October 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

I am trying to get started early with our “Seasons Greetings” this year because last year, unless you had email, you did not hear from us. We always enjoy hearing from each of you. And would welcome a visit if you come our way. Be sure and check with us in advance because we do go away a lot.

From November through February, I spent a lot of time with our daughter Carey and her family in California. She was going through a very difficult pregnancy and I helped out with Kyler or wherever I could as needed between Sacramento and Palo Alto. Carey and Greg were advised to have the baby at Stanford in Palo Alto since baby Caden would most likely need surgery right away. So they spent 3 months at the Ronald McDonald House near the University there which was very fortunate. Caden was born January 9 and had surgery on his aorta and his lung and diaphragm when he was 2 weeks old. He coded 4 days later, but was revived right away. He went through numerous procedures during the next 2 months before he was able to go home from the hospital. Poor little guy. But he is very sweet and tolerates a lot. He is thriving, but still getting his nourishment through a g-tube. He is not interested in eating by mouth. You can read all about his progress on Carey’s blog: www.careymcculloch.blogspot.com. So Carey has her hands full with a very active 3 year old and a special needs baby, but she does a marvelous job. Caden goes to several specialist doctors quite regularly. He also has PT and feeding therapy, etc.

Kyler is a busy boy too. He had swimming lessons this summer. Now he is going to a preschool a couple mornings/week He really enjoys that. He has a sense of humor, he loves to sing, he loves his baby brother, and likes to have his own agenda. He is fun.

Shelly has had a very busy year. Her divorce was final in May. She has been doing a lot around her house both inside and outside. She also had a very busy tax season with her work. I took Charli Jo to our house for her spring break from school and then spent about 3 more weeks at her house in Portland area getting her to school and appointments, etc. while Shelly was so busy doing taxes. Charli Jo is taking clarinet lessons and doing very well with that. She is 11 years old and in 6th grade this year. She spends time with Chip a couple once or twice a week which seems to work out well.

Cheryl and Kent are also very busy. Cheryl’s work is going strong, but she needs more help in the hand therapy center. Kent is always busy with his teaching at Whitworth University in Spokane. During his summer break, he worked on getting their basement completed and also built a special tree fort for the kids and all of us to enjoy! He did a great job. They have also been on some campouts this year.

Melissa is 13 years old now and she is in 7th grade. She is a very creative person and enjoys cooking. She has grown a lot during the past year and is taller than I am now. She is beautiful with her blond hair and blue eyes.

Rylan is 10 years old and in 5th grade. He enjoys electronic games, computers, riding his bike, and is learning to play the trumpet.

We are glad that we live near Cheryl’s family and get to see them more often when we are not off on trips someplace.

We enjoyed a lot of company during the summer. All of our kids and grandkids and my sister were here with overlapping times. It is also nice to have a lot of relatives in the Coeur d’Alene, Idaho area that we get to see often.

We did the Los Angeles marathon again for the 24th year, but it was on Memorial Day this year. We are happy that they are having it in March again next year. But it was a big deal to get it changed. We have done only one other marathon this year and that was in Missoula, MT in July. Since we got at least one marathon in each of the 50 states completed in November of 2008, we have not made the effort to do so many this year. Had lots of other things going on anyway. Charles is hoping to do an Ironman Triathlon here in Coeur d’Alene next June. So this summer he got a bike and all the necessary equipment to go with it. He got a wet suit to wear in the cold water of Lake Coeur d’Alene, he also took swimming instruction to learn how to be more efficient. His lungs will always be a problem, but he has been doing well.

We got a new community center in our area in May, and I have been working out at the gym there several times a week when I am here. Also still putting in miles on foot on the streets and trails, etc.

In July we spent a week in Florida and spent time with my Aunt Harriet Lawrence and other family. She was very ill in the hospital while we were there. She had her ups and downs but eventually passed away on Sept 18. We surely miss her. We were glad that we got to see her and also happy that she hung on long enough to celebrate her 70 years of marriage to my Uncle Emery on Sept 2. The rehab care center had a special dinner for them with food that Aunt Harriet requested. She had a difficult time eating much, and most foods did not appeal to her. She had congestive heart and renal failure. She was in the hospital and rehab center for 12 weeks straight. Cousin Alan and wife Sandee were and are excellent support for his parents.

