'2000' With The Suddaths

Hello everyone - here we are at the end of another year - boy, do they go by fast, huh? This year has been a great one for us - we love retirement!! We have been having a ball, traveling all over the place, seeing friends and family much more than we've been able to before. Here is our year in a nutshell - and we'll be seeing some of you soon!!

January: I took a "girls only" trip to Las Vegas with some friends - we stayed all together in a condo on the "strip" - went with Mo, Tonjia, Mary, & Donna. We had a great time, seeing the sights, gambling, eating, and lots of laughing! Didn't win any money, but managed to spend a decent amount for souvenirs.

On the home front, Mike decided to return to college - he is attending Metro in Denver, and has changed his major to computer science. In a couple of years, he'll be able to support us in the style to which we'd like to become accustomed.

February: Kama bought a condo, together with her friend Nissa - it's in Denver, where she can be close to everything - school, friends, shopping, etc. It has two bedrooms, and is on the first floor - the building has a pool, and secured parking - the girls both love it, and have enjoyed decorating it just the way they want it. We, of course, helped her move - that part is never much fun, but she had lots of help, so it wasn't too bad.

Mike moved out of his apartment, and is living with two friends in order to save money while he is going to school - he will probably buy his own place after he graduates. He seems to be enjoying school - so far, he is having an easy time of it.

Our friend Sherry, and her boyfriend Peter (he is now an "ex") came to visit - they went skiing a couple of times, and we did some sightseeing and shopping - we had a fun time - we love to have company!! (hint, hint)

March: Bob & I headed off for our first "extended" trip in our mini-van: our first stop was New Orleans (first time there) where we saw the sights and had dinner with a friend we hadn't seen for a while. Bourbon Street is a hoot on Friday night! Then, on the way to see Bob's dad, we spent a night on the beach in Panama City Beach (we're returning there in December). What a beautiful beach!! We spent some time with Pop near Orlando, then headed for South Carolina to visit my two aunts. My brother and my niece flew to South Carolina to share our visit with Aunt Tavie & Aunt Merle, then we all headed north to Alexandria, VA to see his new home, and frolic with them.

April: Then it was time to head north to Massachusetts to Bob's sister Sandy (George lives there too). Our main reason for this trip was to help Sandy prepare for the Boston Marathon, which George has run in for the last 7 years. He is sponsored by Dana Farber, which holds many supportive functions, and that is where Sandy gets involved - and she needs lots of help - we stayed in Boston for the Marathon weekend, worked very hard, but had a great time, meeting many new friends, helping whenever we could. Sandy & George took the week off following the Marathon, and we traveled around some, including visiting Rockport, which is my most favorite place! We hated to leave, but by then we were ready to head home, after being gone about five weeks. On the way home, we even stopped at Niagara Falls - fun!!

May: Believe it or not, after being home just a week, we headed off to Branson, MO to meet our friends Irene & Richard. They brought two other couples with them, and together they are now known as the "Massachusetts Gang"! They are George & Jean, & Cal & Margaret. Branson was a blast!! I told them after I returned home, that it was one of the best vacations we have ever taken! We saw 10 shows, shopped till we dropped, and ate like little piglets (maybe not so little)! We saw the Osmonds, the Platters, the Oak Ridge Boys, Bobby Vinton, and many more - what fun!! We played a lot of cards, too - stayed in a nice condo (a timeshare week for us). We will definitely go back there - maybe in a couple of years - who knows?

June: We had a really hot summer - 63 days of 90+ - it was the hottest on record; luckily we had an attic fan installed before the heat arrived - we used it practically every day during June & July! Colorado and the rest of the west had many forest fires this summer - many homes were lost because of the dry conditions and lack of rain. I spent a lot of time working on my crafts, including my 1999 photo album, which everyone will see in November & December.

July: I had to leave my crafts for a week, since I was called for jury duty, and managed to be chosen for a trial. It was an interesting experience, as we ended up a "hung" jury - very frustrating that we couldn't convince the three holdouts to vote the way we thought they should!

Attended my old company's picnic, and visited with all my co-workers - that was interesting....

August: Headed out for our next adventure: a trip to Canada via the Mall of America. My old company has an office right across the street from the mall - we stayed right beside the office, and visited with some friends there - had dinner - spent a day and a half at the mall, but barely made a dent - that is quite a place, with an amusement park in the center, including a roller coaster! Then north to Ontario, where we visited Norm & Judy and Waggles (their sheltie). They live on an island - we drove to the end of the road, then took a ferry to their house. We had a very relaxing time - the weather could have been better, but we enjoyed seeing our friends and exploring new territory. Then we headed west to Kenora, where we visited "The Lake of the Woods" - took a boat ride - drove straight through Manitoba & Saskatchewan, to Alberta, where we again headed north to Banff & Jasper National Parks. What beautiful country!! The rockies are much more rugged there than in Colorado, and the glaciers are spectacular, as well as the beautiful blue lakes. We visited Lake Louise - took lots of pictures, did some hiking, and had a really nice time! On the way home, we drove right by a fire in Montana - a small one, thankfully.

