1 Jan 1985

Dear Becky, Andy, Alan, and Brian,

Happy New Year!

I hope you like the cartoons I copied for you. We do not have as much as you may have thought. Most of our cartoon tapes are from TV in the States. Also, we have a few Strawberry Shortcake cartoons, but I did not think you would want them. We have a couple other Bugs Bunny movies, but few other Disney cartoons. We have some Disney movies like "Mary Poppins" and we have "The Wizard of Oz." None of these are masters. If you want other things copied, let me know. You will have to tell me what I already sent because I did not keep a list.

We very much appreciate the things you sent us for Christmas. The choices were very good. Jeannie and I appreciate the warm clothes you sent us. The kids are enjoying their gifts, too, especially the cartoon tape.

Mom and Dad called on Christmas morning and talked much too long for their phone bill. However, we enjoyed it a lot nevertheless. They have decided to come in September instead of in March or April. I am really quite surprised that Daddy is willing to come back to Europe or that Momma is willing to bring him again. We do enjoy their visit, but the second time will not be as exciting as the first.

Have you had snow yet? Is there snow on Mt. Mitchell? I am sure Alan and Brian will have fun in it. We are considering driving to the snow in northern Italy some weekend this winter just so our kids can play in it. It has been cold enough here already that Jeannie and I are not sure we want to play in the snow. It stays in the mid-50's in most of our house even with the radiators on.

Thanks for the pictures of Alan and Brian. We keep telling our kids that they have Newberry cousins, but I am not sure they are convinced. Hopefully, they can get to be friends when they get a little bigger. We are leaving NEXT YEAR (i.e., 1986). We very much hope we get to go to Millington next. Surely, we can get you to visit us there.

I am going to start teaching a class on Evolution at church this coming Sunday, and then Genesis 1 - 11. My computer is very helpful in writing outlines for it. I recently spent about a week and a half on a tiny island called La Maddalena which is off the northern coast of Sardinia. I worked at their clinic. At night I worked on preparing for my classes on Evolution. Otherwise, I would have gone crazy there.

I went to Corsica (France) while I was there. That was a very interesting trip, especially since I had no French money and couldn't get any. I did not come back with much in the way of souvenirs. I did find a restaurant that would take an American Express card, so I did not have to go hungry. I ate grilled shrimp that were about 6 inches long. I had no idea what I was ordering, though. I returned the same day I went there.

Please do not send money for the tapes. We would much prefer 12 hours of Saturday morning cartoons, including commercials. Send whatever your kids enjoy watching. We do want the Smurfs, but otherwise, we do not even know what cartoons are on now. So, don't take too many weeks to send us two T-120's full of cartoons. Thanks!

You all take care. Watch out for hillbillies. We look forward to seeing you at least by Christmas 1986.

Lots of love,

Michael, Jeannie, Angelique, and Steven