1998 was a very good year for us. We vacationed, reached a few milestones and I don't believe we had even one trip to the emergency room. Something of a departure for us.
For his 21st birthday, I visited Samuel where he is stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He is doing well and has just about two years left on his enlistment.
Josh and Rose graduated high school side-by-side on May 28th. For a graduation present Rosanna's Grandpa and Grandma Lloyd treated her, and me, to a visit to Washington D.C. and the First Lady's luncheon in May. Sam was very dissappointed that he was not able to make it home for the graduation ceremony, but a few days later he arrived to go on a long-overdue family vacation with us.
It was Brian's idea to charter a catamaran and I choose the British Virgin Islands for the locale. It was a wonderful trip and to make it even better, the kids' cousin Leslie was able to join us - Rosanna felt she needed another female on board besides her mom. We sailed the B.V.I. for ten sunny days. Everyone learned something about sailing, but Rose and Leslie specialized in being `deck jewelry'. We had a skipper on board for a few days; Captain Ron taught Brian the nuances of sailing a catamaran, and showed the older kids where to find the nightlife. And, find it they did. After Captain Ron left we had a few problems, one even sent Joshua high up to the top of the mast in the bosun's chair to untangle the halyard. Remember, Josh went sky-diving last year for his birthday, and again this year, but even so, he was happy to come back to the deck after swaying in the breeze 50 feet up.
Vince Larrabure was one of our house/dog-sitters while we were on vacation and when we returned he was in need of a place to live so he moved into Sam's room, a.k.a. the guest room, while he attends college.
At the end of July Brian took Cameron and Seth to the fly-in at Oshkosh, Wisconsin along with his dad and our friend Ray Warren who flew over from the U.K. While they were reveling in airplanes I had a wonderful visit from Cheryl from Vancouver. She and I did a whirlwind tour of Northern California. I had a great time, but it went by too fast.
Josh and Rose started college in August, Cameron is in his junior year of high school, and Seth is in the fifth grade in year-round school. However, the really big news of autumn of 1998 was Jim and Jackie's 50th wedding anniversary. Brian and I had talked his parents into letting us throw a party for them, so with Jackie's sister Sherry's help we invited family and friends for dinner and dancing in San Francisco on November 21st. We had a great time and got to visit with people we don't get to see nearly often enough.
A few days after the party we celebrated Thanksgiving with my family at our house and then Brian and I spent a few days alone in Yosemite. And now, when we're not busy with holiday activities, Brian and I are dealing with the paperwork, inspections, and fal-der-al associated with buying a piece of property on which we hope to build a house.
We hope you had a great year, and that 1999 is all you hope it will be.
Connie and Brian Lloyd & Family
Would love to hear from you. Drop us a line at:
connie@lloyd.com
brian@lloyd.com
cam@lloyd.com
samrobert@aol.com
Some of you have asked for Sam’s address, here it is.
PV2 Sam Robertson
SVC 3/18 FA
H-13
Fort Sill, OK 73503
