Thursday, January 03, 2008

Christmas 2007


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.

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 Columbus, Ohio. Then Matt and Emily had their fourth child, Elisabeth Halter, on July 13 in Minneapolis. Of course, they are perfect specimens!

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 Fairfax, VA, works in inventory management, and serves in his Elders’ Quorum Presidency.

Matt (wife—Emily): Completing 3rd year of Dermatology residency and making plans to move family to Bend Oregon for practice. Welcomed new daughter Elisabeth (see above) and sent oldest child, Annabelle, off to kindergarten. For more info and some great videos, see: http://emilatt.blogspot.com/.

Sara (husband—Chris): Continued moving up the ladder at CSC and remodeling home in Potomac Falls, VA. Husband, Chris, got a new job at TallyGenicom and Chris and Sara spent a week+ in Hawaii on a much deserved vacation. For more info, see: http://hiltners.blogspot.com/.

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


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Cruisin' Again


Charles and Mary Anne's Norwegian Pearl Southern Caribbean Cruise, 11/30 - 12/9/2007 (the Pearl in Castries, St. Lucia)

Devil's Bridge

Charles at Nelson's Dockyard

English Harbor and Nelson's Dockyard from Shirley Heights

Turner's Beach

Montserrat seen from Antigua


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.

Parliament Building

Independence Arch


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.


The Sulphur Springs or Drive-In Volcano

Soufriere and the Pitons

Soufriere


Jalousie Plantation beach and snorkeling area

Marigot Bay


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.





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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.

Bar Harbor and the Norwegian Dawn from Cadillac Mountain



Wednesday morning we rented bikes and covered about 20 miles of the carriage roads in Acadia National Park. This is Eagle Lake.



View from the road to Day Mountain



View from the top of Day Mountain



Jordan Pond






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