I sit at my desk looking out on a snowy winter wonderland and can hardly believe this is our third winter in Greer running the White Mountain Lodge Bed and Breakfast! We love being in the mountains and living in this charming valley. I am truly enjoying the beauty each season has to offer, having lived the majority of my years in the desert. Jim and our black lab, Zella, get out nearly every day to hike trails. In the winter, Jim cross country skis or snowshoes with Zella bounding through the snow. It's her favorite time of year!
Winter Wonderland is in full swing and Jim and I are playing reindeer games with kids on the back lawn. We had a fabulous year hosting guests at the lodge. Jim and I have become a great team in the kitchen preparing breakfast. Our guest reviews on Trip Advisor, earned the lodge an award for a top B&B! We hope 2017 brings more guests and makes the lodge self-sustaining. It's really fun to meet people from all walks of life and from all over the world. Sometimes we discover some amazing connections which always adds to the fun.
We continue making progress with the sanding and re-staining of all the outside wood, landscape improvements, updating bathrooms, lodge decor, etc. Since Jim still works full time for Honeywell from the office, progress is slow, but it creeps along! Lyn handles all the book keeping, reservations, marketing, cleaning, laundering and is becoming pretty handy with power tools. She just fell off a ladder once this year and her thumb has been healing for awhile since it got in the way of a power sander, but no trips to the ER required (Lyn's nursing background makes her knowledgeable and stubborn).
Our daughter, Kara, and husband, Nate, are in Tucson. Nate is in his clinical rotations in medical school and Kara is busy working on her master's degree and as a full-time data specialist in a research lab at U of A. Our daughter, Lauren, graduated from Pepperdine University and is currently in Frankenberg, Germany on a Fulbright Scholarship as an assistant English teacher in a high school. She is auditing a couple of courses at a nearby university and enjoying traveling, making new friends and visiting old ones she made during her year studying abroad. We visit over the internet nearly every week.
Jim and I are attending a Calvary Chapel in Springerville and enjoying the fellowship. Lyn sings on the worship team and we are the mission coordinators. We also host a bible study in Greer, getting together for dinner, study and prayer for one another. Life has troubles, challenges and struggles as well as delights and rejoicing and we are thankful to share it all with others, looking to our Lord and Savior, Jesus, who is our assurance, strength and everlasting hope.
We wish you a blessed Christmas season and a new year full of hope!
Jim and Lyn Haberstock
