 Stump Ranch DiaryLife, Musings, Reminiscences &My Family |
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Christmas Greetings 2002
Tiana Elyse Hernanez
Our Vacation 2003 Jon's Graduation Party David Graduates SVC Grandma Edna Passes; Justin & Maleena Marry Don Coulter Retires from Four-Square Church |
Christmas Greetings 2004
This year has been an eventful one for our family and friends. Dan & I continue to work in food services and are keeping very busy with work projects. Dan's passion for family genealogy continues to grow, as he finds out more interesting family facts all the time & sharing with many others. Dan was also recognized by the Washington State Genealogical Society for his “outstanding efforts in the preservation of important records of genealogical value to Skagit Valley Genealogical Society and other researchers interested in the families of Skagit County. Maureen is involved in lots of committees and projects & decided to be fundraiser for the Skagit Valley Genealogy Society, learning many new things and supporting Dan's efforts. She continues to support the Upper Skagit Women's Ministry Committee, a favorite family project.Our son, David,( 22 yrs,) a Sr. at Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA. is looking forward to graduating in June of 2005, with a degree in Spanish & French. He is looking forward to several different opportunities following graduation, including the possibility that he may travel to France and work for 9 months starting in September. He continues to work in retail sales at Big Five (part time) while he completes school. We're proud of David's accomplishments & excited to see what the future holds for him. Our nephew Steve (he stayed with us during his high school years) will graduate with honors, this June from the University of Washington in Seattle. It will be an eventful June! Way to go David & Steve! Our son, Jon,( 20 yrs Feb) continues his studies at Skagit Valley Community College, Mt. Vernon, WA, working towards completion of his transfer degree. He plans to attend either WWU or UW by Sept. 2006. He 's enjoying his new job this year as an Event Rep with T- Mobile Communications, Mt. Vernon. Turns out T Mobile is a good work location for many of our family member; Steve, Maleena and Jon all work at different locations for T- Mobile and enjoy working for them. Sons Adam and Drew, continue to keep busy both in work & in play. Adam continues with the Puyallup Fire Dept., traveling for union duties. He also actively participates in family projects & travel with wife Kelli& their daughters; Emily (5 yrs) and Megan (3 yrs). Emily started Kindergarten this year at Pioneer Elementary,( Gramma Beage is school secretary) she is loving it! Megan started Pre School this year & is keeping everyone busy and happy with her pre school antics. They will be coming to visit us for their Christmas visit soon & we can't wait! The girls are enjoying a new tradition with Maureen, aka "Gramimi", Christmas Tea at Gramimis' house, along with three of their cousins. Maureen & her Mom and Sisters (Karen & Renee') and niece, Jenna, enjoyed the Lion King performance, downtown Seattle, for a fun family Christmas Event. Drew started a new venture this past year as a Personal Chef, his own company -(check it out at www.SkagitChef.com) He traveled to Alaska for several months this past summer, as Chef of an environmental cruise We were all very surprised when he called to tell us he had been doing some recreational fishing and reeled in a 270 lb. Halibut (bigger than he is) the pictures he forwarded us were amazing! We're very excited about what the future holds for Drew. We were fortunate to have a vacation with our extended family this past August at Ocean Shores, fun was had by all! Dan & I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary in August as well, with a trip to Las Vegas & the Red Rock Canyon. It was a great trip, with lots of beautiful scenery. We celebrated a family reunion in Concrete with the Royal clan in September. It was great fun! The addition of a new family member is expected in June of this year. Justin& Maleena, are the proud parents. We are very grateful for our family and friends and wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy and Healthy 2005! God Bless, Dan & Maureen Royal and family |
 During the Christmas holiday Adam, Kelli, Emily and Megan got to visit for a couple days and guess what showed up? Megans first snow! Which she and big sis Emily had a great time playing in. They even helped dad Adam and Uncle Jon build their first snowman- Frosty. Megan got upset with Grandpi Dan later as I decided I didn't want the particular hat they used to get damaged; then I didn't get it replaced fast enough. All was fine when I put another hat on though.Our family would like to wish you and yours a great New Year this 2004. Be safe and be good to each other. Dan, Maureen, Adam, Kelli & girls; Drew, David and Jon. Christmas 2003 Christmas Greetings 2003 
