So what’s been happening with the Haley’s over the last 12 months called 2008?
LOTS!! (The blue, underlined words are links to either pictures on smugmug or other sites.)
Our grandkids turned two, three, five(2), nine(2), ten(3) and thirteen(2). Yup, eleven WONDERFUL grandkids!! Oh, oh…did you notice 2 of them are turning 13 in 2009!? Eeeghads!! Haha
During 2008 Cheryl became the Business Operations Manager at
Skyline Properties and Doug is transitioning out of a fund-raising role at
Agros International to a data-base/information systems management role.
The economic downturn has of course affected our industries as well as making us re-think how we are living… We have decided to list our house, even though we may take a loss given the current market, and buy a motor home. We’ll be able to live in it much cheaper than our house, be closer to work and have more free time. Stay tuned to this channel for more regarding this adventure!
Chronologically…
Can’t forget Christmas last year… Marissa (Doug’s daughter) joined us for
Christmas eve – dinner and presents. We alternate years. Always fun to see Christmas through a child’s eye!
January saw us kicking of the New Year in Boise. We had a family get together with Cheryl’s family at a Choice Hotel where we ate, swam, ate, played cards/games and ate some more. We also had “Christmas” with Cheryl’s children and their families along with Cheryl’s mom and dad.
Doug went snowmobiling for the first time, crashing only twice! Haha We visited a House of Scones in Boise, one of Cheryl’s favorite memories from the past.
Doug also got to introduce a family friend to geo-caching! A fun weekend! Take a look at some pictures -
Album 1 and
Album 2.
And then in February Cheryl and I headed for Europe! 
It was Cheryl’s first time traveling internationally and was a chance for Doug to visit some of the places he lived/visited 20 years ago. Yes, a lot has changed! We flew to London first, where we took in a tour on the River Thames, visited Windsor Castle, Harrods and even rented a car and went out to Bath and Stonehenge one day. On the first night there, I surprised Cheryl with a reserved ride on The Eye – with a rose, chocolates and champagne! The pubs were great…or maybe we are just weird because we like pub food. Then we took the “new” chunnel train from London to Paris – very fast! And of course leaving the train station for our hotel “only a couple of blocks away” we sort of missed a turn. Doug's French? Oh, about 2 words! Haha We eventually found our way to a lovely little hotel – Villa St Martin - that we called home for the next few days. We had our picture taken with a Parisian policman on rollerblades along the River Seine. 
One of the days there we took the train to Versailles and spent some time roaming around the castle, town and shops…where Doug managed to spend $8 on a mango. But it was GOOD! Haha
March found us winging our way to Las Vegas. Well actually to Henderson, where we met up with a couple – Cliff and Susie - that Cheryl has known for some years. We ate, visited, ate, shopped, ate, did some geocaching and ate some more! Haha OK, yes, we even hit a few slot machines!
March also brought the St. Patrick’s Day Dash in Seattle. Doug’s brother Dan beat him, but their nephew Ben, who was visiting from California, ran circles around both of them! Haha Check out a few pics from the weekend.
April brought a visit from Caleb, Cheryl’s son, who lives in Boise. We went go-cart racing and out for lunch at the Crab Pot in Seattle to celebrate his 20th birthday. 
We also took a weekend trip to Spokane to visit family – some who were from Seattle! Haha We went to a favorite nightclub of Dan’s, 
took in a niece’s soccer game, did some wine tasting, had a BBQ at Doug’s brother Dan’s home and generally goofed off! Oh, and we took a crew of NINE geo-caching one day!
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May saw us heading for Bainbridge Island and a wine tasting for 10 with the wine maker at Eleven Winery. Doug’s sister and her husband & two of their friends, one of Doug’s nieces and two of her friends and our neighbor had a great time! Yes, we even did some geo-caching on the way!
June was busy! 
We started with a card party at our house…oh! I mean a surprise 70th birthday party for Doug’s dad! Somehow we fit 53 people in this place – along with some canopies and HUGE patio heaters!
Then off we flew to
San Antonio to spend a few days with Doug’s daughter Talya and her family who were vacationing there and Corpus Christi. We started the trip downtown San Antonio, near the Alamo, where we did a “dinner cruise” on the San Antonio River. We then spent a couple of days at Sea World – a LOT of fun! We managed to find a winery in New Braunfels and did some geocaching too!
From there we went to San Diego 
to spend a few days with Doug’s other daughter Marissa who was vacationing there with her family. We did some boogie boarding, spent time at the beach, did some geo-caching, visited wineries in Temecula and even spent the better part of a day in Tijuana, Mexico! 
In July we traveled to Boise for the 4th of July. 
We returned with three grandkids (Cheryl’s daughter Monica’s children) and a baby-sitting niece who all stayed with us for 2 weeks. We toured Seattle, spent a weekend at Long Beach and took a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island…for pizza! Haha The Long Beach trip included a horseback ride on the beach – awesome! And we managed to squeeze in a Mariner’s game too – that they WON! Whoa! Check out some pics here.
August started with a “fishing trip” to Neah Bay… 
Doug went with his sister, brother-in-law, two nephews and a niece’s brother on a charter in to Canadian waters where we were ready to bring home ice chests full of halibut and lingcod. Well, my share of the “catch” wouldn’t have filled a shoebox!! Oh well, we had fun visiting and exploring…and geo-caching!
Later in the month Cheryl’s son Greg and his family visited. We took in the Woodland Park Zoo, the Troll, Pike Place Market and the Rainforest Café! We had a great time and even managed a few games of Guitar Hero!
In September we headed for Troutdale, Oregon. There we attended a Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage seminar presented by Doug’s cousin Rebecca and her husband Randy. 
It was a great seminar…and yes we DID laugh! We headed home Sunday morning in time to attend a Seattle Mariners – New York Yankees game. And yes they won! In fact, the Mariners won all four games we went to this year. What are the odds? We should have been paid to be at the games!!
October found us in Ocean Shores where Doug was volunteering as a Washington Wine Ambassador. We had an ocean-view room for two nights, played on the beach, visited some local shops and did some geocaching. 
We also rented an electric boat and spent a couple of hours cruising canals at Ocean Shores – something we will definitely do again!
Later in the month we traveled to Yakima for a weekend where we watched Cheryl’s niece Mikaela from Boise participate in a large marching band competition. It was a lot of fun!
November slowed us down a bit…
Cheryl had major back surgery on the 3rd…with 8 weeks of recovery ahead of her. During the first week after the surgery, her daughter-in-law Megan visited helping Doug take care of Cheryl as he was running Agros’ annual fundraiser. During that same time Cheryl’s daughter Monica came over too with her children for a vacation. We visited a bit here and were all able to eat at a nearby Chinese buffet while Cheryl rested at home. She went back to work full time the week after Thanksgiving and is getting stronger by the day!
Even so, we still celebrated our 3rd anniversary on the 14th with a quiet meatloaf and garlic mashed potato dinner at home. 
Doug also spent a lot of time working on deck repairs – we painted the deck surface earlier in the year and now are replacing the lattice work and painting all of the railing white. Here's an attempt at a before and after picture...
We have a lot already planned for 2009…and I would tell you about it…
but that would spoil next year’s letter now wouldn’t it?
So that’s it from the Doug and Cheryl Haley household for now. 
May the Lord bless your Christmas celebrations and be your guiding star in the coming New Year!
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