Charles and I had a fabulous trip to Europe for a month. Left home on Aug 21st and spent the next 12 days or so touring in England, Wales and Scotland. We spent one evening on a Thames River cruise in London. Then we traveled to Stonehenge, Plymouth (saw where the Pilgrims left to go to the New World), went to Land’s End and on to St Ives with lovely beaches. Spent some time on the moors and in Prince Charles’ own town called Princetown. Enjoyed a story teller who impersonated Sherlock Holmes.

Other towns we went to were Glastonbury, Wells, Bath, and Bristol. It was most interesting to tour the Roman Baths in the town of Bath. Many famous emperors, etc. visited those baths. We also saw so many ancient castles, cathedrals, churches, and beautiful gardens, and lovely scenery and quaint towns. All the towns were decorated with fresh flowering plants in window boxes, hanging baskets, etc. Really brightened up the drab walls of the buildings. Spent one whole day driving in Wales and seeing the sights and learning about the industrial revolution, going through national park and enjoying the interesting and colorful towns. Had fun on a barge tour of the canals built in 1795-1840. Part of the canal is elevated 38 metres high and 1007 feet long. Several houseboats were on the canals too.

Back in England again, we enjoyed the city of Chester with a walk on the wall and seeing the lovely Cathedral and wonderful gardens. On to Lake Country where we spent some time in Grasmere and went to William Wordsworth family grave behind a little stone church. On to Gretna, Scotland where couples used to come to get married across the border from England where the rules were different and easier to wed at the blacksmith shop centuries ago. A wedding was taking place when we were there that day. Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland where most of the industry is. The scenery in Scotland is so lush and green and very mountainous in the high country. Pastures are inside hedgerows of fences and foliage. Also a lot of stone fences built by French prisoners years ago. Went to Loch Lomond and saw a lot of lakes and waterfalls. There are also some ski areas in Scotland. We took a ferry to Isle of Skye and went to ruins of the Armadale Castle of the MacDonald Clan. Lovely gardens there as well. Back to the mainland via bridge at Kyle. Saw lots of rainbows on our way to Loch Ness. We looked for the “monster” in the water, but only saw a fake monster floating in a pond. Went to Inverness and then on to the mountains and hills which were literally covered in purple heather. Really beautiful. Saw the furry cattle, plenty of sheep and goats and deer.

We went past the Royal Palace in the mountains at Ballater where the royal flag was flying which meant that the Queen was in residence. She spends the month of August there each year. While she is there, tours are offered through Buckingham Palace in London.

At St Andrews we walked along parts of the famous golf course, and then walked around town and visited the ruins of St Andrews Cathedral and the castle. Saw the university where Prince William went to school. It is very windy most of the time in St Andrews right along the sea. Lovely location. On to Edinburgh where we spent a couple nights. We were there for the last performance of the special Edinburgh Military Tattoo, a very special program at the stadium by the big castle. Many different bands, bagpipers, dancers, etc. were there performing. Some came from other countries. Lots of drama and fireworks, etc. We were tucked tightly into the seats at the stadium and could hardly move with such small space, but it kept us warm on that cool evening. Some of the bands were playing Robert Burns’ favorite songs. He was being celebrated for 200 years since his birth. We toured that castle the next day and also went to the Holyrood Palace where Queen Elizabeth and also Prince Charles have living quarters there. Exquisitely furnished. Had fun at a Scottish Folklore song and dance program in Edinburgh too. Really liked Scotland.

On the way to York, we visited the Alnwyk gardens and castle. The best part of the gardens was the fountains and the poison garden. Most of the garden was past its peak that day after a storm and end of the season. The castle was used in the Harry Potter movies. Went through Newcastle and also Washington, England which is where George Washington’s family came from. We enjoyed touring around York and its lovely churches and cathedral and the Roman wall. Saw where Guy Fawkes was born. Also walked on High Petergate street where criminals were flogged and beaten.

Went through James Herriot territory and thought about his funny books. Also saw some of the Sherwood Forest of Robin Hood fame.

