This is my parents' Christmas letter.

Dear Family & Friends,

With Christmas rapidly approaching we find ourselves once again looking for a small block of time when we can reflect on the past year and hopefully produce some type of meaningful greeting that will help us stay connected with so many people that we appreciate.

This has been a year of weddings in our family - Carl married Regina Kaiser in September 2005; Charity married Noah Therrien in April 2006; and Faith married Jae Reichel in September 2006.

Donna & Alan lived with us for close to a year while they developed a new acreage close to Melfort, where they now live. Having them with us was a pleasure and we already miss them and all the hugs that we received on a daily basis. Their oldest daughter, Jordane, is still with us a lot as she baby sits, works at Dairy Queen, and the Vet Clinic plus goes to school a couple blocks from here. This is an ideal location for her as she can walk from here to most of her commitments except the Vet Clinic. Tim, Zack & Kael enjoy the freedom of their new location full time - lots of space - the cats and dogs and bunnies - all part of a big happy family!

Darren & Deborah, Aubrey & Auden are back in the Philippines, serving in their mission. They were with us recently for Faith's wedding and Thanksgiving. We invite you to get re-acquainted with them & their ministry by looking around in this blog. Bring up the entries from the months of September and October and you can view a lot of our family pictures taken around the time of Jae & Faith's wedding.

Charity & Noah now live in Saskatoon. Noah left an excellent welding position in Abottsford in order to move to a location better suited to accommodate Charities' medical needs at least for now. In the process Noah has become an amazing lover & care-giver for Charity. Charity was in the hospital recently and the nurses want to "clone" Noah, as they were just amazed at the support he provides for Charity. As parents, our appreciation for Noah and the way God himself provides for our family continues to grow.

Carl married Regina - a young lady from Germany that dreamed her whole life of one-day becoming a missionary to North American Natives & ended up coming to a reserve near Melfort of all things! They are happily married and are involved together in continuing that ministry to native people in this area. They also have a blog where you can learn about what they are doing and view some pictures of them: http://www.carlandregina.blogspot.com/. (The black horse came with Regina all the way from Germany!)

Jae & Faith live in Calgary. Both are in school - Jae has his fingers into a variety of business & things - sees potential for himself as a Professor of Philosophy one day amongst other things! Faith is working in Shoppers Drug Mart as a Pharmacy Technician plus is enrolled in nursing school. She should have her RN degree in about 1 & 1/2 years and then would still like to specialize in mid-wifery if she has the opportunity.

Kevin goes to school in Regina. He travels & tree-plants in the summer to pay for his schooling. He loves the arts & music - a little uncertain where his life is headed, as finding direction within his interests is a little more difficult, but he seems to be doing well in school and we are proud of his accomplishments.

Lois & I both work - Lois - 3 days a week - myself - all the time and about to get busier! We are blessed in our church fellowship where we help facilitate in the training school, plus support a new building project as our ministry expands in this community.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOURS & ALL THE BEST IN THE NEW YEAR

May God be merciful and bless us. May his face smile with favor on us.May your ways be known throughout the earth, your saving power among people everywhere (Psalm 67:1-2).

Don & Lois Gustafson