Holiday Greetings! When last we left our hero and heroine, Steve & Mary, they were planning a new kitchen and new hip. Mary got the new hip. It works pretty well and it came with an extended warranty. She was in the hospital in NYC for two weeks and Steve visited her every day. Well, he wanted to visited her every day but he really hates driving into the city. He came in on weekends but was much happier when he could visit her in the Toms River Rehab hospital. Mary was so happy with her new hip, that her mother decided to break hers just to share the experience. Like mother like daughter. Mary's mom is also doing fine.

We're also very happy with our new kitchen. For the amount of money it cost we should be. Our initial plan was to reface the cabinets. You know - Sears $99 special. We decided to replace the cabinets but then the counters didn't match so we had to replace them. Then the appliances.... well you get the idea. By the time we were done planning, only the shell was left, and we even redid some of that. Family and friends have raved about the results!

By the time the kitchen was done it was our first anniversary and we wanted to get away from it all. We drove down to Williamsburg Colonial Village in Virginia for a few days. Though Steve had promised Mary he would take time off from work to celebrate, he kept receiving and sending FAX's, and couldn't understand why the hotel wouldn't offer modem jacks in the room just because they were trying to create a colonial atmosphere. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the historical sites, especially the authentic, candle lit dinners in town!

Before we knew it, summer was upon us and we were in the midst of the pool party season. We had 5 pool parties. All were gala events even though the weather hardly cooperated. Earlier in the spring, Steve met some members of his father's family that he had not seen for 20 years. We were very happy that they were able to come to the Goldsmith/Amodeo family pool party.

We closed our pool early this year in preparation for our first cruise! Steve was being a good sport about taking a vacation about which he had doubts. Why go to another part of the world just to sail on open seas and be stuffed with food 5 times a day? The itinerary tempered his bleak expectations. We sailed from Istanbul to Ukraine, Greece, Israel, Sicily and Barcelona. We both had a fabulous time. Not only were the ports of call diverse and exciting, but even Steve enjoyed being pampered, stuffed and baked in the Mediterranean sun! Mary said, "I told you so!" Our favorite port was Ephesus in Turkey. These 2000 year old ruins were as spectacular as any place that we've seen together. Barcelona, our second favorite stop, was a friendly modern city that made us feel welcome. Mary and Steve both wrote travel logs and upon our return home, typed a combined version into the computer. At press time, the polishing touches are still in progress. At 40 pages, featuring a color picture for each day, it's very comprehensive, if we do say so ourselves. If you'd like an autographed copy, please send a stamped, self addressed envelope, or wait for the Internet version coming to your computer in early 1996!!

As if we weren't busy enough this year, we found a new hobby! Surfing on the World Wide Web (how many of you knew that this is part of the Internet?), Steve found some information on family trees that piqued our interest. We sampled three different software packages to let us record family relationships and finally settled on one we liked. As a member of our family, we'd like to share the fruits of our hobby with you. Attached is a personalized view of your ancestors and all of their descendants. We hope you will enjoy it as much as we have. If you have any corrections, or there are additional relatives from your extended family that you would like us to include, just let us know. Also, the software lets us record stories about each individual. If you have any cherished memories, we would like to include them as well.

As 1995 draws to a close, we are making our 1996 plans. Mary is considering ankle surgery to reduce pain in that joint. While she is recuperating, she plans to direct the continued redecoration of the Goldsmith Estate. Pity those painters and carpet layers. We don't know yet where our vacations plans will take us but we'll try to stay out of a war zone. We wish you a very happy holiday season and a healthy, safe and rewarding new year.