Christmas 2008

I hope that your family is well this holiday season. 2008 was a year to remember. It was a great year for me, but not so great for people affected by the flooding in Iowa. Downtown Cedar Rapids will take years to recover. Verle & Joann's home (my brother & sister-in-law) in Waterloo was badly flooded. They are just getting it renovated in time for the family Christmas dinner. In April I was excited to take my first trip overseas to England, Scotland, & Wales with my friends Judy, Ruth & Keith. My first meal in England was fish & chips with peas (an olde English custom). The countryside is beautiful--there are no power lines or billboards along the roads and they use either stacked rocks or hedgerows for fencing the fields. They have as much sheep as Iowa has cows. In Wales many of the cities have two L's in their unpronounceable names. We stayed one night in the Ruthin Castle in Wales. We visited other castles in Scotland, toured the royale family's olde yacht, and ate haggis--the national dish of Scotland--ask me wha't's in it. In London we toured the city and saw Westminster Abby, Kensington Palace, shopped at Harrod's department store & went to the theater. We toured the Tower of London, which is actully a series of towers. The crowne jewels are located there and are kept under armed guard. The crowne jewels are not just the coronation crowne, but include the orb, the sceptre, swords, a spoon, a hugh golde punch bowl & miscellaneous crowns for those other queenly occasions. Next time you're at my house, I have 300 photos of the trip to show you! zzzzzzzzz Karen, my sister-in-law, and I organized the Wygle Family Reunion again at Hickory Hills Park in September. Phil brought his boat this year. We all had a good time camping, fishing, playing cards, playing croquet, and just being together. We surprised mom by inviting cousins Roger & Elaine. Phil & I took a couple weekend trips to St. Joseph, MO, & Hannibal, MO. In August,we drove to Wilton, WI, Phil's hometown, for Wood Turtle Days. Thanksgiving was spent in Chicago with his siblings, the first time in a few years that all 8 of them were together. Phil and Phil's son, Peter, & I took the train downtown to shop & go to the Art Museum. Larry and Rick are both doing well. Both are working and Rick is also going to Kirwood. I joined my 3rd bridge group this year and have fun going to dinner once a month with my friends. I still play granny basketball and, in fact, lettered in it at the tournament in June (the letter "G"). This is my 22nd year at Rockwell and Phil''s 20th year.
We hope that your year has been a good one and that your family is healthy and happy.	Have a safe and wonderful holiday! Cheryl