Some Christmas Stories

Christmas is usually a time to gather with family and friends. It is rich in old traditions or starting new ones. A few of the employees at GBA shared what they did over Christmas break.

Lea Murray

In the Philippines we celebrate Christmas Season starting in September, we start decorating our tree and wrapping our Christmas gifts as early as September. However, the majority of the Filipinos here in the U.S.A. have a busy lifestyle so we celebrate it on December only, but we have parties almost every weekend. Yes we do like parties!! But we do not forget the reason of this season; it’s the birth of Jesus Christ. Nine days before Christmas we celebrate Simbang Gabi (Christmas Novena) and eat dinner after the mass. On Christmas Eve, each family prepare a dinner Feast, we call it Noche Buena, we open our Christmas presents at 12:00 a.m. and go to Church on Christmas day before we eat lunch.

I have two kinds of Christmas Trees at home; we have the American Christmas Tree and the Filipino Christmas Tree. The Filipino Christmas Tree is in the Kitchen since we always assemble in the kitchen whenever we have get-togethers.

Doug Carpenter

This was an extra special Christmas around the Carpenter household. Not only was it the first official Christmas of the Carpenter household (my wife and I just got married on November 21st of this year), but December 23rd also it marked the 10th birthday of our yorkie, Cappy. So on Christmas Day, my parents joined us at our house for a late breakfast and we unwrapped all of our presents. As you can see in the picture, Cappy couldn’t wait to put on his new stylish outfit and pose for the camera. Hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas as well!

Adam Stodola
My mom came down from Nebraska to spend the first Christmas in the new house and there was the requisite amount of eating, drinking, and being Merry.  We took advantage of the warm weather by smoking a brisket on Christmas Eve and then taking it easy the rest of the weekend. Just how I like it…  laid back and stress free… unless of course you consider the beating I took in the card games. That was not stress free. 

All in all, it was a good Christmas… and I hope it was the same for everyone else.

Nathan Johnson
Christmas at the Johnsons was a blast!

We got the party started with baking and decorating cookies for Santa. After we recovered from the sprinkle induced coma, it was over the river and through the woods for dinner and presents at our Great-grandparents house, where we got to have all sorts of fun with our favorite cousins.

With great anticipation and just a couple tears we said goodbye to everyone and headed home where we finally got to sleep, anxious to see what Santa had in store for us.

Christmas morning just couldn’t get here soon enough.

Once it was finally time to open presents the wrapping paper couldn’t come off fast enough. We had so much fun opening all the fun toys and even the clothes, that we decided it would be a good time to head to Grandma and Grandpa Johnson’s for even more presents and a little brunch too.

Since there is no such thing as too much of a good thing, we loaded up and headed to Granny and Poppy Cano’s for a little dinner and just a few more presents.

After such an awesome day, the only way to top it off was cheering our Wildcats onto a big win and tournament championship in Hawaii. Only Daddy made it all the way through the game, but he said it was a great end to an even better weekend.

Happy Retirement, Anne!!

After 26 years with GBA Anne is moving on to the next stage in her life. The first morning of retirement will no doubt be difficult, not for Anne but for the rest of us still working. The chair where she sat each day and wrote many an article will be difficult to fill. She will be missed for many reasons but mostly because her laugh is infectious, her smile contagious, and her heart filled with kindness.

Although it will not be the same around here without Anne, we are very excited for her. It has truly been a privilege to work with Anne and we wish her the very best in retirement.

Sharing Thoughts on Engineering Careers in PE Magazine

In the December 2011 issue of PE magazine, a national publication produced by the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), Anne Schroer was one of 19 Young Engineer Award winners asked questions regarding their thoughts on recruiting and retaining the next generation of engineers. Anne stated that she learned about the profession after taking career quizzes and that she was not aware of the possibility in high school.

The 19 engineers were asked questions on whether they felt engineers were born, made, or both. Anne said she felt engineers were both. “Engineers have a certain way of thinking… but they would probably never become engineers without being introduced to the profession.” And if Anne hadn’t been an engineer? She would have chosen finance!

We’re glad she decided to be an engineer.

Holidays Bring Cheer to Many through the Johnson County Christmas Bureau!

We’re pretty excited when it comes to the holidays and this year is no exception! The Monday after Thanksgiving found the office lit up like KC’s Country Club Plaza…well, maybe not quite like that, but sparkling nonetheless. Staffers decorated their various venues, and Harland Russell went all out with his own personal tree-lighting ceremony on the morning of December 6.

Thanks to our very generous GBA elves, gifts began to appear under Christmas trees in the lobbies as well. This year our gifts were earmarked for the Johnson County Christmas Bureau (JCCB), a non-profit, non-denominational agency created to provide the county’s low income families with everything from groceries and personal care items to clothes, books, and gifts for all ages. We delivered our gifts today!

While Johnson County has a reputation for affluence, the level of poverty has risen in these economic times and with it the number of families seeking assistance. The JCCB helps meet their needs with a Holiday Shop that serves more than 3,200 families, (more than 11,000 individuals) each year. Many are working families trying to make ends meet; more than 82 percent are women and children. And more than 600 nursing home residents are also served by the program. This year’s Holiday Shop is open through December 10, so if you act quickly you may still have time to donate!

If not now, however, then consider getting involved next year - you’ll feel the excitement too!

Happy holidays and best wishes for peace and prosperity in the New Year from all of us at GBA!