Christmas 2004 December 23, 2004
To all of our family and friends
“Happy Holidays”!
We have had a great year filled with lots of travel and fun watching our little Reed grow up so fast!
We celebrated Reed’s first birthday in April with a luau! Tutu and Auntie Deb were able to fly out for the celebration and spend time with us for a few days. And earlier in the year Grandma Betty came to visit us and we showed her around the South a little bit. The highlight in our memories was going on a carriage ride in the French Quarter and having beignets and coffee at Café Du Monde in New Orleans before her departure back home! It was such a treat to have family come and visit us!
Reed is really becoming our little boy now. He is 19 months and talking up a storm. He started day care in September and took some time adjusting to being away from “momma”, but now he loves “school”. I went back to work in September with the Office of the State Auditor as a Performance Auditor and am enjoying it so far. Although I miss being at home with Reed! I think it has taken me longer to adjust to our being separated than it has Reed.
Travis is still with MCI as unbelievable as that may be. He is also running his web development business “Nuzu Net Media” on the side and business has been good for him this year. He is also still in school working to obtain his Masters in Business Management, he should graduate in May of this coming year. We are all looking forward to that! He is ready to take a much needed break from all of his commitments!
We were able to travel a good bit this year. In May Mom and Mike took all of the kids and grandkids to Walt Disney World in Florida. We had a great time, and Reed loved seeing his “Pappy”, Grandma, auntie, and cousins! He also LOVED Pluto! Amazingly he really had no fear of the characters, although his cousin Kylee felt the opposite and would cling to the closest family member if one came near! It was also special to celebrate Anthony’s 7th birthday there as well – we had dinner with Mickey Mouse and gang! It was a great time had by us all!
In August we met Travis’ parents, Terry and Michele, in Istanbul Turkey. We spent a few days in Istanbul then traveled by car to Troy, Canakkale, Ephesus, Bergama, Izmir, Pammukkale, and Antalya. It was so neat to see a few of the seven churches of Revelation and to be able to visualize places where Jesus and others like Paul traveled. Ephesus is truly amazing, at 5,000 years old it is still in very good condition – there are still mosaic tile floors throughout the city! Turkey was a great experience for us, and the Turkish people are really very nice and LOVE children! Reed was kissed, held, hugged, and had his cheeks pinched more times than we could count! Our time in Turkey was wonderful and I know Reed enjoyed being with his Nonno and Nonna during that time!
From Antalya we left Terry and Michele and headed by ferry to Greece. We spent a few days on the island of Rhodes where we spent most of our time taking in the ancient ruins and the fully intact medieval city. From there we traveled to Athens and watched the opening ceremonies for the Paralympics, and toured the Parthenon, the Temple of Zeus, and more ancient ruins (we have seen enough ruins to last us a few decades). It was a once in a lifetime trip and we loved every minute of it!
In October, just on the heels of Hurricane Ivan, we met Mom and Mike in Pensacola, FL where we traveled to Destin for some fun in the sun! We stayed in a beautiful condo close to the beach, and enjoyed great food! We began to worry about the damage to Destin as we drove through Mobile, AL and into Pensacola, FL! The damage was terrifying! It affirmed God’s words of “the foolish man builds his house upon the sand”! But when we arrived in Destin it was as beautiful as always and the water was even as clear and calm as I’ve ever seen it! We had a wonderful time relaxing and spending time with family!
This Christmas we will be here in Mississippi and Terry, Michele, Will, and Malia will be joining us! We are so excited to spend time together for the holidays! To all of our family and friends we will miss this year we love you and wish you all a very Merry CHRISTmas and a Happy New Year!
God’s Love and Peace to you! Travis, Jaime & Reed
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