Went to Stratford-upon-Avon and saw Anne Hathaway’s cottage and William Shakespeare’s birthplace and home. Very interesting.

Back in London, we went to see the play “Billy Elliot” which we enjoyed. That was the end of our British tour. We were on a bus with about 40 other great people. Many were from Australia, one couple from New Zealand, and several from Canada and even some of us from the USA. So we will keep in touch with some of them.

I must comment on the different types of showers in the hotel bathrooms. We never had 2 alike, so every time we wanted a shower we had to figure out the new system.

From London, we took the chunnel train under the English Channel and went to Paris for several days. We did this on our own and celebrated our 48th anniversary there. We really enjoyed seeing the sights around Paris. We took a cruise on the Seine River and had a tour of the city and out to Versaille with the fabulous museum in the Palace and the gorgeous gardens and fountains and an Austrian village (built special for the young Queen Anne Marie Antoinette) on the 2000 acres.

We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower, the Montparnesse skyscraper, the Arch of Triumph, etc. Went to the largest dept store in France, Galleries Lafayette, with a stained glass dome. Spent several hours in the Lourve and saw the Mona Lisa (we had seen her when she was traveled to Washington, DC about 45 years ago), and many of the famous paintings and statues, etc. There are 10 miles of building to go through, but we did not get to all of it. We took the train one day to see Claude Monet’s home and gardens. Another day we went by train to Brugge, Belgium which is a very interesting medieval town with costumed people. Chocolate shops are very popular there as are Belgium waffles. We did a lot of walking everywhere we went in France. Some days we walked 12 miles. Did not get very much time for exercise on the British tour. After our lovely time in Paris, we were on a 12 day cruise on the Norwegian Jewel which left from Dover, England. Our first port was Copenhagen. We took a tour to Frederickborg Castle and also went to Friedenborg Castle where the crown prince lives in a nearby big house. Later we walked and saw the Little Mermaid and walked around town a bit and through some parks, etc.

The next day we were in port at Waramunde, Germany where we took a 2 ½ hour train trip into Berlin. Several groups from the ship went to Berlin on different tours. We saw pieces of “the wall” which has murals painted on it by real artists. They are celebrating 20 years since the wall came down. Saw a lot of famous places, Tiergarten Park, Victory Column, Gendarmen Market, place were Hitler committed suicide, memorial of Holocaust, Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, place honoring the Hugenots, place where books were burned, parliament buildings, old churches, etc. We had a little time on our own, so we went to the largest department store in Europe: Ka De Wa.or Kaufhaus des Westens. Had lunch at the deli there on 6th floor. The fresh produce was so beautiful–like ready to be photographed for a magazine. Went to Los Angeles Park in Berlin–named for the sister city.

Two days later we docked in Tallin, Estonia which was a delightful city. We were especially fortunate to have a young acquaintance named Rain meet us at the ship and take us on a private tour of the old city and lots of old churches and interesting places to see. Then he took us to his church where he translated the service for us. We met his wife and 2 year old son there as well as others at the church. Then Rain and his family took us to some old monastery ruins out in the country and we had a nice picnic lunch there with them. Later they took us to the Kadriorg Castle and gardens in town. Several wedding parties were in the gardens for pictures. Then it was time for us to leave Tallin and get back on board the ship.

