Christmas, 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

As I sit here on Thanksgiving Day composing our annual Christmas letter, I realize how much we have to be thankful for. We live in a country where we have the right to complain about our whole awful election process – at least we have an election, even if it did last more than a year and got pretty nasty! (And now we’re thankful it’s OVER!)

We have each other – not bad after more than 47 years; we have our overall health – yes, we have a few aches and pains, but given our ages of almost 70 and almost 68 we can’t complain; we have enough money to do most of the things we want to do – but not so much that we feel we can squander it; we have family and friends – including my mother who will turn 99 in February(!); we own 2 homes and no land! Yup, we finally sold our CT property back in April! Yes, we have much to be thankful for.

We continue to split our time, approximately 7months/5 months between our double-wide manufactured home in Ocala, Florida, and our park-model trailer in Naples, Maine. Dick continues to golf while I continue to do my paper crafts, and we both still love the square dancing (with lots of it in FL and almost none in ME – oh, well, I guess we can’t have everything!) Our kids and their families are all well. Scott still works for Travelers Insurance as a computer programmer and he helps Amy on the farm. The economy is hurting her business with fewer people taking lessons and boarding horses, but she’s still hanging in there with a small, but loyal clientele. Teddy turned 16 in May and got his driver’s license in October. His greatest love is soccer and he is the primary goalie on his high school soccer team, which made it to the semi-finals of the state tournament. Off season he continues to play soccer on several other teams. Kayleigh is now 13 and loves to ride the horses on the farm. She competes in many different horse shows and always does well. (It helps to have such a great trainer always on hand!)

Dick & Gee Sauvageau
5606 SW 58th St.
Ocala, FL 34474
(352) 873-4301

Dick & Gee Sauvageau
295 Sebago Rd. Lot 26
Naples, ME 04055
(207) 693-1185

Cell phones:
    Dick: (203) 512-2057
    Gee: (203) 744-4193

Email addresses:
    geesauvageau@hotmail.com
    dicksauvageau@hotmail.com

Tim and Cristy divorced 2 days after Christmas last year, but seem to be working very hard to make normal lives for the kids. They share the parenting equally, with the kids spending one week at Tim’s house and one week at Cristy’s apartment. Alden is now 7, and enjoying second grade. Ethan (5) started kindergarten this fall. We hear both boys are doing well in school, and are well liked by their teachers.

Tim continues to work days as an RN in a nursing home in Spokane, and Cristy is working as a nanny. She lives in an apartment not far away from Tim’s house, which makes the transfer of the kids reasonably easy. We stay in touch with both of them.

Michael, Jennifer and their two kids moved from Fryeburg, ME, to Bethel, CT, just before school started in August. They are renting out their house in Maine, and have found a nice 3-bedroom duplex to rent in Bethel. Michael is the New York/New Jersey regional manager for Yogibo, the company he had started working for last year. So far, he’s opened two stores in CT, one in ME and one in White Plains, NY. He expects to open another NY store after the first of the year. There’s lots of potential in the NY/NJ area. Ayden (9) is no longer home-schooled and is thriving in public school. Alea (4) is fun, funny and loves to dance.

At the end of October, Mom and my sister Marty made the 2½ day drive down to Ocala to spend nearly 3 weeks with us! Actually, only Mom stayed with us. Back in April, Marty and her 2 roommates from Fort Walton Beach bought a house one street over from us here in Ocala. They’ve been nicknamed “The Golden Girls” by some of the residents here! Marty spent the 3 weeks getting settled in, arranging yard work, plumbing, etc. and buying a golf-cart before she drove Mom back to NH. Marty will return after Christmas and stay ‘til sometime in April. It’s going to be fun having my sister and her 2 roommates so close by.

As I mentioned earlier, Mom will be 99 in February, and until recently has been in excellent health. Unfortunately, as I write this she is the re-hab/health facility recovering from pneumonia and congestive heart failure. She’s a lot better than a week or so ago, working on regaining her strength. Even her sense of humor has returned. Obviously, we hope for continued improvement.

We did manage to take one major trip this year. In July we took a 15-day river cruise from Amsterdam to Vienna, sailing along the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers, followed by a 3-day post-trip extension in Vienna. It was a fabulous trip! We saw a lot, did a lot, walked a lot and ate a lot. Oh, and did I mention I took a LOT of pictures??? We traveled with Grand Circle Tours and would highly recommend them if you are thinking of taking a major trip.

Well, I’m about out of room, and, of course, want to include pix of the grandkids, so I will end with our warm wishes for a healthy, happy holiday season, and a safe, sane 2013.

Dick & Gee