Happy Holidays from our family to yours!
We would like to give you a brief update on what we Windstrup’s have been doing since our last newsletter. We were able to travel and discover some new destinations this year. In February Jeff’s mother Gloria came to visit. She came with her cousin and Jeff was proud to show the ladies around the City of Light. They even went to eat in the fancy restaurant Le Jules Verne on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower. He likes to say that he knows Paris like the back of his hand. I wonder if he knows it better than I do. The second week of their visit we all went to visit the French Riviera. We went to Cannes, Antibes, and Nice in France. We didn’t plan it but we just happened to be in Nice for Carnival. “Nice” timing. Since we were close we also went to visit the principality of Monaco with its palace on the rock. We all enjoyed our visit and were glad to spend time with grandma. In April me and the kids met up with my parents in the Pyrenees for a week. French side of course. Jeff wanted to come but was saving vacation for summer. We did quite a bit of hiking and exploring in the mountains. There was a hen house and farm close to the chalet where we stayed. David was very pleased since he was charged with looking after the hens.
When summer arrived we were all excited about returning to the US. There were some changes in the 3 years since we’ve been back. Most notable was certainly getting to meet our niece Josephine and our nephew Jonathan. We did the usual things around Chicago though it felt odd acting like tourists in a place I lived in for 10 years and Jeff grew up in. Our list of tourist attractions included the Brookfield Zoo, Museum of Science and Industry, Field Museum, Adler Planetarium and the Shedd Aquarium. Couldn’t forget the skydeck on top of the Willis Tower. Jeff took the kids as some of you might know I am not particularly fond of elevators and that one must be a doozie at the 103rd floor. Jeff says he just can’t stop calling it the Sears Tower. Oh well things change. We also went on a few day excursion to the the House on the Rock and the Wisconsin Dells. Those of you from the Midwest will know these. They have a special charm and if you are in the area I recommend visiting them. Jeff and I also took 2 little getaways together without the kids. We took a day trip to Rouen. There’s a neat little video at windstrup.com. For my birthday Jeff got me a gastronomic weekend getaway. We had a top notch dinner and stayed in a medieval castle in Sedan France in the Ardennes. Speaking about birthdays. I turned 40 this year. We rented a hall and had a DJ dance party. It was quite a blow out.
The kids are getting another school year under their belts. Gabrielle is in 7th grade at the junior high school the next town over and David is in 4th at the primary school right across the street. Both are doing fairly well in school so far this year. Let’s hope the trend continues. The kids had two shows this year. David had his part in the quasi production quality school play. Gabrielle had an equally elaborate dance recital. They both worked hard on their productions and it showed with stunning performances. As for after school activities David has continued with ping-pong and started handball. No change for Gabrielle and I as she continues with art class and ballet and I continue with contemporary dance and tennis. Jeff’s interest in Geocaching, hiking, and computers is also unwavering. However, he has changed computers now by becoming a MacMan. Both Jeff and I are working at the same place for the last few years now and are pleased with what we do and where we are.
We hope you too are happy this Christmas season and all throughout next year.
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