groups of 70 people in September. We meet weekly, rotating the location to each member's home. When one member is struggling, stretching, learning or growing, all the other members are there to aid or encourage them on a daily basis.

Three years of deaconing has brought many blessings as we have seen God carry Christians through some very difficult circumstances but this last year has been so much more fulfilling as we minister to each other.

Jackie is doing a tremendous job of training our children. I wish that I could spend more time helping her. I often get wrapped up in work and neglect my family but I never come home and wish I had stayed longer. Four and sometimes six arms reach up for hugs and kisses to greet me when I open the kitchen door.

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes has been a big part of my life for almost two years. We work in prison ministry, sports camps, and fund raisers for FCA staff and ministry. This year, I decided to ride bike with FCA to Indianapolis for Promise Keepers. We left from the South side of Louisville early Thursday morning and rode through 50 degree rain until noon. We completed 134 miles to Bloomington that evening. We then rode another 65 miles to Indianapolis on Friday. The time I spent with my brothers on the trip was as valuable as the conference. The conference was incredible. 62,000 men sang praises to God, committed to keep promises to God, their wives, families and churches.

Keep the Faith, don't let the greatest gift ever given go to waste in your life.

Christmas Card 1993

As many of you know, we have another beautiful addition to our family! Adam Charles was born on October 15 just six days before Carmen's second birthday. We did not plan on having their birthdays so close. Adam just showed up six months prior to his scheduled arrival. The Lord showed us once again that He is in control and His timing is perfect.

We both would have appreciated a shorter labor and delivery and a slimmer debut. Jackie continually reminded her Doctor that labor was supposed to be shorter and easier each time. Kevin did a wonderful job of coaching and the 17 hours really went by quickly. Aunt Shirley and all grandparents visited to welcome Adam and celebrate Carmen's birthday. The full house and double diaper duty helped Jackie soon forget all the work and pain associated with Adam's birth. We are both thankful for Jackie's health.

Adam is doing well. His original weight of 9 lbs 3 oz has expanded to over 13 lbs and he looks very similar to his big sister when she was only two months old.

Jackie's days are filled with diapers, feedings, laughter, discipline and answering Carmen's "why" questions. Carmen is talking more all the time. She is so much fun and definitely keeps us on our toes. She loves her baby brother and likes to help Mommy take care of him during the day. Jackie would not trade being a wife and Mommy to her family for anything on this earth!

Kevin is still with Lexmark and has enjoyed the most relaxing year of his career. The travel demands have waned and the time was quickly absorbed by projects around the house and playing with his daughter. He also has been part of a acapello trio that has been a real blessing. Kevin's increase in joy of praise and worship is outwardly visible. God Himself inhabits our praise.

Jackie worked a couple of days a week during the summer to cover for maternity leaves and vacations at her old laboratory job. She enjoyed keeping her skills fresh and conversation with her colleauges. She is now back at home full time with both children and enjoying every minute of it.

We are still very much a part of our church and continue to see the Spirit moving. Exciting things are happening within the body of Christ all over the world. We hope that you have seen similar fruit this year and are so very thankful to have a family of believers for worship, fellowship and support.

We made it back home to Indiana for the required Elkhart County 4-H Fair and had a great time as always. Kevin was very excited about going to NorthWood's state championship game on the way home from Thanksgiving. He is thankful to this day for the opportunity he had to play and learn under that great system that teaches teamwork, responsibility and pride. The community spirit and support for the football team that weekend pulled us hard toward home but we realize that the Lord is not through with us here yet. Until then, we look forward to one visit at a time. Carmen loves spending time with grandparents and cousins.

We have been blessed abundantly this year by the Lord. We give him all the Glory for another wonderful year of being His children! His gifts of two beautiful children to love and discipline certainly help us understand his love for us. What a miracle! It's just amazing to see all the Lord does for us. We take so much of it for granted! It is our prayer that you can reflect back on this year and count your blessings as well.

We want to wish each of you a very special Christmas and hope the coming year will bring growth to all! You are special to us and we Thank the Lord for all of you!

Love,
Kevin, Jackie, Carmen and Adam

Christmas Card 1992

Written by Jackie, Posted here by Kevin

Season's Greetings once again from the Eby's! Why does it seem each and every year flies by faster than the year before? Christmas time is here again and what a wonderful and fulfilling year we have had.

Carmen celebrated her first birthday in October and she has filled our lives with giggles and stuffed Pooh bears! She's so sweet and is growing so fast. She is walking and curious about everything. We are having so much fun just watching her grow and develop.

