Dear Family and Friends,

In the likeness of Charles Dickens – It was the best of years, it was the worst of years, it was the spring of Hope, it was the winter of Despair, it was a year that brought about momentous occasions, it was a year that brought about tremendous losses. We hope this year has found those around us blessed with success, happiness and lots of time with the Flindt Family (a true blessing). Nevertheless, another year for the Flindt Family finds itself at an end, like Alice in wonderland; and the beginning of many family letters to come has subsequently arrived.

Luis and Julie’s year began on the beaches of Guadalajara, Mexico. Since much of Luis’ family resides in this area it was a good chance for Julie to meet them. Also, we had a wonderful engagement party for the bride and groom and met Luis’ family. This party can best be described in one phrase – “I’m melting!” Special thanks go out to Heather Williams for our fond memories of Luis and Julie’s engagement party. This was only the beginning of the good times, though. We all pitched in, or were forced into indentured servitude, to piece together Luis and Julie’s wedding. We have to acknowledge Kathi Olson and Priscilla Williams for all their help with the wedding. It was a grand spectacle that will always be remembered: first, because Julie was the first to get married; and second, because we finally got rid of her – sucker Luis! After enjoying a vacation in the Bahamas catching up on a lot of missed sleep, Luis moved in with Julie and immediately began to remodel the inside of the home. The house can be found with new tile, paint, carpet, furniture… lets us just say they did not leave much out. Jokes continue to be made, but no children have arrived; hopefully Luis and Julie don’t let Chuck and Jeanne down on their only hope for a grandchild.

The beginning of the year came with Mai-Tai’s furnished with those cute little umbrellas and a beach full of sun for our Darling Cheryl. Hawaii is truly the vacation that you hear about from friends, family, and Cheryl. If that was not enough, she quickly awoke from her dreamy vacation in Hawaii, to find herself on the sun-soaked beaches of Guadalajara with her sister. Contrary to popular belief, Cheryl’s life was not endowed with certain inalienable vacation rights and the work really began. She worked through two hard semesters at nursing school to the culmination – graduation. Cheryl became a registered nurse (RN) and was hired by UCI Medical Center in the neo-natal ICU ( for premature-born infants) before she even graduated. We are all proud of our new nursing family member that we can now drill with every medical question you’ve ever thought of and some you haven’t!

Unlike the shiny vacation-filled beginnings like Cheryl, Luis and Julie; David’s year started out with a full schedule of school. All the time, money and schooling paid off when David graduated from Concordia University, Irvine. He was the first in the family to receive his Bachelor’s degree - that was a bet we all would have lost. In part to celebrate his graduation and as an excuse to take a vacation, the whole family and some friends went to Arizona to go tubing. It was an extremely hot, but fun filled weekend. Chuck decided to miss tubing after getting sore from driving (old guy, huh!) and instead did laundry and watched baseball. Nothing eventful happened, which can best be illustrated by Luis and Julie who slept in the hotel room the entire day we spent partying at the hotel pool. The night brought a bar-be-que, hosted by Jeff and Kathi Olson, which was for David’s and Kristin’s graduation. It’s not everyday you visit a house with a park in the backyard: basketball and volleyball courts, playhouse, pool, and bar-be-que area (We will be back next year!!!). David has continued with his education and finished his classes for his California teaching credential. The only thing left is teaching for free, but that will be a story for next year.

Chuck and Jeanne made their way through a difficult year. Chuck of course kept the house clean throughout the year in fear of his wife’s disapproval. Chuck hit the senior citizen mark this year when he turned 55. Who ever said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks; Chuck now can use the laptop to do banking and uses a new music player to keep him company during his long runs everyday. He spends his days running, sometimes twice a day and up to seventeen miles. You can find him in his room dabbling with his new cell phone. So if you get a chance call him on it so it gets used! Jeanne got a new job this year, which keeps her almost as busy as helping plan Luis and Julie’s wedding. Chuck and Jeanne enjoyed numerous vacations this year including Laughlin and Arizona yet are always in need of another.

Although we had many occasions that spread joy, happiness and life our year was also marred with despair and loss. On August 6^th we lost our Grandma Flindt after a long battle with leukemia. Shortly after our Grandpa Williams was diagnosed with brain cancer and passed away on November 6^th. Our family will continue to mourn the loss of our beloved family members, but will be glad and thankful for the time we did have with them.

On that somber note we shall conclude the first installment of our family’s year. We acknowledge the only reason relatives want to hear about your family’s achievements is so they can despise you and mock your children, but neverthless we wish to send an update of our family’s lives to everyone anyways! Although this year has left a taste of absinthe in our lives, bitter-sweet; we want to send out wishes for a Happy New Year and we can’t wait to share our lives to everyone next year, hopefully before Christmas.

With lots of love until next year,

The Flindt Family (Chuck, Jeanne, Julie, Luis, Cheryl and David)

“ The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.”

- The Bible, Numbers

R.I.P.

“Grandma Flindt” Mary Ann Adonte Flindt

“Granpa” Robert R. Williams