December 2022

To our family and friends,

We hope this letter finds you and your family happy, healthy and enjoying the holiday season! Continuing the Neader tradition, here is the 2022 Year in Review.

We started the year with the whole family flying to Italy on New Year’s Eve, where we took up temporary residency in an apartment north of Rome, in order for Scott and the kids to apply for Italian dual-citizenship. Scott and the kids qualifed for citizenship because Scott’s grandfather was born in Italy (and met all the other requirements). The applications were successful, and Scott and the kids all received Italian citizenship and passports. The kids spent a total of two months in Italy, while Scott and Laurie lived in the apartment for almost 6 months — from January through mid July, except for a 6 week trip back to Wisconsin in the Spring. Living in Italy was an absolutely amazing experience! We had a rental car for our entire stay, and that allowed us to also travel all over Italy, in addition to the time we spent in the Rome area.

Scott and Laurie had one other travel experience this year — a one month trip to Central and Eastern Europe, from mid-October to mid-November. We flew to Rome and spent a couple of days there, then flew to the country of Montenegro, where we rented a car and started a 2,000 mile journey that took us through Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Poland and Czech Republic. We really enjoyed the beautiful scenery, from the seaside towns of Croatia to the Julian Alps in Slovenia, and, as always, we loved exploring the historical centers of the cities and towns along the way. We also enjoyed many unique and delicious local foods, beers and wines! It was an exceptional trip, into a part of the world that we had not yet explored, and we brought home a lot of great memories.

An update on the kids: Cameron is 25 years old and living in the Manhattan area of New York City. He absolutely loves NYC, especially when friends from around the world come to visit. He’s already met someone special in NYC, Chris, and they are spending a lot of time together, including a trip to Norway and France last month. Unfortunately, the company that Cameron was working for, Good Catch Foods, eliminated his department and he lost his job in the fall. The good news is that he has just accepted a new position with Ardoq, a Norwegian tech company.

Ashlyn is 22 years old and currently a Senior at UW-La Crosse. She is majoring in Interpersonal Communication and German, with a minor in TESOL (teaching English as a second language). She also works part-time at the People’s Food Co-op, which she really enjoys. Ashlyn is living at home while going to school, but is looking forward to graduating next Spring and seeing where life and work takes her — likely overseas!

Macy is 19 years old. She was attending UW-La Crosse this year, but decided to take a one year pause on her education to reassess the direction she would like to take. She is currently living in an apartment in Downtown La Crosse with her boyfriend, Ryan, and their kitty, Miso.

Speaking of kitties, we acquired another cat this fall. Laurie noticed a kitten along the State highway on the way to our house, and one thing led to another, with the kitten becoming a new member of our family. We named her ‘Chianti’ in honor of our time spent in Italy this year, and she is a real sweetheart. So far, one of our cats tolerates her, and the other cat mostly despises her. We hope they can all eventually become friends.

Well, that’s the 2022 Year In Review. Until next year… Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,

Scott, Laurie, Cameron, Ashlyn & Macy Neader

Scott and Laurie, enjoying Bosnian Coffee, in Sarajevo, Bosnia

Scott and Laurie at the Milan Cathedral.

The main square of the Old Town of Kraków, Poland.

One of over 90 waterfalls in Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

Enjoying Limonchello, at the top of Mt. Vesuvius, overlooking Pompei and Naples.

Looking through the keyhole on the door of the "Sovereign Order of Malta", in Rome.

In May, we visited the small country of San Marino, located inside of the country of Italy.

Scott and Laurie at the ancient Roman Amphitheater in Pula, Croatia

Scott and Laurie, staying in a Medieval home and dressing the part, in Viterbo, Italy. — Scott and Laurie, staying in a Medieval home, and dressing the part, in Viterbo, Italy,

View of the Castle, from the "UFO Observation Deck" overlooking Bratislava, Slovakia.

Click photos to enlarge

"Chianti", our new kitten. We found her along the highway near our home.

Our family, taking an afternoon “Aperitivo” break, in Trevignano Romano, Italy.

Ashlyn met her current boyfriend, Francesco, while in Italy. Here we all are, enjoying a pasta lunch in the Trastevere area of Rome, Italy.

Scott & Laurie, in the ancient town of Matera, in Southern Italy.

Scott and Laurie, enjoying dinner and a beer with two locals, at a beer hall in Prague, Czech Republic

Scott and Laurie, at the Hungarian Parliament building in Budapest, Hungary.

Scott and Laurie at the Flower Festival in Genzano di Roma, Italy.

Scott and Laurie on the Charles Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic

Enjoying a Wiener Schnitzel dinner in Hainburg an der Donau, Austria

Overlooking the Old Bridge from atop the Koski-Mehmed Pasha Mosque in Mostar, Bosnia