When we reached home, we had one day to unpack and clean the house, then company! Rick and Rita (my friend Donna's son & wife) stayed with us while Rick attended the festivities of his 30th class reunion in Golden. Donna & Ed also came down for one night, so we had quite a group!

September: We went to a couple of winning Air Force football games - tailgated in Donna & Ed's motor home with two other couples - it was a contest to see who could bring the best-tasting food to eat! "Light rail" came to Littleton, and on opening weekend all rides were free, so Bob & I rode all the way to downtown Denver, shopped, had lunch, and returned home, all without the hassles of driving! Since then, we've gone down a couple of times, and it's really neat, although I feel like I'm in Chicago or some foreign city, cause we're not used to having the train. This month, we had to buy both a washer and a dryer, cause they both died within a week of each other - I hate to spend money on such things, don't you? In the meantime, I worked furiously on my crafts, cause I knew I'd be working soon, and then traveling.

October: Time for our annual trip to the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque! This year five of us stayed with Tonjia in her new house! Laura flew in from Chicago to have fun with us - the balloons did fly on Saturday morning, but unfortunately it was cold and rainy for the rest of the weekend, and no balloons flew on Sunday - but we had a fun time at Mo's party on Saturday nite - about 40 people were there, and on Friday nite we had "girls nite out" which was a ball! Add our shopping expeditions to that, and the trip was a success, as always. For the remainder of the month, I agreed to help out in my old office - both in Colorado Springs, and Denver - full time for a couple of weeks, then part time for three weeks. I wish I could learn to say "no"!! On the home front, we are having our porch enclosed, and they are working like crazy to get it done before we leave on our "big" trip - it's exciting to watch their progress!

November: Working like crazy at the beginning of the month, both at work and at home, trying to get ready for our trip - hopefully the porch is done now (since I'm writing this early, I don't know for sure). The plan is to head east in our "loaded-to-the-gills" mini-van to Virginia, spending Thanksgiving with Al, Karen, & Casey. Kama & Mike will fly in to be with us - looking forward to that. Then Bob & I will head to my aunt's in South Carolina - on the way, we will stop in Asheville, NC to visit the Biltmore Estate - in South Carolina we will go to a big craft fair with my aunts, in Greenville - hopefully will see some additional relatives, too!

December: After the craft fair, we head to Panama City Beach, FL - the same place we stayed in March, for a few quiet days by the beach. Then we head to Bob's dad in Longwood, where we will unload a lot of our stuff before we head to Fort Lauderdale, where our ship is waiting to take us to the Western Caribbean. We'll spend seven days in Mexico, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Half Moon Cay. Doesn't it sound wonderful, especially in December!? After we return to Fort Lauderdale, we'll spend a few days on Sanibel Island, off the coast of Ft. Myers - then back to Longwood, where we become a shuttle for all the family arriving for Christmas - for the first time in close to 20 years, we will all be together!! We'll be taking lots of pictures! This will be a great holiday season for us - we sincerely hope the same will be true for all of you!

Looking ahead to 2001: we have some fun things planned already for next year:

1. In April, we are going to meet the "Massachusetts Gang" in Florida - first stop is Panama City Beach, then off to Orlando. After we say goodbye to them, we'll probably stop in for a short visit with Bob's dad before we head home.

2. Kama graduates from law school on May 12, and we are hoping to see lots of family travel to Colorado for this great event! Imagine having a lawyer in the family! Needless to say, we are very proud of her.

3. In early August, the "Massachusetts Gang" is coming to Colorado! We're planning all kinds of adventures for that week, you can be sure!

4. Later in August, Kama will "experience" her graduation gift - Bob, Mike, and I will too! This was her choice of a gift: a family trip, rafting the Grand Canyon!! This is an adventure that we have talked about since the kids were small, and we're finally going to do it - 10 days in the wilderness, camping by the river, riding the rapids, hiking, relaxing, and eating great food.

5. Sometime later in the year, we're hoping to spend a week in Hawaii - we have a time share week we have to use or lose, and enough miles in our accounts for free tickets - so how can we not go!!!

Well, that's it from Colorado for now - we hope the year 2000 has treated everyone as well as we have been treated - how did we ever have time to work? Be sure to let us know how you are doing - we look forward to hearing from you.

Love to all,