Jason and Robin are busy planning their July 8th wedding; here is their official engagement photo.

Robin is busy finishing up her studies at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.  Jason is now working in New Jersey and reports that he likes his job and it is only a 30 minute train from his home to midtown Manhattan.

Did you know that Jason is a movie star?  I teased him that it was probably his residual checks that were funding their wedding to which he scowled.  Check out the movie Seabiscuit; you know, the one about the race horse.  Jason is the second reporter from the right in the scene in the horse barn.  It is at the 1 hour 30 minute mark in the movie. 

My work friend Elizabeth and her fiance Rick took their children to Bentleyville to see Santa.  Bentleyville is the creation of a family that lives on Highway 61 in Esko.    They have an amazing display of lights that attract thousands of visitors every year.  The Bentley children switch on the lights at 5:00 p.m. every night and they stay on until 10:00 p.m.  During those hours you can do a self-guided walking tour through all of their displays.  Santa is there on weekends and the display will close for the season on January 3rd.  Nathan Bentley pays about $1,100 a month to the power company during the holiday season.

Pictured here are Nathan, Kirsten and Ruby.

My very creative friend Anne Redfield and her father Bob Redfield are sending out these cards this holiday season.  Anne was one of my fellow travelers to London and Paris almost two years ago now.  In the past year she spent some time in Wyoming and Arizona.  Bob looks pretty cozy next to the fire reading his Harry Potter book!

I heard from cousin Ann today.  She and John are on Jekyll Island  off the coast of Georgia; above, John is strolling on the beach.  When sister Donna lived in Valdosta, GA they took their visitors (me included) to Jekyll Island and the nearby Okefenokee Swamp.  I will never forget walking over the dune and seeing the Atlantic for the first time; I look forward to visiting there again someday.  Jekyll, once an escape for the elite, is a very small island with many golf courses and lots of bicycles; the beach is nice and compacted; good for bike riding.

Below, Ann is on Rainbow Row in Charleston, SC.  These homes at one time were the center of Charleston's commerce.  The buildings built in the 1780's housed merchants on the street level with residences above.  They were dubbed Rainbow Row in the 1930s after they had all been painted a variety of colors.

Holly sent me a couple of pictures from her Winter Formal.  Because she was not looking at the camera in the group shot, I cropped a little photo of her and put it in the corner.  From left is Holly with her friends Melissa and Carissa and a couple of other gals.

Cousin Ann writes from just east of Nashville this morning.  She looked out the window of the RV and saw this rafter of turkeys.  Or should we call them survivors?

We had a "Guy Shower" at work today for two co-workers who recently got married.... but not to each other.  Roger married his lovely Laura in July and Tark married his lovely Joelle in October.  We felt it was only fitting that they cut the cake together but we couldn't get them to feed some to each other!

Laura and Roger

Tark and Joelle