Christmas, 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

2008 has flown by, just like so many of our previous years! Where DOES the time go?

January through March were spent again in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, among our fellow "snow birds", crafting, golfing, exercising, socializing, and just generally having a great time for ourselves.

Home for April and most of May, during which we spent a week in a time-share in the Poconos with our oldest 3 grandkids. Teddy and Kayleigh (ages 12 and 9) were there for the whole week and were joined midway through by their cousin Ayden (age 5.)

At the end of May we packed up our trailer and headed up to Sebago Lake in Maine where we spent the entire summer at our favorite state park. There we got to stay for free in exchange for a few hours' work each week. Our campground host job entailed showing family movies of our choice 2 nights a week, cleaning one of the bathrooms 1 day a week and cleaning a dishwashing station near our site once a day. Some of you may remember that we have done various campground host jobs in the past, and that we love being at Sebago! This program is great for us, but also benefits the park at the same time.

Sadly, our weather was cold and rainy most of June and July, but we survived it and the weather in August and September was wonderful. Considering that August was when all of our kids and grandkids were there, we were pretty happy that the weather cooperated then.

As a result of our crummy weather, and discovering that we had no really warm, dry comfortable place to sit out all that rain, we have traded in our 23' hybrid trailer for a 34' fifth-wheel camper! It's 9 years old, but in excellent condition. Rather than buy a huge truck to tow it, we are storing it at the place in New Hampshire where we bought it, and they will deliver it and set it up at Sebago next May. We've already been told that we have the same host job for next summer, so we've decided to be comfortable!

One of the advantages to having spent the summer in Maine is that in July, our youngest son Michael and his wife Jennifer gave birth to our 6th grandchild, Alea Wind Sauvageau. Her older brother is the 5-year-old Ayden we referred to above. One of the best parts for us was that they had rented a house only about 45 minutes from us at Sebago, so we got to see Alea when she was less than 24 hours old, and continued to see her grow and change over the next 2 ½ months! We also, of course, got to spend a lot of time with Ayden as well.

Dick & Gee Sauvageau
c/o Seacrest Condominiums - Unit 301
895 Santa Rosa Blvd.
Ft. Walton Beach, FL 32548
Phone: (850) 301-9600 ext.1301

email: geesauvageau@att.net

       dicksauvageau@hotmail.com

Unfortunately, in July Dick developed a pretty big hernia, which was originally diagnosed as a groin strain. This put the kibosh on his golf for the summer. He was told to take it easy for a couple of weeks and then he should be okay. 6 weeks later, when he continued to get worse not better, he finally went to a different doctor who identified the problem as a hernia, and told him it should be repaired fairly quickly. It took about 3 weeks to get an appointment with a surgeon back home and get the surgery itself scheduled, but he was lucky enough to get it done laproscopically on October 2, five weeks before his previously-scheduled full knee replacement.

Three years ago he had his right knee replaced - not a "fun" operation, but he had a very quick recovery from it. That surgery was on November 1st, and on January 3rd he was on the golf course! As of the writing of this letter, it's been only 5 ½ weeks since he had his left knee replaced, but again he's doing very well. He spent 4 days in the hospital then 9 days in a rehab facility where he received physical therapy twice a day. He's now getting outpatient therapy 3 times a week, and they're very pleased with his progress.

A little over a year ago I joined Weight Watchers, and during the past year both Dick and I have managed to lose significant amounts of excess weight - about 50 lbs. for me, 40+ for Dick! We look and feel a lot better. We both have a bit more weight to lose, and then of course, the key thing is to keep it off - not an easy task, but one we're both committed to. I have to keep my weight off - I already gave away all my fat clothes! Shopping for new clothes has been a lot of fun!

My mom continues to do very well for 94 years old (she'll actually be 95 in February!) Retrieving words is sometimes a little harder than it used to be, and she moves a little slower than she used to, but she is blessed with excellent health, and just about all her faculties. I hope I'm in even half as good shape as she is when -and, of course, if- I reach that age.

This summer she spent 3 days with us at Sebago while all of her Sauvageau grandkids were there. AND my sister's 2 grands got there for a couple of days too, so Mom had all 8 of her great grandchildren together in one place at one time! Yes, it was a bit chaotic, but it meant a lot to her.

Not much has changed with our kids, other than being hurt by the economy. Michael and Jennifer's business, Try Out Toys, and daughter-in-law Amy's business, Four Winds Farm are both part of the leisure industry, and are therefore feeling a bit of a pinch. Scott, as a programmer and Tim, as a nurse have not been affected quite the same way - at least not yet. Hopefully, with a new president coming into office our economy will turn around again, although I don't think we can expect an overnight quick-fix.

As we move forward into another new year we wish you all a very happy holiday season and a peaceful, prosperous 2009.

Warmly,

Dick & Gee