Dear family and friends: 

Merry Christmas from our house to yours. We thank you for taking a few minutes to catch up on all that has been happening with our family in 2012. It has been a wild ride – so please hang on. 

Let’s start with the kids: 

Groen Family (Laura, Jon, Tanner, Lindsay, Case, Wyatt … and welcome Sydney!)

We are praising the Lord for the arrival of our 10^th grandchild on March 9^th and she is such a cutie. We often see glimpses of Lindsay in her little face. She has the biggest, bluest, cutest eyes. 

In October Laura and Jon packed up their family moving from New Hampshire to Wyndmere, North Dakota. Jon took a job farming and loves it. Tanner is now in school and loves it. We miss being able to see them more frequently, but do get to enjoy “Skyping” with them weekly. 

Josh and Jenny’s big news this year is that they added an addition on to their “country barn.” Originally it was to be Sam and Will’s “classroom” – but it has become a very cozy living room. Sam is in kindergarten and being homeschooled by Mom. Jenny served at The Marsh again this summer and had a float in the North East (Maryland) Christmas parade. The float won first place.

 

Julie and Garrett took a big step this fall when Garrett accepted a position with Atlantic Coast Hotsy, a company that services and repairs pressure washers. Because of the change, Julie and Garrett have purchased their first home in Lacey Township (New Jersey) and will be moving mid-January. Thankfully it won’t be too far away for us to continue to have the closeness we have enjoyed with Emma, Ethan and Weston. Emma is in first grade and was recently baptized.

 Zach is in 10^th grade and doing very well academically. This October he turned 16 and we threw him a surprise pool birthday party. We really surprised him, and in fact, he was speechless! For most of the year Zach worked very closely with Garrett in Maintenance. Our guess is that somehow he will end up working with Garrett at some point. This summer Garrett and Zach lost a very good friend in a motorcycle accident. Our friend Joe is spending this Christmas in heaven with Jesus! 

This was a big year for us as a family. In June we started our 16^th year of ministry at America’s Keswick working with a great Board of Trustees and staff. The Board and staff gave us a wonderful surprise party Memorial Day Weekend. They put together too beautiful memory books and are sending us to a wonderful Bed N’ Breakfast in Cape May for a couple of days. It was a very meaningful time to reflect on memories of the past 15 years. We were glad that our “adopted kids,” Brian and Donna Bitler could be here with their growing family for the celebration. 

In October we had the dedication of the brand new playground at America’s Keswick that was built in memory of our granddaughter, Lindsay Alice Groen. Friends of the ministry raised over $79,000 to complete this amazing project. All of the kids were able to be here for the dedication. It was a day of mixed emotions. We enjoy seeing our kids play there knowing that Lindsay would have loved it. 

The biggest surprise of the year occurred on December 15^th. This fall Bill was invited to speak for the commencement of Lancaster Bible College. That in itself would have been a fantastic honor, but Lancaster Bible College conferred on Bill an honorary Doctorate of Divinity degree at commencement. It was a very humbling but special time to be honored for 40+ years of ministry. Over 40 friends comprised of most of our family, Board members and lifelong friends joined us for this amazing day of celebration. 

Jan and Bill celebrated 38 years of marriage and somehow in the midst of all the craziness, Jan keeps us all focused and moving in the right direction. She continues to participate in our Keswick ministry events. She is the greatest wife, friend, Mom and “Granny Apple.” 

As we look back over the year our hearts are filled with gratitude to the Lord that we have been blessed with such incredible kids and the best “grands” in the world! 

We look forward to hearing from you this Christmas and want to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and a blessed 2013. The world is filled with much confusion, strife and uncertainty. We are grateful for the joy of knowing Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and trust Him. Jesus Christ IS the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) 

Running the race with joy,  

The Weltes

Acts 20:24