Merry Christmas

From the Whidbey Wagners

We are having a quiet Christmas this year. Libby is with us from West Seattle, but Missy, Scott and Meg are doing their own thing in SoCal. We are having lots of time to visit with friends and share this time of joy. Our big news is that we bought a new-to-us sailboat. We have a Schock 34 now and we are planning our summer cruising already. Jim will love this boat, too, because it should go very fast when he goes out to race. I get lots of storage room and a better organized cabin and galley. Our first big cruise will be to Desolation Sound in Canadian waters, starting in early June. We will probably get out a few times before that so we can "road" test the Karen Marie. Yes, our boat is back to being the Karen Marie. The last boat was the Karen Marie, Too, but we couldn't bring ourselves to have a Karen Marie, Too, II. We figured everybody would call us Tutu for short!

We haven't even recovered from the last cruise on Holland America, but I keep looking for other bargains. I loved having somebody else run the boat! Libby and I are doing Weight Watchers now to get off the extra pounds we have been adding since Jim and I retired and Libby started going on the road so much. I am doing well, and have lost 13 lbs since the day before Thanksgiving. What a time to start a diet! At least we won't gain too much, we hope. The plan is suredifferent from when I became a Lifetime member in 1985. Lots of great cookbooks and helpful tools, like the eTools online.

Libby is doing well with her consulting business. She just got back from a two week trip to Peru with a group from her church. She went to Machu Picchu and did an extra week in the Amazon seeing all the native plants and animals. She even walked up in the canopy for a mile and a half! We got great Peru presents for Christmas. I got jewelry and a beautiful baby Alpaca scarf/shawl. Her photos are amazing.

Missy and Scott are doing well. Missy is still Chair of the English Dept at her community college, and Scott continues his job working as a mechanical engineer for a company in Anaheim. Megan is in high school! She just made the soft ball team, and we are very excited for her. Missy and Scott are off to Vegas for a weekend visit and a chance to see Bebe King, while Meg has flown to Portland, Or to see her Aunt Suzie. We'll be going down to visit them in January.

Our next family gathering is the July 4th Bash, and this year we are expecting Amanda and husband Toby to fly in from Wisconsin. Mandy is Jim's niece. We hope her brother Brett and family come from Hawaii, too. The regular 4th gathering at the Wagner house has turned into a real family reunion, and we enjoy it so much. This year we have to hope for really good weather to accomodate the many sailings we'll have to give to visitors.

The best to everyone for a great New Year from the Whidbey Wagners.