The Snyder Family Christmas Letter 2022

It is Monday, December 26th as I write this letter. Does it still counts as a Christmas letter if you write it the day after Christmas? I had planned to write this letter at the same time I designed our Christmas cards, but I didn’t have the time, energy or desire to do so. I seriously contemplated not writing the letter. The last half of the year has been full of challenges and disappointments. To prepare, I went through my planners and journals and it has given me a new perspective. There was a lot more to our year and this letter is a nice reminder of that.

February 14th marked our 1st Floridaversary. Our goal in 2022 was to get out and explore the area even more. We went to the Florida State Fair and the Strawberry Festival. The Strawberry Festival gets a lot of hype, but, between the two, we prefer the State Fair. At the Strawberry Festival, we saw Sammy Hagar perform. (If you don’t know who he is, Google him.) We celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary with a trip to St. Augustine. We went kayaking at Crystal River, saw the legendary mermaid show at Weeki Wachee State Park, rode 3 new bike trails, went to the beach a few times and spent several afternoons at our community pool. We did 2 cruises this year – one in January and one in November. We visited our friends John & Dawn Tilley in Melbourne Beach and met my good friend Kaye Otis for brunch on her family vacation to Florida’s Space Coast. We also found a church home.

Florida State Fair

Kayaking on Crystal River

January 29th was the 5th anniversary of Jessica’s death. I decided I did not want to be at home so, on that day, we were on a cruise ship and I got a facial. It’s hard to believe so much time has passed since she died. I struggled with lots of old emotions again this year but, the big ones were guilt and fear that she will be forgotten. I created these Random Acts of Kindness cards to give away. It was a great idea and they look really pretty, but I don’t feel the way I thought I would when I give them out. I probably won’t order any more.

Random Act of Kindness (RAK) card

Dylan came for his first visit in February. He lost a day because of flight cancellations due to the weather, but we managed to get all of our fun in with one less day. In March I made my first trip to Virginia for the year. While I was there for work, I managed to visit a couple of friends for dinner. In May, Anthony went to Virginia for work twice. We awarded the 5th annual Jessica Lane Scholarship Award. This year Shasta Gibson Smith helped with both the scholarship funds and reviewing the applicants. With Shasta’s help, we awarded two scholarships. The engine in Anthony’s car decided to stop working and it was cheaper to put a new engine in his car than to buy another used car. We received devastating news of the death of one of our good friends, Bill Crosby. 

Anthony & Bill

In June, we received exciting news that Leighton and Kavya were engaged! We are so excited to have Kavya legally be a member of our family. I say legally because, in our hearts, she’s been a member of the family for several years. We are looking forward to attending their wedding in April 2023. I got Invisalign braces a week before my second trip to Virginia. Currently I am on liner #16 out of #21; I am hopeful that I will be finished soon. I also made the decision to cancel my yoga studio membership. After 11 years, I no longer practice yoga in a studio. Anthony decided to take boating lessons in Sarasota. After his lessons were complete, we rented a pontoon boat for a couple of hours so he could practice. The most eventful thing about this outing was rescuing 3 men who were in the middle of the sound on a Hobie cat sailboat. Their mast broke and they were stranded in the middle of the sound.

Leighton & Kavya came for a visit in July followed by Rachel coming down to pet sit a couple of weeks later. We rented another pontoon boat and took Leighton & Kavya out. This is where Anthony’s first back injury begins. A trip to the ER and some good meds enabled him to make his scheduled work trip to Virginia for 3 weeks. We attended Bill Crosby’s Virginia memorial service. Anthony’s dream of having a hot tub finally came true when the hot tub was delivered and set up (while he was in VA of course). It would be another month before we fill it and begin using it. Lori Shipley made her annual family beach vacation to St. Pete and was gracious enough to spend an evening with me having dinner.

Celebrating Leighton & Kavya

Picking Rachel up at the airport

Me & Lori.  Look at our tans!

August was exciting. Dylan came for his 2nd visit and celebrated his 30th birthday. I also got to see my good friend Kaye Otis. Kaye’s family was vacationing on the east coast of Florida and she took time out of her vacation to meet for brunch. On August 16th, we got the hot tub filled and took our first dip.  

SHowing Dylan St. Pete

Catching up with Kaye

 

Does this really need a caption?

I started physical therapy for my knee in September. The good news is that there is no injury or structural damage. The bad news is, that I have to limit my exercise duration and modify or limit certain exercises and yoga postures for a while. While I am committed to taking care of myself, this has been a hard pill to swallow. I made my 3rd and final trip this year to Virginia at the same time that Hurricane Ian came through. I missed the hurricane altogether and ended up staying in Virginia for 2 extra days waiting for a flight home. We didn’t have any damage from Hurricane Ian; however, the hurricane prep and break down, took a toll on Anthony’s back and this was his 2nd back injury and it was severe.

We spent the entire month of October trying to control Anthony’s back pain. He was in the most excruciating pain I have ever seen. He could not stand, sit, lay down or walk. We went to his regular doctor, urgent care, the emergency room twice and the chiropractor. After 3 weeks at a pain level of 10, he was finally able to get some relief and we were able to get a referral for an MRI. We were scheduled to go to Texas in October, the week of Jessica’s birthday, but had to cancel. There was no way Anthony could travel and I could not go myself and leave him alone. Anthony also started a new job in October. It was amazing to see him work on the amount of pain he was in. Most of November was spent with medical appointments for pain management or surgery preparation. We had our 2nd hurricane come through – Nicole. We went to Cracker Barrel for Thanksgiving. The week after Thanksgiving we went on a short 4-day cruise. We were delighted to have Anthony’s cousin Melissa stop by for a visit on her way back home from her own cruise. Anthony’s back surgery was December 13th and I am happy to report that his recovery is going well. He has his first follow-up appointment on December 27th. Christmas was quiet this year – a late breakfast at Waffle House and video calls with the kids, Mom & Valerie.

 

Melissa & Sophia stopped to visit

 

 

Jessica Bear loves Waffle House

The year threw us a lot of curve balls. But, as you can read, we had a lot of blessings as well. We look forward to a healthier, pain free and more blessed 2023!