The California Kendalls will remember 2008 like a cheesy amusement park: a good time punctuated by some moments of terror and periods of joy.
After years of prattling about our wonderful vacations, the bubble burst in 2008. All our vacations sucked. Well, maybe that’s too strong, but here are some examples – Lesli and Charlotte missed the flight to Hawai'
Trivial matters aside, we are a healthy and happy bunch. At age eleven, 
Fortunately she's the same quiet, sweet girl who sings in choir, plays soccer and swims like no one I've ever seen. She's still crazy about horses and went to two horse camps this summer. At recess last spring she cracked open her chin in a collision with a classmate, requiring 3 stitches (ouch!).
At 8 years old she is in third grade, getting letter-grades for the first time, and meeting the high standards set by her sister. Her soccer team started as the ‘leftover kids’ - an oddball collection of asthmatics, miniatures and novices, but they rallied and finished the season with a 5-game win streak. 
Lesli is finding more free time now that the girls are in school. She is co-writing a script for the TV show Monk that she hopes to sell. 
She enjoys her beach workout class and recently added beach yoga to her week. When she's not coercing the girls into doing homework, she plans our home repairs – this year we replaced a window & sliding glass door, painted the exterior of the home and polished the abused marble flooring. During the summer she single-handedly painted
Dan found a fun new Thursday basketball game to complement his Saturday game. He still enjoys watching rocket launches from the backyard and is perfecting the art of watching sports on TV. 
He’s learning yoga and the girls relish the comic relief. On the job-front, Dan would be CEO if mediocrity were a virtue (grin!). But he is home for dinner most nights and rarely misses a hula show, soccer game, teacher meeting or birthday - and that's a big deal to him. Next year he's volunteered to be an assistant coach for
We enjoyed short jaunts like a wintertime visit to the geothermal village California Hot Springs, and a pre-Thanksgiving tour of 
Perhaps the most fun we had was our spring break in 
We went to a Braves game, played cards, visited the Martin Luther King Memorial, fished, toured 
We finished our Georgia vacation with a brief trip to
At Thanksgiving, we participated in a feed-the-hungry fun-run. Although
We're excited to spend Festivus at home with visits from Aunt Julie, niece Whitney and Lesli's folks. We wish you unbridled good health, laughter that hurts your ribs, and hours upon hours of time with the people you love.
With love from Dan, Lesli, Savannah & Charlotte!
