My Christmas vacation projects

So what have I been doing with my Christmas vacation so far? You saw the other day the literal "cut and paste" family portrait that I did. That picture was to go with the annual Stauffer newsletter that I send to family and friends each year. If a person receiving it is a regular reader of my blog, there probably isn't much news in the "news"letter, but for the others there's plenty of news in it. I have been writing an annual letter ever since Christmas 1974 when Lisa was a baby. I have saved every one of them and someday in my spare time (!!) I'm going to compile them into a book to give to our children.

In addition to putting together, copying, addressing, stamping, and mailing the letters, I also have made trips to CVS (where I get my pictures developed) many times. I discovered that when I send my pictures to them online, they don't get centered properly, but when I take a CD directly to them, they do get centered properly. What was I doing with all those reprints besides sending them with the annual letter? I was making photo albums for each of our children. (I have more details about that below.) That's what's in those boxes above, ready to be mailed around the world to our children.

I also spent time finding the best flight for Dick to Sweden and booking it, as well as starting the process to get his authentic birth certificate and passport. Yes, Dick is finally going to visit our daughter in Sweden, March 7 to 15. At this point we can't afford for both of us to go at the same time. I went over in the summer of 2002 for two weeks with Destiny. Now it's Dick's turn. I'm so excited for him and it brings back memories of my trip. What an adventure for me - never having traveled abroad before, and with a 20-month-old! But I was so desperate to see Miki and the kids, I just went ahead and did it.