I asked our daughters if they would share updates on what they have been doing lately, summaries that I could share here for you, Dear Reader, so that you may catch up on their lives. Here is what they offered from the first quarter of 2025:

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Hillary

• In January, I took a trip to Reno, NV, to visit two of my college friends. During that trip, I also got to visit relatives Connie, Laura, and Monroe Moberg.
• In February, one of my friends came to Murfreesboro to visit, and we went to the Cody Johnson concert in Nashville with Suzanna and Jake [Suzanna's boyfriend]. Suzanna and I also ran a 5K toward the end of the month.
• In March, Suzanna and I went to the T-Pain concert in Nashville. I just returned from a long weekend in New York City visiting Abigail at her new apartment! We attended a couple Broadway shows, tried some famous restaurants, and spent time with her medical school friend group.
• And in each month this year, I have been working my life away.

Abigail and Hillary in NYC, dining out.

Hillary and Abigail in NYC, exploring the city.

Abigail

• I started the year in my rental house in Islip, NY, doing clinical rotations at a hospital on Long Island. In January, Suzanna was able to take advantage of a snow-day weekend to come to NYC, and we spent a lovely (albeit short) weekend together.
• The rest of January and February consisted of studying and celebrating time with friends, especially after I passed my clinical comprehensive examination at the end of February.
• Now March has ushered in an exciting change: I moved to Brooklyn, where I will be living for the rest of my time in medical school, finishing my clinical rotations at a hospital in the Bronx. Hillary is the first one in the family to see my new place, and we just this past weekend had a wonderful few days together enjoying the entertainment and eatables of the Big Apple.
• I continue to study for my next big exam and prepare for my upcoming graduation at the end of Summer 2025!

Suzanna and Abigail in the Big Apple, dining out.

Abigail the med student, thriving in NYC!

Suzanna

• In January, I began my sourdough bread journey by mixing up my sourdough starter, which I have named "Dough-reen." I hate Doughreen but also am determined to make a successful sourdough loaf, so I am toughing it out. That month, Jake and I went to NYC to see Abigail. I got to see the Rockefeller Plaza Christmas tree all lit up; I got to eat lots of amazing food; and I got lost on the subway. It was a great weekend!
• Hillary told about the Cody Johnson concert and 5K in February. I also got to enjoy lots of time reading and snuggling with Zoey during all the snow days from school.
• In March, Jake and I traveled to Cleveland, OH, for a quick weekend visiting with his family. I also discovered my love for making homemade bagels (move over, Doughreen!). Zoey turned 5 with the cutest rodeo-themed birthday party.
• I continue working daily on homework for my Ed.S. degree (education specialist, a post-master's degree, this one in school leadership), and I am finishing my fifth year of teaching high school English.

Jake, Suzanna, and Abigail in NYC.

Zoey and Suzanna, celebrating Zoey's fifth birthday!

Blessed to Be a Blessing

Abigail's medical school adventures have taken her across the world: two years of classes on her American school's Caribbean campus in St. Maarten; one year of clinical rotations in hospitals outside London, England; and now a year of clinicals in New York City. She has spent her first several months on Long Island and now is moving to Brooklyn for her next placement in the Bronx.

While on Long Island, Abigail has been attending church at Christ Lutheran Church in Islip Terrace. Before Abigail moved to NYC, we discovered via Google Maps that a Lutheran church was located a matter of minutes from the house that she would be renting. So once Abigail got to Islip Terrace, she visited the church one Sunday ... and immediately found a church home away from our church home (St. John). The congregation welcomed her, fed her at church meals, invited her to their homes for holidays (knowing she was far from her family in North Dakota), and made a place for her in their choir.

Susan and I have been so grateful for the people of Christ Lutheran (people we have never met!) and the care they have shown for Abigail in the short time they have known her. And we have been proud as can be to hear Abigail performing music in their choir. For example, I highly recommend you make some time to watch this video of their annual Christmas concert, featuring Abigail in several solo moments alongside a group of impressive musicians.

However, even more moving to us was this morning's service, Abigail's last regular Sunday with this congregation. You can watch the entire service below or else go directly to these three particular moments, which had us in tears as we watched the livestream:

• 0:37:10 -- the pastor brings Abigail to the front to "bid farewell and Godspeed" to her and to pray for her, calling Abigail a blessing to the congregation and someone blessed to be a blessing to others
• 0:42:35 -- Abigail provides special music for the service, singing "You Raise Me Up" (many tears of pride!) ... and watch for how the congregation responds at the end of the song!
• 1:04:25 -- a member of the congregation speaks about their gratitude for Abigail's time with them and presents her with a card and a hug ... and watch for how the congregation responds when told that Abigail will be returning on Palm Sunday!

Frigid Adventures

Susan and I spent the Presidents Day long weekend in Tioga, North Dakota, with my dad and my sister Sandy. The weather was bitterly cold, and Dad's furnace was malfunctioning throughout the weekend, necessitating daily visits from his furnace repair guy, Caleb. When Susan and I arrived Friday night, Dad sent us out to buy a couple space heaters, and those were a big help in between Caleb's drop-ins. It also helped that Dad has a heated garage--so I left the door open between the garage and the house, and the garage furnace helped keep the house warm, too.

The worst part about the weather was that it prevented us from meeting up this morning with Marie, our childhood neighbor (she grew up on a farm north of ours) and our cousin. (We think she is our mom's second cousin. Sandy and I worked through the family tree, and we think that Marie's dad and our maternal grandma were first cousins and that Marie's paternal grandpa and our maternal great-grandma were siblings. But we have always just said we are Marie's cousins.) Marie is visiting her brother and his family, who live in the area, and we had planned to meet Marie at Sandy's home this morning. However, the temperature was -40° Fahrenheit, and Marie's vehicle, quite understandably, didn't want to start.

We had been looking forward to seeing Marie and having an in-person opportunity to thank her for her hospitality toward our daughter Abigail last year. Abigail spent her third year of medical school completing her clinicals in hospitals in Epsom just outside of London, England, where Marie runs a telecommunications software company. Marie welcomed Abigail for visits to her home, showed her around London, and was a kind and generous family presence for Abigail while she was living so far away from us all. Abigail loved getting to know Marie, and Susan and I are grateful that Marie was there for our daughter.

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I had these flowers delivered to Susan at school midweek so she could enjoy them for a few days before we left town for the weekend.

After work on Friday, Susan and I went out for Valentine's Day supper at one of our favorite restaurants, El Sombrero. Then we hit the road for Tioga.

Saturday night we went out for supper in Williston. Sandy was our chauffeuse.

We ate at the Williston Brewing Company. The decor is a mix of Wild West and oil field.

The food and drinks were terrific. Here is my filet mignon topped with a skewer of shrimp and served with Brussels sprouts and roasted potatoes with red pepper. Delicious!

It was an early birthday celebration for Sandy (her birthday is next week) and a belated Valentine's Day celebration for us all.

Mandatory group selfie on our way out of the restaurant.

Yesterday we hung out at Dad's house, cooked, watched a couple movies together, and had video calls from a couple daughters. Today we went to Sandy's (she lives on the farm where we grew up), and she made a fried chicken dinner for us before we made our way back to Dickinson. Here is her sweet cat Simon, relaxing in the living room while we visited in the dining room.