Happy New Year from the Abel Family
As always, the first event of the year is Mumtaz’s birthday but this year, it was a significant milestone (hint hint). Luckily, visitors from Vancouver and Montreal were nearby so it was party time.
	For the first time, I attend a Groundhog celebration solo. It was a return to Wiarton after some years since my last celebration was in Punxsutawney in 2020, 2022 was abbreviated by the pandemic and other issues in Wiarton. The effort was a bit anemic this year, but it was fun to be back.
		Sam and Trevor return to Haute Goat (Ontario’s finest goat experience) for the live-in weekend package, which, as you can see features more than just goats.
	Our new Pi Day tradition is to seek for a special pie. This year was a bit off as we opted for Chudleigh’s Pies which, as it turns out, we could have purchased down the road from where we live. We were hoping to buy directly from the factory in Milton. It was a great adventure nonetheless. Also in March, we travel to Montreal where Mumtaz receives a special gift.
Still in March, we celebrate Sam’s birthday a little early, here Mumtaz is helping her with her paratha technique.
	We enjoy a stop at the resort at Altmar, New York so we dropped in twice in 2024. It is fun to drive to Montreal, Ottawa, or points east via Syracuse and Waterdown, then back into Canada near Brockville.	No photos from Mothers’ Day this year. A splendid day working on plans for the garden.
On Fathers’ Day, we travel to Primitive Design in Port Hope because it is so obvious a Fathers’ Day activity.
	In July, we travel to Quebec City with stops in Waterdown and Montreal, we drove to the Charlevoix area, the photo on the left is from Baie St. Paul. On the way home, we stopped in Kingston for some sightseeing.
Also in July: Michael, Nancy, and AJ visit on their circle tour of Lake Erie; we look forward to seeing you again. And it was significant milestone birthday (hint hint) for Trevor, too bad there are no photos available.
This is Decew Falls which is not far from home but is quite a nice outing. It is also significant historically.		Also in August: Markland and Maria visit from Portugal! You may recall them from our stop in Lisbon last year when we met Maria for the first time. This was a high point of the year for us, remember that Markland and I were colleagues in Vancouver around 40 years ago and we have managed to keep in touch. Many of you on the mailing list remember Markland so check out the blog entry on abelfamily.ca.
	In September, Sam and Trevor vacation in Newfoundland. In a real treat, Sam joins us to celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day.
	I visit the Halton Radial Railway Streetcar Museum on their 70th anniversary.
Autumn Colours in Belfountain		Here is J.B.’s annual Halloween portrait; this year he dresses up as Amelia Earhart (note: Amelia Earhart had ears).
	In November, we travel to Montreal.
Here are a couple of photos from my second trip to the Bahamas in a light plane.	Blue Hole on Long Island Overflying Bell Island
And now here is a photo of JB from a past holiday season instead of the usual Sam and Trevor in matching pyjamas along with all their pets. The holiday season this year has been difficult, Mumtaz has been fighting a nasty infection for 3 weeks now and Sam is struggling with a second COVID infection since the beginning of November. In a couple of weeks, I’m sure that everyone and everything will be back to normal.		Of course, there is no need to remind you of the mathematical significance of 2025 (it is the sum of the cubes of the numbers from 1 to 9). We have already planned 3 significant family events for this year, and we plan to keep the blog updated on all of them. We are looking forward to 2025 as other exciting and interesting developments are on the horizon.
	For more on our year, visit https://www.abelfamily.ca/wordpress To You, Your Families and Colleagues All the Best for a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2025