December, 1998

Merry Christmas to All of You!

We hope it has been a year of personal enrichment for all of you. God has continued to bless us. And although we are challenged, we are always given the resources to overcome the challenges and to grow from the experience. Well, enough philosophy. Let us visit the year that was.

Andy had a much more interesting year than he may have chosen for himself otherwise. Throughout the year, he continued to attend Franklin University pursuing an MBA. Although he has learned much and made many friends, he is very anxious to get it done. Come August of next year, he will complete the 18^th grade. J Andy’s career had a hiccup this summer. He got the opportunity to stay home with the boys for a couple of months while he lined up potential employers. Andy now works as an Internet consultant. His present assignment is at Battelle which is an engineering research company near The Ohio State University.

Judy has had another incredibly busy year at Bank One where she continues in the compliance area. She made numerous business trips and juggles the boys while Andy is at school. The merger of Bank One with First Chicago has caused additional challenges (i.e., more work, not enough workers) in her life. She still likes here job (since she thrives on chaos), but is a little worried about getting burned out. She is trying to take off 2 weeks over the holidays. That should help!

All of you who have children know what an incredible experience it is. The boys have really developed into a little Andy and a little Judy. Timmy, the oldest at 3 ½ , catches every detail, obeys the rules, and hardly ever stops talking. Jeffy, the youngest, lives for the moment, eats like a horse, and is pretty successful at using his size to fully irritate his brother. They are, however, each other’s best friends.

The really, BIG news this year, is our new house. We sold our first house in March. We fell into a unique arrangement. We moved into our babysitter’s daughter’s house through Labor Day weekend. (She moved out temporarily.) Anything that was not an apartment was a very good thing. We took a few pictures of the house as it was being built. The basement hole, the framing, the roof, the drywall. Wow! It was great to see it progress. Now that we have been here over two months, we still cannot believe that we are here. We probably would not choose the same builder again, but we are very happy with what our mortgage payment is getting us. The landscaping and the garden are being planned. Judy’s got her canning jars all ready to go. We just planted 40 trees (pine, Maple, fruit), but with 3 acres, there is a lot left to do. We will use the winter to concentrate on the interior. We wanted to include a picture with this letter, but weren’t that organized.

We hope that each of you have had a successful and healthy year. Our wish is that you will take some time to enjoy the miracle that is Christmas and find true peace and happiness in your lives which can only be found through the love of God and his son, Jesus Christ.

May the final year of this century be your best.

Love,

The Gruenbaums

Andy, Judy, Timmy & Jeffy

December, 1997

Merry Christmas and God’s blessings to you:

It’s hard to believe the holiday season is upon us again. The year has flown by and the Gruenbaums have so much to be thankful for.

Andy had an incredibly busy year. He has been at Applied Innovation for over a year and a half. His work took him to Los Angeles in March and to Indianapolis in May. Fearful that life was getting a little complacent, Andy started his MBA at Franklin University in the Fall. Two nights a week are spent in class and much extra time spent on group projects. Judy’s been holding down the fort. The nice part about the program is that just when it becomes intolerable, the term ends. There is a month off between every term. If all goes well, Andy will graduate in August of ’99.

Judy has also been very busy with her job at Bank One. She’s traveled quite a bit this year. For the first 4 months of the year she went to Philadelphia one day (and night) a week. In March, she took the whole family to Phoenix on company business. We got to visit with friends and have our memories refreshed as to what sunshine is like. In April, she ruthlessly deserted her entire family and took a two week sabbatical in Germany. While there, she spent time with her father and, I believe, missed her family. In July, Judy left the Legal Department and joined the business side of Bank One. The job is almost the same, but now it’s referred to as “compliance”. The goal was to try to work fewer hours and have a more flexible work week. That hasn’t happened yet, but we are hoping the first of the year will bring some relief.

At age 2 ½ , Timmy is quite the little man. He can carry on a conversation very well with himself or others. Jeffy is not really chatty yet, so his parental units do most of the talking with him. Timmy has developed into a pretty good eater. Timmy needs to have an incentive or a game to make the utensils fly, but neither of them look like they have missed to many meals. Timmy did provide us the opportunity to make our first trip to the emergency room. He split his head open on the night our neighborhood had trick-or-treat. After the emergency squad scared off the remaining children, Judy endured the trauma of seeing her child put through the things they put kids through when they give them 15 stitches. Timmy wore his stitches proudly. His parents are very grateful that the bridge of his nose will not be scarred to badly. Maybe someday he will even go to sleep before Letterman.