I am staying home with her and enjoying it immensely! I love being a full time Mommy and wife. I do help at my old job with vacation and other times when they need me. I enjoy keeping in touch with everyone.

Kevin's career is keeping him busy. He's been on the road quite a bit but it gives him an opportunity to read some good books on the plane. He really recommends that you men read Disciplines of a Godly Man by R. Kent Hughs. He spent one week a month in Boston all summer long and just returned from a convention in Las Vegas. Wish I could have gone along. He says it is much harder leave now that he has to say good-bye to two girls.

I was able to participate in my first Mother's Day this year and it was very special for us. The day included a baby dedication ceremony for Carmen. Our church is growing in many ways. We have gone through many changes this year, but the Lord has seen us through and has been our Rock through it all. We have a new pastor and he has some exciting plans allow every member to use their gifts as a minister of the Gospel. I have stepped down from Nursery Director and have taken on new responsibilities. I now serve on the hospitality team and am going to help with the Bible drill team. Kevin still teaches our Sunday School class and serves as a deacon. We have jointly accepted the role of leaders of the Adult ministry team. We love serving the Lord. He is so good!

The most exciting news of the year is without a doubt the freedom granted my sister, Shirley. After 20 years, the Lord set her free from prison to start a new life on June 6, Mom and Dad's 45th Anniversary. She is doing wonderfully and is working for Merrill-Lynch and has her own apartment in central Indiana! The Lord has blessed her abundantly with friends and home making necessities. Some friends have thrown her parties and showers to help her on her way. We have attended many of her get-togethers and it has blessed us just to meet her many supportive friends that have been there for her for so many years.

With Shirley coming home frequently since June, we have also made the trip quite a bit. We have had such a busy summer and fall, but it has been well worth all the traveling! Carmen and I made the trip alone for the 4-H fair. It was especially fun this year with Carmen taking it all in. Kevin was very busy at work, so he couldn't go, but Carmen and I had a ball spending the week with Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins!

We were also able to take a mini-vacation in July to Lake Norman near Charlotte, NC. We had a lot of fun visiting some great friends, water skiing, sailing, and relaxing all at the same time.

We went to Indiana for Thanksgiving and what a year to be thankful. Our entire family was together again for the first time in 20 years for the holiday and we had a wonderful time! We are planning on visiting again at Christmas and we are looking forward to that as well! It's going to be interesting with Carmen being so curious with all the decorations and presents.

This has been another year full of changes and the Lord has lead us through it all! He has blessed us so abundantly and we are so grateful for his loving care! We look forward to a joyful holiday season and also to when we can spend some time with you, our friends. We hope and pray that you have had a great year and will progress toward making your joy complete every new day.

In His love,
Kevin, Jackie and Carmen

Christmas Card 1991

Written by Jackie, Posted here by Kevin:

Wow! What a wondrous and joyous year we have had. A year full of growth and amazing changes. We are still living in Kentucky and feel like we are planting some roots here in the Bluegrass.

In January, Kevin was off to Japan again, but it was for only two weeks this time. I could hardly wait for him to return as I wanted to tell him some wonderful news. We were expecting our first baby and I was due in October. We were so excited.

February brought another baby into my brother's family. Benjamin is Bud and Vickie's third child. That made six grandchildren for Mom and Dad, and one more on the way.

Kevin's work is going well, there were some changes as the IBM site in Lexington transformed into a new company, Lexmark International. A definite advantage is that we won't be getting transferred near as often as with IBM. That is a blessing to us!

At the end of April we spent a week in California. We stayed with a friend from Purdue who ought to work as a tour guide. We had a chance to see a great deal of the San Francisco area and relax a little, too. It was a wonderful vacation that will probably be the last for awhile.

The summer brought many visits from family and friends and in June we were able to go to West Virginia for a wedding of a high school friend to his new partner in life and a Campus Crusade ministry. It was good to see some old friends again.

In July we traveled back to Indiana for the 4H fair and watched our nieces and nephews show their livestock. We had a good time in spite of the high temperature and me being 6« months pregnant.

We are very involved with our church. I am still the nursery director and we both remain in the choir. Kevin now teaches our young married Sunday school class and is really enjoying it. He also is serving as a deacon which has helped him to appreciate prayer and the ministry that is provided by a church family.

This brings us to September and my first baby shower. The girls I worked with had a shower for me which helped me realize that it was really going to happen. I had a great pregnancy, no sickness or complications at all. The nine months went so fast.

