Yes, I did fall off the face of the earth, but I've managed to climb my way back up to it again! We've had such a busy fall and holiday season, combined with illnesses at inopportune times that have prevented me from having the energy needed in the evening to post! But that doesn't mean that I haven't been stamping! I will admit that I didn't send out Christmas Cards this season, but I may send something out for Valentines instead. So, in the tradition of the annual Christmas Card, I'm including a family "letter" here. That way I can include as many pictures as I want and not run out of room!
2008 started off with a very snowy winter for St. Louis. We had 4 storms that dumped at least 4 inches each on us - and every time, Dave was out of town. That meant I got to do the shoveling! Good exercise, I guess! The ones who really enjoyed it were of course, the kids. Jason and Lauren became expert igloo builders, but I wouldn't say Jason was very helpful at shoveling the driveway. He would try, but the snow would beckon and he'd be off playing again each time I looked around. Oh well. I don't think that we have many years left of childhood exuberance with him, so I let it go.
Lauren took First Communion this year at Palm Sunday and we took the opportunity to take an updated family photo. We do clean up ok.
We spent the Easter holiday here alone this year. Mom and Dad went to Streator to be with GG. Like winter, spring brought lots of precipitation and we ended up hunting Easter Eggs inside!
Our tax refund went towards needed home improvements this year, as almost always! One project that I was really glad to get done was the remodeling of our master bathroom. Dave has become an expert at laying tile, and I usually do the grouting. We took out our cabinets, painted them green (what else?) then I distressed them and antiqued them. They turned out really good - but I just realized I never took and "after" photo, so I'll have to put that in later! My dad contributed some carpentry by adding a top extension to the height of the cabinet and putting in a drawer. Now we don't have to bend to our knees to brush our teeth! It's really like a spa in there now.
Jason and Lauren had their final piano recital (at least together) this year. Neither of them are taking piano lessons right now - but Jason is the piano player for the jazz band and he is really doing well under his grandfathers tutelage. I've been waiting to post this update hoping that Dave would finish his editing of the video, but it's taking longer than I thought, so I'll have to add that later as well. His concert was amazing, but we couldn't hear the piano too well, so Dave is overlaying it with a recording of Jason playing his part at home.
My new venture in the world of music included singing with the St. Louis Harmony Chorus this year. They are an acapella group of women -about 75 strong- who just took 18th place out of 700 choruses worldwide at the International Competition in Hawaii this past November. Wish I could say I was there, but it wasn't in the budget!
I have really enjoyed the challenge of singing a harmonic part with them, because even though I still sing the highest voice, in this case a tenor, it is not the melody. It was the main attraction for me - I'm not sure about all this singing and competition stuff so we'll see if I continue it in 2009. I may have to find a better match for my time. I tried my voice in a quartet for a time but unfortunately, I couldn't give the time needed for rehearsals together. I have free days, and everyone else free nights! This is our performance at our annual show. I'm on the top right corner - in the shadows since the couldn't get the curtain open enough. They put the people that are not attending the competitions on the outside of the rows in order to keep the primary competing chorus in the center. They are an amazing group!
Summer brought - you guessed it - more rain! We were flooded again! Dave's sister and family visited on their way home from Oklahoma and we took them down to the riverfront to see the coast guard activity at the arch. Tom is in the Coast Guard- and yes, we do have CG here in the middle of the nation!
This is the best way to get a picture of the arch - I always laugh at the tourists taking pictures up close - it just looks like a wall!
We took them to the zoo and I got this wonderful picture of Lauren with the hippos and Samuel's reflection as well. It's one of my favorites!
And here you can really see how far up the steps of the Arch the river was creeping - and actually it was on it's way down by then. There is a road down on the other side of the flagpoles that is submerged.
Lauren's Girl Scout Troop took a trip to Springfield IL this past spring to visit the Lincoln Presidential Library and home. This picture was taken at his tomb. It was ironic, but we were there on the anniversary of the day his funeral train arrived back in Springfield. We had a fun night in the hotel with many giggly girls!
Dave and I spent a day with friends touring the MO wineries. It was a great day - the MO countryside is beautiful, and the wineries have become quite the "happening" spot. One of them has a cave underneath where the temperature is a constant 65 year round and they have tables down there for you to relax in the cool air.
