Flight of the Magpie

Exercise Going Well

Well, I haven't lost any weight, but I have exercised for at least a half an hour for the last five days.  Monday I shoveled really heavy snow for four hours.  Tuesday through Friday I used YouTube video clips to do muscle toning and aerobic exercise.  I found a lady I like to exercise with, Tracy Anderson.  I saw an ad on television to purchase her video exercise DVDs, but then I looked on YouTube and was able to find some.  I like it so far.  It's a little hard getting up at 5AM, but if I make it to bed close to 9PM, it's not so difficult.

Today, Don and I went to the gym, Natural Fitness, for about an hour, and I've spent about 30 minutes shoveling snow.  Yes, it's snowing again in North Idaho. Light and fluffy at least today.

Today has been very productive.  I went to the post office early to send a couple things, then the grocery store.  Next I graded all my assignments and made all my phone calls for Idaho Digital Learning Academy, and paid bills, added up the checkbook... A good day for this soon-to-be 55-year-old lady!

Christmas Letter 2014

What’s Cookin’ in the Baker’s Oven?     

Christmas 2014

By looking at the dates in my Google Docs, it seems that we have not sent a Christmas letter in four years.  It’s just Don and I at home, so I have photos of just Don and I, and birds and dogs, of course. It feels just too weird to fill up a Christmas letter with photos of ourselves and birds and dogs!  And nothing major has changed in our lives.

Don still works for Quest Aircraft.  I’m still a teacher.   Josh is working as an engineer for an oil company in Texas.  Zack is the music director of The Modern Theater in Coeur d’Alene and Spokane.

We still live in Sandpoint, in the same house, for 20 years now.  It’s the longest either one of us have lived in one place.  It’s nice.  That’s one of the things I am thankful for this Christmas.

I’m also grateful for my immediate family and my extended family.  Toni, Linnie, Miller and I and some spouses and kids got together in Los Angeles in February.  Don and I spent time with his family in Morro Bay this summer, and I just returned from a most enjoyable weekend in Bellingham with the Wegeners celebrating Heidi and Stephen’s wedding.  It was wonderful to visit with my Aunt Janet and Uncle Phil, too.  We truly have a wonderful family.

Thank you, family, for being so awesome!

“Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, 

doesn't come from a store,” Dr. Seuss.

I asked myself, “What, exactly, makes our family so awesome?” and this was the answer: the love I feel in their presence is almost palpable.  Aunt Janet is the matriarch of her family now.  Mom, of course, was ours.  Grandma Black connects us all together.

Grandma Baker still presides over the Bakers, surviving the loss of her son (Don’s dad) this summer. The memories of those who have passed bless those of us who still remain.

And I’m thankful for the friends we have shared, both silver and gold.  Your friendships add vibrant colors to our life.  If our life were a rainbow, our friends and family would have been what made it beautiful.

It has been a beautiful year.  Don and I have so enjoyed God’s creation through His birds and His wilderness.  We are most thankful for this chance He has given us to love Him and experience His love through his creation.   May you, too, experience his love this Christmas, and always!

With much love,

Don and Missi Baker
dtbaker64@gmail.com
baker.missi@gmail.com