I retired in October. As much as I enjoyed my profession, Kevin and I decided that I should stay home and be a full-time wife and mother. My due date was October 15th and it came and went. I went into labor on October 20th around midnight and had a precious daughter 15 hours later on Monday the 21st of October. Labor went fine and Kevin was a wonderful coach and partner. When Carmen was born he quickly became a proud Daddy. It is such a wonderful experience bringing a child into the world. It is exciting having three in our family, four if you count our spoiled dog.

I love being a full time wife and Mommy. I am anything but bored throughout the day. Carmen keeps me on my toes. She's really a good baby and growing so fast. I find it hard to get everything done, I guess that's why this years Christmas letter is a little behind.

We headed back to Indiana for Thanksgiving and had a good time sharing with family and friends and showing our little girl to all who hadn't met her yet. We are going back for Christmas and hope to visit with more friends and family. We are so thankful for all of you.

We can see again this year, how the Lord provides for his children just as he promised. The birth of our daughter was such a miracle, its hard to compare to anything else we have experienced. We look forward to a joyful holiday season and we hope your year has been as rewarding as ours. We pray that your holiday season and the year to come can be used to glorify our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

In His love,
Kevin, Jackie & Carmen Hope

Christmas Card 1990

Written by Jackie, Posted here by Kevin

Wow! Can you believe we have sent a holiday letter from the same state two consecutive years? It's amazing to me! We have now been in Kentucky over a year and it finally feels like home. I hope we are through moving for a while. I think I've said that before!

We have had another busy, but fulfilling year here in the Bluegrass. We are quite involved with our church and our careers seem to take up the rest of our time! We joined Tatesbrook Baptist Church after several months of visiting around. It's close to home and very warm, small enough you can know everybody and growing almost every Sunday which is very exciting. Kevin is teaching the high school S.S. class and we are both involved with the youth program. I am the nursery director, which is funny since we don't have any kids of our own yet. I am having fun with it though. We both sing in the choir and enjoy that as always. We also try to go visiting weekly with the church. As you can see, we love our church family and have quickly become involved.

We have had many visitors since we've moved to the Bluegrass, which is always fun. We've also gone on a few weekend trips of our own to visit friends in Charlotte and do some sight seeing. Kentucky is a nice half way point between Charlotte and Indiana. In April, we were able to go to Florida with Steve and Lori Wagner, some great friends from Indiana. They are now living about 20 minutes away while Steve attends Asbury Seminary.

June was full of weddings for us this year and we were able to make it to two of them. They were fun and we were able to visit with friends from high school we don't see very often.

We celebrated our fourth anniversary in July and also received an addition to our family! It was an adorable 8 week old red chow puppy. She is so cute and playful. Her name is Chassie and is now 6 months old. I took her to Indiana for the week of the fair and everyone fell in love with her. She looks like a little bear. Yes, I was able to make it to the 4H fair again this year and had fun helping with the livestock and watching my nieces and nephews show their animals.

Work is going great for Kevin and he has had a very rewarding year at IBM. He was one of the developers of the new PS/1 Printer and is very excited about it. He just returned from a 3 week business trip to Japan and I am glad to have him back. He left right after Thanksgiving and left me with all the Christmas shopping to do. Do you think he planned that? He was able to see some of the sights, but spent most of the time working so he could get home for our Christmas Cantata at church.

I am still working at the Ob/Gyn Clinic and have gone full time finally. I really enjoy working with these doctors and this practice.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, which was spent with our family in Indiana. We have so much to be thankful for, so many friends and family who mean so much to us.

That brings us up to December and a busy holiday season. With Kevin just returning from Japan there is much to get done before we take off for Indiana again. We are looking forward to a joyous Christmas and spending our week with our friends and family. We also are anticipating a belated Christmas package. My brother and wife are expecting their third child some time in February and we're all excited about having a new baby in the family once again.

We have had such a blessed and prosperous year, God is so good to us! We hope your year has been as rewarding as ours and we want to wish everyone a blessed and joyful holiday season!

Love in Christ,
Kevin and Jackie

Christmas Card 1989

Written by Jackie, Posted here by Kevin

We hope this holiday season finds "you all" well. They still speak a bit southern here! Wow, where has this year gone? I can't believe it is Christmas time again already. This has been a busy year for us with many decisions to make and changes going on. We had a wonderful Christmas holiday in Indiana last year but little did we know that would be the end of relaxation for awhile.

