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12/13/10 - Albuquerque, NM Scott & Caroline's holiday greetings and 2010 Year-in-Review |
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Holiday Greetings to all of our Friends & Family, near and far! 2010 proved to be another busy year for the New Mexico Brookses. We saw an unusually cold, snowy winter here in the mountains of Albuquerque this year, but did get the chance to enjoy a couple of escapes over the winter, to Phoenix (which was unseasonably cold and rainy) in February and to our condo in toasty, sunny Mexico in March, where we visited friends and ate all the foods we miss from our old life. In May, we had the pleasure of attending two beautiful wedding celebrations: Scott’s cousin Ben and his bride Melanie in Massachusetts and dear Albuquerque friends Julia and Jeremy, who tied the knot at a lovely spa retreat in Santa Fe. While on the east coast, we also had a wonderfully enjoyable opportunity to explore Rhode Island, one of the few states neither of us had ever before visited! We wouldn't be the New Mexico Brookses without a couple of home improvement projects thrown in sometime during the year! In addition to having new wood windows installed in the living room and master bedroom, we also did a more budget-friendly remodel of our guest bathroom, with the primary objective of removing the carpet, adding an updated style in the process as well. The hot New Mexico summer was largely spent close to home, where we focused on growing a container garden – mostly basil and tomatoes, cooking and spending time with friends (mostly cooking, eating and drinking!). We once again had a blast tailgating - in black-tie attire, of course - and attending the opening night performance of Madame Butterfly at the sensational Santa Fe Opera. Over the late spring, summer and into the fall, when we weren’t playing tennis, we enjoyed hiking trips to Chaco Canyon, Bandelier National Monument, Taos Ski Valley, the Jemez Mountains and 4th of July Canyon to see some of New Mexico’s only maple trees turn colors (even if we were a tad late), some of which we were pleased to share with our friend and hiking companion Nikki who lives just up the road. Scott was also able to spend a beautiful fall day participating in the annual Tour de Acoma bicycle ride with friends Christopher and Joe, while Caroline, Nikki & Petra spent the day soaking at 10,000 Waves. We closed out the season with a Labor Day trip to the exciting quarter horse races at Ruidoso Downs, a few hours southeast of Albuquerque. We kicked off the fall season with a long-awaited return trip to France in October to visit cousin Amelia and her husband Graham in Paris, in addition to touring northern Burgundy and the Cote de Beaune during the grape harvest and getting a tiny (but delicious!) taste of the Loire Valley. Shortly after returning home, we left on a driving trip to Las Vegas where we successfully surprised Scott’s mom for her 60th birthday. Before we knew it, Caroline’s family arrived in Albuquerque all the way from Michigan in order to celebrate Thanksgiving as a family – something that hasn’t happened in several years and for which we are so very thankful. After so much autumn excitement, we are planning a quiet Christmas at home, with a possible road trip to California between Christmas and New Year’s to take advantage of Scott’s paid holidays. We hope you enjoy our 2010 - The Year In Photos and we look forward to hearing from you in 2011! (Hover over or click on a photo to see the caption.)
Wishing you and yours a joyful holiday season and a happy, healthy and prosperous year in 2011, Caroline and Scott |
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