Spring 2003 Postcard!!
is sprung, the grass is ris…
This
is where, all our news is!
As 2002 wound down we had an awesome Christmas at our place! Our celebrations began with our annual Christmas Bash and Globe Santa Fundraiser. This year our guests came up with $1,150 for the Globe Santa kids! We drank wassail and ate up a storm as well! Even John’s long lost cousin Scott showed up! A fun time was had by us and we hope by all!
The boys performed in our church’s Christmas Pageant and sang with the “Cherub Choir” on Christmas eve and then we spent hours opening gifts on Christmas morning! It was a warm family event!
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Our pal Melissa and her kids, Noah and Dylan, braved the snowstorm and joined us for Roast Beast dinner along with Melissa’s friend Jack. We ate and played and ate… Then we played some more. There may have been some wine involved too.
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The boys were quite proud of their Christmas gifts - including Joshua’s HUGE k’nex roller coaster and Jacob’s Rescue Heroes!! We spent a lot of time over the next weeks assembling and playing.
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We rang in the new year with the help of our friends Mary and George Courville who hosted a wonderful dinner complete with too much champagne and fireworks! In the kitchen no less! A night not to be forgotten! Even the room tilted!
John ran the “Run Your Hangover Off” 5-miler in Woburn on New Year’s day. Had a reasonably satisfying 34:35 result despite the damage done the night before. Who stuck that hill climb right before the finish anyway?
Mid-January we got a chance to visit our palls Danny and Noreen at the center of the universe, Otisfield, ME. We were treated to a great stay there where we ate and drank big, soaked in their hot tub, played in their game room and generally had a grand time!
On the way home, we stopped at Shawnee Peak for an afternoon of skiing. It was great to be able to ski as a family as the boys conquered the summit and could ski top to bottom on intermediate trails! They’re really getting good!
Joshua played organized basketball for the first time this winter. He was player #1 on Team #1 and had a great time! He’s working on ball handling and defensive skills and has a great knack for being open under the basket! The Green Team was tough competition and won their four team tournament at the send of the season!
The next weekend, John went up to the Boston Prep 16 mile race in Derry, New Hampshire. He planned to run just at training pace but picked it up just a notch as he was having such a good time on the hills and running with buddies from his running clubs. What a great way to spend a winter morning!
The pace picked up a bit in February as Shawn traveled to London and Paris for her work. She had a chance to sightsee a bit in London but found that much of the city is closed on Sundays!
Shawn was home for all of two nights before the whole family departed on a our big spring fling - a Caribbean cruise on the
Disney Magic! What a time we had! Though Shawn had cruised before, this was a first time experience for John and the boys. Our fears of seasickness proven unfounded, we all had a blast! We ate too much, played too much, drank too much, ate some more, and generally had more fun than human beings should be allowed to have! We enjoyed sailing and snorkeling in Key West…
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Visiting Hell, playing with turtles, and swimming with stingrays in Grand Cayman…
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Swimming in an underground river and playing on the beach in Playa del Carmen and drinking cheap tequila in Cozumel, Mexico…
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And romping on the beach at Disney’s own Castaway Cay…
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Playing in the ship’s pools at sea, and all kinds of other fun! We had day after day of 85 and sunny while a blizzard hit back home. And the best surprise - when we got home, our neighbors had cleared the driveway! What a time!
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| The Monday after our return, John started a new job at Mercury Computer. Tired of weathering the storm at Nortel, he’s started his new gig with some old friends from MicroTouch and PictureTel and looks forward to working in the new environment - he’s really excited! |  |
February 28 was Pack 731’s annual Pinewood Derby! Always an exciting time, both Joshua and Jacob entered cars this year. Jacob took home third place in the “sibling” division while Joshua finished second for the Wolves!
On March 9th, Shawn and John both ran in the MLEMF races in Wakefield with Grams and the boys cheering them on. Shawn was bit disappointed with her result in the 5k while John was thrilled by his 1:33:23 PR in the Half Marathon.
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The weekend of the Ides of March was a busy one. On Friday night, our pals Charlie and Cyndi joined us for dinner at our place. The following night, our friends Eliot and Celeste and their son Reid hosted our family at their place for a great feed and a good time! On Sunday, John and the boys took part in Cub Scout Ski Day at Pat’s Peak in New Hampshire. It was an awesome, sunny, 50 degree spring ski day and they all came home with tired legs and sunburns!
A week later, we were all off to Ascutney Mountain Resort for a special four day spring ski weekend! We enjoyed nonexistent lift lines, a practically private mountain, one-on-one lessons for the kids, bright sun and tons of soft snow! The boys are both working on parallel turns and big air - we had a blast skiing as a family on everything from the green cruisers to the black diamond steeps! It wasn’t until Tuesday afternoon that we reluctantly returned home with tired legs (again) and more sunburns!
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The next weekend saw even more skiing action as Shawn and John left the kids behind with Ms. Erin and headed to Sunday River for what has become a spring ritual. They enjoyed soft snow, warm weather, B&B accommodations, plenty of beer, and good food! A great time away!
April began with John off with the Scouts for a weekend of Woodbadge training.
April also marked the start of baseball season! Both Joshua and Jacob are playing this year. Jacob’s on the Marlins T-Ball team and Joshua is on the Pirates Farm League team. Both are enjoying playing the game, learning the skills, and, mostly, wearing the uniforms!
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Grampa arrived the weekend before Easter to spend a couple of weeks with us. Though he complains about the cold - we think he really enjoys being here almost as much as we love having him!
On April 16, we celebrated Joshua’s 8th birthday at Laser Quest with a bunch of his friends! An exciting time was had by all - even dad got in on the fun!
We had a quiet Easter dinner at home with just the family. Grams joined us, of course, and we all dressed for church, the boys sang, and then we had a quiet relaxing dinner at home. It’s great to have family around at holidays! And we even had an egg hunt - although it was just Joshua and Jake and we declared it a tie!
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Patriot’s Day, the Monday after Easter, saw the running of the 107th Boston Marathon. The day dawned bright, hot, and breezy which, though nice for the spectators, caused many runners to wilt. John made his Boston debut with hopes of running a personal best time. He crossed the halfway mark on pace but begin to feel the heat effects soon after in the form of cramping
calves that slowed his pace dramatically. He managed to cross the finish in a time of 3:46 - disappointed, sunburned, limping… but ready to give it another go in cooler weather! (He posted a more detailed report on CoolRunning for those who care.) There were three guys from John’s office that finished the marathon - they got good press in the company news!
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The next weekend saw John returning to the woods for a second weekend of Woodbadge practical training while Grampa ventured to Western Massachusetts once more before returning to Florida. Mom and the boys played laser tag, worked in the garden, went to ball games, and had all kinds of fun!
As May blew in, we found ourselves spending a lot of time at the ball field and enjoying the improving weather! Let’s go Pirates! Let’s go Marlins!
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That’s what we’ve been up to this spring! Hope our postcard find you happy and healthy and that you’ll drop us a line or stop by next time you’re near!