This year has been full of special events for the Royal family. June was a special month for us!David graduated from Skagit Valley College, Mt. Vernon, WA and transferred this fall to Western Washington College, Bellingham, WA where he is majoring in Spanish. He continues to work at Big Five Sports but transferred to the Bellingham Mall Store. In August David turned 21 and we had a big family celebration! Jon also graduated in June, from Concrete High School and is currently enrolled at Skagit Valley College for a transfer degree, he’s not yet sure what his major will be or where he will transfer, but he loves SVC and enjoys working at Food Pavilion in Mt. Vernon. Jon will be 19 in February. We celebrated both graduations with a special barbecue at our house in June with all our family and friends in attendance. We were blessed with beautiful sunny weather. Our family had a very special vacation in June. Maureen’s sister Karen works for Holland America Cruise Lines and she assisted our family in organizing a special graduation vacation…(Thanks so much Karen!) We cruised on the “Ms Zuiderdam” (one of Hollands’ newest big ships) to places we had never been; from Ft Lauderdale Florida, on to Key West, where we visited Ernest Hemingway’s’ previous home and did lots of fun shopping, then to Cozumel ,Mexico, diving with the colorful fish and lying on sunny beaches, on to Grand Cayman for white beaches and turquoise water and conch shell collecting (of course Maureen fit in a small amount of souvenir shopping-smile) and our last stop at Half Moon Cay, Bahamas, where we took underwater pictures and played in the clear blue water for many hours, finishing the day with a gourmet meal on the ship. We all enjoyed ourselves so much! When we returned to Ft. Lauderdale to spend the night and fly home the next day, Jon & David both asked us if we could stay cruising for just a little longer, saying it was the best vacation we’d ever taken. We had to agree with them! Although June was a highlight for us, many other special events occurred as well, in February we celebrated our granddaughter, Emilys’ fourth birthday, we have been enjoying special “Gramimi Teas” with apple juice, tea and miniature cookies; sharing them with granddaughter, Megan too,( who turned two, in October). Emily played Soccer for the first time this year. Dad Adam, was an assistant coach for her team and Kelli was an official “Soccer Mom” with her mini van (smile!) She and Megan were great fans for Emily. Megan is now attending Gymboree and loves Thomas the Train and Dora the Explorer. Our sons Drew & Adam, traveled to France to see The Tour de France this past summer. It was a special bonding experience for both of them. They brought back great stories of the race and their fun gourmet eating experiences in many small villages and towns and stories of all the great people they met along the way. We had family photos taken in November, as you will see below. It was great fun! Maureen is starting a special family tradition this year with a Christmas tea at our house, for all the little girls in the family; Emily, Megan, Jenna, Kiara and Tiana will all be enjoying the First Annual Royal Tea. We hope this tradition continues for a long time. We have had some sadness in our year; we have three close family friends that were diagnosed with various forms of cancer this past year. We continue to support them in prayer and ask you to as well. We are very grateful for our family and friends and wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy 2004 New Year! God Bless, Dan & Maureen Royal and family |
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"I'm a very simple person! I'm not complicated, and I don't get involved in the esoteric descriptions of how things should be. You take care of business, take care of yourself...health, family, work. You ignore your health, it'll get to your family and work. You ignore your family, it'll get to your work and health. If you ignore work, it'll get to your family and health. Those are the three most important things, and you have to take care of all three, because if you don't, then you slide down the razor blade of life." Neal Adams interview 2003 If I happen to share a quote from someone, it will usually means I agree with what's being said. Dan |
I mentioned going out to dinner below with our friends but didn't mention where. So I will take a moment here to promote our son Drew Jackson who is the chef at
LeJardin at the Wild Iris B & B in LaConner.We used to call Drew the "Hamburger Kid" when he was in high school as that was all he would eat and he definitly never helped around the kitchen. How he went from being the "Hamburger Kid" to a highly respected chef in the Skagit Valley is a long story. Drew and I can hopefully tell that together someday, if not with me then someone else. I will say as parents, that Maureen and I are extremely proud of the gift he found in himself as a culinary artist. When I say artist that is exactly what he is when he is in the kitchen, he is very gifted and he loves sharing his enthusiaism with the folks he cooks for. If you are looking for fine dining with a European flare using locally grown and organic foods in the Skagit Valley, go see Drew and tell him his proud parents sent you.December 2003 |
