Sunday, December 29, 2013

Swim Day for the Lang Kids

Greg took the kids swimming today at the Bellevue Aquatic Center....   Check out this fun 1-minute video he made of their time swimming.  He used his new GoPro video that Santa gave him!


Mary Ford Hicks

A summary of the life of Mary Ford Hicks, who passed away on 12/12/2013.   She was a wonderful grandmother to Greg, and will be greatly missed.

Guest Blogger, Greg

Born in the early 20’s, she grew up in the middle of the depression, but established a great career in public education in the state of California. She later served in WWII, as did her husband, John. Soon after he returned from the war, he died in a tragic motorcycle accident on Thanksgiving day. My mother was then 5, her sister was a toddler, and my grandmother was pregnant with a boy. When the boy was born, he was named “John,” after his father, whom he would never meet.  She never remarried, but poured her energy into raising three kids and taught each of them valuable lessons about faith, hard work, and perseverance. In the 1970’s, she retired from teaching, and at the request of her father, moved to the Black Hills of South Dakota to help him run his purebred Herford cattle ranch, one of the oldest homesteaded ranches in the US, nestled right behind Mount Rushmore. When her father passed in the mid 70’s, she took over the ranching operations and ran it successfully into her 80’s. One can only imagine what it was like to be a woman in this business. So glad I had the chance to know her!
Grandma 2 Grandma in garden Greg and Grandma Mom and Grandma

I had a chance to attend the service for my grandma and to support my mom and her brother and sister. Here are a few pics from that memorable visit to the cemetery in Sturgis.

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I also was able to spend some good time with family at the ranch. Nice walks at sunset with the cousins and Gary. Dinner for 10 around the table in the kitchen, possibly a record?  Christmas carols with a nice hot fire with wood from the Hendersons.

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Thursday, December 26, 2013

Christmas 2013

We had yet another wonderful Christmas here at our home in Bellevue.  We are blessed by our family, our friends, and all of the fabulous parts of our lives!  Here are a few pics of our Christmas Eve church service, plus Xmas morning.


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