27 December 2008

Christmas Letter 2009

Christmas 2009
This year we have felt we should change our name to Duncan…as in Yo-Yo. It has been an up and down year with time down (like a sleeping trick) and up time (rock-the-baby). We traveled a bunch, but not quite around-the-world. Lori tried to spend a lot of time walking-the-dog, but overall we are healthy, alive, and still spinning. We have watched our granddaughter Samantha turn one-years-old, waited for Richard to deal with some legal issues, taken a few trips, said goodbye to Rick’s dad, sent Anna back to Germany, and had some visitors. After over 10 years of Alzheimer’s, Rick’s dad died in May; he was 77. It was in many ways a relief. We will all miss him greatly, but won’t have the sorrow of seeing this great man be so helpless. Last Christmas she came up for a week to visit and found out first-hand that we do have daylight in the winter. Our traditional “16 year-old picks-a-trip” trip to go back east and visit some historical sites was Charles’ choice. We toured Boston and New York City with a brief stop in northern Vermont to visit one of his friends. It was while we were on this trip that Rick’s dad passed away. Lori and Rick went to the funeral in Long Beach. We also went to Long Beach for Spring Break (D’Artagnan went with us with his new mohawk haircut) and in the fall did a “college” trip for Meg and Charles (and a friend of theirs - Emma) to Portland, Southern Oregon, and Humboldt. We got to see some really BIG redwoods and had a good time. Rick and Lori were in Idaho in January to see Anneka, Mike and Samantha. We actually got to see Samantha 4 times this year. In January, during spring break, at the funeral, and for her 1st birthday. Rick and Lori also went to Maui so Rick could attend an optometry meeting. Rick also went up to the Alyeska ski resort outside of Anchorage for another meeting. Charles, Meg, and Anna traveled to Juneau, Ketchikan, and Anchorage for drama/debate.
Rick is staying busy at SEARHC. 6 trips to Klawock/Prince of Wales Island and 1 to Yakutat plus a full schedule most days in Sitka. The meeting in Girdwood/Alyeska was for a new part of the optometry law. A very intense course and Rick didn’t even get to ski. Yes, He is still Bishop at church.
Lori was fired by WSU after making a fuss about an unfair policy, but was quickly rehired because of a technicality in her contract. It is unlikely that her contract will be renewed again, so it was time for a new plan. She is back in school to get a teaching credential so she can teach high school. We see little of her as she is teaching full time AND working toward finishing an 18 month program in 9 months. Now if we can keep her sane for a few more months….
Richard has had a rough year. He had to spend some time in jail, but is out and serving his probation here in Sitka. He is working at one of the grocery stores and was promoted to a manager position within a month of starting. Meg (she prefers Marg now) is really ready to be out of high school. She turned 19 in November and is taking some classes at the local Univ. of Alaska campus as well as making sure she has all the high school credits she needs. She still works at Highliner Coffee and has decided that she will attend Humboldt State University in Arcata, California next fall and be a music education major. She is currently taking voice lessons too.
Charles is a junior and in choir and vocal jazz. His voice has really matured and he loves being on stage. In fact, he had a duet/solo at this years Jazz Fesitval. In addition he participated in the All- State Choir in Anchorage. He, along with Meg and Anna got to go to the State Drama/Debate meet in Anchorage. Charles is planning on attending Humboldt State after he graduates in 2010 as a music education major. He wants it known that he decided to go to Humboldt first, so he is NOT following his sister.
Anna ended her exchange with us in June. While still here she participated with the track team doing shot put, long jump, and some relays. She “graduated” from Sitka High, but still has a couple of years left of German high school to complete. It was sad to see her go. Yet it is nice to know that we have 3 other children that are part of us… Annika, Jo, and now Anna. AFS has been good to us.
Anneka, Mike and Samantha are all doing well. Samantha is now 1 year old, Mike finished his journeyman’s school and passed his test for a Journeyman license (after only one try). They are planning to come up for Meg’s graduation in May.

We are all on Facebook now… I manage Lori’s for now. We all have our dumb cell phones that don’t let us ever be alone, so give us a call or text us. We are looking forward to a new year full of love, blessings, friends, and family.
Rick: 907-738-1159, Lori: 907-738-9068, Richard: 907-738-3112, Meg(Marg): 907-738-3826, Charles: 907-738-3123, D’Artangan-unlisted

College Road Trip

No, not the movie (not that I have seen it), but a family trip the last part of September for Meg and Charles (and their friend Emma) to look at some schools for their future plans.
Both Meg and Charles want to go into music education and be high school music teachers. The two main places the checked was Southern Oregon Univ. and Humbolt State Univ.
 Both are WUI schools, which means that they can be from out-of-state, but not have to pay the higher fees. They don't get in-state, but a split of the two... 1.5x the in-state. A really good deal. It is actually cheaper to be on WUI for 4 years than to do out-of-state for 2 and then in-state for 2. Plus being from Alaska they don't have to give up their residency which allows them to keep receiving the PFD (Permanent Fund Distribution) each year.
We flew into Portland, picked up our car and spent a couple of days in Portland. As we have done recently we rented a place while in Portland and Ashland. The kids visited Univ. of Portland, and Reid College. Emma looked at an art school too.  We experienced Powell's Book and VooDoo Donuts. They knew several people at Reid who were from Logan, so they hung out with them. Charles and I got to play golf.
Then we drove to Ashland, Oregon. On the way we went to Crater Lake. I had been there once before with my folks/brothers in 1975. Lori and the kids had not but were very impressed. When God makes something it is REALLY something!!
The music program at Southern Oregon looked pretty good, but the kids... and Lori and I thought the program and its resources was better at Humbolt. 
While in Ashland we took in a Shakespeare play as they have a 9 month festival. We saw "Comedy of Errors". We had some incredible weather too. At both So. Ore. and Humbolt the kid (and us) had tours given by current students on campus. 

 On the way to Arcata / Humbolt / Eureka, California the highway goes through some huge areas of redwoods. We got to see some HUGE trees.
 Makes you feel very small. 
In Arcata we drove around the area and enjoyed the views.  I played golf again in Arcata. Again great weather.
We finished off by driving to San Jose to fly home. On the way we drove the Avenue of the Giants in another redwood area.
End result: Meg will be heading to Humbolt next year and Charles the next year.

17 December 2008

Thanksgiving


Last year I got to kayak on Thanksgiving thanks to great weather.  Well, this year we had another sunny "warm" holiday.
  Meg, Lori, D'Artagnan, and I hiked the Mosquito Cove trail.  
The great weather gave us just one more reason to be thankful.  We had a couple of guests for dinner... Meg's friend Amy and her mom.  We had a great dinner (Lori and the kids had their veggie "turkey".. dressing wrapped in a turkey flavored tofu) and then played Apples to Apples.
All in all a really nice day.