As many of you already know we moved to Lexington, KY in July. The entire printer development at IBM in Charlotte was transferring up to Lexington and with that came a decision for us to make as well. Kevin could stay with his department and move or he could change positions and work in another department. His co-workers also had to make this decision which included approximately 200 families. This announcement came in February and we had to make a decision by the end of March. It was a hard decision to make, since we had just moved last year. We loved living in Charlotte, I liked my job, we were so involved with our church and had met so many great friends. There were so many things to consider. Kentucky was closer to Indiana which was closer to family and Kevin really enjoyed working with the printers. We had a survey trip to Lexington in March to see if we would like to live here and we really enjoyed that. It really is a beautiful area to live in with all the horse farms and rolling hills. After much discussion and prayer, we decided Lexington was the place we ought to be.

After we made the decision to move, we then had to find a place to live! We went on a house hunting trip in May. After a week of looking at 40 some houses with our realtor, we decided to buy a home in the Southeast part of Lexington. It was just being framed and we fell in love with it. It's just big enough for right now with three bedrooms and two baths and the largest kitchen I have ever had! HA! It has a double garage and Kevin loves the extra storage space and work area. We really like the location, too. It's close to my work and our church and shopping!!

Mom, Dad and my niece Heidi met us in Lexington that week and drove to Dollywood with us and from there it was on to Myrtle Beach for a weekend of fun and sun. It was fun having company from Indiana there in Charlotte, too.

In June we had to select a moving company between weekends of goodbye parties and trips to Lake Norman for water skiing and the mountains for white water rafting with our Sunday School class. I even unintentionally shot the rapids without our raft. Rafting is something we would love to do again. We chose a different moving company this year and we were very happy with them. They did a super job. PTL!

The move took place the first week of July and so did our temporary living arrangements at the Residence Inn until our house was finished on July 31st. That was nice having a maid to clean up after us and having IBM paying for us to eat out almost every night but we were both glad to get settled down in our own place with our stuff. All of our personal belongings were kept in storage until we could move into our house. The month of July was full of interviewing for jobs and finishing the house. After many different job opportunities, I decided to work for an Obstetrician/ Gynecologist clinic and I love it. There are seven doctors there and we do most of the testing ourselves. It's only part time right now but will eventually work into full time. No holidays, weekends or nights and part time has been nice with getting settled into a new area. I was also able to go home for the 4ÄH fair this year and see my nieces and nephew show their livestock. It brings back many memories.

In September, we went to Kevin's class reunion and it was good to see everybody. It really makes a big difference being 5+ hours from family instead of 12+. We can easily do it in a weekend. We also have had many visits from family and friends in Indiana and North Carolina since our move. Some of our best friends from Charlotte moved to Lexington at the same time so that made it a lot easier.

We have visited many churches together and have decided on a Christian & Missionary Alliance church. We really enjoy the Sunday School class but have not been able to get involved yet with the choir and other groups since we have been out of town so much, but we intend to start after the holiday season.

We had a blessed Thanksgiving this year, which was spent with family. We were able to spend an entire week visiting friends and family and just catching up. We also plan to spend a week there for Christmas. We are looking forward to visiting some we did not get to see at Thanksgiving.

Looking back, we can see once again the many changes we have gone through and the busy year we have had. It reminds me of last years letter telling you many of the same things only in a different place! I hope I can write next years letter from the Bluegrass! HA! We do miss all of our friends from Charlotte and our church there, but if this is where God wants us for now this is where we'll make our home. We have had a blessed year, we hope you have had the same. We want to wish everyone a joyful holiday season.


Love in Christ,
Kevin and Jackie

Christmas Card 1988

Written by Jackie, Posted here by Kevin

Kevin graduated from Purdue in May and along with that came many changes. He started interviewing early in the year with different companies and by March had wrapped that up. In February, Kevin was contacted by IBM in Charlotte, NC. He flew down for an interview and was successful as you notice our return address. It wasn't an easy decision, believe me. Kevin had other offers closer to home which we were also considering.

Well, like I said earlier, it wasn't an easy decision; but after much discussion and prayer we ended up in Charlotte. We truly felt the Lord was leading us to Charlotte. I still get homesick once in a while; but knowing God wants us here really helps. It has been confirmed to us many times that we made the right decision and we are happy here in Charlotte.

