Hope that all our friends and family have
had a good year. Ours has been full of change and excitement.
Big news first: we became grandparents on July 6, with the birth of Rowena Clara Garrett, daughter of Geoffrey and Anna Garrett. Rowena, by sheer good luck, is the prettiest, most intelligent, happiest, most responsive baby we have ever seen. She is the delight of our lives, and since Geoffrey & Anna live only 25 miles away, we can see her grow & develop.
Travels: We spent several weeks in France in September. Mostly this was a family and friends trip. We stayed with the Colparts in Montrouge, and the Marceaus in Romorantin and Dardenay. The real highlight was getting to spend significant time with godson Henri, now four and a half. He is really into being a medieval knight right now. And he absolutely fell in love with Virginia.
We did spend three days in Chartres, where we got to see the newly restored parts of the cathedral that were still under wraps when we were there in 2011. Magnificent. The yearly Festival of Lights was going on too.
We also saw some old medieval towns (Loches and Montresor), Abbaye de Fontaine, and spent a day in Beaune, the heart of Burgundy wine country, at harvest time. We visited the chateau and vineyards of Savigny-lès-Beaune and got to taste some of the best wine in France; the chateau produces seven grand crus.
We also spent two
full days in Pere Lachaise, the old cemetery of Paris.
Fascinating!
We also attended our 45th high school reunion in Memphis on November 7. It was a real joy. For a randomly chosen group of 63 year old people, we are a remarkably congenial group - and enjoy each others’ company and have more fun together than we ever did “back in the day”.
Virginia still works at the state Department of Human Services - but not for long. She is planning to retire April 1 of next year, after a little over 31 years. We are really looking forward to seeing more of each other.
She has
really focussed this year on “preparing for grandbaby”. She
prepared & painted Geoffrey’s old room as a visiting
nursery. And “painted” means all four walls are covered with a
mural of sun, clouds, pond, reeds and grasses. It’s beautiful.
David continues as rector of Church of the Annunciation in Newport. He has been doing more & more photography. All sorts, but most of all wildlife. There is lots to be seen on the Pigeon River near our home, and in Rankin Bottoms just a 25 minute drive away, and the newly opened Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge near Knoxville. He only entered 2 shows this year, but took Best of Show in the Greene County competition.
Together, we continue taking dancing lessons and go out dancing weekly. We found occasion to dance twice in France. We also remain devout Lady Vols fans and have season tickets for the home games.
Geoffrey works for Human Services and Anna at the Titanic attraction in Pigeon Forge. They are wonderful new parents.
Arwen & husband
live near Nashville, where he is a programmer for MapCo
Express and she is a cataloguer for Ingram Books. She has
gotten really serious about the harp and has a monthly gig at
the Green Dragon Public House, a Tolkien-themed pub, in
Murfreesboro.
A sad part of the year is that David’s father Jim Garrett did not get to see his first great-grandchild. After months of declining health, he died on January 21. We are so grateful to all the old friends, family, and classmates who showed up to support us.
In critter news, our last greyhound D’accord died this summer. We miss him but do not plan to get a new dog. With retirement approaching, we hope to do lots of traveling, and we don’t think that will be fair to a dog.
We still have cats
Hedrick and Maxwell. They are not very happy right now,
because we got a new kitten, Mavi, who is now about 6 months
old. She is intelligent and active, which means that at this
age she is a real pain to all of us. She is also very loving
and affectionate.
We wish you all the joys of Christmas and a blessed 2015. Please join us in constant prayer for peace and reconciliation in a divided and violent world.
(More pictures follow below!)
Big news first: we became grandparents on July 6, with the birth of Rowena Clara Garrett, daughter of Geoffrey and Anna Garrett. Rowena, by sheer good luck, is the prettiest, most intelligent, happiest, most responsive baby we have ever seen. She is the delight of our lives, and since Geoffrey & Anna live only 25 miles away, we can see her grow & develop.
Travels: We spent several weeks in France in September. Mostly this was a family and friends trip. We stayed with the Colparts in Montrouge, and the Marceaus in Romorantin and Dardenay. The real highlight was getting to spend significant time with godson Henri, now four and a half. He is really into being a medieval knight right now. And he absolutely fell in love with Virginia.
We did spend three days in Chartres, where we got to see the newly restored parts of the cathedral that were still under wraps when we were there in 2011. Magnificent. The yearly Festival of Lights was going on too.
We also saw some old medieval towns (Loches and Montresor), Abbaye de Fontaine, and spent a day in Beaune, the heart of Burgundy wine country, at harvest time. We visited the chateau and vineyards of Savigny-lès-Beaune and got to taste some of the best wine in France; the chateau produces seven grand crus.
We also spent two
full days in Pere Lachaise, the old cemetery of Paris.
Fascinating!We also attended our 45th high school reunion in Memphis on November 7. It was a real joy. For a randomly chosen group of 63 year old people, we are a remarkably congenial group - and enjoy each others’ company and have more fun together than we ever did “back in the day”.
Virginia still works at the state Department of Human Services - but not for long. She is planning to retire April 1 of next year, after a little over 31 years. We are really looking forward to seeing more of each other.
She has
really focussed this year on “preparing for grandbaby”. She
prepared & painted Geoffrey’s old room as a visiting
nursery. And “painted” means all four walls are covered with a
mural of sun, clouds, pond, reeds and grasses. It’s beautiful.David continues as rector of Church of the Annunciation in Newport. He has been doing more & more photography. All sorts, but most of all wildlife. There is lots to be seen on the Pigeon River near our home, and in Rankin Bottoms just a 25 minute drive away, and the newly opened Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge near Knoxville. He only entered 2 shows this year, but took Best of Show in the Greene County competition.
Together, we continue taking dancing lessons and go out dancing weekly. We found occasion to dance twice in France. We also remain devout Lady Vols fans and have season tickets for the home games.
Geoffrey works for Human Services and Anna at the Titanic attraction in Pigeon Forge. They are wonderful new parents.
Arwen & husband
live near Nashville, where he is a programmer for MapCo
Express and she is a cataloguer for Ingram Books. She has
gotten really serious about the harp and has a monthly gig at
the Green Dragon Public House, a Tolkien-themed pub, in
Murfreesboro.A sad part of the year is that David’s father Jim Garrett did not get to see his first great-grandchild. After months of declining health, he died on January 21. We are so grateful to all the old friends, family, and classmates who showed up to support us.
In critter news, our last greyhound D’accord died this summer. We miss him but do not plan to get a new dog. With retirement approaching, we hope to do lots of traveling, and we don’t think that will be fair to a dog.
We still have cats
Hedrick and Maxwell. They are not very happy right now,
because we got a new kitten, Mavi, who is now about 6 months
old. She is intelligent and active, which means that at this
age she is a real pain to all of us. She is also very loving
and affectionate.We wish you all the joys of Christmas and a blessed 2015. Please join us in constant prayer for peace and reconciliation in a divided and violent world.
(More pictures follow below!)