Elinor Cove's family and friends WELCOME you!

We wish all of you a wonderful, joyous Christmas
and a deep sense of peace as you head into the new year!

Dan, Nancy, Jon and Greg

Christmas, 2008 - The Whitney's

Dear Family and Friends,

Another year is in the books for the New Hampshire Whitneys.  The verdict is in:  time is flying by at an incredible pace!  We've witnessed more changes in our family this year than in any recent year and, we suspect, it is only the starting pistol at the beginning of that race.

Nancy transitioned from working half-time as a teacher to full-time.  Nancy treated her half-time job with the dedication of a full time teacher, so you can imagine her schedule now that she is full-time.  Males now do the cooking in the home along with considerably more cleaning.  Thankfully, the laundry has not bee released to us.  Nancy teaches third and fourth grade in a wonderful school, has a great  classroom aid, and wonderful colleagues.  Her class pet is Digger, the gerbil.  (check it out at www.washingtonelementary.com)

Jon is the same height as me (okay, maybe a half inch taller) and is enjoying his senior year at John Stark Regional High School. (www.jshrh.net) He is currently practicing with the swim team after lettering in cross country earlier in the year.  Academic studies are going well, and Jon will probably attend Eastern Nazarene College next year.  This past summer, Jon worked as a lifeguard at Windsor Hills Camp.  This was providential for a variety of reasons, especially since we had to buy a new car this year and he made enough money to loan us a good bit!  Thank heavens someone in the family knows how to save money!  Jon got his driver's license the day we bought that car, and his first licensed trip was helping me bring our new car back from Vermont.  How convenient!

Greg is excited awaiting the real start of the snowboarding season.  He also lettered in cross country this past fall, and got to run in the state meet at the end of the season.  Greg is becoming a fine guitar player and plays in the worship band in our church services.  He loves music and macaroni and cheese.  School does not figure prominently in his affections, though he is doing well in the school honors program.  Greg frequently wears plaid and can be seen sporting duct tape sandals which he keeps in good repair form his own private stock of tape.

Rascal, our cat, was aptly named.

Dan is busy with work at Windsor Hills, pastoring Community Christian Fellowship (a new church plant) and SoulCare writing for the Nazarene Denomination.  The return to active pastoring has been work-intensive, but very rewarding and satisfying.

At the present minute, we are all very grateful for the small things we take for granted in our lives, especially electricity.  The huge New Hampshire ice storm of 2008 left us electrically powerless for several days.  Several of our friends still do not have power in their homes after more than a week.  We've cooked and delivered meals, shared laundry facilities, hosted friends, and generally endured the long cold days that come without power in the middle of winter.  For many, it has been an ordeal!

The year ahead will see more changes still.  Job futures are uncertain for all of us.  Jon will likely head off to college (Don't how how we will survive that!) and Greg will finish the year taller than me.  He may even start the year taller than me, at the rate he is expanding upward.  An old hymn-writer penned the line - In every change, He faithful will remain!  This has been true for us, and we anticipate that whatever the time line holds, Emmanuel, "God with us" will be present.  This is more than we need.

We wish all of you a wonderful, joyous Christmas and a deep sense of peace as you head into the new year!

With Love,

Dan, Nancy, Jon and Greg

Christmas, 2008 - The Cove's

Christmas, 2006

Click here to go to Dan Whitney's page about his book "The Malleable Blade."

Here are some pictures of the Whitneys and Nancy's father and aunt.

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Two great pictures of the Whitney boys, Jon and Greg.

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Dear Family and Friends,

Have twelve months really passed since we last celebrated Advent? It hardly seems possible. In fact, I’m not even sure I can remember all that has happened. Of course, 2002 was a crazy year of transition for us. We never did get the Christmas letter written. Sorry. Moving from Rhode Island to New Hampshire started in May and didn’t finish until September. Dan had a disk removed from his neck/spine in April; and just about the time we had everything moved up here, he surrendered his appendix at Concord Hospital. We were still unpacking boxes during Advent last year, still wrestling with the emotions of saying goodbye to so many dear friends from Rhode Island. 2003 was a much healthier year!!

Gregory Daniel is a fifth grader at Henniker Community School. He loves to play baseball best, and made the area All-Star Team this summer. This fall was full of soccer and outside games, playing with neighborhood boys, and swimming at the camp. Gregory is a very good student who has a curious creative flair. He is lucky. He guessed the right number of jelly beans in the big jar at the Holiday Inn at Concord, and won a pool party there for all of his friends! We’re waiting for a freezing cold January weekend for the indoor pool party. Greg continues to tickle the ivories and is making good progress.

Jonathan R.R. is a seventh grader at the same school Greg attends. He loves soccer most of all, indoor a little more than outdoor. His outdoor team this fall only won one game. The indoor team he is currently a part of is undefeated. They are an amazing team! Jonathan tried out for and made an advanced soccer team this past fall. Unfortunately, none of his closest friends made the team. Being the loyal boy that he is, he turned down the chance to play at a higher level in order to be with his best buddies. And that is why, of course, he has really good buddies! Jon’s piano skills are improving as his horizons start to expand. He ran cross country this fall and is also on the math team at school.

Nancy invests herself in the lives of sixth graders this year. She is a classroom aide at HCS where both our children attend. Although Nancy has received her New Hampshire teaching certificate, in order to be present at night for the family, she chooses a job she can leave behind when she returns home at night. Nancy has become more involved in our local church, which has recently moved from Concord to Loudon . . . 15 minutes further away! She just completed directing the music for the Children’s Christmas Musical. It was fantastic!

Dan is working to blend together the various aspects of his job as a camp director and as a minister on the New England District. Construction projects continue at the camp, as well as year round retreats and summer camps. Staff changes in the coming year promise new challenges. Dan also serves as an instructor for Reynolds Institute, the training arm for pastors on the New England District.

Miss Tush, our Upstate New York cat, transitioned well to New Hampshire. She has been joined by a fellow feline, Rascal. He is a mess. We are hoping he mellows out before we are forced to remove him from the premises.

We are finding our neighborhood to be a delight. We have made many friends in Henniker and enjoy the time we can spend with the parents of our kid’s friends. Although life is far too fast paced, we like looking out at night at great pine trees and smelling the clean air. We did learn that a mother bear and her cubs spent the night about 50 feet from our driveway this fall. We wish we had seen that.

We have been blessed to have many visitors this past year. We have a nice guest room that we maintain just for that purpose. Having lived in so many different areas, our lives have been enriched by the good friends we have enjoyed across the years. If you have been thinking you should visit New Hampshire, please start making plans to come!

We give praise to God for His incredible blessings this past year! We are happy to report that Nancy’s father is in better health than ever, having completed chemotherapy and recovered from the removal of a cancerous tumor on his liver. God has kept us safe over many highway miles this year, between long commutes to Concord for church and grocery shopping and Dan’s speaking trips across New England. We have been blessed with a wonderful family who does a great deal to support us. “Surely the boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places for us!”

We pray God’s blessings for you in the year ahead. We hope that you will know the shalom of God and will enjoy the peace that comes from living in harmony with his creation.

Blessings in Christ,

Greg, Jon, Nancy, and Dan Whitney; Tush and Rascal, too.

The Cove's

Dick and Christopher with Alexander, Zachery, and Matthew

Christopher and Dick with the Twins and Dick holding Matthew

Proud Granddad, Dick Cove (with Matthew)!

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