 double click on picture for larger view and full article. I'm sure anything that is too introspective would bore anyone reading this. But here it is and I'm sure anyone at my age (45) will understand. Mo and I set up a dinner date with my high school friend and husband Regina & Dave to go see the new production of the musical "Guys and Dolls" at Burlington-Edison High School, Friday 14th November. Reggie and I had the leads our senior year, I as Sky Masterson- a gambler- Reg as Sarah Brown- a prim and proper Christain girl in the Salvation Army out to save the world. There are things in life that hit you right in the heart -regards- how fast time goes by in this life and this happened to be one of them. I have no interest to go back in time to the person I was back then or go through the things I went through as a young adult. But seeing those kids up there on the stage playing a part that I had a lead in- and the only moment in high school I got to let go and shine- was odd to say the least. The kids up there got to have their moment though, Reggie and I were extremely impressed with the great voice of Sarah Brown, played by Brook Sotherland-no small feat as Reggie has a magnificent voice herself. It was great to see and talk to Mrs. Jan Taylor, our drama coach/play director again & hear her great laugh echoe through the theater. But ofcourse, Reggie & I are still partial to our production in the fall of 1976. 20 November 2003 Dan return to top of page |
 A couple pictures of new baby Tiana Elyse Hernandez born 9 August 2003 7lbs.5oz. 19 in. brought into the world by Justin and Maleena Hernandez at 8:16am. My sister, Grandmi Bonnie Lowe with Kiara and new baby sister Tiana. return to top of page |
 
 With David leaving home this fall for WWU in Bellingham, we decided to splurg on the vacation this year with a cruise. We left Ft. Lauderdale Florida on the Holland America Cruise ship the SS Zuiderdam. The first port of call was Key West (where I checked out Ernest Hemingway's house, wish I could write like him)-then to Cazumel, Mexico where David and Jon enjoyed snorkling. On to the Grand Caymans where we took a bus tour and ended up in "Hell" (the boys are standing in front of the molten rocks along side the little devil). From there we went to a little island Holland America owns in the Bahamas. The ship was the cruise lines largest and we were very spoiled. You can tell by the extra weight I put on. I want to thank my in-laws Kevin & Karen, both of whom work for Holland America out of Seattle for their help on setting things up with Mo. return to top of page |
 Link to Concrete High School return to top of page |
 David Royal graduates from Skagit Valley College with a transfer degree to Western Washington University this fall. Mom and dad with David on graduation day. return to top of page |
Celebrated Febuary birthday's with family at the Cheesecake Factory in Seattle. Jon chose the location as he just turned 18 years on the 19th. Other birthdays this month are Emily, Kelli, Dianna's hubby Dean, Maleena turning 20 years and myself. Cheescake Factory is not a good place to have a big family group get together like this! Really good food though.We had also celebrated Emily's 4th birthday at Chuck-e-Cheese in Tacoma before Mo left on her business trip to Europe at the end of January. Also not another great place for getting together, very noisy and overcrowded. But we always enjoy each others company regardless. Maleena and Justin due with their second child this July. DR 26Feb. 2003 |
 Mo's European Trip 2003 |
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This is one of life's interesting twists! One of my first jobs my senior year in High School was with a brand new fast food restrautant in Renton, WA. This would have been in the year of 1977. My sisters Bonnie, Dianna, Nick Marshall and a lot of family friends worked there with the opening crew. The place was very successful, thus the owner added more of these chains to his business. Eventually he had higher ambitions and opened a fine dining establishment which was also successful, numerous of these were opened. I have delivered food product through the years with the various restaurants. The second Rib's establishment they opened is in Redmond, where I deliver this year on a bid route. The maintence man with the company has been with the owner since our opening crew in Renton and we knew each other well back then. He is the only original employee of this owner, barely looking anything like he did back then- but neither do I, which we ribbed each other about. We had a chance to reminise about the fun times with that crew back when. Bottom line- I've got to witness the beginning of something very successful and now the end of the line with these businesses being sold or closed due to poor....(read between the lines.) DR 26Feb. 2003 |
"Burlington-Living Faith Foursquare Church's senior pastor, Donald W. Coulter, is retiring after 25 years of service. Coulter and his wife, Bev, moved from California to Burlington in June 1967 and attended what was then Burlington Community Foursquare, patored by Vernon Ketz. Coulter began serving as assistant pastor under Don Flora in 1972 as the church's name changed to Cascade Charismatic Center. He was appointed senior pastor Jan. 1, 1978, and the church name was changed to Living Faith. Coulter will give his final sermon at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 29. He will be honered at a reception from 3-5 p.m. at the church." Don and Bev Coulter are my Uncle and Aunt. Bev is actually my dad, Phil Royal's sister and they have been important to our lives as long as I can remember. They deserve more of a write up on their life work , so I will do something more appropiate in the near future. Suffice to say! At the reception Maureen and I attended in their honor, (with dad and Donna, Bonnie and Mike, Maleena and Kiara) they were honored by almost everyone in attendance. Don and Bev have truly lived the Faith they profess and touched everyones heart in one way or the other. DR 30 December 2002 return to top of page |
