Merry Christmas family and friends!
Bob and I would like to thank you for stopping by our annual electronic Christmas letter. We found that many of our friends keep up with us on Facebook or Twitter but we still wanted to be sure that we could reach out to those who do not use those sites. We hope that you have all had a prosperous and joyous year.
Here a little about what is going on with each of us this year.
Bob
Bob is enjoying his third year with Columbia College as Director of the St. Louis Campus. He loves the Higher Ed world and this year has attended more professional development in the lines of higher education than before. This year Columbia College inducted a new President and there was a lot of fanfare and fun with this event. Anytime you get to wear your doctorate regalia is a special time!
On a typical day you will see Bob walking the dogs, headed out to work, coming home to cook up something nutritious and fabulous, discussing the day with Terri, grabbing a glass of wine before watching Mad Men or football, then ending the day with a cigar and a soak in the hot tub.
Terri
My excitement for the year was retiring at the end of June from public education. Towards the end of June, a wonderful opportunity presented itself to work for the University of Missouri and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education through the Collaborative Work Grant. It was a perfect fit for both, DESE and Mizzou needed someone to work with Lincoln County Schools, which is a pretty hefty drive from Columbia, and yet close to my home and I wanted a job! My dream had been to work with the RPDC when I lived in Central Missouri. I never thought it would come true while living in Saint Charles!
I am involved with my local Book Club, a Girlfriends Book Club, and Bible Study at New Town. Such a wonderful group of people to be neighbors with! I am involved with my local DAR chapter as their historian, and with PEO. I make as many Delta Kappa Gamma meetings as possible.
I celebrated my five year cancer free anniversary this October. I attended parties and banquets and fundraisers and made sure I was offering support to those newly diagnosed. It is hard to believe I am five years out, and yet again, I feel like I have lived each of those five years under the threat of hearing that I have cancer again. That didn't happen, and now I am going to be sure to do all I can to stay cancer free!
This year our garden was on the New Town Garden Tour and this Christmas our house will be on the New Town House Tour! Both raise money for charity and it is difficult to say no when asked. This year funds supported our local food banks.
A typical day for me is going to work out at Curves, meeting with a school for professional development or coaching, reading a book or preparing for bible study, meeting with friends from the neighborhood, eating Bob's fabulous meals, settling down to watch Mad Men or catch up on Facebook, and writing a blog post or two.
Ashley and Eric
Ashley is in her fourth year at Indiana University and loves what she does! She has a wonderful set of core friends, is involved in PEO and the Boys and Girls Club. She works out regularly and is an inspiration to both me and Bob on that topic! She loves reading and has a Book Club and has started one on campus, too!
Eric is finishing his undergraduate coursework at Indiana University and will continue to finish his Masters degree. He had a summer long internship that he enjoyed and will be doing some work for this same company in the spring. Eric officiated at a wedding this fall! Eric brought his roommate from Chicago to a Mizzou game (it happened to be Homecoming!). It was fun to show his friends all the Mizzou homecoming traditions.
We celebrated Ashley's 29th birthday with a tailgate with family and friends. It was such a fun time and we appreciated everyone who came out.
Our Family
We have had a lot of fun this year! For my retirement, Ashley and Bob and I went to Anchorage, Alaska. Ashley had a conference there and we piggybacked on her trip to see the sights and sounds of our largest state. What a beautiful place it is! Eric was unable to join us due to his internship and we definitely missed him. My personal favorite was the glacier cruise we took on our last day there. What beauty surrounded us! Blues, like we've never seen before, were all around us. I cannot wait to go back!
We also had a family reunion on dad's side of the family. We met at the Lake of the Ozarks and had the weekend to talk and look at pictures and have a meal together. It was great fun to see people that I hadn't seen for years, and to make personal contact with family that I had only met on Facebook. Deeply touching and I hope that we are all able to make it back to the next one!
On Bob's side of the family we welcomed a new little niece, Samantha Joy, to our family in April. After having five nephews in a row, it was exciting to have a little girl in the family again! Gary officiated at the baptism which made the ceremony even more special!
Bob, Eric, Ashley and I followed our Missouri Tigers to the Cotton Bowl in January and were so thrilled to see them win it! Such great celebrations! Dallas is a fun place to be, and while there, spent some time with Patsy, Richard, Darren, Kim and Ashley. So much fun to be with them! We also followed the Tigers to Toledo, where they played the Rockets (this is where Pinkel started his coaching career) and again, such great hospitality! We love going to away games and hope to do this more often!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Bob and Terri
Bob: 573-690-1315; bobsteffes@gmail.com
Terri: 573-619-3736; terristeffes1117@gmail.com
