winter 2008 update

happy winter 2008! it has been a year since the last "official" newsletter and there is much to report! many people submitted their own reports, so here we go:

loubaby and patman have been burning up the roads this year. the colorado crew was glad to see them out here in the summer. we had a fun get together at paul's house with loubaby, patman, paul, katherine, andrew, mary, locksley, eric and brooks lord. not a couple to rest, upon returning to louisiana, they packed up and headed for cooler temperatures in new england! they also just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary! congratulations L&P!!

nancy and john nancy and john have been busy building a new boat house and dock for their newest form of aquatic transport, strangely called the "dinghy thinghie" which is
an inflatable rubber boat meant for cruising kincaid:

they also hosted an engagement party for john harden and paton in mid october. mom has been busy making cheese and scouting land for a homestead farm. she is the “cheesiest” mom of all! (couldn't pass it up:) i was treated to the fruits of her labor and kraft will be knocking down her door any day now! please...kraft would be lucky to pimp this high quality dairy.






have been busy building a new boat house and dock for their newest form of aquatic transport, strangely called the "dinghy thinghie" which is an inflatable rubber boat meant for cruising kincaid:























they also hosted an engagement party for john harden and paton in mid october. mom has been busy making cheese and scouting land for a homestead farm. she is the “cheesiest” mom of all! (couldn't pass it up:) i was treated to the fruits of her labor and kraft will be knocking down her door any day now! please...kraft would be lucky to pimp this high quality dairy.

john was treated to a rare visit with his brother, ross and his son, patrick during a recent trip to nyc. they all happened to be there at the same time and enjoyed lunch and dinner together.

mom and john will be traveling to lake tahoe in february for a ski trip.




john harden and paton recently joined st james episcopal church in alexandria. i was delighted to be there for that, to see them welcomed to this great community where they were married on november 21. they honeymooned in mexico. due to a delay in processing their passports, their honeymoon included a drive across our southern border! eso será una aventura!!

eric and i are enjoying life in denver. fall is so beautiful here and this one was especially vibrant! the picture above is eric fishing at eleven mile canyon in november. we were sad to say goodbye to posey in september, but our frowns were turned upside down by our new “wiggle pig”, granger! he has been an absolute delight and we are in love with him already. we are looking forward to our southbound trip for christmas in a few weeks!

lou and john are in NOLA and might someday consider a north shore migration. they are not so crazy about living in the city. something about potholes in the streets that will never be fixed and a rodent on her back step! eww. but they both love their jobs and love getting to spend so much time with walter. john and walter have kept their personal relationship on the DL at work, but some recent exchanges have made people start to wonder if john has lost some sort of bet to walter (like "why would john be going to walter's parents's wedding anniversary?!")

since our last newsletter, they also have welcomed a new puppy into their lives, a spunky beautiful weimaraner named sterling! while she is at least 3 times the size of miss parker, rest assured that the little one rules the roost.

patrick and jesse: patrick is the third family member to get sucked into new orleans for post-hurricane work. postlethwaite & netterville has sent him to work on some post-gustav and ike invoice processing for a client. and who wouldn't want to stare at contracts, invoices and timesheets all day? he'll be there almost until christmas. while jesse is not exactly pleased with that arrangement, she is clipping along in career services at LSU, and while naming names would be a breach of confidentiality on her part, she has hinted that a few defensive coaches have contacted her about updating their resumes and looking for new jobs. OK, just kidding, but after a few key losses this season, we wish it were true.

fran and danny: f&d report they are glad to be out of chemo/radiation a full year and learning to love life after cancer. . they are looking forward to frannie's retirement (or frannie is) in 2011. she will be 60 that year and says she's ready for the change. working in the garden, convincing the hummingbirds to stick around and delighting in the growth of their grandchildren are some of their other favorite things. earlier this fall, fran went to orlando for a halloween date with a robot and a princess!

cullen and sarah (from sarah): cullen started working for dollar general in august and is really liking his job. he gets to work from home when he isn't traveling, so we all enjoy that! We took a few family trips this summer - see http://www.barbatofamily.blogspot.com/ for pictures! sarah anne's job description changes daily. she loves staying home with jack and emily, and watching them learn new things and figure out how the world works. she has a great group of girl-friends who love to meet for coffee during the week when the kids are in school :o) they are a great source of support for each other! sarah is also involved in a study at church that is teaching her a lot about what the bible says about raising a family.

