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Christmas
2004
As another Holiday
season approaches and you come together
again with family and friends, we wish you every wonderful blessing-
Christmas joy, family warmth,
togetherness, peace and love
Another year has come and gone, almost! Once again we delighted
in surprises; grew a bit in mind (and unfortunately in body); and created
many good memories with our dear family and friends! All in all it
has been a good year and we humbly, and hopefully humorously, share it with
you.
Rich spent most of this year working on Boeing’s next new airplane, the
7E7 Dreamliner. It is still in the design stage, with first flight
still 2.5 years away. He has continued his work on enhancing their
project management/change management processes, and architecting the enabling
computing systems. For most engineers, working on new airplanes is
the sweet spot in life. But the 1.5 – 2.0 hour daily commute, partially
through stop and go freeway traffic, has soured some of the excitement. He
has been experiencing first hand the rumor that traffic around Seattle gets
worse each year.
Rich started preparing for retirement in October by taking a night class
at a local university. He just completed the first of 5 courses towards
becoming a Certified Financial Planner. He signed up his first clients
this year, and decided he should get some formal training to better perform
his fiduciary responsibilities. Unknowingly, he started with the most
difficult class (Investment Management). An interesting subject turned
into 120-140 pages of pretty dry reading every week, 2 term papers, and the
challenge of taking mid term and final exams – 25 years after his last one.
That pretty much summarizes his October through early December. Pity
Susan –she picked up a larger workload around the house to assist him.
The next class should be easier – its on taxes!
Susan finished her Conversational Spanish and has decided she needs to
take more classes. Learning a language is a lot harder than it was
at 18!! Her next steps are on hold, as one person in school is all
that we can manage! She has continued her volunteer work, which includes
mentoring Nitsa, the same little girl she started with 4 years ago.
Now a 4th grader, Nitza has decided to teach Susan how to play soccer.
Susan says it is a comedy of errors on her part!
FAMILY VISITS-
We made several trips to Oregon to visit Rich’s Mom
and brothers; the last at Thanksgiving. She still tries to maintain
her yard by herself, but as she approaches 80, the yard is gaining some
advantages on her.
Early August took us to Evansville to spend time with Susan’s family and to celebrate her Aunt Anna and Uncle Andy’s 50th wedding anniversary.
The Anniversary brought lots of extended family members together to reminisce.
As a 4-year old flower girl at the time, Susan’s memories are pretty simple—the
dress, the heat, nap time and food!! Her immediate family has grown
to 27, so there are always activities and on-going events when they all get
together. This year we attended a good old Beer Festival!
Susan’s brother, Alan, and his fiancée,
Lori, visited us from Chicago for a week in July. We enjoyed their
visit and showing them this very lovely area. We took them kayaking
on Lake Washington, and hiking through the snows
near Mt Rainier. Even after all that, they
still invited us to their wedding over Labor Day.
It was a wonderful event, and all of Susan’s immediate family convened in
Chicago to celebrate. They showed Lori, and her family, that her in-laws
like to have a good time and closed down all
the parties! Their ceremony and reception was exquisite—a tribute to
2 special people.
Rich made a business trip to Washington DC in November to attend a conference.
Being only 2 blocks from the White House enabled him to spend his evenings
exploring the Capital’s grounds. But the best part was visiting with
his cousins Dwight and Debbie, and spending a weekend with their families.
It was his first chance to meet some of their children, and get to know them.
RETURN TO PARADISE—
In late January we returned to our favorite vacation spot, Hawaii. We
were joined by Susan’s sister and hubby (Louise
and Bob), our friend Pat, and her brother-in and wife Tom and Rayann). The seven of us spent the first
week on Maui, staying in a wonderful beach front condo in Kahana. For
the 2 couple’s it was their first trip to Hawaii. For us veterans it
was so much fun showing them the beauty and enchantment of the island.
Snorkeling, a luau, lots of mai tai’s, whale watching,
beautiful sunrises and sunsets, and a trip to
Hanna to see black sand beaches and swim in the seven
sacred pools—were all part of the experience. Even Willie Nelson joined
us!! Well, actually he did walk into the restaurant and sat at the
table next to us! A screen divided us, but we were able to observe his tennies
that were monogrammed with “Willie”! Our newbies were “bitten” by the
Hawaii bug, and like us, they also are planning a return trip to paradise!
For week 2, we returned to the Big Island of Hawaii, accompanied by our
good friend Pat. We took Pat kayaking out to the place where Captain
Cook was killed and introduced her to the fantastic snorkeling. When
we last went out to this area in 2001, we were one of a few kayaking groups.
