Merry Christmas and Happy
New Year!
Continuing last year’s
approach we’ll hit the highlights by topic rather than calendar.
Topic
#1 – the kids. No weddings this year, but continued educational
progress. Erin completed her bachelor’s
degree from Central Washington University.
Kim and Tim completed associate’s degrees from Shoreline Community
College and Tim also completed his high school graduation from Shorewood High
School. Ben has transitioned from his
time in the sushi world to working for classmates.com in the graphics world as
he continues his time at North Seattle Community College. Jen began a respiratory therapist program at
Seattle Central Community College and continues to work for UW Medical. Erin and Jess remained at their same
employers but did relocate within the Seattle city limits from Shoreline.
Kim worked full time
for Mercer Island Parks and Recreation this summer with their kids’ camps and
now is working the holidays as temporary help for Macy’s. Come January she will depart for her final
two years of college to complete a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the
University of Portland. Tim began work
as a lot attendant for a local car dealership full time this summer and then
scaled back to half-time in the fall as he began his final two years of a
bachelor’s degree in business at the local branch or Eastern Washington University
(making the second screaming eagle in the family).
To celebrate Kim and
Tim’s completion of their associate’s degree we took a cruise in early
September. We flew to Anchorage, Alaska,
spent several days visiting local sites of interest (at least to Dave) and then
took a train to Seward, Alaska. From
there we took a seven day cruise from Seward to Vancouver, British
Columbia. During the trip we got to
visit Tom and Deanna – Dave’s cousins, thanks for the gracious and generous
hospitality; Mike and Darlene – awesome seeing you and the girls and Larry Dalberg – you went above and beyond, huge thanks! A special thanks to Shiela and Larry who
drove from Anchor Point to spend the day with us in Seward on the Kenai Fjords
tour. Great scenery and great friends. And we saw moose, beluga whales, orca
whales, sea otters, mountain goats, bald eagles, sea lions, seals, salmon, glaciers and
more. Alaska is so beautiful and so
pristine!
On the home front, Tim
moved in with us on his birthday (April 28th for those curious)
while he finished his high school and community college time and will be there
as he finishes his time at EWU. Kimberly
moved in at the end of her apartment lease in the U-district for the remainder
of this year before she moves to Portland.
In the world of
travelling, our other adventure was in November. In celebration of Dave’s parents golden
anniversary this year (that’s fifty years married for those too young to even
know of this milestone) we took them to Nuevo Vallarta for a week (yeah, we got
to benefit from their accomplishment also).
We spent a week in the sunny 90 degree weather, soaking in the pool and
enjoying pina coladas before returning to Seattle’s “snowmageddon”. Long
story short, Kimberly spent nine hours getting from our house to the airport to
pick us up (while we waited in baggage claim with the rest of the stranded
travelers). We are grateful that Kim
made it and made it safely. Hotels were
full, taxis were stuck and our options were limited. On a smaller scale, we took a trip to
Chilliwack, British Columbia for Tim to participate in their dance festival and
to visit the Abbottsford/Mission branch of the family. We always enjoy our trips to see all the
folks and appreciate the hospitality when we visit.
Next, our musical
adventures continue. We continue to sing and play weekly at our church (Lake
Forest Park Presbyterian) in various ways, including the worship band, the
choir, the chorale and leading songs during our
“traditional” service. We also performed for a variety of local venues, such as
retirement homes, senior centers, Christmas tree lightings and caroling. We
also spent time with our friends Buck and Elizabeth as the “Second Edition” and
performed our folk music at Suncadia, the Bohemian
Mining Days festival, the Taste of Edmonds and the Panorama senior community.
It is such fun for us every time we get together and make music.
As is our tradition we
spent New Year’s with Kevin and Heather in Lebanon, Oregon. Our visit actually began with us singing for
the wedding of one of Dave’s co-workers at the Willamette Valley
Vineyards. Then on to Kevin and
Heather’s for some good food, good times and great laughs.
It was a pretty light
year on the sailboat. Two trips out on
the water, to be exact. One weekend trip
with Kim and Mike (yep, same boyfriend from high school) and we had great
weather and great crabbing. Then back up
the next weekend with Kevin and Heather and we had rain but still got crabs. Perhaps next year we’ll have more time.
For something new and healthy,
Lynn signed us up for a class to learn to run a 5K race for those who don't run at all.
We ran the first week of class on the track for ninety seconds and both thought we'd
never make it through the eight weeks of class to run the full three miles. But by
practicing several times a week and a program that gradually increased our times and
distances, we successfully completed the "Furry 5K" run through Seward Park with our
Abigail. It was a rainy Father's day weekend but we made it in respectable time. And
a while later we ran the "Run of the Mill" 5K in Mill Creek (where Lynn used to work).
Now we have to plan next year's agenda.
This year’s big health news was dad’s brain surgery. In October the doctor’s removed an acoustical
neuroma (benign tumor) that was growing against his ear drum and nerves. While we haven’t seen a great improvement in
the hearing that was lost prior to the surgery we are glad to see his quick
recovery (able to go to Mexico five weeks after surgery) and the minimal impact
on his balance (a common side effect).
Thanks to all who sent their support and prayers.
To all our friends and family, our wishes for a very Merry Christmas and the
best of New Years!
Dave and Lynn