Happy Holidays

Our New House

Dear Friends and Loved Ones,

We hope this finds you healthy and happy. 2010 has been a year of change for us.

In the spring we sold our Palos Verdes house. It was with mixed emotions that we parted with it since it was the first house we owned, had lived there for over 30 years, and both our children had grown up there.

On the happy side, right after selling the house we bought a new house in Kauai. This house is a big step up for us since it is almost twice as big as our first Kauai house (which we now have leased out) and has both ocean and mountain views.

Our daughter Michelle graduated from design school in the spring and has gone into business with another interior designer doing interior design for both residences and businesses.

Christopher continues to do well at Ernst and Young where he has been promoted and given considerably more responsibility. However, the big change with Christopher is that he and Alexis are now engaged with a wedding scheduled for next August. Christopher really surprised Alexis by flying to Paris to propose to her while she was there on vacation with her mother. It was a complete surprise since Alexis had no idea he was coming.

By February Peter had recuperated sufficiently from previous September’s hip surgery to start outrigger canoe paddling and racing again. Unfortunately, as fall approached his recuperation had hit a plateau since the pain and limping weren’t improving anymore. So, in early November he had hip revision surgery in which a new socket and ball for the hip joint were implanted. His recuperation is going much better this time and four weeks after the surgery he has been able to walk a mile without a cane (sort of a cane mutiny).

Our only travel this last year was a February trip to Del Mar California where we had a delightful stay with Susan’s sister Chana and husband Frank. We had fun visiting a Temecula winery as well as touring the aircraft carrier Midway in San Diego harbor. We also enjoyed a delightful stay with Michelle and husband Brad in Oceanside California. They hosted a great dinner party for us that included Christopher, Alexis, and Peter’s brother Brian whom he had not seen in about 5 years.

Susan has continued to be very active volunteering at the Kilauea Point Wild Life Refuge. In between volunteering, selling and buying houses, moving, she till found time for her many projects as well as enjoying our beautiful beaches. Peter and two cohorts were named volunteers of the year for the lighthouse video Peter produced.

Once again, we hope that you will visit beautiful Kauai soon. We will enjoy seeing you and showing you around our beautiful island. Best wishes for a wonderful Christmas and healthy New Year. We hope to see you in 2011.

Aloha,

Peter & Susan

Happy Holidays

December 2010 from Bill Sheehan

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year from the Sheehan Clan in Southeastern Connecticut. This has certainly been one of those “interesting” years. We hope that it has been a year of continuing recovery for all.

Chris continues to work at Hendel’s in the maintenance department. Judging from how he paints a room and explains different plant care to his Mom, he has learned some valuable skills in his years at Hendel’s. He did get engaged to Eva Cosgrove of Wallingford during the Christmas holidays last year and they are planning a wedding after Eva finishes her schooling sometime in late 2011 or early 2012 since she is working and attending school at the same time. Mom and Dad approve. Eva is a fantastic young woman. This has been a tough year for Chris. On Columbus Day we had to put down his Dog Oscar who had a tumor on his heart and then in early November his pet ferret Sox got sick and also had to be euthanized.

Corey commenced a new adventure in April when he bought the Video Store where he was the manager. Now he is a struggling retail shop owner that is barely hanging on in a struggling economy but he is optimistic that he will be able to keep the business going and eventually become profitable. He also sells his videos on EBay which augments the in store sales somewhat. Dad told him he would have to get someone else to do his taxes since he has no experience with the requirements of a small business. He has gotten customers as far away as Hartford, CT because there are so few actual video stores in the area due to on line renting.

Joyce had to undergo additional back surgery in June and it was not very successful. She has reached the end of physical therapy and is now in an exercise maintenance program. Weekly massage therapy is also helping her maintain her life style. She was hit from behind while at a stop light on Election Day and may have some aggravation of her back problems from that incident. Those evaluations are currently ongoing. Her back problems have limited her mobility but she does not give up. There are still occasional trips to her Dad’s house in Rhode Island to visit her sister who is still living there.

