Kirk's Kingdom: Merry Christmas 2011 from the Blackstocks

2011 has been a year of great joy and great pain. Great joy over the relationships we’re building with our grandchildren. Great joy over a long-planned Inland Passage Alaskan cruise in May. Great joy over the June weddings of a beloved niece (Catherine) and beloved nephew (Justin). Great joy at having son Steve, wife Beth and their girls so close. Great joy at being able to spend another week at Ghost Ranch with granddaughter Kyra. Great joy at being able to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary in November. Great joy that Dwight began a miraculous recovery from some of the chronic pain that has plagued him for the last 15 years. And great despair at the downward spiral our son Marc’s life has taken and the horribly broken relationship that has resulted in removing his two youngest children from our lives, probably forever.

The Grandchildren:
Since Steve and Beth moved to Byers in 2010, our relationship with their daughters, Grace and Ava (almost 5 and 3) has blossomed. They all spend the night a couple of times a month and drop in at other times as well. It’s a thrill to hear the joyful screams of “Gaga! Granddad!” as they burst through the door. We are also very close to our two oldest granddaughters, Kyra (age 13, Lafayette CO – 8th grade) and Jordan (she’ll turn 11 in January, Fountain CO – 5th grade), plus Jordan’s brother, Jaden (age 6½ - 1st grade), who has become our grandkid, too. And we continue to have wonderful communication and occasional visits with grandsons Caleb (age 9, Kearney NE – 3rd grade), and Kaelan (age 7, Albuquerque – 2nd grade). We are thrilled this year to be able to connect with Hannah (age 10, Englewood CO – 5th grade) and Trae (age 8, Thornton CO – 2nd grade) before Christmas, plus meet Trae’s little brother.

Quick overview of travel/visits:
February – Caleb and his family traveled from Nebraska for a hockey tourney in Colorado

March – Long photography weekend in south-central Colorado for the Monte Vista Crane Festival

May – Annual women’s retreat at Highlands Presbyterian Camp; Beth came, too – great weekend!

May – Alaskan cruise (Inland Passage) – an early 40th anniversary gift to each other

June – Wedding weekend, Milwaukee, for niece Catherine Gallagher and groom Jonathan Brown

June – Wedding weekend, Lake Tahoe, for nephew Justin McElroy & bride Jenny; Steve officiated

July – New Mexico with Kyra, included a day with Kaelan, followed by a week at Ghost Ranch

August – Caleb and his mom visited from Kearney; included a pool day with Grace and Ava

August – Annual Genesis Church retreat; this year with Beth and Grace, and Jordan and Jaden

September – Labor Day weekend with Steve & family at Kepners’ cabin – Winter Park (Thank you!)

October – Sharon to Dallas, grade ordination exams; Dwight to Princeton, 40th seminary reunion

November – 40th anniversary weekend with Jon & Danny Yeagley at their cabin (Thank you!)

Brief visits with Sharon’s brother, Richard, who flew to Denver a couple of times on business

Holiday traditions include the Genesis Church “Holly Daze” event with Jordan, Jaden and their parents, Thanksgiving with Kyra’s family (Steve, too; this year, Beth and girls traveled to Indiana to be with her folks); gift exchanges with the grandchildren; Colorado Symphony Christmas Concert and Zoolights with Kyra and her mom (hoping for Zoolights with Grace & Ava, too); Live Nativity with Jordan & Jaden; lunch with Dwight’s cousin, Bill & family; and Christmas day with Steve’s family.

After Christmas, we will spend a few days with Steve, Beth and the girls at Kepners’ cabin (Thank you again!) Snow play and a sleigh ride are on the agenda, plus a visit from Kaelan and his mom on the 29th, followed by a visit on the 30th with a couple of Sharon’s college buddies from NJ who will be here for the holidays. Somewhere in the middle we’ll squeeze in birthday parties for both of us!

Dwight:
Dwight will celebrate his 65th birthday on the 29th and officially retire after being on disability for nearly 10 years. He still preaches and teaches occasionally and serves on presbytery committees. The “miracle” mentioned above occurred after preaching for the Presbyterian church in Idaho Springs on Father’s Day. Following the service, a member of the church asked if she could pray with him regarding his chronic back pain. “Sure”, says he (thinking this is the 10,000th person to pray for him over the last 15 years, can’t hurt …!) The next day, he experienced significant reduction in pain. That relief has continued with only occasional bad days. His pain medication levels have been slashed, his activity increased, his attitude greatly improved – we’re beginning to believe we’ll actually have some kind of life after retirement. It’s not a panacea – he still needs lots of rest, but it is a huge improvement – and one we attribute to persistent medical care and equally persistent prayer. For the 10,000 of you out there who have been praying for Dwight all these years – thank you, thank you, thank you!

Sharon:
Sharon continues to work for the City of Lakewood – 15 years as Central Records Administrator in the City Clerk’s Office and plans to work until age 66 (3 more years). She sings in her church choir (Genesis Presbyterian, Littleton) and serves on session. She traveled to Dallas for the last time in October to grade Presbyterian ordination exams (exam grading goes digital next year), and serves on an annual church women’s retreat planning committee. This year’s trip to Ghost Ranch was taken in early July, which meant Sharon could participate in the Ghost Ranch Chorale with a bunch of very talented singers and musicians. Lots of fun, very challenging, great music!

Marc:
In September, son Marcus pled guilty to felony theft of an at-risk adult (his father-in-law) and was sentenced in November to 8 years of closely-supervised probation and a huge restitution bill. Before he’s released, he faces child support and failure-to-appear charges (and another huge bill) in a different county. Our relationship with him and his wife is so badly broken that we don’t expect to see Jaellynne (age 4½) or Ayden (born March 14) again unless they seek us out after they become adults. Also learned recently that Marc has another child we’d never heard of, probably several years old (a girl named Jayden, we think). That makes 10 for him.

Steve:
Son Steve started the MSW program at the University of Denver this fall, earned straight A’s his first quarter and is doing an internship at a non-profit housing agency in Aurora. He continues to serve as part-time pastor at the Presbyterian Church in Byers (about an hour’s drive from our house) and Beth is working part-time in the local school district. We are blown away by what wonderful parents they have become (and a bit humbled; they’re better than we were …. ) We get to see a lot of them and their girls (Grace, almost 5, and Ava, 3) and love every minute of our time together. They are, without a doubt, the most talented pre-schoolers on the planet! Betcha never heard that before!

Kirk:
Our lovable Great Dane is doing well at 7½ years old, but has developed fear of walking on wood or vinyl floors, also icy conditions.

Merry Christmas!
Our prayer is that the Prince of Peace will bring peace to our world and that you will experience God’s blessings at Christmas and in 2012.