Dear Friends (and Family, too), We are continuing our time honored McClelland family tradition of a Christmas/New Years (or later) newsletter. This enables us to catch our breath after the very full weeks preceding and during the holidays. 2007 was a great year for the McClelland family: First and foremost, we expanded our family with two beautiful new grandchildren. Eddie and Andrea had their first child, Thomas Edward, on June 12 in Second, Charles dialed back on work by resigning from Booz Allen Hamilton (a management consulting firm) where he had worked during the six years since his retirement from the Federal Government. He is currently working part time as an independent consultant, and enjoys listening to traffic reports from his office on the ground floor of our home. This change allowed more time for doing other things with Mary Anne such as trips to Puerto Rico (including Vieques and Culebra), Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor in Maine (including a stop to see the Westwoods in NH), and the Southern Caribbean on a cruise. For more info on current activities and pictures, see: http://mcclellands8.blogspot.com/. And during Christmas week, we had our entire family together for the first time in more than two years. It was a wonderful experience to have sixteen individuals (six children, three spouses, and five grandchildren) staying under our roof on Christmas Eve. We expected Christmas morning to be a chaotic scene with so many people, but it was a blissful, peaceful experience. Later that week, we were blessed to be in the temple with all of our children. A quick update on the “kids:” Dan: Continues to live in Matt (wife—Emily): Completing 3rd year of Dermatology residency and making plans to move family to Sara (husband—Chris): Continued moving up the ladder at CSC and remodeling home in Eddie (wife—Andrea): Continued working at PWC, passed all of the CPA exam, bought a home in Gahanna, OH, and welcomed new son, Thomas (see above). Wife, Andrea, is delighted to be a stay at home Mom. For more info see: http://mcclellands.blogspot.com/. Chris and Dave: should graduate from BYU in 2008, Chris in Economics and Dave in Mechanical Engineering. Chris is head TA for Dr. Kearl’s Econ 110 class and the grader for Independent Study Econ 110. Dave is a TA for Mechanical Engineering Instrumentation. Both hope to continue their education after graduation. Our dear friends, we hope and pray that the Lord will bless you and your loved ones in the year to come with the peace and joy that comes from an awareness and understanding of His eternal Plan of Salvation. The McClelland Family
The whole family was home for Christmas--Andrea, Thomas, Eddie, Sara, Big Chris, Dan, Little Chris, Mary Anne, Charles, Dave, Matt, Annabelle, Elisabeth, Ben, Emily, and Jacob.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Christmas 2007
Cruisin' Again
Charles and Mary Anne's Norwegian Pearl Southern Caribbean Cruise, 11/30 - 12/9/2007 (the Pearl in Castries, St. Lucia)
We got an offer we couldn't refuse and booked this cruise while on our trip to Maine.
Day 1: Miami
On board the ship by 11:30 a.m. Time to eat, nap, work out in the gym, explore the ship, did I say eat? In addition to the ever present buffet, which we always frequented for breakfast and lunch, there were two main dining rooms:
There were also several specialty restaurants.
The ship had been in service for less than a year, so everything was in great shape. The decor was fanciful, especially the carpets. One I really liked, though, was the hallway carpet. You could always get your bearings because the fish swim toward the front of the ship.
The furniture was pretty wild, as well:
Day 2: Sea Day
The pool deck was a favorite--2 very warm fresh water pools, one with a slide and 4 hot tubs:
Day 3: Samana
This was pretty much a sea day, as there was not much to see or do at Samana. Apparently there is whale watching in February and March.
Day 4: Tortola
The ship docked a little late, so we barely made the 10:30 ferry to Virgin Gorda to see the Baths. 
We snorkeled a bit near the entrance to the Baths, seeing some rays and an octopus:
then walked to Spring Bay where there was much more to see underwater.
Day 5: Antigua
We took a tour with a recommended guide and saw most of the island.
Day 6: Barbados
We hopped a bus to snorkel at Folkestone Park. On the way, we stopped at St. James Parish Church, built in 1628, the oldest church in Barbados.
Sadly, the sea was too rough for snorkeling at Forkestone:
So, we hopped another bus for the Amaryllis Beach resort.
Not much to see underwater, but the beach was gorgeous and the water amazingly warm.
We caught a minibus (75 cents USD) back to town, then did a walking tour on the way back to the ship.
Day 7: St. Lucia
We signed up with Cosol tours for a recommended island tour. Our guide was "Yellowbird," brother of Cosol, an enterprising St. Lucian who figured out that there was a market for non-ship sponsored tours on the island. The day was fantastic, with stops at Morne Fortune, a banana plantation, many scenic overlooks and small villages, Toraille waterfall and botanical gardens, the drive-in volcano, the beach at Jalousie Plantation, and Marigot Bay. We drove in and out of rain showers and stopped for fresh bread, fish cakes with banana ketchup, coconut cookies, and all manner of tropical fruits.
Days 8 and 9: At Sea
After all those islands in a row, it was nice to have 2 more days to enjoy the ship before returning to the rat race. So, back to more working out at the fitness center, walking miles around the Promenade deck, hanging out on the pool deck, watching shows, winning at trivia, reading, taking naps, and endless meals.
Maine in October
The 3rd week in October, Charles and Mary Anne took a road trip to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor, Maine. Normally the leaves would be past their prime, but they peaked late this year.
On our way to Maine, we stopped in Pelham, NH, to see John and Nate Westwood our old Rolling Valley Ward friends. They live in a lovely new home which is large enough to accommodate all of their children and grandchildren at the same time (we could have used such a house at Christmas:)).
We discovered that Sharon, VT is only 2 hours from the Westwood's, so after church on Sunday we had the opportunity to visit this church historical site.
Monday morning, we headed for Bar Harbor, ME, gateway to Acadia National Park. Though it was now officially off-season (10/15), the town was packed with cruise ship passengers and many hotels were full due to the late arrival of fall.
Tuesday morning we drove all over Acadia and the rest of Mt. Desert (pronounced "dessert") Island.
Wednesday morning we rented bikes and covered about 20 miles of the carriage roads in Acadia National Park. This is Eagle Lake.
