2004 Christmas Letter

Jonathan and Alissa get married

On December 31st 2003, Jonathan Crossett and Alissa Rasmussen were married in Idaho Fall, ID. After spending the holidays in Vermont and New York State, they decided to take the tax advantage of being married in 2003 – thus, becoming really poor college students and eligible for more financial aid. Since Alissa had been previously sealed, they would have to wait to be sealed in the temple. We hope that they will come back to Boston to be sealed and we can have a celebration with all the families.

Bob hikes AT in Virginia

Instead of doing the Grand Canyon this year, Bruce Thielan and I decided to do a section of the Appalachian Trail down south. We settled on a section north of Damascus, Virginia at the very southern tip of the state. To accomplish this long trip, we (Pattie, Bob and Bruce) drove to Janus and Laura’s home near Scranton, PA (Clark’s Summit) and stayed overnight there and the following day drove to Damascus. While we were working hard on the trail, Pattie stayed home with her two grand-daughters and had a wonderful time. During that time, Pattie cared for Anne overnight while her mom and dad went to a Broadway show for their anniversary celebration. Back on the trail, we stay overnight in a hiker’s inn in Damascus and caught a shuttle to our starting point – 63 miles north of Damascus via the AT. We spent the next six days hiking south, back to Damascus. We met many of the early AT through hikers coming north. These hikers had braved two spring snow storms in the previous two weeks.

Christopher buys his own home in Roy, UT

After renting for many years Chris decided to invest in a home. He found a new home in Roy, UT – just outside of Ogden where he works. The house was pretty empty when Pattie and Bob visited, but he has been gradually adding some furniture. By Thanksgiving, the house accommodated all the Utah children and Daniel Hudnor for dinner and conversation.

Megan diagnosed with colon cancer

With great shock, we learned on May 3rd that Megan had colon cancer. We were fortunate to have a local surgeon and church member, Dr. Sam Finlayson, refer her to Dr. Ott at LDS hospital in Salt Lake City, UT. On May 11th, Megan had 10″ of her colon removed in a successful surgical procedure. Since cancer was found in some of her lymph nodes, she was scheduled for chemotherapy for six months. We appreciated Rachel Ostler and Alissa Crossett staying with Megan during her early recovery from the surgery.

Bob and Pattie go to Utah

In June, Pattie decided to go out to Utah to be with Megan on June 7th and stayed for three weeks. Pattie returned to Vermont on June 29th and Bob left for Utah on July 1st for two and one half weeks. Bob stayed with Christopher in his new home in Roy, UT and helped him finish a room in the basement as well as spending a couple of days in the Ogden Temple. Jonathan, Alissa, and Megan all came down for the July 4th weekend. Megan worked on a quilt for Jonathan and Alissa and watched fireworks. Jonathan, Alissa, Chris, and Bob worked on the room in the basement. Bob spent three days hiking in the Unitas with Tom Norton. Bob hiked up to Gunsight Pass, and decided not to try for Kings Peak. Bob spent the next full week in Logan, Utah with Megan. In addition to going with Megan to her chemotherapy appointments, Bob went to a Bluegrass concert in Mendon, UT and hiked up to the Wellsville Range which overlooked the Salt Lake Valley and the Logan (Cache) Valley. Pictures of these adventures can be found in the gallery at: www.crossett.net.

Bob resigns from teaching at Thetford Academy

While Pattie was in Utah, Bob was finishing up his 35th year of teaching at Thetford Academy. As it turned out, it was to be his LAST year of teaching. Bob spent the weeks while Pattie was gone, working on a retirement budget to see if it were feasible for him to retire earlier than planned. The numbers worked out and he resigned on June 22nd. Since then, he has applied to a variety of positions with no success. He has managed to fill his time by doing much needed remodeling/repair of our 32 year old home.

Thanksgiving in Vermont

Thanksgiving was held in Barre, Vt with Bob’s mother, Janus and Laura Crossett and family, John and Jessie Mullinex, and Lester Corwin. This was the day before John and Jessie left for Utah. Jessie will be attending BYU in Provo to finish her bachelors degree and begin working on a law degree. She and Johnny are living at 1593 Willow Lane, in Provo. It was good to have everyone together. Bob and Pattie had fun caring for their two grand-daughters, Grace and Anne. Grace has grown-up a lot and is getting ready for baptism in the spring. Anne is very busy – she often says “Hi!” as she passes on to her next activity.

Robbie still trying to find himself

At the beginning of the year, Robbie was working for UPS. He got tired of the early morning hours and got a job working for an auto repair shop in Strafford, VT. He learned a lot about auto repair, but was not happy with the employer. He has been unemployed for the past two months! We are looking forward to having the whole family home for Christmas. Happy Holidays to all our friends and family, Bob and Pattie

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