Jeffy is not a baby anymore. At 19 months, he eats more than most kids with twice the teeth. He has probably never met a spoonful of anything he didn’t like. He is a very loving boy. He occasionally has a temper, but he can still cuddle well and share better than his brother. He walked the first day of his mommy’s vacation to Germany, and he hasn’t set down to rest since. Where Timmy is a watcher, Jeffy is a doer. He is in to everything, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

We vacationed the week of July 4^th in Isle of Palms, SC. We had a beautiful condo with a view of the pool and the ocean. It was a very relaxing time that made us wish we had brought a babysitter with us. J Our big news this year is that we decided to buy 2.75 acres of land 5 miles above the Columbus Zoo (North of Columbus). We anticipate starting to build our new house in the Spring of ’98.

Finally, we want you to know that we think of you often and are so thankful that you are a part of our lives, whether you are near or far. We hope that 1998 will bring you good health and happiness. Most of all, however, we hope that you will slow down enough to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas and that your hearts will be filled with the love and peace of Jesus Christ.

The Gruenbaums, (Andy, Judy, Timmy & Jeffy)

December, 1996

Dear Family and Friends,

What a busy year this has been. They seem to get busier and fly by faster. The blessings, however, seem to come just as rapidly. We pray this letter finds you as blessed and excited about the future as we are.

The first half of the year was the usual adult routine. Timmy had his first birthday; we got a much smaller garden out, and, oh yeah, we had another child, Jeffrey Thomas. This little blessing arrived on May 10. The timing was perfect, because his mother took the summer off from work for maternity leave. He is a red-haired, blue-eyed, happy baby. It is definitely more hectic and quite a bit louder in our house now that we have two boys. Who ever said one plus one equals two?! Jeffy laughs at his brother who tries to smash him with a hug, and he gets distracted with looking around when we try to give him a bottle, and he refuses to nap longer than 20 minutes at any given time. And, we wouldn’t trade a minute of this for anything!!

Timmy has truly graduated to toddler-hood. He will grab any and all writing instruments; he likes to dip his food in his cup of milk or water (or pour his drink onto the floor); and he will roar (childlike, of course) when asked what a lion says. He sometimes eats vegetables, but always eats Oreos. He will run from his bath, but scream when you try to take him out. He is a small child who tests his parents to the stretching point, and kisses them to reward them for their patience. Did we ever not have kids? We think so, but there is no time to remember that now.

Andy has really had a good year. He changed jobs a week after Jeffy was born, and he has not looked back once. His new employer is Applied Innovation. They make and manufacture equipment that is sold to the phone companies. The job is great for many reasons: 1)Andy gets to play on the Internet, 2) Andy is doing something he really loves, 3) Andy takes aerobics twice a week at work 4) and (drum roll) Andy can make it to work in less than 10 minutes and does not hit one traffic light. It is truly a company that takes care of their employees. The future and opportunity look wide open.

Judy continues working full-time at Banc One. Her job, however, has reached maximum overload. She is currently conversing with (begging, pleading, bribing) her boss to hire another employee benefits attorney, but she’s not holding her breath. Although it is too busy, she continues to find the work exciting and challenging. During the summer, she taught two classes in Chicago to a group of trust officers from various banks around the country in what is known as “Trust School” in the banking business. She really enjoyed the experience.

We have been able to do a little bit of traveling this year as a family. We took a vacation to Marco Island in January. Timmy loved the water and his parents loved the lack of white fluffy stuff and warm sunny climate. The rest of the travels were business related. Judy and Andy went to Orlando in early August for a conference. The little theme park was the major attraction. In late August, Andy had a conference in San Francisco, and Judy and Timmy tagged along (Jeffy went to Grandma’s). Additionally, Andy had a conference in Las Vegas in mid-November, and the whole family went along.

We pray that God has touched your lives in special ways throughout the last year. We know some of you have experienced great hardships, and we will continue to pray for you and your situations. May the peace and love of Jesus fill your hearts this Christmas.

Andy, Judy, Tim & Jeff Gruenbaum

December, 1995

Dear Family and Friends:

Another year nearly gone. Where does the times go? We are still catching up from the birth of our son Timmy. Life is an incredible thing; we pray your lives our as full and rich as ours.