jack (4 1/2) loves to go to school, but he does not like to do homework. Of course, homework for pre-k is usually some kind of drawing/cutting/pasting assignment, or a practice writing his letters assignment...I think we have a long road ahead as far as homework goes! He is also in the choir at church, and he has a "speaking role" in the upcoming Christmas production! It's just one word: "Myrrh"! Should be interesting. He loves to talk, but I'm not sure if he can do in on cue! He is continuing this winter with swim lessons, and he played soccer in the fall. He had a lot of fun, but has decided to go back to t-ball in the Spring.

Emily (2) gets to spend a lot of time with mom. We do a music class together and she loves to dance and show off her "cool moves"! She is quite the clown, and loves to copy anything that Jack is doing if she thinks it will make us laugh - and it usually does! She loves her baby dolls, and takes them for rides around the house in a little stroller.

lindley and greg: Greg is in sales for the Golf Channel. Lee will be 5 in February. He just got a trophy for finishing an exciting season of tee-ball! Anne Calvert is 2 and enjoys dancing, dressing up, playing pedicurist/manicurist in a nail salon. She'll tell you to "Sit down. I paint your toeies."
We are expecting a baby boy March 6. The Palmer family is still undecided on the name. We are looking forward to Thanksgiving at the beach with the Barbato family and other members of the Aertker side. Christmas will be at home in Orlando---yea!!!

sarah brooks: Let's see... I did just start a new job 2 weeks ago. I'm copywriting (which is advertising writing) for Student Life. They are a christian company that puts on events and conferences for 7-12th graders. They also publish Bible studies for students - adults. So I write the brochures, emails, web content for all promotional things. It's been so much to learn!! The company has major Auburn and Alabama supporters so I am doing my best to promote LSU! In my spare time, I've been doing a lot of swing dancing, specifically Lindy Hop (which is the fast one that most people would recognize!) I'm having so much fun with all that. I also spend time helping to promote the Alabama Ballet through their Junior Board, so that keeps me busy.

walter and gay (from gay): Walter is re-building schools in New Orleans – working through the maze of Louisiana government agencies and FEMA – his third world country experiences of the past are paying off. I am busy preparing to open over 500 new Dollar General stores in 2009 and helping Jen prepare for a wedding in New Jersey in October.
Walter and I are really enjoying our condo in New Orleans and our relaxing weekends together after a hectic week of work – Southwest makes it easy for us to jump back and forth from New Orleans to Nashville in an hour and 20 minutes



walter and gay (from gay): Walter is re-building schools in New Orleans – working through the maze of Louisiana government agencies and FEMA – his third world country experiences of the past are paying off. I am busy preparing to open over 500 new Dollar General stores in 2009 and helping Jen prepare for a wedding in New Jersey in October



Walter and I are really enjoying our condo in New Orleans and our relaxing weekends together after a hectic week of work – Southwest makes it easy for us to jump back and forth from New Orleans to Nashville in an hour and 20 minutes







helen and carter: Helen is busy at work negotiating real estate deals for Target and Toys R. Us and was successful in bringing Costco in as a new client to the firm. These successes have protected her from several layoffs in the real estate area of the firm even though she is one of the youngest attorneys – go Helen! Carter is busy getting ready for the holiday season and hoping to sell lots of furs – pray for snow in the northeast – Carol and Rob won’t care – they are in sunny Florida this winter.





jen and bentz: Jen will be completing her Masters in Strategic Communications in May and bentz is finishing school at drew university. in addition to grad school, she's working with gay on wedding plans. the date is set for october 9, 2009 in mountain lakes, nj. while walter, gay, helen, carter, jen and bentz will all be honky tonkin in nashville for christmas, gay's promise was to not play any "cheesy country music" for the holidays!!

carol and rob are now getting settled in florida for the winter.

dustin has been traveling in europe and has just returned to the states. he's been in london, germany, turkey, italy, milan and morocco! he is now home and studying for the GRE.

