Eric and Joyce Von Fange and Family

Von Fange 1999 Christmas Newsletter

by: Joyce Young Von Fange

1999 Seasons Greetings From the Von Fanges

Eric ended up finishing 1999 with a bump and a bang. Rear-ended on Interstate 77, he is dealing with some neck injuries for which he is receiving treatment. Business-wise, Eric has focused on streamlining manufacturing and management to the extent that the Light Source actually began making a profit. What a concept! It is one thing to sow for years and years, but how sweet it is to finally do a little reaping.

Daniel
Daniel
 
Daniel turned eighteen this summer and John recently welcomed his seventeenth birthday. We do not see much of them lately since they have moved out. Perhaps I should clarify just exactly where Daniel and John have moved. As you may know, Daniel, John, and Andrew have shared the same bedroom for numerous years. Their multitude of personal belongings, not to mention all the Lego blocks, paintball guns, reading material, etc., etc, actually made entry into their bedroom a fairly potentially, perilous experience (if you could actually make it past the door). Since there exists a fairly large room above Eric's office, the decision was made to transform this storage area into a bedroom for Daniel and John. Although we are still in the shuffling process, the boys are now residing over the office that is located in a separate building just a few steps from the house. Thus, they have "moved out", an expression which Elizabeth enjoys using to shock people when she is describing what Daniel and John have been up to lately. One of Daniel's main accomplishments this year was taking a set of blueprints of the North Carolina State 80,000 seat sports arena and turning that information into a three dimensional rendering of the building. The architects were quite impressed with the end product and were amazed to learn that a home schooled teenager had been able to do it. As a result of his work, Daniel earned a new computer, a Mac G-3 notebook. Welcoming an Apple into this IBM computer family was a big step, but we are enjoying the new graphic capabilities Daniel now has. As a Christmas gift last year John received a Roland VS 1680, which is actually a recording studio in a box. Figuring out how to use it and tying it in with the productions has increased his audio understanding and abilities.

Eric's birthday gift this year was a six-wheeled ATV (all terrain vehicle). I like its safety features--seat belts and a roll cage, but I prefer to let the other family members enjoy its rough, bumpy excursions in the woods. Being a pre-owned model, it presents a lot of mechanical challenges to John as it seems like something is always breaking. Nevertheless, it has been a lot of fun.

Andrew
Andrew
 
Much taller and with a deepening voice, thirteen year-old Andrew has grown a lot this year. Now interspersed between the Lego block discussions, words like "Ferrari", "Camero", and "Lamborghini" are slipping in. Both he and John enjoy reading the used car traders and discussing the various merits of their favorite vehicles.

Elizabeth with Father
Elizabeth with Father
 
Having recently turned eleven, Elizabeth has had the year of her life. Blossoming into a young lady, she has recently experienced several "bests". In August she was honored to be a junior-bridesmaid in Hope Brown's fairy-tale wedding. Wearing a white satin Jessica McClintock full-length formal and a crown of white flowers in her hair, she confessed, "I feel like I'm the bride." In September she had a blowout birthday party.

Part of Elizabeth's birthday present was getting a "new" room-a new white wrought iron bed and night stand, pink rose bedecked curtains and bedspread, and best of all a colorful wall mural which opens her room up into a wonderland forest scene complete with a little cottage, a brook, and a swing suspended from a tall tree. Shelves on the wall over her computer table and dresser display her doll and stuffed animal collection. It is a lovely room and she has thoroughly enjoyed it.

Recently we spent a week in Florida and attended the dinner-show at Medieval Times. We were all supposed to cheer for our knight in shining armor as he jousted, threw his javelin, etc., etc. Once the knight won his contest, he received flowers that he threw to his chosen lady in the audience. Naturally, Elizabeth liked the romantic idea of a knight throwing a flower to her. Encouraging my daughter to be demure, lady-like, and well behaved, I told her, "Next time he comes over with a flower, stand up and wave at him." How could anybody refuse such a display of enthusiasm? She came back to the hotel, starry-eyed with her very special "red rose". Not having a vase, she placed it lovingly into an empty grape juice bottle. When you are eleven, life can be so wonderful!!

Joyce
Joyce
 
Nestled among my hobbies of washing dishes, cooking, cleaning, laundry, teaching, etc. are those of writing and photography. My doll pictures and articles are appearing regularly in that deeply intellectual magazine Barbie Bazzar, and I even have some of my play pictures on a bill board. (Hwy 21 in Fort Mill). Eric has been a great help with technical advice on the photography and Daniel is indispensable with his computer skills. Now that we have Daniel's new computer and a publishing program called InDesign we can design billboards, posters, brochures, and magazine ads. Working together we can accomplish so much more than if we all worked separately. (I guess that's one reason God made families.)

How soon the first wedding anniversary has turned into the 22nd wedding anniversary. How quickly the children are growing up and "moving out". James says, our lives are a vapor. Our prayer is that what we do here on earth will have eternal value, making the way of salvation clear and plain whether it be through music and drama or some other medium. This Christmas season, as we remember the God's gift to us in the form of the baby Jesus, may we also remember the greater gift God has offered to us-eternal life through His son. We heartily wish you all the best, and that God will richly bless you in this coming millenium.

Love, The Von Fanges
Joyce and Eric, Daniel, John, Andrew & Elizabeth


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