The first part of our year was preparing for Timothy Michael; the rest of the year has been spent watching him grow. He has always been very attentive, not much of a blob. At 9 months, he’s “talking” a lot now and is very close to crawling. He has been a true joy. Our priorities have shifted to give him the time he deserves, and our laundry is now not just an every other week experience. We have been so lucky as Timmy is such a HAPPY baby!! Having Timmy has been so great; we decided to do it again. Timmy is expecting a brother or sister in mid-May. No, we are not CRAZY!

Judy has had a very busy year. As if having a baby wasn’t enough, her law practice at Bank One has become very national, representing clients in all states in which Bank One has a presence. She has no chance of getting all of her projects done as she only fights the largest fires each day. Nevertheless, her Myers-Briggs personality test says she’s a person who thrives in crises. Thus, she actually enjoys her job most days. In her spare time, Judy is the chair of the Ohio State Bar Association Young Lawyers. She’s not breaking the news to her boss about baby #2 until January, after our Florida vacation.

Andy has learned a lot this year. If it has anything to do with the Internet, he has probably heard of it. His company, Support Technology, is a 7 person company. He has become a jack of all trades. He does some design of Internet web pages, graphics, customer support and what ever else he finds on his desk . Andy is there for the learning experience and hopes that all of his efforts will pay off. One of the projects, took him on trips to Carlisle, PA, Indianapolis, and Las Vegas. The travel has its high points, but he missed his son who is not yet conversational on the telephone like his wife.

The Gruenbaum family tried to have other projects this year as well. This year we had our garden at Andy’s grandfather’s house. It was close to Andy’s work, but still hard to get to very often. We did some small amount of canning, but we both believe last year was the canning summer for the record books. We found children are not conducive to everything that was done prior to having them. We seem to cook from scratch less, eat out more often, pick up many assorted messes of unaccountable origin, change our clothes for other than our own sloppy eating, have the TV off in our bedroom before the news comes on, hear the cry of our child amongst a multitude, play germ/virus tag, function on less than a desirable amount of sleep, and throw around soaked diapers with incredible ease and accuracy. Yes, our lives have changed, but we wouldn’t change a thing. Happiness has a whole new meaning now and we thank God for the blessing he has brought into our lives and hopefully yours, too. Have a Merry Christmas and may the life of the baby Jesus be a reminder to us of the true meaning of this holiday.

Andy, Judy & Tim Gruenbaum

December 13, 1994

Holiday greetings! It’s hard to believe its that time of year again.

The spring was good to us. It provided us with ample opportunity to break in new ground for our garden. We were surprised at how prolific 70 pepper plants can be, but next year’s garden will give us opportunity to remember. Andy put lots of effort into trying to eat some of the hot peppers; he developed a personal meaning for “hot lips”. We canned close to 200 jars of things from the garden. They included: pickles, peppers, grape juice, tomato juice & sauce, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, stewed tomatoes, peaches, green beans, and 4 levels of hotness with the salsa. The first frost couldn’t come soon enough to remove the responsibilities of the garden from us. In the spring, we also built a brick patio on the back of the house. We used friends to keep expenses low, and Andy did all the landscaping. He bought a pickup truck so he could haul everything. It really turned out well, except with our huge garden we didn’t have much time to enjoy it. Maybe next summer will be different.

We took a couple of little vacations this year. We went to Kentucky for Memorial Day weekend which included an overnight at Shaker Village. Over the Fourth of July weekend, we visited Judy’s sister’s family in eastern PA. The 8 hour drive was a rewarding one. The early part of November was spent vacationing in the mountains of North Carolina. It was very relaxing, and the elections results insured a happy vacation.

As the year prepares to change, it is time for Andy to switch jobs again. He left the corporate sales dept. at CompUSA and took a new position with one of his customers. The company primarily does computer network consulting. He will be responsible for doing public relations and some telemarketing for a new computer bulletin board the owner is starting.

Judy’s job at Banc One is going pretty well. The management of her department changed several months ago, and the department is going through a down-sizing phase, which is always a little uncomfortable. Her work has shifted from working mainly for Ohio to more of a national focus doing employee benefit trust matters; she’s enjoying the challenge.

On a miscellaneous note – we both turned 30 this year. We both were treated to birthday parties; they eased our passage into adulthood. This fall has been a little difficult due to the passing of both of Andy’s grandmothers. He was a pallbearer at both funerals. For those who don’t know, Judy is in her seventh month of her pregnancy with our son (Ultrasound is for learning these things, okay?). The baby doesn’t have a name yet; we’re sure John Doe is taken. The house is soon to be baby proofed, painted and never clean again, but we are looking forward to the adventure.

