The Hughes Family

1517 Aylesbury LN l Plano TX - 75075-2728 l Home Phone (972) 423-8611

e-mail whughes901@aol.com l Home Page http://members.aol.com/whughes901

Greetings All! We hope this letter finds y’all well and full of Holiday Cheer! This is just a note to let you all know what we've been up to this year.

We moved to Texas – This has been a very difficult year for Beverly and I. In January I was sent to California to get a project on track. It was suppose to be an 8 to 10 week effort that wound up being 5 months. Upon my return to Iowa, my position had been eliminated and I was invited to move to Texas so I could help get some more projects on track. The Texas move wasn’t temporary which meant that Beverly & I had to give up being near our children and friends. Additionally, Beverly had to resign from her church in Shellsburg and move to Texas counting on faith that she would obtain another position. Beverly received the brunt of the moving effort as she had to deal with selling our house in Shellsburg, the movers, and the dogs. I was already working in Texas while the move took place.

News about our children - David is 23 & Sara is 21. David graduated from College and is a high-school math teacher/coach in Baxter Iowa (near Newton, Marshalltown, and Des Moines). Sara had an accounting internship in Chicago last summer and is a senior at the U of I majoring in accounting.

Jan – Collins expanded into the "In-Flight Entertainment" end of Aircraft Electronics by purchasing Hughes Avicom. They weren’t performing well & I was sent to Pomona CA to get a project on track. At home David began his student teaching at Lin-mar in Marion.

Feb – From January through May either I went home every other weekend or Beverly came to California. Beverly came out to CA and we spent a weekend in San Francisco. We drove down Lombard Street and went to the wine country.

April – It was determined that we would be moving to Texas.

May – I returned from California. David graduated from College! The four of us went to New York City for a vacation (Greg let us stay in his apartment – thanks again Greg). We took a side trip to Syracuse and stayed with Pat and Jim. After arriving home from New York we washed clothes and Bev and I flew to Dallas to look for a house. Sara moved in with Andy’s parents while she worked at William Blair & Associates in Chicago.

June – It was H O T in Texas. This is the second hottest year on record. Talk about trial by fire! We had a bunch of days in the 105 to 108Frange. I met up with my cousin Helen and met her family, Chuck & Margaret. Oddly enough, we are living very close to them. Beverly finished her work at Shellsburg and began the moving process.

July – Beverly, Sara, and Andy came to Texas to spend the 4^th of July. David moved to Baxter Ia. And I wasn’t able to help him. Fortunately, Beverly, Jim Longstaff, and Evan Potratz were willing to give him a hand. Thanks to all. Beverly preached at Coggon and Vinton and did a wedding for a daughter of a friend.

Aug – Beverly and I became citizens of Texas. We moved into our new home. A lovely brick ranch with a big master bedroom (which we brought a king size bed for) and a large master bath (which has two walk in closets)! However, we miss our big back yard and our basement!

Sept – I gave up the van and replaced it with a 1998 Malibu. Cars sure have changed over the last 11 years. Bev started doing volunteer work at a local school and a group called "My Guardian Angel" a group that works with children in grief (divorce or death) she is their Clinician.

Oct – Now rather than moving people from Cedar Rapids to Richardson, it appears that Collins is going to be moving people from Richardson to Cedar Rapids. It appears that we will be staying in Texas though. We traveled to Iowa for a trip back home. It’s really weird to be visiting a place that we lived all of our lives in. We visited with family and friends and joined up with our bridge group for our yearly weekend retreat. David and Sara are doing very well and we were glad to spent time together again. It was probably a combination of getting older & stress but Beverly had surgery for her varicose veins and I had hemorrhoids removed.

Nov – Still riding the motorcycle and we had the windows open in the house. Bev has had some interviews and facilitated a women’s retreat and did some preaching. We had a wonderful thanksgiving with my folks and brother Gary and wife Kathy coming from Iowa. We took them to a Fort Worth cowboy night spot and to Texas wine country.

Dec - Bev will be flying to Denver for a wedding and to see her mom and family. We are getting the house ready for the kids to come. We are leaving the final Christmas tree decorations until they get here. Andy is coming from Chicago for a few days so we are going to a Stars hockey game. We then will celebrate David’s birthday and the beginning of 1999. We hope the new year is a little less complicated.

That’s it for this year. We hope our letter finds you all in good health and high spirits. Our prayers are with each & every one.

Wayne & Beverly Hughes