The move was an experience all in itself. We had a moving company move us and I hope we don't have to do that again in the near future! A few things were broken and time schedules were mixed up, but everything eventually was taken care of - PTL! We now live in an apartment and hope to start looking at houses within the next year. For now we are thankful for the extra space we have compared to our last apartment in West Lafayette. The traffic here is awful and sometimes we would rather follow an Amish buggy. (We were not born to be city folk)

Kevin loves his job, he is a Computer and Electrical Engineer, but is working now as a Software Engineer. He is working on Proprinters, which this was printed on! He wanted me to throw that in. I am working in a Medical Clinic right now in the Lab and enjoy the regular hours with no weekends or holidays. It is much different from the hospital in Lafayette. I am changing jobs in a week, though, basically because of salary and benefits. My new job will be with Charlotte Allergy Clinic. I will be working in the lab there and am looking forward to it. I'd appreciate your thoughts and prayers throughout this transition. Thanks!

We have joined a Southern Baptist Church and have met some super friends. Kevin's officemate is a Christian and he invited us to their church. Wow, how God works is so wonderful. We still visited many other churches and different denominations, but with much prayer we felt led to University Hills Baptist Church. We are really happy there and are getting involved with many different areas. We both sing in the choir and are involved in a Friday evening Bible study and a Sunday prayer and devotional group. I'm also involved in the Women's Ministries group and we help with the college ministry also. Our church is located across the street from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. It has a great college group and we help plan activities for them and whatever else they need. We really enjoy ministering that group. As you can see we are keeping busy and loving every minute of it. We were able to drive back to Indiana in August for my High School Class reunion. It was a rushed and packed weekend, but a lot of fun. It was good to see everyone again and spend a little time with family too. Our families are all doing great. We have had a few visits already from family and friends since our move in May. It's always nice to have visitors, but hard to see them go again!

We had a blessed Thanksgiving which we spent with friends from church; since we were unable to go home. It makes it a little easier being away at special times and holidays when you have a church family right where you are. We have worked it out though to go home for a week at Christmas. We are really excited about that and anticipating many visits with family and friends. We leave on December 23rd and will be home until January 3rd. We are praying that the weather cooperates with us and with other travelers on the road as well. It takes between 12 and 13 hours to make the trip, so we're hoping the snow and the ice stay away until we get there.

Looking back, we can see once again the many changes we've gone through and the busy year we have had; but also looking back we can see God's hand at work in it all. What a fantastic and blessed year we have had. We hope that you have had the same. Isn't it just wonderful to know that God unconditionally loves us and we all have family and friends that love us too! Wishing everyone a joyful Holiday Season.

Love in Christ,
Kevin & Jackie

Jackie Graduates from Marion College

Jackie graduated from Marion College with Medical Lab Technician Associate Degree. She is picture here with friends from NorthWood High School that were attending Marion College with her.

Just in case anyone wants to do a little research on whether Jackie's diploma is legitimate, you may need to know that Marion College changed their name to Indiana Wesleyan University after she graduated.

One of the things that I remember about Marion College is that it did not let guys from Purdue stay in the lobbies of the girls dorm. This made motorcycle trips between Marion and West Lafayette be single day trips.

I also remember a David Meece concert at night, but I don't remember riding motorcycle home after the concert.

Jackie started college at Anderson College but decided to transfer to a two year school in order to get married and move to West Lafayette.

After graduation and a wedding, Jackie went to work at Home Hospital in Lafayette.

Spring Mills Camping Trip

We didn't take very many vacations when I was a little boy, but camping is the only way we did it. Our family purchased a Star Craft pop up camper that was used once a year at various Indiana State Parks. In 1972, we went to Spring Mill
Most of the pictures that mom and dad took of us were not really pictures of us as much as they were pictures of trails, trees, hills, signs and caves with us in there for perspective. This one picture featured us and I like the detail. For instance, you can see the "iron-on" patches that we used to get some more life out of boys pants.

I remember those things were stiff, but evidently they didn't stop us from crawling on our hands and knees.

Here's a picture with mom in the creek. I have a terrible memory but I do remember playing in this creek and everybody making a big deal about Keith not being cold. I have never liked being wet and it looks like I didn't like it in this picture either.

Hunting in Wyoming

One of the things that my Dad loved to do was to go hunting in Wyoming. I think this picture is from 1960. Two years after Dad got married and five years before I was born.

This first picture is my Grandpa ( Charles Victor Eby ) and my Uncle Devon Swihart ( Mom's brother-in-law ).

The second picture is my Uncle Jay Klein ( Dad's brother-in-law ). I'm not sure whether this was their first trip or not.