Happy Holidays 2009

Sam, Randy and I hope that this holiday note finds everyone healthy, happy and prosperous!

This has been a milestone year for our family. Randy is now taller than both me and Sam!
Also, we have been married 20 years.

I was reviewing our pictures from this past year trying to decide which ones to include in this note. The thought hit me, we have done a lot this year AND this year went way too fast.

To summarize, at the end of 2009 we are happy, healthy, making new friends and still employed. It has been a good year.

I will have to check with Randy (but being a teenager, he is still asleep), but I think he would say that he has had a good year. He graduated 8th grade and moved on to high school. This was a HUGE transition for him. Mackintosh Academy, where he had been since 2nd grade, was about 120 kids in total with each class being about 12-18 kids. Dakota Ridge High School, the school he is attending now, is about 1200 kids strong. He is loving the change. Randy started off high school the right way. He has challenged himself academically as well as tried out and made the Jr. varsity soccer team. He still takes tennis lessons, but couldn't do both soccer and tennis for school (competing seasons).

Outside of school Randy also remained involved in YGP (Younger Generation Players). In the spring he was in show choir and traveled to Disney World with the group this summer. One performance, but they spent 5 days in Disney. Not a bad gig, huh? He also tried out and made the play Wizard of Oz where he played Zeek, one of the farm hands. He has continued with Tap this fall, cutting back on show choir while he figured out high school.

Sam and I continue our employment with Shaw Consulting. The company has done well this past year and hope that 2010 brings the same or more. I am still programming and loving it. It gives me an opportunity to learn something new everyday. Sam continues with network and security consulting. We are mindful that the economy has brought many challenges for small business and are thankful for ours.

We took several trips this year. We took a fabulous family spring break trip to northern California and Oregon. We visited the red woods where we camped on the beach for several days. That was AWESOME! On the way home, we visited Crater Lake where our experiences were unexpected. We had no idea that Crater Lake has as much snow as it does in the winter. It buries National Park buildings. Very cool. Also fascinated by the fact that an hour's drive from Crater Lake in either direction there was no snow.

In May we went to Missouri for Sam's mom's 75th surprise birthday party. Much of Sam's time for months was working on that surprise, and he and his sister did a great job caring that off. Not easy to plan a party from a distance.

Hobby-wise Sam continues to do some 4-wheeling with his Nissan (although probably not as much as he would like). We did get up to the high country several times, to a military plane wreck, camping in the snowy range (WY), and to the beach. Sam also got a wonderful new mountain bike this year which has been affectionately nicknamed "the couch". It has 29 inch tires and full suspension. This has allowed him to return to one of his favorite active hobbies.

I continue to do agility with our two Border Collies and definitely don't get to do that as much as I would like! Tip, my older dog and I qualified for USDAA Nationals this year down in Scottsdale AZ. We had a great time and did very well at Nationals. In every event we placed between the top 20 or 30 dogs. I was really pleased since there were dogs/handlers from all over the world there. Split our younger dog continues to gain the needed experience, and I am hoping to get him to a Nationals this next year. He is a fun, fast, and happy boy!

It has been a year since I had my thyroid ablated (killed off). That has also been a journey. Getting my medication at the right levels mimicked the stock market recovery for the whole year. I think that I am finally on the right track.

We have been in our house for 19 years now and it is time for some major projects! This year we tore out our deck and had a new patio poured. After that was done we wondered why we had waited so long! We love it. When the weather is above 40 in the mornings you can find me out there drinking my coffee (and playing fetch with the dogs because you can't ignore them).

Sam, Randy and I joined Facebook this year. Like I said, it was a big year :) That has been fantastic and has allowed us to stay in touch with many friends. We invite everyone to look us up. Many more of our daily pictures and musing are on there.

Again, Happy holidays and we hope that 2010 means health and prosperity to us all!

Mary, Sam, Randy
Tip, Split, and Precious