We don’t usually send Christmas Cards, but this year was quite busy for us, and we thought you may be interested in some of the things we’ve been up to. It’s been 10 years since our last Christmas letter, so please don’t expect another one for another few years………..

Coon and I continue to worship together at the Ashland Advent Christian Church and Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church in Portage Lake on alternating Sundays.***** Coon tries not to miss the monthly "Portage Lake Over 50’s Club" and I managed to attend a few times this year. ***** Since last winter I have been a proud member of the "Portage Lake Red Hat Society", lovingly called the "Portage Lake Loonies".

January brought us less snow than past years, but we still had a few snowmobiling guests, and we enjoyed sliding down the driveway on to the lake! Oh, what fun that is! We managed to attend several of Myles’ junior high basketball games in Ashland.

In February, we took a quick trip to Bobby’s in West Paris, ME. It was great to see the kids and we had a nice visit with his family. ***** During the February school break, Myles helped his grandfather install new laminate flooring in our dinning & living room, finally covering the antique tiles. We had some really nice snowmobiling guests that helped Coon finish up the living room floor one evening. ***** Coon made a visit to TAMC hospital in Presque Isle to receive his 4th pacemaker. He recovered quickly and happily returned to his workaholic habits.

We attended a wedding in Tampa, FL in March, staying in a condo in Orlando and enjoyed having Dan, Christy and Pat join us from Virginia for the week. We visited Sea World, Adventure Island, Universal Studios, played miniature golf, lay around the pool, and just enjoyed being together where it was nice and warm.

In April, I endured a carpel tunnel operation, and took a 4-week break from work. It was nice. to have some time to "help" with our new garage and watch for the beginning of spring. During this break, Coon and I attended one of Myles’ baseball games. I made the mistake of sliding across the wooden bleachers and managed to receive a couple of splinters in my thigh. I was able to stay for game, and even had dinner out, before getting home and looking for the splinters. They were sooooo deep, Coon had to try to cut them out. He managed to get one half-inch piece out but couldn’t get to the rest. We went to the emergency ward the next morning, and after 3 ½ hours which included a lot of cutting and digging by the doctor, I walked out of there with 3 stitches and an inch long splinter still lodged in my thigh! (Yes, the splinters managed to work their way out within the next 3 weeks……)

In May, I drove to Virginia with my friend Lucinda, to visit with Christy & Pat in Bealeton, while Lucinda continued on to visit with her son and family in Norfolk. I enjoyed a wonderful Mother’s Day with my children and Pat’s family in Catlet. We met Dan several times that week for dinner and some quality time together. I was unable to see my grandson Jordan, as his mother would not allow us to have him on a non-scheduled week. Christy and I managed to get away to visit Baltimore Inner Harbor for a wonderful day together. We also enjoyed putting in a large flower garden (and even some herbs for Pat) at their house. It was fun bonding with my grand-dog, Bentley. He thinks he’s a lap dog, but in reality he’s a Dalmatian/Pit Bull; white with black spots, a black tail and one black ear. ***** While I was away, Coon worked on getting the summer furniture out, and the boats and dock in place. ***** We sat for our grand-dog, Ranger (a yellow lab) while Shelly and her family went camping over the Memorial Day weekend. He followed Grampy all over the yard, and was even in the back of the pickup before Grampy decided to go anywhere!

We continued to work on our garage project all summer. We were very fortunate to have some special family & friends help whenever they had a chance. We’d like to thank Ray & Elaine, Dave, Myles, Shelly & Cassie, Claire and Judy, Rudi, Richard, Bobby, Ken, Ronald, John J, and John H. for all the work they contributed. It was such fun to come over the hill from work, and see the progress each day. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends! ***** Coon experienced some laser eye treatment to repair a torn retina, and it was several weeks before his vision was returned to normal.