Unfortunately the secret of this place is out and the shore was filled with
kayaks. Such is life! Fortunately, the variety and quantity of
brightly colored fish haven’t noticed the influx of
big glass eyed humans. Our “we will never forget this” adventure was
a hike Rich read about that eventually took us to a beautiful beach.
Getting there was a journey! The first leg required driving on a very
primitive road that was actually an old lava field,
complete with deep ruts and wash outs. The posted speed limit was 20 mph,
but we never exceeded 7! Next we hiked for 45 minutes over a broken
lava rock trail. This was followed by another 15 minute hike through
sand. It’s a tough way to earn a nap on an isolated beach. At least
we knew what the return trip would be like! Another day was filled
driving to Hilo and a route along the northern shore of the island. Hilo is
the rainy side of this island, and in Hawaiian tradition, we were greeted
with a good soaker. A cup of Starbucks later, the rained stopped and the sun
shone on us for the rest of the day. Most of the day we could see the snow
on the top of Mauna Kea! This tremendous geographic diversity is what
intrigues us about the island, and keeps us going back.
RETURN TO PARADISE AGAIN—
In mid-July we returned to paradise again, this time to Honolulu.
This trip was for the Memorial Service of Rich’s uncle, who had died last
November and was to be interred at Punchbowl. His cousins, who grew up on Oahu and all now live
on the mainland, wanted to give their families a chance to experience their
earlier lives. About 25 of us, including Rich’s Mom, rented 2 large
houses near Wiamanolo Beach. The Memorial Service was a warm tribute
to his uncle’s work as a father, surgeon and sculptor.
Another day was spent driving along the north shore looking for good, secluded
beaches. Without realizing it we came upon the television setting for
the new TV program “Lost”. We were ushered away from the area and were
not allowed to take pics. Year’s ago, when Rich visited his cousins
there, one of the memorable adventures was a hike to the top of a ridge overlooking
most of the island. Most of the family decided to repeat this climb
of 1800 feet in 3.5 miles. It was a “panter”, and became a “groan”
at the very end when we faced an incline so steep that a rope was required
to propel ourselves up. Even with that, some needed to be pulled and
pushed at the same time. But once on top, the view
was spectacular!! We stood on the edge of a shear cliff that plunged
almost to sea level. The clouds around us parted, and it was like being in
heaven and looking down on the garden of Eden. But the best part of the trip
was sharing stories of our past and spending time with family.
VISITORS FROM AFAR—
Our friends the Wickards, who we affectionately
label as our Hong Kong/Singapore hosts, now live in Idaho Falls. They
traveled to Seattle the week before Easter and we were able to spend some
time with them. A highlight was visiting the tulip fields in and around
the Sedro Wooley area north of Seattle. The fields were in full bloom - a
spectacular site of so many rich colors. We
were in photograph heaven!
We shared several events with our group of Seattle
friends. We rented a big cabin outside of Leavenworth, WA (fashioned
in old German architecture) to celebrate one friends 50th. She was
“queen for a day” wearing her black tiara well and
taking all our ribbing in stride! Another weekend brought us together
at a house on a lake, and another at a house near Mt St Helens. In
October we journeyed to eastern Washington for our annual wine tasting tour.
Many of these were 3 day weekends enabled by Rich’s 9 hour workdays.
LIFE’S SPEED BUMPS—
This year, we have gained a new appreciation for the value of health.
Rich’s Uncle George had a heart attack in April. He felt it coming
on while in his van and was able to pull off the road. Maggie was able
to get several motorists to stop and help. The quick response minimized
the damage to his heart muscle, but the recovery was slowed by pneumonia.
Maggie had suffered a stroke just last December and there is some peripheral
vision loss, but she has made a tremendous recovery.
In May, Susan’s ex-boss, who has long been a very close friend, was diagnosed
with a brain tumor. He has been through surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.
The next steps are now being determined by a team of specialists. We
pray and hope he continues to receive the gift of time!
Not so important, but a big hassle was the flooding of our 1st floor bathroom
when a faucet hose broke. The linoleum and hardwood floor had to be
replaced and new insulation and a ceiling in the basement. The bad
news—3 months of dealing with contractors and inconveniences. The good news—we
finally cleaned out our basement during the drying, which was in dire need
and untouched for 15 years!!
We will be spending our first week of Christmas in Indiana with Susan’s
family, and the second week in Oregon with Rich’s. His brother’s family,
from Orlando, will be joining us. We hope to arrive back in Seattle in time
to spend new Years Eve with friends.
In the quiet prayers we offer,
in the silent harmony of hearts,
in the love we give and gather...
Peace is born anew.
May it bless your Christmas with gentle joy!
