Another quiet year bye, but the next one -- we celebrate our 60th wedding anniversary -- here in Brookline at the VFW/Legion hall.

The new year started out well, with a visit from Cori and Pat, bringing young Joshua. Nothing like family!

The winter was hardly like the last one (D.G.), but even so we left early in February for warmer Arizona and a visit with Michael. It was a good visit, though we didn't do much sightseeing. We tried mass at a different church each week, but liked the last one best (Christ the King in Mesa). The weather was indeed moderate, even as the water was undrinkable -- each shopping plaza had drinkable water dispensers (fortunately).

In March we flew to Colorado Springs in time to celebrate the twins' third birthday -- a gala occasion. We were also able to see Patrick parade with the Pike's Peak Highlanders for the St. Patrick's Day celebration in Colorado Springs. Another wonderful family visit.

Returning home, we celebrated Patriots Day at the Devotion House here in Brookline, welcoming William Dawes, who did much better than Paul Revere in alerting the countryside. As Michael was gone, Dan made do alternating between fife and drum.

The William Diamond Muster in Lexington in early May kicked off the Fife & Drum season, but Dan missed Deep River paying a quick visit to Arizona in July. Westbrook was its usual great event, as he paraded and went on stand with Menotomy.

At harvest time, Sean shared the abundance of his farm, replenishing our supply of walnuts, jalapenos, onions, potatoes, pomegranates, etc. We will enjoy them in the months to come.

Stephen paid a quick visit in late October, installing a new bathroom door for us, and then retrieving all his shop tools from storage in Marlboro, loading up a rental truck, and driving back to San Jose.

Annie continues to enjoy her job at Foley Lardner and we continue to enjoy her evening visits by the fire.

We're looking forward to the holidays, and will finish the year at the Holiday Pops, celebrating the 80th birthday of our neighbor Diane Gallagher.

Enjoy the blessings of the season.

Betts & Dan