HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

This year our letter is in the form of a photo album with the story and photos in one place.

Click Here to See It! Enjoy!

Read the basic letter here:

Happy Holidays!

Another busy and eventful year for us here in the Kalotai household! 

In February John and I went to Florida once again for Hamcation, the yearly Ham Radio event in Orlando.  We had our usual crew and saw a couple of old friends from Connecticut.  John also went to other major Hamfests with his minions (I stayed home) in Xenia, OH in May, and Huntsville, AL in August.

After the Hamfest weekend, we headed south to visit our friends Wendy & Dan in Alva.  We stayed in a great little motel in LaBelle with beautiful views of the Caloosahatchee River.  We took a swamp buggy tour of the Babcock Ranch Preserve which was really fun and we saw lots of wildlife.   Our visits with Wendy & Dan are always very nice, but too short.  When we left, we headed to the Jupiter Lighthouse before we left Florida.  This is a beautiful multi-building museum on the grounds of the Lighthouse, and we had a beautiful day to tour it.  

We  then headed north to Virginia to visit  Maggie, Justin, and our Grandkids.   Jackson is 11 and in Middle School; Hunter is 8 and in 3rd Grade; and Skylar is now 3 years old!  We had a great visit with them!  While we were there, we had an early celebration of John’s birthday.  We also spent an afternoon searching for LOVEworks (art pieces that spell the word Love) all over the Lynchburg area.  They are all really unique and now  we will be looking for others (there are 300+ of them) every time  we are in Virginia.  Again, this visit was too short.  

In April, John and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary by taking a short trip to Long Island. While there, we visited the Fire Island, Montauk, and Old Field Point Lighthouses,  explored the South Fork and saw the Big Duck, tasted wine at the Duck Winery, and drank champagne by the outdoor fireplace in our Hotel’s courtyard. 

In July, Maggie, Justin, and the Grandkids came up to stay with us for a week.  We had a big family barbeque so everyone could see them, and they visited other family and friends during the week.  They also spent some time at the beach, and Emily and I  went with them  to the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk. where we all had a great time.  

Unfortunately, in August, we lost John’s mother, Maria Kalotai, the matriarch of the family.  She was 89 and is  greatly missed.  We have a post dedicated to her on our website HERE along with links to pages with her eulogy, stories,  and lots of photos.

I also lost my aunt, my mother’s sister, Margaret Broadhurst Vasilakos (Snooks) just before last Christmas.  She was 82 and the last of that generation on my mother’s side of the family. It made for a very stressful and depressing Christmas last year. 

Other notable events include visiting with my cousin Matthew and his wife, Kathy, while they were  in Norwalk.  My sister and I hadn’t seen him since we were kids.  It’s always great to reconnect with family and it was a great evening!  Hope we can see them again, and our other cousins at some point.

We also took a short trip to Atlantic City in October to the Ocean Casino on the Boardwalk.  It was our first trip to AC since before Covid.  We didn’t have great weather for walking the Boardwalk, but it was nice to get away and we had great ocean views from our room.  We are hoping to make that trip again soon. 

Everyone in our household is doing just about the same things as before:  John working lots of hours in Darien for Stamford EMS; I have been very busy with Craft Fairs, Online sales, Avon, and Bowling;  Andrew (35) is doing car stereo installations at Speed of Sound in Milford;  Emily (31) is a Librarian at the East Haven Library;  and Lola and Binx are still tolerating each other.

Wishing You All A Very Happy Holiday Season and New Year!

Love,

John, Lenore, Andrew, Emily, Lola, & Binx!

Past Yearly News Pages –2021, 2020, 2019,  2018,  2017,  2016 ,  2015,  2014,   2013