Christmas 2004

This has been quite a year at the Kirkpatrick house. As most of you know, Charlie retired from teaching and as Minister of Music at the First Baptist Church in Clyde to devote full time to the Sermons4Kids ministry. He retired from the church in October 2003, but agreed to serve until they called a new minister of music. That worked out pretty well since the new music minister came on the first Sunday in June. It aligned perfectly with the end of the school year.

We have joined the Pioneer Drive Baptist Church in Abilene. It is much larger than what we are accustomed to, but the people are warm and friendly and the church staff is wonderful. They have made us feel right at home and we have both found places to serve. Elaine directs the 1st Grade Children's Choir while Charlie leads the music for Wednesday night prayer services. Charlie is also singing in the choir and loving it. The only thing missing is a place for Elaine to play the piano and an opportunity for Charlie to do his Children's Sermons. We are praying and waiting for the Lord to open doors.

We celebrated retirement this summer with a wonderful tour of Great Britain. In addition to the historic cathedrals, castles, palaces, Stonehenge, Shakespeare's birthplace, and the lovely countryside, we also enjoyed a production of "Les Misérables" at Queen's Theater in London. That, along with the "Scottish Evening" in Edinburgh, were highlights of our trip. If you haven't already seen our "Britain Sampler" photo page, click here. Oh, by the way, you will also find a wonderful recipe for Hagis there that I am sure you will want to try.

Not to be outdone by his parents, Sean has done a lot of traveling with his band this year. In the Spring, The pAper chAse went on a two week tour of the northeastern states. Then, in September left on a three and a half week tour of Europe which included performances in Holland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, France, and England. The week after Thanksgiving, they headed west, touring up the coast from California to Washington. For an interesting photo of The pAper chAse band, click here.

God has blessed us with good health this year and we pray that the same is true of you and your family. Now that we are retired, we plan to do a lot of traveling. So don't be surprised to answer your door bell and find us standing there with suitcase in hand. Oh, by the way, that works both ways. We would love to have you come to visit us!

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Elaine, Charlie, and Sean

(Note: Click on any photo for a larger view of that photo. Text in bright green bold print is a link which opens a photo.)