Happy Holidays
from Leo & Steffi

It is hard to believe that 2008 is almost over.  It seems just like yesterday we were complaining about the cold weather last winter and  now it’s back!  We had our 1st snow November 21st.  The only thing that makes it easier is that we see Florida has been unseasonably cool too!

Our beautiful grandchildren are growing so fast.  Megan is now a junior in high school and looking forward to the college selection process.  We hear lots of schools being mentioned from Duke to Elon, to Davidson, Wake Forrest and even Mary Mount in New York City.  She should be in line for some scholarships with her outstanding GPA.   Megan now has her license and drives a little Neon around town. 

Ashley has changed the most of the three kids this past year.  She grew a couple inches, started with braces and is beautiful as ever.  As with all of the girls, her grades are straight A’s and very involved in outside activities.  Ashley has become quite a cook.  She has taken several cooking courses and Leo relies on her for cooking tips on a regular basis. 

Jenna, is full of life and on the go every waking minute of the day.  She had another successful soccer season and excels like her sisters in school.  Jenna started playing the drums last year.  She was the youngest student her teacher had ever had wanting to play the drums.  He took her on as a “lets see what happens”.  Well it has happened and she is ready for a full set of drums.

This past summer Tammy and Derek kept their promise to the kids and had a beautiful pool installed in their extremely large backyard.  It seems whenever we went over to visit the girls were swimming away.

Speaking of Tammy and Derek, they are both doing very well.  Moving to North Carolina and working for Harris Teeter has been a great career move.  Derek has enjoyed much success and grown within the company.  He is now co-manager of the new, high volume Davidson store.

With the girls all in school, Tammy has gone back to work full-time as a Social Worker and continues to teach Jazzercise.  To be young!!

Steffi and Leo are doing well.  We recently were in Sedona, AZ and the Grand Canyon for vacation.  We also made several trips to Western Carolina Mountains.  Steffi continues to work, although she has cut back to a 4-day week.  Retirement is just around the corner.   She is very busy outside of work with her book club, serving on the Social committee of the community and keeping Leo in line.  She also is committed to keeping Kohl’s in a profit mode.  She is doing her part to help the economy.

Leo fills his time by working 8 – 10 hours a week at Lowe’s, volunteering as Treasurer of the Mooresville Artist Guild, keeping the house clean and cooking.  He continues to paint and has had success in selling several of his pieces. He won four awards this year and participated in several exhibits.  The biggest change with Leo is no golf.  He hurt his foot in the spring and it looks like surgery is the next step.

Shortly after we loss Lillian, Cotton, our beloved dog of 16 years passed away.

During the year we have had several visitors.  Linda and Warren came up from Sarasota, FL. Tom and MaryAnn Berkey came down from their Maggie Valley home to spend some time before heading back to Florida.  Steffi’s sister Debbie has been down a couple of times.  Granny Lo (Derek’s Grandmother) and her niece came down from New York   And just this past week, Jill and her children spent the night on their way to West Virginia.

So you can see, we had a full year and are looking forward to another great holiday season, we're praying that 2009 brings us good health, and the stock market comes back!

Merry Christmas!!