will is in charleston and working for an event company. he makes time to paint on the side.

brooks is in denver and he probably won't be seen again until ski season is over!

me'me' and tabb (from me'me'): Brooks is having a great time at Georgia (surprise surprise) and making good grades. For the past year he's been the Social Chair for Parent Events and he's just been nominated to be in charge of fraternity Finances for this next year. He said he'd love to get the position as that is his Major. Edward is waiting to hear from colleges but mainly one. He's been having a ball (no pun) playing football....he's in the newspaper a lot, has been interviewed twice with the last interview being played during half time!!! Every Thursday he has treats and goodies delivered from his football girls.
Big Tabb is cutting up and making trouble for anyone he can, as usual....although he's pretty beat after he comes home from work in this scary and down market ..... we are hoping for the best on that front and making some lifestyle changes. I'm having a blast working on Spirit Committee for the football players with two adorable friends and doing lots of Sr. year business. We're counting our blessings everyday and very grateful to have such a large,fun, supportive family and jobs!!!!!

tabb (from jtn jr): works for a small real estate developer in atlanta. they develop condos and apartments with retail on the ground floor. We have all of our buildings LEED certified. (Green certification for energy and environmental standards) I work on the property management and also assist in chasing new developments.
A bunch of friends from college are up here and i live with 2 fraternity brothers of mine.
I travel as much as I can but I love Atlanta and will probably stay here for at least 3-5 years and see no reason to leave. I cook almost every night, and I really enjoy doing that. It can range from gourmet mac & cheese to rotissere chicken to grilled cheeses to greasy mexican food:) good times!

catherine and rodney (from catherine): Kathryn is working at the Alleman Center. She graduated from high school in May. She works from 8 to 2:30. A nurse comes in the morning to get her ready and stays with her all day. At work, she does various jobs, but Alleman's biggest contract is with a restaurant to package gumbo bowls and gumbo spoons....packages of 10 each, and they are sold in WalMarts all over the South, well, wherever people eat gumbo! They also get all the mardi gras beads from Goodwill and untangle them, sort them and re-sell them in a couple of months. She loves the job and it is so perfect for her.

Victoria is a freshman at Acadian High School and is doing great. 4.0 for the 1st 6 weeks. Meeting new friends. Getting involved in clubs. Active in church, too.

Rodney is fine, too. Just rocking along here. We usually have lunch together several times a week. I run errands, or bible study, or do house work or stuff, then have lunch, then come home b/c the kids will be home from school!


emily, kevin, will & abbie joined the barbatos at the beach for thanksgiving. lou and john visited washington, d.c. this fall and brought fun treats from louisiana:)

Robert, Johane, Edward and Matthew (from Robert): The crew is good. Eduardo and Matt are making the honor roll, playing soccer, karate, basketball...you name it. We have a new dog, Scamp, to buddy up with rogue. They are a cute pair.
Matthew and I went white water rafting this Summer, and Ed Bayou and I went fishing with Pat Man and Lou Babe as well. The family went to Michigan on July 4th with friends as our big summer getaway. And of course, our Telluride trip to see Max and Lynn Young was great- (especially since I (locksley) got to hang out with the cousin crew for a few days! we jammed out on the piano, drums and guitar, shot cans with the bb gun in the backyard, went out to eat and kind of got to know each other).

paul, katherine, andrew and mary (from katherine):

the kids are pretty busy. andrew's still playing soccer. he's started 5th grade with a huge smile on his face cause it's really the best year at graland. mary is working her tail off and playing field hockey. she is taking piano as well. we are going to Isla Mujeres for christmas with friends.

facebook can be a time consuming place if you let it, but it's also a great way for our big family to stay in touch. the following people are on facebook and it's been great to keep in touch. i think carol gets the award for the best profile picture:)

carol lord
locksley blaylock
eric blaylock
cullen barbato
sarah r. barbato
lindley palmer
greg palmer
sarah b. barbato
tabb neblett
jen aertker
dustin lord
will lord
brooks lord
mary aertker
brooks may
miriam aertker (german cousin)--recently got in touch. she's 28 and lives in yemen!


wishing you all safe travels and a merry christmas!!

love

locksley