Happy Holidays 2008

When the year started, I decided my motto would be Great in ’08. In many ways it has been, one being the election of an intelligent, capable president, but in others, especially the economic meltdown, it has not. But for Smoot and me personally, it has been, if not great, definitely an eventful year.

We did another marathon trip in July that included touring 12 states, 14 national parks, 6 national monuments, 2 historic interpretive centers, 4 cities, 1 state park, 2 historic sites, 1 dam and 1 mini family reunion in Lacey, WA and driving 6,411 miles! (See http://www.charlottes-web.com/2008_Trip_West_rept1.htm and http://www.charlottesweb.com/2008_Trip_West_rept2.htm) Smoot made two trips to Virginia to visit his dad and sister, Suzanne. In Jan, our nephew, Sean drove up from Tucson, in the rain!, to have dinner with us. We got to see Austin friends, Larry and Carole Deuser when they were in town in April. We flew to Austin in May to help celebrate Jency’s graduation. In Aug, we drove to Las Vegas for one last chance to see Star Trek: The Experience before it closed. (See http://www.charlottes-web.com/2008_LasV_trip.htm.) And in Dec, we joined Connie and Richard Jahrmarkt, his brother and sister-in-law, Larry and Carole Jahrmarkt at the NAU holiday concert in Flagstaff.

We also added to our family this year. We gained another great nephew when Benjamin Fezza Beall was born to Ben and Denise Beall on Aug 2. We added to our critter family when our Red Eared Slider turtles produced 6 living babies in two clutches, 1 in Feb and 5 in May/June. Sadly, we had to put our 18 year old cat, Muffin to sleep in May, but in Sep we adopted two kittens from Paw Prints on Your Heart and they have been a delight. (See http://www.charlottes-web.com/2008_Kittens.htm) Our menagerie now consists of four cats, nine turtles, one Cockatiel and assorted fish!

We took part in several Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix events such as Colorific Cabaret in March for which I served as Executive Producer. In Feb, the choir gave me a surprise party to thank me for being their ‘den mother.’ We sang the UU cantata Sources at UUCP and at Valley UU in May. In June, we celebrated Roberta Haskin’s last service as Interim Minister at UUCP. I created a memory book for her and we had breakfast with her and Dennis on June 13. (See http://www.charlottes-web.com/2008_Rob,Den_bk.htm) In Oct, UUCP had a visit from four members of our partner church in Romania. They came over to our house and were amazed by my collections and turtles. In Nov, we hosted a choir potluck at our house with our new minister, Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray. On Dec 6, 22 singers from the church went to carol 16 people after which we had a party at Bill and Joan’s. It was a busy day!

In Jan, we attended the Phoenix Comic Con in Mesa and got to see and hear several Star Wars and Star Trek actors. (See http://www.charlottes-web.com/) We celebrated our 58th birthdays, Smoot on June 20 and me on August 26, and our 35th anniversary on August 4. (See we celebrated Roberta Haskin’s last service as Interim Minister at UUCP. I created a memory book for her and we had breakfast with her and Dennis on June 13. (See http://www.charlottes-web.com/2008_Rob,Den_bk.htm) We got together with church friends, Connie & Richard Jahrmarkt, Susan Morris & Duke Plattner Roberta & Dennis Haskin, Bob & Lucienne Rusconi, Jesse & Sharon Hise, Marshal & Julie Smart, Bobbi Hess, and the Leung family. We saw the Star Trek exhibit at the AZ Science Museum in Nov with Jimmy and Elizabeth Leung. We helped Smoot's colleagues, Sandy & Robert Blackwell celebrate their anniversary.

The economic meltdown claimed another victim when on Dec 10 Smoot was informed that he’d been laid off from WebMD. It was not unexpected, but still unhappy news. He can now focus on finding a new and better job. We hope you have had a good year, will have a happy holiday and new year. Let’s all hope it’s Fine in ’09

Charlotte and Smoot Carl-Mitchell

Charlotte and Smoot’s Year 2008 in Pictures