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HOPE changed to a new department at the Academies and is now supporting arms control instead of public health. Same long meetings, same crucial need for coffee, but less tedious discussions. All the family were briefly together at her niece Tessa’s wedding-including her sister Faith, the first time together in too many years--a wonderful occasion! AND, she is now grandmother of TWO-Jacob and Gloria’s son Hudson was born in November! He and Constantine bring her such joy! |
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AARON has had a busy year working and traveling as he usually does. This spring and summer he spent a lot of time with his girlfriend Kip, in Tartu, Estonia where she was studying. In the summer they made the move, complete with three bunnies, to Limerick, Ireland--where Kip is pursuing a master's degree. When not in Europe, Aaron is working away in DC, and still grumpy that 2018's record breaking rains made fishing impossible. |
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ARABELLA had a year full of firsts! To name just a few-she went to Peru and Machu Pichu, flew first class, did her first yoga retreat, her first meditation retreat, finally went to Moab. Utah, 4 wheeled. She got her wisdom teeth taken out, learned how to swing dance, hosted thanksgiving, signed up for class pass and tried all sorts of new yoga, spin and Pilates classes, did the Manitou Incline amongst many other hikes for the first time! She also cleaned out the entire garage, house, closet, and deleted 70,000 EMAILS. A great year indeed! |
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This year, Dino got his first frequent flyer miles. ALEC and BEATRICE also accrued their own - occasionally they were even on the same flight. They went to their usual haunts in Ios and Savannah, were part of a wedding in a Dutch castle, and got stranded in Santorini by a ferry strike.
Back in Brooklyn, they've graduated from nanny share (sigh) and moved on to daycare with Big Kids. The squab has summarized the year for them: "Dino's hotcidercoffeetea....(sip) ...needs some bobun." |
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This year, GLORIA and JACOB were blessed by the arrival of their son, Hudson Lawrence Robbins. He was born on November 12th and is an adorable little baby. Fortunately for the parents, Hudson is a champion sleeper (for now). Also, some stuff happened before November (Gloria and Jacob gained two cats and got married). The rest is a blur. |
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This year JOY took up a new job at the University of Leeds, leaving Bradford behind. Her new role is a combination of teaching English for Academic Purposes and leading on digital learning initiatives. This has been a great move career-wise but also the change in commute has allowed her to give up her Leeds city center flat and move in with LAWRENCE (and the house rabbit, Jeff Vader) as the university is just a 20 minute walk away. So, not so much cycling anymore, but as soon as they finish doing up the basement and can actually get at the bikes again, this may change. All the house fixing-up means that it is now a lovely place to visit, and a few good weekends were spent hosting Lawrence's old university friends, Joy's dear friend from her Master's at Essex, and even Lawrence's mom - her fist visit to Leeds in 10 years! The American side of the family has not visited yet, a shortcoming that they no doubt feel most keenly and will of course seek to redress in 2019. Lawrence's dad passed away from pancreatic cancer in April, a shocking loss to all; we are grateful for the small kindness that he lived far beyond his initial diagnosis. Amongst all this, Joy and Lawrence also stayed in his family's cottage in Wales and didn't get lost hiking this time, saw family in New York and surrounds for Joy's cousin Tessa's wonderful wedding, joined Lawrence's mom on a 'glow walk' to raise money for the hospice that cared for his dad, went vegan, took life drawing classes, and tried many many gins. |