Happy Holidays!  We are writing this to you from out in Massachusetts our home for the past year.     It has been a very fast paced year since we moved out here.  We came this time last year in early December and shortly after that we went down to central Mexico to spend the holidays with Susan's parents.  It was very interesting to see how they celebrate the holidays in a foreign country.  It is nothing like the US. We drove from Mexico City to to the colonial silver city's of San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato. Very colorful with music everywhere.

Our BIG news is that we are expecting our second child at the end of January. We are very excited to meet the new baby. Sebastian is already tying to feed my belly. It is amazing how much he is understanding and growing. He enjoys music and dances and sings when he hears it. He is very social and loves to play with his friends. He also enjoys books and will sit and study them. We have enjoyed seeing him grow this past year.

The new year started out well, Christian was doing a lot of traveling throughout the Northeast while Susan and Sebastian were settling in and meeting new friends.  Susan quickly became involved with this very nice play group that Sebastian absolutely loved playing with.  Susan has found a place were she can continue on with her Samba dancing in Cambridge.  When Christian came home at the end of the week we would explore the area with it's rich history. In March Uncle Coco came for a visit and met Sebastian.  He was traveling out here for his work during the US snowboarding championships.  Susan enjoyed skiing at Stratton Mountain in Vermont were the finals were.


Currently we live about 20 minutes away from were the Revolutionary War started, so during the reenactment that happens every year in April Christian and Sebastian spent the day up in Concord and Lexington MA.  It was really interesting for them.  Even though Sebastian had no idea what was going on he really liked going up to the soldiers in costume.

As the weather out here started to get a little warmer  we decided to explore some of the coastal towns out here, like Newburysport.  Crane Beach became one of our favorite beach spots throughout the summer.  In May we went to  a logging show up in Maine that Christian was working at.  Susan and Sebastian came along and spent the day in Bar Harbor.  It was still to cold by the water but Sebastian still wanted to go swimming.

The end of May  Christian's parents  and Fran and Tom came out for a visit.  We went to Concord MA and from there up the coast of Maine until we hit Acadia park in Bar Harbor.  Along the way we stopped  at a couple of lobster shacks and ate too much.  Bar Harbor was very relaxing and we all got to go biking, eat well and just relax and smell the ocean air.

June came and the weather turned nice. We went down to Miami for Susan's sisters wedding. It was so nice to see all the family and the wedding was beautiful. We stayed on the beach and swam in the warm water. Unfortunately Susan got morning sickens pretty bad and was not able totally enjoy herself. The second pregnancy has been harder on her.

 Once Susan was feeling better from the nausea were able to go up to New Hampshire for a little break.  We went to Mount Washington and the surrounding area. We took some hikes and enjoyed the mountains and the lakes. We stayed in Wolfboro NH on Lake Winnipesaki, were "On Golden Pond" was filmed and took place.  

We took a trip back to the midwest to see family and friends we left.  We went to Ohio and then up to Michigan.  We enjoyed being up on Bear Lake for the week. Sebastian really liked to go swimming in Bear Lake and Lake Michigan.

In September we went out to Martha's Vineyard of the coast of Massachusetts.  Sebastian of course went swimming there. We enjoyed biking around.

Fall came and the colors were beautiful out here in New England.  We took a trip up to Vermont to see the mountains and colors.  We stopped at the Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory, even though it was freezing that day.  From there we went up to Quebec City and stayed in the old walled city.  Christian got to see some neighborhoods that his ancestors lived in when they came over to the new world.

November was a difficult month. Christian had been having blurry vision and went to the eye doctor to find out to our shock that he had a detached retina and needed surgery that week. He was freaked out. We were glad that they caught it in time and that he did not loose his vision . The surgery was a success.

Thanksgiving came and we planned to go to the Plymouth Plantation for the day, however Susan got sick.  So Sebastian and Christian went down the road from Plymouth and had Thanksgiving dinner in an inn that was built in the early 1600's.  But don't worry Sebastian brought food back for his sick Mama.
Quickly Christmas is coming upon us and we are unable to travel because of the babies due date.  We are planning on staying out here and having a quit Christmas waiting with excitement to meet our new son or daughter.Unfortunately part of the economic melt down of last year Christian lost his job with Daimler.  We are hopeful that one of the interviews coming up will come through.   Sebastian has enjoyed having Papa around more.

We hope this letter finds you well.  May God bless you and your family.

Love,

Susan, Christian and Sebastian and baby

Check out our kids blog for more pictures and updates   http://garciaflemingbaby.blogspot.com/




In our efforts to be "green", we opted to go "tree-free" in lieu of mailing cards this holiday.

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