"tara"  wrote
> Evelyn :
>> Robert :
>>>> By the way... hi everybody.  I am here in Austin TX visiting my
>>>> daughter and grandkids.  Going to a lovely wedding in a couple of days
>>>> for the daughter of family friends who also moved here.
>>>
>>>> Texas is gorgeous.  Hot but beautiful here in the hill country.
>>>
>>>> Love to all,
>>>> Evelyn
>>>
>>> alright, have fun.  I love Austin - only been there once.  Nice town.
>>>
>>> Enjoy your family!
>>>
>>> Robert
>>>
>> Hi Robert,
>>
>> I will be going home on Monday, and we have been here for just over a
>> week.  We are going to a wedding today, the daughter of family
>> friends.   Last night we attended the rehearsal dinner at a fantastic
>> location on high cliffs above Lake Travis.... real Texas barbecue
>> dinner!
>>
>> I am going to have to diet like crazy when I get home.  They have such
>> awesome restaurants here, and we have been partying and eating out
>> since we got here, almost every day.  I definitely don't do much of
>> that at home....:-)
>>
>> My daughter has a gorgeous home overlooking Lake Travis and she is
>> just so talented, wonderful, smart and beautiful that every minute
>> with her is a joy.
>
>
> The grandsons are brilliant 19 year old college
>> students now.  They are wonderful kids, and hanging around with them
>> is terrific too, because at this age they are real young adults and
>> fun to talk to.  Every time we come here it is always great.
>
>
> What if she wasn't wonderful, smart and beautiful --would every moment 
> with
> her still be a joy.
>
> And what if she didn't live in a gorgeous home, but in a couple of  little
> rooms somewhere in a not so desirable neighborhood (no lakes to be seen).
> And what if her sons, (your grandsons)  were not so brilliant and not in
> college,  would you still see it all the same?
>
> Just wondering.

Glad tidings we bring ... ... of us and our kin.
Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without the family newsletter.
How else would vague acquaintances keep us up to date with
their children's swimming badges, their dodgy car batteries and
their holidays spent piecing together jigsaws?

Simon Hoggart on the exquisite horror of the round robin...

http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/politicsphilosophyandsociety/story/0,6000,1369995,00.html

'June: septic tank gets emptied'

http://books.guardian.co.uk/extracts/story/0,,1654059,00.html

· A reminder that some round-robin letters aren't just annoying,
but can be positively wounding. A mother writes from the home counties
enclosing a circular letter from friends which describes how their son is
full of energy and life, and even at the age of one can already talk,
"with 'going in car?' being overused daily!"

The recipient writes: "So far, so nauseating. But here is the twist.
Both my children (four and one) have a life-limiting neurological
condition that means they cannot walk, talk or see.
Neither will survive childhood. My husband and I dedicate our lives
to their care and happiness, and they bring us much more joy than sadness.

"Now, how can the most deluded, smug and creepily boastful person think
that we want to hear how their one-year-old loves 'jumping and dancing' and
can already form sentences? What is wrong with a Christmas card?

On a cheerier note, the Bentley family of north London have invented a
version of Consequences based on round robins.
You start with the name of a person, then some positive family gossip,
date and place of this event, "however, sadly"... and so on.

For instance, "Tamara ... ran the marathon for the 11th year in a row ...
at our third house in Jersey, the shooting season of course ...
Sadly, Margaret ... has been jailed for drug offences ...
but at least the cat is healthy."

Julian wrote:
> "tara"  wrote
>> Evelyn :
>>> Robert :
>>>>> By the way... hi everybody.  I am here in Austin TX visiting my
>>>>> daughter and grandkids.  Going to a lovely wedding in a couple of days
>>>>> for the daughter of family friends who also moved here.
>>>>
>>>>> Texas is gorgeous.  Hot but beautiful here in the hill country.
>>>>
>>>>> Love to all,
>>>>> Evelyn
>>>>
>>>> alright, have fun.  I love Austin - only been there once.  Nice town.
>>>>
>>>> Enjoy your family!
>>>>
>>>> Robert
>>>>
>>> Hi Robert,
>>>
>>> I will be going home on Monday, and we have been here for just over a
>>> week.  We are going to a wedding today, the daughter of family
>>> friends.   Last night we attended the rehearsal dinner at a fantastic
>>> location on high cliffs above Lake Travis.... real Texas barbecue
>>> dinner!
>>>
>>> I am going to have to diet like crazy when I get home.  They have such
>>> awesome restaurants here, and we have been partying and eating out
>>> since we got here, almost every day.  I definitely don't do much of
>>> that at home....:-)
>>>
>>> My daughter has a gorgeous home overlooking Lake Travis and she is
>>> just so talented, wonderful, smart and beautiful that every minute
>>> with her is a joy.
>>
>>
>> The grandsons are brilliant 19 year old college
>>> students now.  They are wonderful kids, and hanging around with them
>>> is terrific too, because at this age they are real young adults and
>>> fun to talk to.  Every time we come here it is always great.
>>
>>
>> What if she wasn't wonderful, smart and beautiful --would every moment 
>> with
>> her still be a joy.
>>
>> And what if she didn't live in a gorgeous home, but in a couple of  
>> little
>> rooms somewhere in a not so desirable neighborhood (no lakes to be seen).
>> And what if her sons, (your grandsons)  were not so brilliant and not in
>> college,  would you still see it all the same?
>>
>> Just wondering.
> 
> Glad tidings we bring ... ... of us and our kin.
> Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without the family newsletter.
> How else would vague acquaintances keep us up to date with
> their children's swimming badges, their dodgy car batteries and
> their holidays spent piecing together jigsaws?
> 
> Simon Hoggart on the exquisite horror of the round robin...
> 
> http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/politicsphilosophyandsociety/story/0,6000,1369995,00.html 
> 
> 
> 'June: septic tank gets emptied'
> 
> http://books.guardian.co.uk/extracts/story/0,,1654059,00.html
> 
> · A reminder that some round-robin letters aren't just annoying,
> but can be positively wounding. A mother writes from the home counties
> enclosing a circular letter from friends which describes how their son is
> full of energy and life, and even at the age of one can already talk,
> "with 'going in car?' being overused daily!"
> 
> The recipient writes: "So far, so nauseating. But here is the twist.
> Both my children (four and one) have a life-limiting neurological
> condition that means they cannot walk, talk or see.
> Neither will survive childhood. My husband and I dedicate our lives
> to their care and happiness, and they bring us much more joy than sadness.
> 
> "Now, how can the most deluded, smug and creepily boastful person think
> that we want to hear how their one-year-old loves 'jumping and dancing' and
> can already form sentences? What is wrong with a Christmas card?
> 
> On a cheerier note, the Bentley family of north London have invented a
> version of Consequences based on round robins.
> You start with the name of a person, then some positive family gossip,
> date and place of this event, "however, sadly"... and so on.
> 
> For instance, "Tamara ... ran the marathon for the 11th year in a row ...
> at our third house in Jersey, the shooting season of course ...
> Sadly, Margaret ... has been jailed for drug offences ...
> but at least the cat is healthy."


héhé