Happy Holidays To All Our Family and Friends.
Here we are again! The Wagner newsletter with everything we’ve done condensed into one tiny page. Are you ready? Here goes! We were home most of January; went to an Elderhostel on the Oregon coast in February; March we watched our new flagstone patio and rock garden go in; April and Meghan was here for Spring break and Easter; Jim was in the Round Whidbey Race in May; June we hosted friends Debbie Miller and her boys, Nick and Joe, as well as my niece, Bridget, and her husband, Walter; July we hosted our annual 4th picnic with Liebman family and friends; Missy and Scott and Libby were here; we worked as breakfast co-chairs for Whidbey Island Race Week, serving breakfast to all racers during the week of sailboat racing, and we took a weekend overnight to go to church at St John’s Cathedral in Spokane where the altar flowers were in memory of Karen; in August we sailed on our boat off and on, and Debbie and husband, Ray Parise and Joe and Nick stopped for an overnight on the way to their summer stay on Orcas Island; September was a trip to visit the Muckleteo Light with friends Janet Schlaifer and Mark Casteel and again to Pt Townsend to the Wooden Boat Festival; as the month ended we became proud owners of the Karen Marie Too, a Hunter 30, and the Karen Marie I had been sold ; in October we spent a week in Washington DC with Libby (WOW! What a visit!); November we hosted Libby, Missy and Scott, and Jim’s nephew and wife, Brett and Kathryn for Thanksgiving(they got out just in time before our first snow of the year-see picture above); in December we went to Southern California, making two stops along the way to visit friends. That’s all we did! Other activities include a membership in the local Oak Harbor Yacht Club where we go for hamburgers on Friday nights and talk about boating and boating and boating. We also belong to the Deception Pass Sail and Power Squadron where we have taken classes to become better boaters and joined in their meetings and other activities like picnics and cruises. (In the middle of all this, we got new hardwood floors and started a remodel on the kitchen!)
We are getting good at hosting people on the island, and we hope many more will come. We keep reminding ourselves we are a “Destination Place.” Not us, but Whidbey Island. It is truly a great place to visit and live. The saying is, “Everybody on the island has a view!” It’s true since everywhere on the island is some wonderful natural spot. Of course, Puget Sound is the best part. We also love to see Mt Baker jump out on beautiful days. Our view even includes the distant Olympics, and on really clear days, we see Mt Rainier. Can things get any better?
We hope to know Seattle better next year. Libby bought a townhouse in West Seattle this fall, and we can jump right into town from there. Also, we have discovered the train that runs from Vancouver, BC to Portland, with stops in between. Virginia took it to Portland in September for a quick overnight visit with Debbie Miller and family and then to Ashland and Shakespeare. The train is also a first choice for going to see Libby without a car!
Missy is still teaching; Scott is still working as an engineer; Meghan is in the 6th grade and plays the flute; Libby is her own business woman and doing well; Grandma Wagner is 96 and still going strong. That’s it for us. We wish you many blessings, joys to share with family, good food, good days and nights, and fair winds at your backs. Cheers!
Wishing you all the Best for the New Year
The Whidbey Wagners
