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2011 Season's Greetings from the Illinois Dooleys

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A Turning of Another Year

2011 has ended and 2012 has begun

Dear Family and Friends,

House Snow           I have been trying to write a Dooley Family Holiday Letter for the past couple of weeks. Each time I start I get distracted by some current doing or pursuing a detail from earlier in the year. What it amounts to is that we have had a very busy and overall good year.

          The basic scheme of our lives is that Jeff continues as one of the athletic trainers at Lake Forest High school. I am still an adjunct instructor of anthropology at the College of DuPage. (a community college). Carol is in the middle of her junior year at Beloit College. Sar is in her last year of osteopathic medical school living in Canton Ohio; and James and Crystal are still with the Coast Guard at Juneau Alaska. 2010 ended with After CommissioningJeff and I traveling back from our wonderful visit in Juneau (thanks you guys!) and I guess that set the theme for 2011 which included lots of travel.

          The big news of the year is that on February 10 Sar and Jon welcomed son Jonathan “Jack” Nele Sebby into this world at 4:13am. Jeff and I were at their house with the dogs awaiting the arrival phone call! We returned yesterday from spending Christmas with them and they are doing very well. Jack is 10 1/2 months old, crawling all over, flirting with walking — I think the step count is now 9; and making sounds that will morph into understandable words over the next few months. We got to see Jon and Jack a lot inBaby Jack August thru October as they were staying with Jon’s family about 20 minutes from here while Sar did a month of medical rotations in Norfolk, Virginia navy hospital; a month here; and a final month at San Diego naval hospital. By November they were ready to get back to their own house in Canton OH and requested that family please come to them instead of their traveling again.

          In June James flew from Juneau; met Jeff at James and JackO’Hare; they drove to Ohio to meet Jack; then back the next day for James to attend the wedding of a best pal from high school ; then back to Juneau. In July he had some meetings in California and Jeff was able to fly out there to spend some time with him.

          Other travel of the year is that I have been to Maine five times to spend time with Mum. Carol, Sar, Jon, and Jack were able to be with me portions of the time. On July 3 Mum got to meet great-grand son Jack!! She turned 91 in March and continues in assisted living just a stone’s throw from her childhood summer home and then retirement years home.Jack in Maine Carol has a coast guard boy friend, Andrew, who graduated from the academy in May and is now stationed at Portsmouth, NH. She has been able to visit him several times including being at his graduation. She spent much of the summer with Sar, Jon, and Jack helping them.  I could go on with other aspects of our year but will end here and say …

          We wish you and yours all the very best for all of 2012!!

 

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Merry Christmas