Beloved Family and Friends! The time is upon us yet again! A point in the year to look back and give thanks to that which we value most…our health, our family and our friends. We hope this letter reaches you and your family in good health and high spirits!
What a busy year for us! Our year started off with two weddings swiftly approaching. The first, held in February, was a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony performed in Baroda, India and the second in March, a traditional Christian wedding ceremony held in Atlanta, GA. We had an absolutely amazing time and can’t believe it is all behind us now. We often reminisce while watching videos or looking through pictures and enjoy the memories of our ceremonies and our family and friends that could share in our joy with us.
In between the weddings, we managed to squeeze in the “Golden Triangle” tour of India – Delhi, Jaipur and Agra – with a few of our family and friends that had made the long trip. We saw the spectacular Taj Mahal, Red Fort, numerous jewel laden palaces, ate delicious food, shopped and feed a few stray monkeys!
We kicked off the wonderful seasonal weather by heading to our annual camping trip to St. Augustine, Florida. We camped with friends along the beach, where the sands were white, clean and stretched beyond the horizon. Our stay was filled with relaxation, lots of beer and gorgeous views. Bailey, however, won the award for best oceanic swimmer and made the most new friends!
Throughout the year, we managed to keep in touch with our artistic sides by attending various plays and concerts. We managed to see the jaw dropping Cirque du Soleil show, spectacular Lion King, comical and satiric Wicked, talented Coldplay and various other local acts. We also frequent the neighborhood library and joined in on the “Twilight” craze this year.
For the first time since we’ve lived in Atlanta, we heard of some family owned farms and enjoyed blueberry picking throughout the month of July. After an abundance of blueberry streusel muffins, pumpkin-blueberry bread, blueberry pancakes and blueberry everything – we look forward to strawberry season next May!
Fall took to us to the ever victorious Florida Gator football season. We managed to make it to the infamous Florida v. Georgia game and cheered the Gators on to a well deserved victory! We are proud of our ‘boys in blue’ and are awaiting another National Championship title to add to the glory!
Terry started his new job at General Electric (GE) selling Adhesive Materials in July and has added Home Depot to his list of clients. Although sales is a new arena for Terry, he’s doing extremely well, enjoying the flexible schedules and will be able to round out his resume with an additional skill-set. Manali was promoted this summer to Assistant Controller of the Home Services division of Home Depot and is enjoying managing her growing team of associates and won second place at their annual company bake off!
As many of you are aware, we are planning to begin our “Around the World Travels/Honeymoon” in June 2009. The timing works out perfectly since we’ll both have great work experience and tenure to our resumes, Terry will graduate with his MBA in the Spring and we will be able to enjoy each other before we plan to expand our family. We plan to start our journey by visiting many of you during our summer “North American Road Trip” and will buy a one-way ticket to Singapore late August 2009!
We’ve set up a website for all of you to follow our planning, adventures and pictures so please follow along, plan to meet up or make comments or suggestions! http://manaliandterry.blogspot.com
Again, warmest wishes to you and your family this holiday season. Although we may not be together to enjoy friendly company, you are always in our thoughts. May your holiday and upcoming year be filled with joy and happiness!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Manali & Terry Bettendorf
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