guestbook-03
2009

Merry Christmas 2009

 

Greetings and good cheer to all. We have had lots of good events and some bad ones this year.

Our beloved standard poodle, Beau, died unexpectedly the day after our Christmas cards were mailed last year. We still miss him every day. He was such a loyal and faithful companion.

In January, we spent a week in Orlando, and were joined for a few days by Zall from Oregon, and Bob from Texas, both long time friends of Pete’s.  We enjoyed the parks together.  After Orlando, we took a Princess Caribbean cruise that was relaxing and fun.

In mid-May, Pete flew to Dayton, Ohio to join fellow ham radio enthusiasts for several days of convention activities, swap meet shopping, and visiting the US Air Force Museum with Mike and John.

Katie’s parents joined us for Easter, Mother’s Day, Mom’s 90th birthday on May 12th, and then for a spur of the moment coastal cruise. We brought our darling granddaughter, Kaitlyn, as well, and it was a fun-filled week, with Butchart Gardens in Victoria, Canada as a highlight.

In June, while driving to Seattle with the Sea Doos, we spent a beautiful day on Lake Shasta. Brief visits with Zall in Eugene, and Cathy, Pete’s sister, in Salem, Oregon were special times as well.   We enjoyed a week on the Golden Princess, sailing to Alaska. Back in Seattle, we spent a couple of days with Tracy and Kathy Nelson, former Californians and good friends. They had their first Sea Doo experience on a COLD river near their home. Pete rode a Segway, (a two wheeled, stand-up, electric scooter) during a two hour tour around Portland’s waterfront. He enjoyed the experience very much. We visited with friends Rick and Christy near Bend, Oregon, overnighted at Crater Lake, then went on to Chico, California to visit Mike and Meg, and had a lovely day of Seadooing/boating on Lake Oroville with them.     

July 10th, 11th, and 12th found us in Santa Barbara for the celebration of the 90th birthday of both of Katie’s parents. Many months of planning went into this 3 day party and it was wonderful to have Heather and Sam with Amelia and Lucia, Chris and Lisa, (all from Minnesota) Karen, John and Kaitlyn, Gerda from Belgium and Pao-Zun and Yu-Hsi from New York all together for the joyous occasion.  We had a wine and cheese reception, a family dinner, a dinner for 32 people, and birthday cakes after church on Sunday.  It was fun! Kevin wasn’t able to come from the Ukraine, but he sent a wonderful tribute which was read at the big dinner.

Unfortunately, two weeks after the party, Katie’s Mom had some internal bleeding requiring surgery.  She was fine after the surgery, but the next day, her body systems shut down and she was on life support. After 3 weeks in the hospital, and 8 weeks in a skilled nursing facility, she returned home to her life, almost as good as new. It was a horrible time with many, many trips to Santa Barbara.

But in the midst of all the turmoil, a wonderful occurrence was the birth of Alexander Franklin Moore on August 13th

Katie went straight from the hospital in Santa Barbara to the hospital in West Covina where Alexander was born to Karen and John.  Alexander is beautiful, a very good baby and Kaitlyn is a very happy big sister.  Kaitlyn is in Kindergarten this year and loves it.

Pete’s daughters, Jennifer and Liberty are very busy with their growing families and jobs, and we see them as often as possible. We are so blessed to have 6 happy and healthy grandchildren. If any of you watch the television series House MD, you have seen our twin granddaughters, one year olds Payton and Taylor, sharing the role of Rachel Cuddy on two episodes.  They will appear more in the coming months. 

In October, we drove to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the International Hot Air Balloon Festival.  What a glorious spectacle it was!  Seeing hundreds of colorful balloons in the sky all at once was amazing. We spent 5 days there, enjoying the various events, then enjoyed two days in Sedona on our return journey.

Karen and John have bought a house in the High Desert area near Victorville, and moved in at the end of November. We will greatly miss our frequent visits from Kaitlyn and Alexander, but we still hope to see them often.  So now our grandchildren all live 75 minutes away from us (without traffic) in various directions. 

Katie’s sister, Chris, and her daughter Lisa will be joining us for Christmas, along with Katie’s parents and Karen’s family.  We anticipate a busy and joyous family Christmas. Kaitlyn is excited about everything.

We plan to spend New Year’s Eve  (and a day before and a couple of days after) at Disneyland with all six of our grandchildren and their parents.  Kaitlyn, five years old, is our only grandchild who has been there before.  It will be a new experience for Trevor, 3, Ethan, Payton and Taylor, 1, and Alexander, 4 months.  Grandma and Grandpa will be tired.

Pete stays busy with his Sheriff Volunteer duties, and Katie plays Bunko with her friends and plans Vacations.

We hope to see you in the coming year, and we wish good health and happiness to you in 2010.

Note: Our addresses, phone numbers, etc. can be found at Bickerdike.us, see the links for grandkids’ sites (Christmas pictures are there larger and in color too).

 

NOTE: See the picture link for the pictures that were included with the letter

 

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