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| September/October 2002 |
| We are settling slowly into life in Benicia CA. The children are actually registered in soccer (mind, it took considerable effort on the part of the family manager, I can tell you!). Aaron is playing for Diablo Valley Soccer Club, who are located in Concord, on the other side of the Carquinez Straits (read toll bridge) in a U-19 boys team, the RAGE. They play and practice once a week. Madeleine is involved with the Benicia Youth Soccer League and plays every week, with practices twice a week. Stephen is also playing, and improving his Spanish-language soccer vocabulary with Benicia Arsenal, a team in the East Bay Senior Soccer League. What's Riva doing? Aside from maintaining her websites, she is walking the dog, managing the household, and having a sabbatical year from community work (Do you really believe this?) Oh yes, she has joined Melody Choral, a women's choir in Vallejo. That was something that she promised herself this year...no, she is NOT on the Executive! |
| Riva's brother Will and his fianc�e Gaylene tied the knot on October 13, 2002. The wedding took place at Num-Ti-Jah Lodge in the blue Canadian Rockies. |
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| Congratulations to Aaron who has been awarded a Certificate of Excellence for scoring 100% in the History 414 exam, the history of Quebec and Canada. The Certificate is awarded by the Provincial Assocation of Social Studies Teachers (PASST) and the History & Geography Task Force (HGTF). The Certificate was presented on Nov. 7 at the Palais des Congr�s in Montreal...we received it by mail. |
| November 2002 |
| Rita Crook Davies & Peter DeSadeleer of Leeds, Yorkshire have tied the knot! Where: Leeds Registry Office When: November 20, 2002 |
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| March 2003 |
We spent the holiday season with visitors - Stephen's parents Thelma & Ronnie Harrison spent six weeks with us, trying to understand California winter (just like we are doing...!) We went sightseeing - Point Reyes, San Francisco, Napa,Oakland Hills - and spent much time watching soccer indoors and out. Riva's cousin Laurie Vender (from LA) spent Xmas Day (cold and wet!) in Benicia, and her Uncle Sidney and Harriet made the trip in early January. Riva's mother Massey was scheduled to arrive on Jan. 6, but she was taken ill at the airport and hopefully will come in Fall 2003... |
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| Hear Ye Hear Ye It's official!! Aaron and Madeleine will be acquiring TWO NEW COUSINS this year. They are positively thrilled, although the age difference is about a generation...! Jack's wife Deborah Gilsig is due in late June... and Will's wife Gaylene Borgstede is due in late August... should be a busy summer.... Riva and Stephen will finally become Aunty Riva and Uncle Stephen...they've been waiting for this for years! |
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| Congratulations to Madeleine, who has made the Benicia middle School Honour Roll this semester. She receives a certificate and the proud parents get a bumper sticker...(Hey, this is California, where your car tells the world about you...!) Commiserations Madeleine's athletic life is on hold until mid-late April. In her penultimate indoor soccer game on February 22, she fell against the boards and broke both bones in her left arm (Colle's Fracture). She has a date with Orthopedics every week and wears a full size blue fibreglass cast...it cramps her style, but she's handling it well. |
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| December 2002/January 2003 |
| February 2003 |
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| April/May 2003 |
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| Congratulations to Madeleine, who has started running again at Benicia Middle School - she is one of the sprinters on the 8th grade team. She brought home two medals on May 2 - 4th place in the 200 and in the 4x100 relay. She's only been training for two weeks - her cast came off three weeks ago. |
| Riva spent the first weekend of May down in Southern California at Newport Beach (in the rain, mind you!) at the California Women's Chorus Convention, where she sang her little heart out (and can't get that music out of her head!). It was three days of singing with 200 other women, from choirs from across the state. Good times! Her father would have gotten a real kick out of it too...She has also bitten the bullet and agreed to be the Secretary for Melody Choral for the 2003-2004 season...time to start getting back into the community... Lili now has a fence to keep her in the yard, something she has needed for years. Unfortunately, she is more concerned about the cats next door, and spends most of her time standing immobile by the fence, staring at the bemused cats...She is much more responsive now, coming most of the time when called. A real pleasure! |
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| Summer 2003 |
| So far, this summer seems to be a procession of trips to Montreal. Aaron spent 6 days in Shawinigan/Montreal, where he received a scholarship from the Canadian Club of Shawinigan/Grand-M�re (May 22) and participated in his former class's graduation ceremony (and party) at Shawinigan High School. Riva spent 9 days back East, enjoying 5 days at the Vermont cottage and then helping Vivianne Jutras and Roger Pozier of Trois-Rivi�res celebrate their wedding on June 10, 2003. What a beautiful evening it was! and what a birthday present for Vivianne. True to form, she looked positively radiant! Riva stayed overnight at Les Flor�s, and visited very briefly with friends in Shawinigan and Trois-Rivi�res. Some people weren't home, so she'll see them next time. The old town looks good - a Walmart is going up on the Dupont site...it will change the commercial dynamics of Shawinigan, no doubt about it... Madeleine leaves for Camp on July 19 (another ticket),,, once Aaron has finished his summer World Civilization course at the end of July, he'll leave for a short visit to Shawinigan...another ticket - school starts on August 25... Stephen is very busy at EDA and at home he is working on the sprinkler systems - soon the whole yard will be wired, and then we'll be in business! Of course, we're all waiting with bated breath for the announcement of that latest member of the family, due in the next week or so... |
| One benefit of living in Northern California is that people come to visit...the Dunn family Ruta (Jaugelis), Jim and Ona dropped in on their way back up North from Disneyworld and Arizona. As always, it was too short a visit, and now we owe them one (and we are close enough to do it!). Where DOES the time go? |
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