Well it is a new year and so I have decided to update this blog. This is my first entry with photo albums so that those interested can see more than just the photos on the web site itself by just clicking on a photo album the link will direct you to a gallery of others in that album.
January has been unusually cold and wet in Charleston. Cold for Charleston, that is, but nothing compared to what you northerners have experienced. On one of the nicer days I threw my camera into the car and motored over to Magnolia Plantation on the outskirts of town and just wandered the grounds. These photos are the results:
(remember, click on the photo to go to gallery)
At the end of the month we visited the Millers at their place in Florida. Donna flew down from Washington and I drove. We had a great time eating, drinking, playing golf and catching up. It was windy golf so we were not pressured by golfers behind us which allowed me to take a bunch of photos. The huge clubhouse shown is Tesoro Country club. (There are building lots available in case you are interested) The Millers live at Martin Downs CC and the second batch of photos are taken on their course.
We were lucky to have many visitors in the month of December, beginning with an old Ottawa friend Jim Elliott who introduced us to Joan Anne. They made the pilgrimage to the COSCO store in Charleston from Beaufort, SC where they hibernate from Canadian winters. After a day of shopping they joined us for dinner in town and spent the night in the frog (family room over the garage) before heading back south. It was fun catching up and swapping tall stories from the foreign service.  Next came Cira Pereira with daughter Celina on the way back from Tampa. They brought the rain with them, and boy did it rain - over 5 inches. Rain notwithstanding, Donna's flight was on time and we had a nice visit despite David's efforts at cooking dinner. Cira and Celinas departure the next day was tentative given that 5 inches of rain translated into two feet of snow in the Washington area. It took them two full days of driving to get home.  The next week, Liam came back bringing his parents and stayed through the holidays. As you can see from the photos, he was the center of attention as he experienced his first Christmas. The weather treated us well and Stu, joined us for golf and we managed to fit in some biking and the gym whenever we felt guilty from overeating. I think Noelle & Stu enjoyed the occasional break from parenting and found time for shopping, a movie and lots of lazing about time. Donna and Dave enjoyed waking up with a little "elf" in the bed as Noelle passed Liam to us so that she could go back to bed and sleep in. We all wonder how Liam is going to adjust to life back in Toronto where he won't have a crowd of people to entertain him and no paparazzi photographing his every move!   It was a great December! 
 David's Mom joined us for Thanksgiving. We were blessed with cool but sunny days, very convenient for shopping and wandering about town. It was a very nice visit.
Liam brought Mom & Dad back to Charleston for a week in early October. We had a lot of fun.
Noelle and Stuart were able to get away and visit some of the plantations and spent one day in Savannah. Stuart was also able to get in a couple of rounds of golf and one visit to the gym! They will be back in December for a longer visit.
 Nancy and Gary Miller dropped into Charleston for Labor day weekend and tried out our golf courses, our restaurants and our pool. The weather was great, the alligators were friendly and we had a great time. Hope they come back!  
  We were fortunate to have Marc, Lesley, Kincaid and Cormac visit us for the holiday week and they were joined by Great Gramma who came up from florida to join the fun.  The weather cooperated as it has hot and sunny. We all visited the beach, hung out in the pool, and generally had a relaxing time. I get the feeling that everyone had a lot of fun.
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