January 1, 2016

Happy New Year from Texas!

We hope each and every one enjoyed your
Christmas celebrations with family and friends
and are set with your New Year resolutions!
Its hard to believe 2015 is already history. The
past 12 months have been event-full for us as we completed the activities associated with
Teresa & Kurt
the sale of our Valpak business, the sale of our Edmonds condo, saying goodbyes to our
good friends and favorite places in Western Washington., and making the move to Texasall within the first half of the year.
Weve thoroughly enjoyed being able to participate in the Murphy family events and to reconnect with longtime friends here
in the Metroplex during the last
half of 2015. Fort Worth and the
surrounding area has really
changed over the past six years
since we lived here!
Last August we loved getting to
go to Florida to see family and
longtime friends there. The big
occasion was Granddaughter
Vivis 2nd birthday party and we
also loved spending time with Courtney and Nick, the LoBello Family, and Stan and Carol,
Kurts surrogate parents. Nicks businesses continue to grow while Courtney enjoys helping
Nick with marketing and office duties from their home office so she can be Full Time Mom to
Vivi.

In 2015, the Murphy family continued to grow. Matt and niece

Alicias children celebrated birthdaysLarkin celebrated her
5th birthday and Bennett celebrated his 2nd. Nephew Doug and
Amelia married in October in her home town of Enterprise,
Alabama. Berto and niece Emily celebrated their second
wedding anniversary and nephew James and Chelsa celebrated
their first wedding anniversary.
Also in 2015 the family celebrated with niece Ali as she
received her Masters degree in May from ACU and with niece
Katie and Israel as they announced their engagement just
before Christmas.
Continued on next page...

In 2015, we didnt have to compose a photo of the 4 Murphy Sisters, as in

recent years, using a remote photo of me. This year we were all together in
the same place for photo ops. This one included Mother and Dad as we
celebrated my birthday at Glorias in Ft. Worth. We will be celebrating with
them on their 90th birthdays in 2016.

As is the tradition since 1980, we closed the year with

celebrations on Thanksgiving at our family retreat, called
Rock Bottom, in the Texas Hill Country, followed in
December
with
our
family Christmas party.
It was such a pleasure to
see the cypress tree we
planted in nephew Joeys
memory growing so
beautifully beside the
Guadalupe River at Rock Bottom. Its more than twice its height at planting in 2012.
Ode to Ethel: A report on 2015 would not be
complete without a note about our beloved
furry companion, Miss Ethel. She will be 17
years old in April! She is doing quite well in
spite of loosing her sibling, Lucy, in 2010
and having lived through our many moves,
including the latest five day trek back to Texas. She was a trouper on the
road trip, adjusting so well to confinement in the car all day and a new hotel
room to check out and explore each night.
We completed the year with our 10th wedding
anniversary on New Years Eve! Tempus fugit!
Its been a great decade indeed.
And its great to be back under the Big Beautiful
Sky of Texas as we look forward to an event-full
2016!

All the best to you and yours in the coming year!

May the Joy of the Christmas Season Just Celebrated
Be with You Throughout the Coming Year!
What sweeter music can we bring
Than a carol for to sing
The birth of this our heavnly King?
Awake the voice! Awake the string!
Robert Herrick, 1591-1674
The Birth of Christ by Gerard David circa 1510