This past year has been a very exciting one for us, highlighted by the marriage of our youngest child and the birth of our first grandchild. Most of our travel this year consisted of visiting the new arrival.
Justin Spruston (Sue’s maiden name) Schwartz joined the clan on February 3, 2009. We flew out to Vancouver a few days later for a short “Welcome!” visit. In early April, we flew to the coast again. Darren and Sue had some hotel points that they used in Whistler. We went up there with them and babysat while they skied. I am sure we had more fun than they did! A few weeks later, they were in Regina for Easter and for the clan to all meet the new guy. We were in Vancouver in late August and they were in Regina for the September wedding of our niece, Kristin, the October wedding of our daughter, Laura, and Darren and Justin were back in early November for the wedding of one of Darren’s best friends. I am sure that this is the most times Darren has been home in a year since he left for Vancouver in 1999!
We sure enjoy our visits with Justin. He has been a gem from Day One. He has a great disposition. He is almost always smiling. It is so interesting to see the progression of his development every time we see him. He will likely be walking on his own by the time you read this. His fine motor control has improved to where he feeds himself finger food and can manipulate some toys. He enjoys patty-cake, so big, and all the other baby games. About the most entertaining thing for me is his vocalizing. He seems to be singing his baby song almost continuously. I can’t get enough of the little guy. I better move on before this whole letter becomes the Justin story.Sue has found a babysitter and is planning to return to work four days a week in January. She quite enjoyed her time off with Justin.
She spent the month of July at the family cottage in Ontario and she and Darren went to Hawaii with her family in late November. She also managed several trips to Kelowna, where her parents now live, and Seattle, where her sister and family live. 
Darren joined her on some of these trips, including the last week in July at the cottage. In fact, after mentioning that we were eager for another visit with Justin, we were invited to the cottage for the week too! We had a great visit with them and Sue’s parents. We also took a few days for an enjoyable visit with Celeste’s sister Angie’s family in Ottawa.Darren successfully wrote his P. Eng. exam this year, but he is still working on writing up his work experience to complete the process. Darren and Sue finished a major renovation of their townhouse before Christmas last year. We inspected the results when we were there in February. They did a very nice job, opening up and modernizing the look. Late this year they also renovated their bathroom.
The big news from Laura and Brett was their wedding on October 10. It was a cold and windy day with snow on the ground, but the weather did not prevent us all from enjoying a lovely ceremony and a great party. They went to Orlando in November for a honeymoon.Laura is still a pharmacist at Superstore. Brett is still researching and writing various publications for the Canadian Plains Research Centre at the U of R. He has been extended until February, but that will probably be the end of his appointment. He has applied to the Education Faculty to become a grade 5-9 teacher. If he is accepted, he will have to go back to school for two years starting September, 2010.
Laura and Brett have been in their house since October 25 last year. Having gone through a fall and spring with a dog and nothing but mud for a yard, they were eager to get something done this summer, but had to wait until the yard was graded. That finally occurred in late September, followed immediately by cold, wet weather. We persevered through it to lay sod and build a huge deck. We also insulated and drywalled the garage. The project for the winter is to insulate the basement.Carla and Tyler have had a little less excitement, but have not been idle. In September, Carla began her training at the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology as a computer network technician. She will be done in May. Then she will have to start charging for computer advice. Just kidding!
Tyler’s job at Global expired when all the background functions of the local news were remoted to Vancouver in early November. Fortunately, he received a nice severance for sticking it out to the end. He is going to take some time off, but has some ideas and contacts to follow up later.
As for Celeste and me, you heard most of our story when you read about Justin! We also flew to the Maritimes in June and rented a car for three weeks, visiting New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and PEI. (http://celesteglenn.blogspot.com/) This trip has been on our agenda for a few years and we quite enjoyed finally making it, however, we could have spent more time. Maybe we will have to do it again sometime to get to the places we missed or did not spend enough time.
Glenn made a last minute trip to Calgary for the Grey Cup Festival when Cousin Larry’s son Einar had to bow out due to work commitments. We took in the festival, but watched the game on TV from Riderville. Enough said about that!!Celeste's Mom is still in her house. She is thinking and talking more about moving out some day, but that day still has not arrived. Tom is still living with her. It works well for both of them: he gets inexpensive accommodation and meals, she has someone to do routine house and yard maintenance, and they each give the other some company. Her knees are giving her a lot of discomfort, but other than that she is pretty good.
My Mom & Dad are still both doing pretty well. Dad still has one especially bad knee, but manages to golf more than 40 games a year (with a cart). Mom has lost some weight, so they are trying to figure out if there is something wrong, but she still feels good. They moved into their new condo in the spring. They very much enjoy no stairs, no yard work, and heated, covered parking. Getting moved out of the old place was a chore, but we got there eventually.
That pretty much sums up our year. We hope yours was as enjoyable as ours.Best wishes to all for a joyous Christmas season and a happy and prosperous New Year.
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