Bill continues to do all the things he wants to do but not get paid for it. He reviews and approves Town expenditures on the Board of Finance, volunteers for the local Red Cross Chapter, plans Emergency drills for the Regional Emergency Services, explains submarines to visitors to the Nautilus Museum, and supports regional economic development on the Board of SeCTer. During one of his docent watches he watched the backpacks of fifty boy scouts from Arizona that were in the area on their way to the National Jamboree outside of Washington, DC. The highlight of the year was a trip to California in mid June to attend the wedding of his grand niece Danielle. She was married at a resort on Big Bear Lake in the mountains of southern California. His newly discovered niece Gigi from New Zealand also attended so there was a great reunion with his niece Teresa and her family, as well as Gigi and her husband David. He was active supporting his favorite candidates in the November election. He also continues to write a blog on Waterford local government on the local newspaper’s web site and also has a weekly column in the online paper, http://Waterford.patch.com.

We hope everyone has a Blessed Christmas, and that you and yours have a prosperous 2011.

Joyce Bill Chris Corey

Happy Holidays

CHRISTMAS 2010

If you look closely at our Thanksgiving family photo, taken at Mick and Jimmie’s home in NJ, you’ll see our second granddaughter, born on Mick’s birthday, August 7th. She is Eva Gabriela, adding to the population of Glen Rock, where Mick and Jimmie have now settled into an East Coast life. (They have been there a year already!)

Glen Rock, being near Summit, where we used to live, gave Tom the opportunity to play in the Oratory alumni soccer game. Earlier, in June, Tom and Kris celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary hiking and rafting in the Grand Canyon. Their home is still Greensboro, NC, where he teaches and coaches, and she is a physical therapist. We had a great visit with them just after Eva was born. (We saw our sons twice this year!)



No change to my tax season volunteer AARP commitments, but I actually had paid employment for the first time in ten years. I worked as a Crew Leader of a U.S. Census Bureau team for the April through July enumeration period. (I truly enjoyed working again.) The 2020 Census should not require door-to-door visits – our technology and government data bases should preclude the need and the expense.

Joanie continues with all of her fiber interests: spinning, weaving, sewing, quilting, dyeing, basketing, felting, beading – and all of the associated guilds. She continues as the Northern California representative for the Handweavers Guild of America and as a member of the Advisory Council for the Northern California Handweavers. In July she attended the bi-annual HGA Convergence conference in Albuquerque, NM, taking the opportunity to visit with good friend Claire Bonser in Santa Fe.

In September it was off to OFFF in our RV. The Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival is in Canby, just south of Portland. There is nothing like being up close and personal with sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, bunnies, and two million vendors of craft stuff. We did have lunch with my Uncle Forrie who, I believe, is aging backwards. Last year he was 90; this year he is obviously 89! Later that month was the Placerville Hangtown Weavers’ annual campout at Coloma, CA.

I enjoyed a little golf and a bunch of skiing again this year. Our neighborhood hiking group was quite active, so I enjoyed many hiking treks this summer. Hattie and I, of course, took our own special hikes in the Sierras. Church activities continue.

Cat Tillie, now 13, and dog Hattie, now 6, continue to give us joy just by being themselves. We just wish they were buddies.

Our only casualty this year was Joanie’s Mini Cooper. We elected to not replace the ridiculously expensive transmission. The “coolness” factor has its limits. She now has an AWD Toyota Matrix.

We hope all of you and yours have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

Marty and Joanie

Happy Holidays

TO EVERYONE

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR
MIA AND LARRY MILLER

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas, Jim

It is always good to hear from you and catch up on everyones activities. Ron and I have traveled quite extensively in 2010. My most memorable trip was to South America and seeing Iguazu Falls. It was one of those awe moments. I am ready to stay home for a while. Many blessings to you and yours in the new year.

Pat

Happy Holidays

Margaret (Comyns) Uglow and Jim Williams at Los Jarritos restaurant November 28.

From Margaret:

"Christ took on our humanity that we could enter His divinity...That this be so in you is my dearest Christmas wish for you. Merry Christmas."

With affection,
Margaret

Happy Holidays

Hi All,

Another year has escaped and I'm back back to my annual problem of trying to figure out what to share in a seasonal letter. …...I can say that I haven't been working at Citrus for over a year so I guess I can be officially classified as retired. What I don't get yet is why, when we get up, get my daughter off to school, walk, eat lunch, etc. it's suddenly 3:00 PM and the day has vanished...... I think the earth has sped up rotating on its axis and all days have gotten shorter, which makes global warming a minor concern! …...... On a serious side I wish all a happy holiday season...... Best, Jim



Angela Lehner, Skip Fenner, Jim Williams, Liz (Pahl) Fenner in Pt. Reyes

Parker, Really delightful Tower of London Guide, Rebecca

Janet Williams in Vienna