Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

            We hope the holidays find you all healthy, happy, and doing what it is that you would like to be doing.  We know that our lives are richly blessed!  Roxy is truly in the festive holiday spirit!

            In late September, we got the opportunity to return to our home waters and homeland.  Yes, job opportunities sprang from the short visit we made to Key Largo so we jumped on them.  Darrell took a job working for Pennekamp Coral Reef Company driving dive and snorkel boats.  He may even get to train to drive the big glass-bottomed boat.  Ann took a little longer to find work but now is driving boats for Blue Water Divers, Marine Lab, and Horizon Divers – all part-time. 

            We moved the boat to Curtis Marine in Tavernier.  You all know that we are usually not the marina types but the cold, wet dinghy rides in the winter twice a day did not appeal to us.  Roxy sure likes the fact that she can get to walk several times a day.  She even has been getting better about staying on the boat and not annoying the neighbors by barking (not TOO much anyway) when we are gone.  We finally located a daytime daycare place that suits us and her that we can take her when we both are going to be gone to work for long periods. 

            Since we have been back in the upper keys, we have reconnected with many friends.  Several diving friends have been down to visit and dive.  We are looking forward to a holiday visit from Jim Fagan (he missed his annual spring break visit this year).  We are getting to do things that we have missed while we were out cruising like have big Thanksgiving and Christmas meals with friends and family.  We got to see friends and family who were in town for the Homestead/Miami race in November.

            It has been a good move for us to be in the upper keys.  We are planning to haul out and get some work done to thru hull valves and repaint the bottom some time after the first of the year.  After that, we’re looking at moving closer to Key Largo.  That greater than ten mile commute is really getting long!  LOL  In the meantime, Ann is really enjoying being able to practice yoga almost every day under a nice tiki hut. 

            Thanksgiving day, we were surprised with Lyric’s message to us that he is going to be a big brother.  Yes, we are expecting our second grandchild this summer!  We are SO excited!!!  What wonderful news!