From the Jarvis', a Christmas letter

Subject: From the Jarvis', a Christmas letter

To all of you, here is our annual Christmas letter. 

The folks mentioned are mostly relatives and a couple of neighbors. 

 

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS  2011

 

"What I love about living here on the Olympic Peninsula."  Cathy sighed, "it is so quiet…I can hear a leaf hit the ground."   That may have been true prior to February of 2011, but then the heavens opened up and chaos reigned down.  This was the result of our decision to stay put for a few more years.  "If we're going to stay here for awhile," Cathy reasoned, "We might as well finish off the daylight basement."  Let the sound and fury begin!

 

Between February and October, with only a few short breaks in the constant roar of power saws, hammering and assorted unknown noises, our basement turned from grey cement walls, bare beams and cobwebs into something out of Better Homes and Gardens.  We added a roomy apartment complete with bedroom, bathroom, living room, kitchenette and a very large storage room with plenty of shelves, a room we call Command Center where all our batteries and inverter for operating our off-grid system are located and to finish off the space an exercise room that holds 6 pieces of equipment and space enough for 2 sisters to do aerobics.  Of course, what good is an apartment if it is not put to use?  It just so happened that Marlene, Cathy's sister, her two dogs Niki and Amber along with two horses Ranger and Shine were looking for a place to call home.  Marlene and her two dogs fit just fine in the lower level apartment, but now we had a new problem.  Not only were Marlene's two horses coming to live here, but Jennifer and Don were bringing Cathy's horse Sassy back from Yakima.  The short story is that we next built a 4 stall horse barn, put in miles of fence and began transforming the rugged field back into a pasture.

 

Now the story gets complicated….Sassy came home with a very arthritic front knee.  Also, she is 23 years old.  Our neighbors Greg and Cyndie also have two horses, Shiban who is 28 and Poppy an 18 year old paint whose real name is Cherokee. 

 

Skipping all the details, Cathy now has two horses, Sassy and Cherokee…but Sassy has taken up residence at the neighbors pasture with Shiban.  They are like an old couple, just glad to have one another's company without getting kicked or bitten.

 

Then there was our roof.  Since this is the season of Joy to the World, we won't tell you the whole sordid tale of woe.  17 years old and the roof had to be taken back to the beams.  While the roof didn't stand the test of time, Cathy's sister and their mother seem to be holding up better.   Dorothy did an end run around 85 on July 17 and Marlene hit 60 on July 19.  The five Severo's, Sam, Sonya, Ariana, Isaac and Jazmine drove in from Merced.  Michael, Kathy, Angie, Andy and Austin were also here to celebrate.  As was Jennifer, Don, Matt, Paige, Rylan (our great grandson), Renae, Josh, Grace and Lilli.  Our good neighbors Greg and Cyndie rounded out the happy troupe.  Food flowed and later we roasted jumbo marshmallows over a camp fire creating sticky goo wherever fingers touched.  Missing the event was son James and family.  There are times we fear that he is strapped into the driver's seat in one of those big Metro buses.  But he proved our fears unfounded when he and the twins, Hayden and Tristen arrived later in the summer for a day of fishing at the beaver pond.  At sundown they displayed their catch, big happy grins and began planning their next trip out.

 

As usual we held our Thanksgiving holiday gathering.  And as usual James worked the entire weekend as did Brian.  But enough noses followed the Turkey Trail that we feasted for four days.

 

And now that the echoes have finally died down and the dust has settled and been vacuumed up, Cathy and I stand together, leaning against the deck railing, smiling as we think of all of  you, our wonderful family and friends, hoping for each of you the most Joyful of Holidays..and waiting..waiting to hear the next leaf hit the ground.

 

Carl & Cathy