St Petersburg, Russia was our next port. We got to spend 2 days there. The first day we took the double decker bus tour of the city. It was wonderful to see the fantastic old palaces, and churches, St Isak’s Square, Uprising Square, St Peter and Paul Fortress, Russian Cruiser Aurora, Trinity Bridge, Church of Spilled Blood, Winter Palace/Hermitage Museum (it was named Hermitage because Catherine II preferred to be a hermit). We spent a couple hours in the Hermitage with our excellent guide for the day. Liked seeing the works of Renoir, Rembrandt, Raphael, Picasso, Matisse and many many more. The palace/museum is very beautifully ornate. We were also given a little free time to do some shopping and looking around on our own, which is quite unusual. That evening we went to the Russian Folklore Extravaganza, which was very lively and colorful and fun with great costumes, etc. During part of the performance, several of the dancers came into the audience and selected folks to go up and dance with them. Wouldn’t you know, I was selected by one of the tall handsome gentleman. I was on an aisle seat and too easy to get to! Anyway, dancing is not one of my strong points, but it was fun trying!! The second day in St Petersburg, we had wanted to do 2 shorter tours, but it did not work out. The morning tours do not finish in time to do an afternoon tour. So we opted to go to the Peterhof Gardens at the Peterhof Palace in the afternoon. It rained all morning, but by the time we needed to go out for our tour, the rain had stopped. The cascading waterfalls and fountains and the symmetry of the gorgeous gardens are amazing. Peter, the Great, had a good sense of humor. He made some surprise fountains in his garden. If you stepped on a certain stone the fountain might turn on and spray you. Or if you sat on a certain bench, you might suddenly get wet. He was quite the engineer and had the fountains working on gravity and no pumps.

In Helsinki, we had a tour around parts of the city, went to the Rock Church (literally built out of the rock and very unique and beautiful). Saw where the 1940 Olympics were to take place, but cancelled due to the war. But they used the facilities in 1952 for the Olympics then. We went to an open air museum on an island and saw many old buildings that had been moved into this area from all over Finland. It was interesting to see how the farmers lived long ago. At a little café there, we were served the “obligatory pastry”. They say everyone needs to try their pastry, so a certain type was always served to the guests who came for a visit. It was very good and we were happy to oblige! After our tour, we walked around town, found a place we could do free email. We walked a few miles back to the ship afterward.

We opted for a rooftop tour in Stockholm. Went up to the roof through the attic of one of the big government buildings. There was a metal track that went up and down on the roof with an ankle high cable to which we were attached with a strap from the harness we were required to wear. Also wore helmets. Our group was divided into 3 groups, so we had only 7 people in our group. We spent 1 ½ hours on the roof and got great views of the whole city and area around. Then we went on a ground tour of the old town and saw the changing of the guard at the palace, etc. Again we walked back to the ship. Probably about 3 miles or so. Stockholm was the last of our ports. We had 4 days at sea. Those days we could relax or just do things on board. Charles and I walked/ran on specified decks, and we also worked out in the fitness center. We went to informative classes and demonstrations on various topics, read, and ate a lot! The evening entertainment was always different–mostly musical groups or individuals. Had a very good ventriloquist one night. The Norwegian Jewel has freestyle dining, meaning you can eat whenever you want 24 hours a day, and you do not have to dress up for dinner like you do on most other cruise ships. The cruise was 3328 nautical miles long from Dover back to Dover. When we docked in Dover, we took the option of being bussed to Heathrow to catch our flight to San Francisco and then on to Spokane from there. It was a great trip and we enjoyed it all very much. We had been in London and Copenhagen on previous trips, but otherwise everyplace we went was new to us.

Came home to beautiful summer weather for the first week of autumn!

Our plans for the holidays have not fully fallen into place as yet, but will try to have some celebrating with each of our daughters and families. I spent a week in Sacramento helping with and enjoying our 2 grandsons. Caden got sick and couldn't breathe while Carey and Greg were trying to have a relaxing family vacation at Lake Tahoe. So they had to come home early and Caden was hospitalized for several days while he was tested and treated. During that time I spent a long weekend staying with Charli Jo in Portland while Shelly, Cheryl and Carey tried to have a special sisters' weekend at Tahoe. Caden's hospitalization interfered wtih that a bit, but Greg stayed with him while the sisters went to Tahoe.

In January, we will be spending most of the month in India with Kent and Cheryl and Melissa and Rylan and 14 of Kent’s students for an educational experience. Should be fun.

We hope you are having a happy autumn, and we want to wish you a wonderful holiday season and hope that 2010 will be a great year filled with God’s richest blessings. In God we trust.

With Love and Best Wishes,

Janie/Jane and Charles/Chuck Cutting

792 E Northwood Court

Hayden, Idaho 83835-8117

USA

Home Phone: 208 772 4253

Charles’ Cell: 208 651 2841

Janie’s Cell: 208 651 3781

Email: jecutting@juno.com Please send us your email address if you have one.