Dear family and friends,

It’s been another busy year for the Texas Gruenbaums, so we’ll get right to the annual family update.

Rachel graduates from Texas A&M in just a few short weeks. She majored in chemical engineering and is looking forward to starting her job at Dow Chemical in Freeport, Texas (south of Houston) in early February. Chemical engineering isn’t for sissies, and we are so proud of her. In her spare time, she visits her favorite friend, George, in New Jersey.

Abby finished her dietetics internship at the University of Oklahoma in April and passed her registered dietician exam. She started a full-time job at OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City, working mainly with patients in the medical ICU. She’s enjoying it and learning a lot. Caleb is in his second year of his Masters program in saxophone performance at OU and will graduate in May 2024. In October, he competed in an international saxophone competition in Belgium.

Jeff continues to work for a hedge fund in Oklahoma City in the IT department. He has taken on more managerial responsibilities this year and oversees the interns. Jeff rented his house to Abby and Caleb so he could try out urban living in downtown OKC. He’s taken up electric bike riding and has obtained his motorcycle license. His mother is not too happy about the latter.

Tim graduated from college in June, majoring in construction management. He worked full-time all the while. Tim continues working in the restoration business while living in Dallas with his Colombian roommates. He’s fluent in Spanish, and even his dog has become somewhat bilingual.

Judy has been at Toyota Bank for the last year and a half. It is a much more leisurely and slower pace than her previous employers, and she enjoys it. The Chief Compliance Officer has asked her to take on additional responsibilities, which she anticipates will happen this spring. Andy does a bit of this and that and keeps the household running. He has been attempting to learn the dark art of FOREX trading this year. His main job, though, is caring for our hockey boys. Although we have had a few different boys this season, we currently have two boys in residence who will be with us until May 2024. Andy keeps them well-fed and often feeds one or two extra hockey players. Our homemade pizza nights and Friday morning game day breakfasts are popular and loaded with bacon.

We finally were able to take some trips that COVID previously derailed. We took a fantastic cruise to Greece, Israel, Cyprus, and Turkey to celebrate Tim’s graduation. We were so glad to see a small part of Israel before the conflict started. In August, we took a two-week land and river cruise that started in Prague. After a weekend with our German and Polish exchange students from two years ago, we visited Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, & Romania. We also had a brief trip to Ohio in July. In mid-December, we will celebrate Judy’s parents’ 65^th anniversary in North Carolina. Besides Judy taking Abby and Rachel to Rome in January to celebrate Rachel’s graduation, our travel plans for the upcoming year are not as impressive. 😦

We are so thankful for each of you and always look forward to hearing from you. God is good, and we wish you a meaningful Christ-centered Christmas season. If you’re coming to Texas, you are always welcome here.

Much love,

Andy, Judy, Tim, Jeff, Caleb, and Abby, & Rachel (Hockey Boys: Justin, Ryan, Avan, Daniel & Drew)