| The Giese Christmas Letter 2008 |
Dear family and friends:
Another year almost over!
Here we are already half way into our
fourth year in Ogema. Bob is still
pastor of First Lutheran Churches of
Ogema and Westboro and loving it. He
was elected Dean of the Chequamegon
Conference of the Northwest Synod of
Wisconsin ELCA in November. He’s
also almost a year into supervising Jody
Becker, Distributive learning student
from Luther Seminary who is pastoring
nearby ELCA Lutheran churches in
Hawkins and Catawba.
Another year almost over!
Here we are already half way into our
fourth year in Ogema. Bob is still
pastor of First Lutheran Churches of
Ogema and Westboro and loving it. He
was elected Dean of the Chequamegon
Conference of the Northwest Synod of
Wisconsin ELCA in November. He’s
also almost a year into supervising Jody
Becker, Distributive learning student
from Luther Seminary who is pastoring
nearby ELCA Lutheran churches in
Hawkins and Catawba.
Rachel is working on a certificate in
massage therapy so she can use that
skill to earn money to go to graduate
school in art. She’s far enough into
this program now that Bob can get a
good deep massage whenever the two
are in the same place at the same
time. Joe is also going to school at
the same community college, so they
can commute together. He’s
studying arbor-culture.
In April First Ogema broke ground
on a $300,000+ accessibility addition
project. It took only a few weeks to
get enough cash and pledges to give
the go-ahead. Thanks to the
financial and time and talent
generosity of the congregation’s
members and friends, we were able to
dedicate the new addition in October,
months ahead of schedule.
massage therapy so she can use that
skill to earn money to go to graduate
school in art. She’s far enough into
this program now that Bob can get a
good deep massage whenever the two
are in the same place at the same
time. Joe is also going to school at
the same community college, so they
can commute together. He’s
studying arbor-culture.
In April First Ogema broke ground
on a $300,000+ accessibility addition
project. It took only a few weeks to
get enough cash and pledges to give
the go-ahead. Thanks to the
financial and time and talent
generosity of the congregation’s
members and friends, we were able to
dedicate the new addition in October,
months ahead of schedule.
| Unless otherwise credited, all Photos in this letter copyright 2007 or 2008 Bob Giese |
Jo is still after school librarian at Medford Area High School and occasional substitute teacher (any grade K-12
and any subject). She’s part of the quilting group at church and secretary of the Women of the ELCA group at
First Ogema and part of the Ladies’ Aid at First Westboro.
Both Bob and Jo continue to sing in the Community Ecumenical Choir. This fall First Ogema hosted one of the
concerts.
In February Jo traveled to Florida to attend the wedding of our foster daughter Jamie’s oldest daughter, Aeryn to
Chris Barry. Aeryn has two children now. Can you imagine us as great grandparents?
Sadly, Ebonie, the black cat that ordered Bob (in spite of his allergy to cats) to bring her home from Hawthorne
Hills riding stables in Illinois in 1992 (already a couple years old) gingerly climbed down from her perch on the sofa
one day this past winter, lay down on the rug in the sunlight in front of Bob and quietly went to sleep permanently.
She spent some time in the Giese morgue (freezer) waiting for the ground to thaw at the Giese estate (more about
that later) for burial, but Jo got impatient and gave her a Viking funeral when those clearing ground behind the
church had a huge bonfire.
and any subject). She’s part of the quilting group at church and secretary of the Women of the ELCA group at
First Ogema and part of the Ladies’ Aid at First Westboro.
Both Bob and Jo continue to sing in the Community Ecumenical Choir. This fall First Ogema hosted one of the
concerts.
In February Jo traveled to Florida to attend the wedding of our foster daughter Jamie’s oldest daughter, Aeryn to
Chris Barry. Aeryn has two children now. Can you imagine us as great grandparents?
Sadly, Ebonie, the black cat that ordered Bob (in spite of his allergy to cats) to bring her home from Hawthorne
Hills riding stables in Illinois in 1992 (already a couple years old) gingerly climbed down from her perch on the sofa
one day this past winter, lay down on the rug in the sunlight in front of Bob and quietly went to sleep permanently.
She spent some time in the Giese morgue (freezer) waiting for the ground to thaw at the Giese estate (more about
that later) for burial, but Jo got impatient and gave her a Viking funeral when those clearing ground behind the
church had a huge bonfire.
In June Bob and Jo along with Rachel and Joe explored Arizona and Utah together, getting in some heavy duty
hiking and sightseeing which included camping at the Grand Canyon North Rim, Zion and Bryce National Parks.
Notice that as promised last year , Rachel & Bob allowed their spouses to go along.
In July we made our annual trip to Iowa for RAGBRAI—the (Des Moines) Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride
Across Iowa). “Team Toe Tyred” was a small group this year since Tamara left for the Air Force, Joe had to work
and even Rachel couldn’t join us until mid-week. But we had fun and stayed with Joe’s sister and family one night
and with Richard Van der Mey, our friend from Palatine Carol’s brother another (and Carol was there, too).
hiking and sightseeing which included camping at the Grand Canyon North Rim, Zion and Bryce National Parks.
Notice that as promised last year , Rachel & Bob allowed their spouses to go along.
In July we made our annual trip to Iowa for RAGBRAI—the (Des Moines) Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride
Across Iowa). “Team Toe Tyred” was a small group this year since Tamara left for the Air Force, Joe had to work
and even Rachel couldn’t join us until mid-week. But we had fun and stayed with Joe’s sister and family one night
and with Richard Van der Mey, our friend from Palatine Carol’s brother another (and Carol was there, too).
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