Merry Christmas 2019 and Happy New Year 2020

December 12, 2019

carolle.trembley@gmail.com and

Eclectecon@gmail.com

London, Ontario

Season’s Greetings from Carolle and John

Carolle and John at Louise and Bill's Wedding, Nov. 17

Miles Nicholas Palmer

 We have a new grandchild!

Miles Nicholas Palmer was born to Laura and Matthew on September 21^st! Laura is off on parental leave from 3M, but she and Matthew are sharing some of the parental leave so that Matthew will be able to be at home with them some of the time, too. They both love their jobs at 3M.

Matthew’s older daughter, Cordelia, is in her third year at university, acing modern languages. During this past year she and her partner, Amber, moved in together. Cordelia expects to finish university in a little over a year and then go on to teachers’ college.

Phebe, Matthew’s younger daughter, is back on track with her schooling, earning As and A+s, and she is now enrolled in a special program at university where she can finish her high school credits and begin taking university courses. She loves doing all the independent research. Her partner, Nick, is in his second year of a computer science program and will surely have numerous job opportunities when he finishes.

Our daughter, Rachael, her partner, Jamie, and their two cats have moved into a larger apartment and are enjoying the extra space. Rachael gave up her supervisor job at Freshco, where the hours were unbearably irregular. She is now privately helping people declutter their homes, something Rachael has always been good at! and she’s starting a new job at Sobeys this week. Meanwhile Jamie has a job in with a packaging firm in South London.

Rachael’s older daughter, Kayla, struggled this past year in Oshawa and has moved back to London. She is getting back on her feet now and using her winning personality to sell furniture again.

Paytyn in her unicorn costume
at Shoeless Joe's

Paisley teasing Carolle
with a toothbrush

Rachael’s younger daughter, Veronica, has her hands full with Paytyn (5) and Paisley (2 and ½). Veronica’s partner, Jodie, does concrete work most of the year but then looks for side jobs in the winter. Paytyn is in senior kindergarten, and Paisley is action unstoppable. We love getting together with them all whenever we can.

Elise and Lara at LegoLand

Jacob and Melinda bought a house in Mississauga, Ontario this past year. Melinda is happy to be in smaller workplace and closer to family than when they were in Houston, and Jacob is working flat out with a small database development firm. Their two daughters, Lara (11) and Elise (nearly 8) are in different schools and taking dance and music lessons, along with swimming (Elise) and taekwondo (Lara). We love having them all close enough that we can visit more often. Whenever possible, John insists on going over to be with the girls when they have days off from school.

       

Carolle loves being retired. She watches lots of tennis, curling, and other sports, as well as all the space, nature, and other science shows she can find. And of course Carolle loves having the children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren over to visit whenever possible. She also gets together now and then for lunch, scrabble, and discussions with some of her friends in London. Carolle has continued her knitting, and this year she made more fleece blankets for Miles (of course!) and other friends and relatives. Her health issues make it somewhat difficult for Carolle to travel, but we still manage to get over to Mississauga to visit the ex-Texans now and then, and we love getting out frequently for lunch or dinner at various restaurants.

Meanwhile, John is slowing down his activity level a bit. He stills does some mystery dinner theatre shows, plays French horn with the Encore band, and plays bridge weekly with some friends. He also presented a paper on homelessness at a conference this fall. And lately he has been doing even more writing. His novel, 2605, has been well-received and during 2019, he wrote some mystery dinner theatre scripts. He recently finished a draft of Susan’s Story, a companion novel to 2605, but says it needs much more editing before he publishes it, and he is working on a mystery novel based on one of his scripts.

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year (2020!)

Merry Christmas, 2018

John and Carolle

Carolle Trembley & John Palmer
#602, 19 King Street
London, Ontario, N6A 5N8
eclectecon@gmail.com
carolle.trembley@gmail.com

December 8, 2018

Hello there,

Merry Christmas. What a year it has been for our family with so many changes and almost everything has been positive, indeed wonderful.

Elise and Lara

   First, Jacob, Melinda, Lara and Elise all moved from Houston, Texas to Mississauga, Ontario in early June this year. We are all so pleased to have them so near that regular visits are doable. The girls got a month of schooling in, and met and made friends. Melinda is enjoying her job and Jacob is doing free lance computer consulting. One of our favorite things to do is to take the train (first class) to Mississauga to see them all. First class involves free liquor and meals. Carolle loooooves trains, but then her grandfather used to work for the railway when she was a kid. John’s proud immaturity (“you are never too old to be a kid”) shows up very quickly with the girls, as he loves playing their games with them. He and Elise and Lara built 2 snowmen and went sledding with Jacob in the newly fallen snow when we were there last. And we all had a great time learning and playing new kids’ games in front of the fireplace.

Matthew and Laura

   Matthew and Laura were married at a lovely ceremony in July. Phebe and Cordelia were bridesmaids. Laura’s Romanian parents attended. Phebe sang and played songs with her ukelele, and Cordelia read some of her writings. After the meal and speeches, everyone danced. It was a great time. Several weeks later, they also had a marriage ceremony in Romania with Laura’s family and friends. Matthew had learned enough Romanian to hang in on conversations, and he also found an app for his phone that translates in the present. Matthew and Laura both work at 3M in London, where Matthew was recently promoted.

Cordelia

   Cordelia is in her second year of University at Western and is loving it. She took extra courses in the summer and is carrying a heavy load. For extra money, she is an awesome tutor with the most interesting kids. She needs the money because she is planning to study in Italy next summer.

Phebe and Nick

   Phebe and Nick moved into their own apartment in October. In the first month, their experience with the landlord left a lot to be desired, but they are enjoying having their own place. Nick is taking computer courses at Fanshawe College. Phebe has signed up for more education in the adult education realm. She and Carolle are going to work on some crocheting.

