Christmas Blessings!

December 2010

Dear Family & Friends,

It’s hard to believe we've been retired almost 6 years now but we are still enjoying living & traveling in our 35’ 5^th wheel! We’re happy to be at our winter home in San Antonio near our Texas family for the next few months. Our grandchildren are growing so fast -- Caelum 9 1/2 yrs; Aden 8 yrs; and Namen 22 mos.

We had a great trip out west in mid-January where we met up with Dallas & Christy in Yuma, AZ. They camped with us in the desert at the Imperial Dam area and then we stayed in the desert in Quartzsite. We spent an afternoon in Lake Havasu City and got to see the London Bridge! It was good to see our friends, Dave & Sandra Harrison & Lena Jones and family in San Diego and Aunt Maxine Hathaway in Hemet, California. When we left CA, we stopped and spent a night west of Phoenix in Roman’s ‘old western town’ and met up with some Caterpillar retiree friends. We also stopped for a quick visit with Farrell & Dottie in Mesa, AZ where we got to pick fresh oranges right off the tree!

Doug spent much of the winter months at the Brown Coffee Company working on the Big Brown coffee roaster mods and helping with various projects at the Dominguez print shop. Of course, I spent a good bit of time with our three grandchildren! Tara & Wayne came to visit us in March and had a fun-filled weekend hitting all the main attractions for their first visit to San Antonio!

April through September was spent in Indiana at our son Dallas’ place in Lafayette, Indiana with a visit in May to Oskaloosa, KS. Dallas, Christy & Matt (Christy’s cousin from Alabama) joined us at Jenni & Dottie’s over Memorial Day Weekend.

It was a busy but fun summer! We had a great time with Tara & Wayne on Thursday nights at the Sportsman enjoying the music of the Tonebones, the Madam Carroll dinner cruises, and fun at their home on the lake! Of course, we spent a great deal of time on various projects at our son’s place where we also had fun times with Dallas, Christy, our granddaughter Chloe 8 ½, Matt and ALL the animals! Some memorable highlights were the summer and fall bonfires, Chuck & Todd's visit, August family reunion/girls' weekend in Chicago, and “meat market/hog roast” day!

On September 19, 2010 the Hathaway family celebrated Elaine's Dad's 80th birthday with an Openhouse/Reception at the Delphi Canal Interpretive Center. It was a wonderful afternoon of family & friends gathering, fun surprises, music and more!

We spent part of the month of October in Oskaloosa at Jenni & Dottie’s working on a few projects at their home, getting together with friends, and doing lots of singing! Then we had a fun trip to Clearwater Beach and Tarpon Springs, Florida to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary with Tara & Wayne and Jenni & Dottie. (Wayne surprised us all, as we didn't know he was going to get to come)!

We arrived back in South Texas the 1^st of November, just in time to celebrate Elaine's birthday with our family here! It’s good to be “home” and singing once again with our friends, the Celebration Singers, at Travis Park United Methodist Church. We had a nice Thanksgiving meal with all the Blanco's at the Brown Coffee Company. Aaron & Doug deep-fried a turkey for the first time and it was so good!

We wish each of you a blessed Christmas and may God’s Peace and Love abide in your hearts and homes in the New Year and always.

Love,
Doug & Elaine