Ok, so this picture is obviously at the new Busch Stadium. What a great night we had for a game (even though I think we lost). What you can't tell is that this is right after I fell and had a concussion, and that I was suffering from extreme vertigo in those high seats! I can tell that I'm "wearing" a smile, but it's not real. How did I fall, you ask? Well, it's a thorougly exciting tale involving a piano bench. ...you can read about it in previous posts....but I still have lingering affects from it...stiff neck in the morning, still have vertigo on occasion and I never had that before. It's not been fun! I even had some memory loss when planning our vacation to DC and didn't realize it until we got there and I had made plans that I didn't remember talking about.
Speaking of vacation, we were supposed to go West again this year to the Grand Canyon, but we put that off at least a year for many reasons, including a need to go home and visit with family, and also due to Dave's travel schedule. Dave spent much of 2008 traveling WAY more than usual to complete a management course offered by the government called "NECHLI"....I forget the meaning of the acronym, but it gives him one of the pieces he will need to ultimately be eligible for executive positions. He attended 3 week long classes, each in a different city, with the final one being in Washington DC. So, we decided that the only way we were going to get a vacation in this year was to piggy back on that trip and go to DC. My dear friends the Heacocks graciously extended the use of their condo in the "mountains" of PA for us to stay for a week during the first part of our vacation. This was our chance to kick back- which Dave really needed. We did some day trip sight seeing, including a trip to Horseshoe bend, which was really close, Altoona train museum, the memorial for Flight 93 from 9-11, and Delgrosso's theme park. But the highlight for the kids were the black bears that raided the trash bins one night. All these trips out west and we've never seen a bear, and they were waiting for us in PA!!!
While in DC, Dave went to his classes and the kids and I did the touring. We did the Smithsonian museums, went to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to see all that money the government seems to print at will, the Air and Space museum, and the National Archives. They were really impressed with getting to see the Constitution. It was just like in the movie "National Treasure". Dave had a graduation party the last night and I got to meet many of his superiors that attended. The next day we headed out to Laura and Tom's for a brief but much needed visit with the cousins, and stopped at Great Falls National Park on the way. So, with bears and this giant waterfall, we felt like we had gotten a taste of the west on our trip!
The cousins have all gotten so big! The kids had a wonderful time fishing, swimming in the lake and just being goofy. The grown ups had some wonderful bonding time talking late into the night. Even though we were on our whirlwind trip home, it was a great quick visit.
Our last stop was going down the highway 81, I had to get a picture of the kids at James Madison, my alma mater! It was really strange to be back there, but fun to see how much the town had grown.
I'm skipping the fall review because it was posted recently enough that you can scroll back to it if you want. Christmas came faster this year than it ever has! Lauren and I both suffered from a fever virus that lasted several days - hers caused us to miss my chorus performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall, which I was really looking forward to. A week after she recovered, I came down with it and had to cancel our Holiday Open House, and I had to miss Lauren's singing performance in special chorus doing the nutcracker.
But we were healthy for Jason's jazz band piano debut which I hope to have audio of soon. My dad cut off the tips of his fingers on a table saw right after his 70th birthday! They were able to reattach them, but his middle finger top joint had to be frozen, so he'll lose some mobility. Not good for piano playing for now though!
Amy and Dan brought the main attraction to Christmas this year - Tyler! He is so adorable, and such a good baby - must run in the family! He reminds me a lot of Jason at that age - except Jason didn't have an attachment to the "nuk". Tyler stood alone for the first time while at our house. It was fun having baby toys around again for a time!
Lauren had a very merry American Girl Doll christmas. She has really enjoyed reading the books, watching the movies and playing with her new friends that have moved into her room and seem to have as much furniture as she does. Jason made her some furniture in Grandpa's workshop to give her for a present. Now he thinks he wants to start a business and sell them on ebay.
Lauren is also getting a guitar for Christmas with money she was given. I'm looking into lessons for her in place of piano.
We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We look forward to seeing many of you again in 2009!
Susan and Dave
This is her first birthday photo page from our album.
Some favorite photos from the lake house before mom and dad moved to St. Louis. The kids really miss that house! Especially the water. Lauren was too young to do many of the activities it offered, but we got a lot of snuggle time in on their porch swing!
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