Paisley

Paytyn

   Rachael is doing well and has been promoted to a supervisory position in her job with Freshco. Veronica is kept busy with Paytyn and Paisley. And Jodie’s job is going well, though sometimes his hours pile up. Still, more hours mean more money, so that is good. Paytyn started Junior Kindergarten this year and Veronica and Paisley get to walk her to and from school each day. Paytyn seems to enjoy school and is making more friends. Paisley keeps on smiling!!

Jodie and Veronica

Brandon and Kayla

   Kayla is living in Whitby with her partner, Brandon, and they see his son, Jacob, on weekends. She has a part-time job at a pet store but is still trying for a full-time job. Lucky us, we get to see her more often now compared to when she lived in Regina.







   John has written and published his first novel, which has been very well received. It is called 2605 and is available on Amazon (“hint, hint,” John says). He loves writing and has begun a second book. John is still in the acting business, with many a mystery dinner theatre scheduled for the next month or two. Check him on Facebook if you want to see photos of some of his characters. He also acted out the first chapter of his book in the One Act Festival in London.




   Carolle is gathering a collection of recipes which fit the Atkins Diet, and has added riced frozen cauliflower to the menu in place of pasta, but her best recipes are still Red Pepper Soup and Carrot Cake. She is still working on knitting some scarves for friends. She now has a walker, which means she can walk to nearby restaurants for lunch/brunch and we don’t have to drive everywhere.


   We have had a full and interesting year. In October we had a great party with friends and family for John’s 75th birthday. Carolle still says her age is “almost 80,” after her 78 th birthday this year. These days we recognize the aging symptoms but still are in awe at what a wonderful life we have. We hope you also have days of wonder and we wish you a Happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year.


with hugs
from John and Carolle

Merry Christmas, 2017

Carolle Trembley & John Palmer         

John and Carolle

                            

#602, 19 King Street

London, Ontario, N6A 5N8

eclectecon@gmail.com

carolle.trembley@gmail.com

December 5, 2017.

Hello                                                                                   

         Holy Cow, the temperature outside this week rose to +16. And they call this winter???  We can take it.  I’d better not press the issue too much.  We have always had a winter season with lots of cold weather and a ton of snow.  I expect we will get our share this year too. 

 

Gramps/John as Randy Hans

        So, what’s the action at our place these days?  Well, if you follow John on his Facebook page, you will get a view of some of our eatin’-out meals and some of his costumes for mystery dinner theatres.  This is the best season for them.  Firms hire the mystery dinner folks for their staff Christmas parties and get togethers at this time.  Carolle prefers to stay at home and currently is working on knitting at least one new scarf for someone.  In between times, we both have regular lunches and card game get togethers with our friends.

 

         We are both struck by the difficulties encountered in aging.  We discovered that both of us have lost about 3” height since we started our ‘shrink chart’ a few years ago.  Carolle has begun to answer “I’m almost 80,” when her age is questioned.  We still feel we have  a wonderful life, but sometimes the restrictions and pain make it more difficult.  Carolle has bought a walker, as she has trouble walking more than a couple of blocks—especially uphill.  We both have had canes ready for quite a while now.  We don’t seem to need them much, thank goodness, but it feels safe to have them.

Veronica with Paytyn and Paisley

Jodie with Paisley and Paytyn

         Lots of movement in the family this year.  One of our favorite photos is of Veronica in the hospital bed with Paytyn and our newest great granddaughter, Paisley.  That girl smiles almost all the time.  The two girls are very good together.  Well, they have great parents.  Jodie has finally found a job which seems fair to him and reimburses him for all the work he does.

Brandon and Kayla

         Kayla and her partner, Brandon, moved from Regina, Saskatchewan to Vaughan, Ontario this year, and both were able to transfer jobs.  They found a nice apartment and see his son, Jacob, often. Because she is within a couple of hours of London, we are lucky to see Kayla more often. Rachael also has a new apartment which everyone loves.  And she has a good part-time job.

          

Matthew and Laura

          

Matthew and Laura became engaged this year while in Romania on vacation visiting Laura’s family and friends.  They will marry next July.  And they bought a new house, which is palatial and beautiful.   

Phebe

Cordelia

Phebe moved in with them, and she is now looking for a job.  You go Phebe!!  Cordelia has begun her first year at Western University and is loving it (well, mostly.  One course doesn’t turn her on that much, but she is keeping current.)  How wonderful it is to see her smile when talking about University.   

Jacob and Melinda

Elise and Lara, first day of school

Jacob and Melinda and Lara and Elise are doing well in Houston.  Hurricane Harvey hit them this year.  We were so impressed seeing the water up to the entrance of their garage.  Luckily it didn’t get into the garage or the house.  There was so much water that they were cooped in at home for several days and say they were quite relieved when the water started to go down and they could get to their schools and jobs again.       

        

        

Next week we fly to Edmonton to have an early ‘Christmas dinner’ at Kristi’s and David’s—a tradition we have missed for the last several years.  We will get to see Carolle’s sister and her wonderful family there. There is already snow in Edmonton. Well, what would you expect?

Earlier this year, Laura invited us for ‘Christmas’ at their new house.  So, on Boxing Day, Laura and I will let John and Matthew take Phebe and Cordelia to one of the Boxing Day sales starting at 5:30 or 6 am while we stay curled up in bed.  After that, the family will come together at their house for our Christmas celebration. 

So, 2017 has been an interesting year for us and we have landed here still walking and talking and having fun with family and friends.  We hope you have had a year as interesting and that you will have a Christmas celebration with family at your sides.  And we hope next year is wonderful for you.

      Merry Christmas and Happy New year!

     with love from Carolle and John