God has richly blessed our lives, and we pray he will bring love and hope to you during this holiday season. We look forward to hearing from you. Merry Christmas!!!!

Andy and Judy Gruenbaum

Thanks for once again visiting a Gruenbaum Christmas.  This has been a year of change.  We hope this letter finds all of you in the midst of some positive change as well.  We hope this letter finds your shopping completed and your stomachs full of hot chocolate (warm cider with a cinnamon stick would also be acceptable).  In summary, we hope you have lots of hope!

The year started harmlessly enough.  The first major event was our trip to Arizona.  We stayed and visited with friends.  We also peered over the edge from our cabin at the Grand Canyon.  As with all vacations, it was too short.  We were able to keep track of the day it ended; it was the day the Waco debacle began.  Judy came home to Porter Wright, her law firm.  I came home to a 6 month temporary position at UPS.  Throughout the summeer, I maintained a job search, as did Judy.  We enjoyed our childless household for most of the summer until our status changed in late August.

In August, we personally experienced a foreign exchange student program by hosting a 16 year old girl (going on 2!) from Spain.  She tried our patience and our eating habits.  After several months, our home spewed her out in early October.  Many of the scars have healed, and we have heard that she was sent home to Spain in early December.

In early October, I started a new job at CompUSA.  It is a computer superstore.  I don’t love the fact that it is retail, but I do enjoy the computer knowledge and the discount that I get as an employee.  The chain is growing at an incredible pace.  I have lots of opportunities to advance if I decide that is what I want.  Judy has just accepted an in-house attorney position at Banc One Corporation.  She will be doing employee benefits law and will begin her new position in January.

Over the past year, I have been involved with the Big Brother program.  I worked with two boys before my retail hours forced me to retire so that I could enjoy an occasional meal with Judy.  We both volunteered and helped extensively with the Billy Graham Crusade which came to Columbus in September.  We counseled the people who came forward and enjoyed the entire experience, except the ever impending rain.

This year has been a good year for us, and we are very thankful.  We pray that your lives are full of happiness.  May the peace of Christmas be with you and yours throughout the holidays and the for the coming year.

Andy & Judy Gruenbaum

December, 1992

Dear friends and relatives:

Greetings to you and yours as we once again enter into the magical season of Christmas.  This year has been a year of change for the Gruenbaums, especially for Andy.  During the past year we have bought a house, Andy quit his job, went back to school (for a while), disrupted the flow of his resume, and is currently working 2 jobs (60+ hours per week).  Now that you know what is coming, you have a couple of choices:

1. go and wrap some gifts and when you come back you can hope we have solved our own problems without dragging you into them; or
2. you can brace yourself and read on, knowing our souls will be bared.

We are enjoying being homeowners.  We have done a few projects here and there, but our most enjoyable project was our garden.  We chose the appropriate part of our yard to carve out for our agricultural endeavor. After the preparing of the land for the indoctrination of the production organism, we planted the tomatoes, peppers, cabbage and zucchini.  Although we let our plants down by not watering as faithfully as we should have, the garden produced a nice supply of fresh veggies. Now that summer is over and winter is upon, our dining room is commonly known as the Gruenbaum greenhouse.  Andrew’s house plants are taking over.  Death has also visited the inner arboretum and is never taken gracefully.

Andy’s work history has suffered as of late.  After plotting his departure from Rose Products for quite awhile, he finally quit in April.  (We did take our vacation to Florida before he gave his two weeks notice.  Andy then became a student at Ohio State for two quarters taking mostly math and computer classes.  he was closed out of most of his classes this fall, and decided not to continue for now.  While searching for a job, he has been working, but it has been a sometimes half-hearted looking with the knowledge of a possible move. (Judy is looking for new employment opportunities, not necessarily in Columbus).  He is selling cellular phones again and working a customer service job 4 hours a night.  Thus, his resume does not flow smoothly.  We think 1993 will bring some stability to our lives.

We want to take this time to especially thank all of you for your continuing love and friendship throughout the year.  It is one of our greatest blessings.  To those of you from whom the miles separate us, we want you to know that we think of you often and pray for your well-being and happiness.  (To those of you who didn’t make it to this part of the letter, we hope you are glad you decided to do your Christmas preparations rather than read our letter.) May the peace and joy of God’s love be with you throughout this Christmas season and for the new year to come.

Sincerely yours,

Andy and Judy Gruenbaum