Pete and Beth Sanderson Christmas Letter and Family photo: L-R: Bud & Grace Hauser (Beth's parents); Peter & Beth; Patrick (son-in-law) holding baby Nickolas with Nate between his legs and Megan (your daughter) beside him; and Matt (your son) & Jennifer (daughter-in-law) with their daughter Caitlin in front.
Christmas 2007
Here we are two weeks to Christmas and another year is gone. What happened to 2007? Did it disappear in the joy of a fast paced retirement or is this the onset of early senility?
The grandchildren are growing quickly in both size and personality. (5,4,2) What a treat it is to have them a few blocks away! We still cannot believe that when we moved from Carman 13 years ago that everyone would end up here as well. We are truly blessed. And we really do not feel like grandparents. Grandparents are supposed to be old and we have Beth’s Mom and Dad living here to be the senior members of the family. We just ignore our grey hair and aches and pains.
We sold C Chan in January and took a smaller boat in trade. Not such a good deal as in solving one problem we took on another and with the help of friends had to renovate and rebuild it. We poured champagne over the Barbara B in July and left for a month traveling up the coast to Shearwater. 14 other boats went from our yacht club and we had a great time. Lots of rain, sun, fish, crab, prawns and fun. Before that Beth and I organized another Habitat build and dedicated a duplex to two very appreciative families in June. 35 days from start to dedication.
Matt has returned to his engineering training and is working for a McElhanney office in town. He loves the challenges and sweats the new responsibility. This is another record year for construction in the valley and his company is very busy. Meghan is now second in command at the Royal Bank and also delighted. Plans are for the Royal to build a second branch in the valley and she is campaigning for control. She even has Dad hired as the maintenance handyman and is keeping me busy renovating offices.
We are part of a 5 couple dinner group that meets once a month. It goes a bit beyond that as we also boat together and in February we are taking it one step further. 4 of the 5 couples are renting a condo in Sayulita Mexico for a month. http://www.sayulitalife.com/ This is about 30 minutes upcoast from Puerto Vallarta. Since we have already had a taste of winter with snow and rain and wind we are all ready for sun and surf, margaritas and cervasos.
The saddest day of the year was in May. We took Jake for a short walk on the beach near the place where he was born then to the vets for his final visit. Old age and incontinence took their toll. He was 12 and a very good friend. We grieve his passing.
Old friendships and old experiences are the basis for stories and anecdotes as we meet with new friends here. It is wonderful to be able to pass on some of the wonder of growing up and raising a family in a prairie community. We hope this letter finds you happy and full of the richness of the Christmas experience.
God Bless and Merry Christmas
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