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2008 Year in Review
( Holiday Letter by Lenore)
2008 was
another busy year for all of us with a new addition to our family, a
milestone birthday, and lots of travel.
In February, we
celebrated John’s 5oth birthday. The kids and I threw a big surprise party.
Yes, he was surprised! It was a lot of fun and well attended by lots of
family and friends.
In April, we
adopted a 4 month old dog, Roxy, a red-nosed pit bull mix. No dog toy is
tough enough. She can shred a plastic bottle faster than the recycling
machine at Stop & Shop. She is never warm enough – snuggling as close as
she can, and acts like she never gets enough attention. Her favorite toy is
a green laser pointer. And, she thinks she’s a (50 lb.) lap dog.
We also did
quite a bit of traveling this year. John and I took 4 short trips (2 days
each time) to Atlantic City - twice with friends, twice alone. We really
don’t gamble that much, but are always offered free rooms in the Harrah’s
chain, and sometimes restaurant coupons, so it’s an incentive we just can’t
pass up. In December we went specifically to see a Rockettes-like Christmas
show in the Tropicana.
  
In July, we
went to Gettysburg, PA. I had to move one display of jewelry from the
Orange Cape Cod Crafters store to the one in Gettysburg. Since we had never
been there before, we took Emily with us and stayed an extra couple of days
to tour the National Park. It was quite interesting, but we all would be
happy if we never saw another monument!!
In August, we
took a few day trips (with Emily) into New York City. We visited the Bronx
Zoo:
  
the Statue of
Liberty, and Ellis Island:
Rockefeller
Center:
Central
Park and the Museum of Natural History:
  
The weather was
beautiful every time we went and we had a great time.
Also in August,
we spent 5 days camping at Hammonnasett State Park in Madison, CT. Even
though it is only 45 minutes away, it remains one of our favorite places to
camp. Unfortunately, this year, we had quite a bit of rain and bad
thunderstorms, dampening our adventure. Maggie and Justin came along, but
cut their trip short when their tent leaked after an overnight storm.
Andrew came up just for one rainy day and we all went to visit Mystic
Aquarium. Maybe next year will be drier there.
The highlight
of our year, though, was our trip to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas in
October. John was planning to attend the National EMS convention in Las
Vegas, and wanted me to go, too. So, we left a few days early and
visited the Grand Canyon first. We drove there from Las Vegas, spending one,
too-short day at the canyon, then taking an extended road trip back to
Vegas. We drove from Williams, AZ to Kingman, AZ then left the highway to
travel the old Route 66 through Oatman, AZ, an old mining town in the
mountains. It was a treacherous trip up narrow winding roads, but Oatman
was worth the trip. We then returned to Las Vegas for a few days at the
Imperial Palace (also a free “comp” room) before the convention started,
spending time at favorite Vegas places. It was truly a memorable trip.
In November, we celebrated Thanksgiving at
Laraine's house (Lenore's sister) with Laraine and her kids.
The traditional Christmas Eve dinner was held at
Marieanne's (John's sister) once again,
and we hosted a quiet Christmas Day dinner with
just us and Laraine and her boyfriend Craig.
Other than
that, we are all doing the same things – John at Stamford EMS, and West
Mountain Radio, and I still have my Jewelry and Avon
businesses. Andrew
just turned 21, and is now bowling in an Adult bowling league. In
December he bowled a 299 game! Emily is 17 and a senior in high school. She is
looking forward to college next year. She has already been accepted to
UCONN and is a candidate for the Honors program at Southern CT State
University. She probably won't decide where she attends until April. Maggie
and Justin still live in Seymour, CT and adopted two cats this year.
Maggie
still works at United Health Care in Trumbull, CT, and is currently taking
an EMT course. Justin is at Par Pools in Stratford, CT.
That's just about it for 2008. Don't forget
to look at our slide show story, too.
We Wish
Everyone a Wonderful 2009!
With Love From
Lenore, John, Andrew, and Emily
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