Bobby and his family were able to share a cabin with us during the 4th of July week. PLC had a potluck barbeque and we played games in and out of the water!, and ate goodies all afternoon. We enjoyed visits from Ike and his family, and several of Shelly & Bobby’s relatives shared the day with us. ***** The middle of July we were devastated by the loss of Coon’s brother Norman. We took a bittersweet trip to Newburgh, NY to celebrate Norman’s life and enjoy the company of his dear family. The trip was made special with the chance to have Sharon and Lorraine Bouchard travel with us, and get to spend some quality time with them.

I took most Monday’s and Friday’s off work this summer and Cassie and I enjoyed "Grammy Monday’s" doing everything from crafts to gardening to kayaking. Myles was often seen helping Grampy around the garage or mowing our lawn. They are both such good workers and so much fun to have around!

In August we celebrated our 15th Wedding Anniversary. We were fortunate to have Bobby and his family visit with us for a few more days this month.

This summer brought PLC several repeat guests and many new friends. We enjoyed swimming and kayaking in the lake, and visiting with our PLC guests. We hosted 3 class reunions and 2 family reunions. We heard about at least one guest engagement from The Fishing Shack, with a request to have a wedding here next May. We continued with the Wednesday night "Ice Cream Social" this year as it is such a fun way to get to know the guests, and the kids really look forward to it. We also enjoy our family, friends and neighbors when they get to join us (some even came by kayak and bikes). We continue to do most of the chores at PLC by ourselves, but have been blessed with lots of extra help from Myles and Ray & Elaine, and Cassie helps me with my flower gardens.

September found us vacationing in Branson, MI with Dawn and Milton. Christy was able to join us for the whole week. We stayed in a comfortable condo; saw several great shows, visited Silver Dollar City again, and did some serious shopping. We also enjoyed a visit to a cave in Springfield that we were able to ride a train through. ***** We enjoyed watching Myles play soccer for the Ashland High School who managed to go to Eastern Maine this year .and Cassie was the best Ashland Hornet mascot I have ever seen. September also found us saying goodbye to our "Snowbird" friends that go south for the winter.

October brought us many loving birthday cards to mark yet another year. As most of you already know, Coon fell off his ladder (and almost wiped out Ray on his way down!). He fell onto a ladder lying on the ground; he broke several ribs and managed to get a multitude of bruises from head to toe (and everywhere in- between!) that he is still healing from. He fell over 12 feet and hit so hard he even knocked off his shoe! He’s been a little slower healing from this accident, but is feeling better each day. ***** We enjoyed a camp full of bear hunters, and then the moose hunters arrived to give us another two weeks of excitement.

In November, the deer hunters came. A hunter from Wisconsin shot a deer the first of the week he was here. He decided it would be too hard to take it home with him, so he graciously donated it to PLC. It will be nice to have venison in the freezer this winter! We love to share it with our PLC guests that have never tried it before. We also had some hunters leave us some deer sausage and some bear burger. One hunting group brought us a large box of chocolates from Heresy, PA. and even took us out to dinner one night. Another group of hunters left us a special cake that read "Thanks for a great season". Coon tries to visit our hunters a few nights a week to hear their hunting stories, and of course to tell a few of his own. ***** Coon has managed a few hunting days with Ray, Myles and John. They shot a few partridge, but I really wanted a rabbit this year!

We celebrated our Thanksgiving dinner with Shelly and her family at their home in Buffalo. As always, we had fun playing with Lizzy, our grand-pug, and then enjoyed some heavy Mexican Train Domino competition. This was also the beginning of our bad weather; 6 inches of snow followed by a few inches of freezing rain.

We are planning to have Christmas Eve here with Shelly & Bobby and their families. We are looking forward to Bobby and his family having an old fashioned Christmas in our cabin this year. *** We’re praying that Christy & Pat and Dan & Jordan will be able to get to Maine for Christmas.

2007 was a great year and we thank God for all our many blessings.

Merry Christmas,
Laura and Coon (Al)

There's something here for everyone and every season.


For more information or to reserve, please contact;
Laura and Alcide Bouchard
P.O. Box 87
51 Cottage Road
Portage Lake, ME 04768
Telephone: (207)-435-2080
E-Mail: plc@portagelakesidecabins.com

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