Holiday season is just about over,Thank the Lord for that small favor. Though I enjoy the family, and my wife does most the work -I delight in the children- It just wears me out, by the New Year. DR 30 December 2002 Left to right: Kiara, Emily, Megan |
Christmas Greetings 2002
What an eventful year this has been. Filled with both sadness & joy. We lost two very special members of our family this past summer: Dan’s cousin, David Fanning, (32 yrs. old) passed away in July from Cystic Fibrosis. He was always a beacon of light for all of us, and a source of inspiration. Grandma Nana passed away in September 7; the same day that Maleena and Justin were married. Both of them left special legacies that will live on for a long time to come and our memories of them will always be special.When Maleena and Justin were married and Dan had the special treat of walking Maleena down the aisle, I had the special treat of walking with their daughter Kiara, who was a beautiful flower girl in the wedding. We were so happy to be a part of this special celebration. Bonnie and Mike celebrated their first anniversary this year, while Kiara celebrated her first birthday in May. Adam & Kelli celebrated Megans’ first birthday in October in Olympia, a big family affair and we all had such special fun as we watched Megan take her first steps. Big sister, Emily, was very excited to help Megan celebrate her special day and is looking forward to celebrating her 4th Birthday Feb. 1st. We celebrated Christmas early with Adam & Kelli & girls & Dans’ family, a fun Christmas brunch, this past week-end and we have more celebrations to look forward to. We had such fun! Adam and Kelli are doing well and keeping busy, running after both girls now. Adam continues to stay busy in his duties at the fire station and as Union president. Maleena is still enjoying her job at the Bon Marche although she is very busy this holiday season. Maureen loves visiting Maleena at the Bon and shopping for her grandaughters and nieces. Justin is doing well in his new job at FSA and was most productive worker in the warehouse this past month. They recently moved into a new home that is very nice. Our son, Drew is still a chef extraordinaire and loving every minute of it. He continues to work in LaConner at the Wild Iris and we hope some of you will be able to visit him there and taste his culinary delights. We have and we love them! Son, David is in his final year at Skagit Valley College and hopes to transfer to Eastern in the fall, while Jon is a senior at Concrete High School and both boys are busy working as well. Jon will graduate this June and hopes to go to SVC. We are excited to have our last son graduating from high school this year (after four boys –smile!) Our nephew Steven is in his third year at the U of W and has made it back to visit us several times. Maureen’s mom, Adrienne and sister, Renee’ hosted Thanksgiving dinner for all of us at their house and it was a very special time for all of us getting together. Sister Karen and her family are doing well, with our niece Jenna celebrating her fourth birthday this past Oct. The girls all have so much fun playing together on holidays! Maureen is in her 13th year at CF Fresh, marketing organic produce and traveling to some very exciting places, Europe in February. Dan is at FSA as Route Driver and enjoying independent time on the road. We are very happy to have such a loving family and so many great friends to share the holidays with. Please enjoy your Christmas holidays and the coming New Year. We wish you the best in 2003. God Bless, Dan & Maureen Royal and family Maureen 25 December 2002 return to top of page |
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It's been a strange year professionally. Some dissappointment in a couple folks I looked up to for years, but one person in particular surprised me. I've been able to stay away from most of the corporate politics this year by working out of Burlington and Bellingham. There will be agressive changes on the way though, which are probably nessessary to build back lost business from the last couple years. Congradulations to Larry Brown who just retired recently with Food Services of America after, I believe 35 years - a teamster with Pacfic Fruit and Produce- part of a merger in 1988 to become Food Services of America. Larry certainly will be missed by his customers who've known him for years. I plan on retiring with the company myself, though I don't like to think thats at least 20 years away. I am looking forward to bidding a 4day-10hr. work week for 2003. This will give me a day off in the middle of the week that I can dedicate to genealogy and historical research. DR 30 November 2002 |
Dan Royal 14 Sept. 2002 Link to "My Maternal Side" for Chastain & Fanning Genealogy and information. Biographys of Edna Chastain Fanning and David Marshall Fanning. return to top of page |
©2003, 2002 The Stump Ranch