Christmas 2005
Summer vacation in Oxevik, Sweden
Well here goes another letter for another year. Here’s the summary in case you don’t like to read long Christmas letters. Sarah Graduated. Emily got her driver’s license. Miki went back to Japan. Dan continues to paraglide. We vacationed in Europe. Mary Beth supported it all.
Sarah graduated from the University of Oregon this June. She had a double major in Journalism and Political Science. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with lots of other awards too numerous to mention-We’re so proud. After spending the summer in Eugene to finish some thesis requirements she moved back to Portland in the fall. She has taken a job with the Re-Direct Guide in Portland. It is a small company that publishes a catalog of environmentally friendly companies and services. She moved into a studio apartment in Southeast Portland in November. It’s great to have her nearby.
Emily put in her hours of driving and got her driver’s license. Oregon has requirements for the number of hours behind the wheel prior to getting a license and lots of limits on when she can drive and how many occupants can be in the car with her for the first 6 months. Now she has the challenge of keeping her grades up to the point that she can use the car when it is convenient for her and not just for her parents. She went to speech and debate camp this summer at UCLA in Los Angeles. It was a great experience for her and a chance to improve her debating skills. That’s great except she uses them all to often on her mother. Emily also spent two weeks as a counselor-in-training at YMCA Camp Collins. She is a junior this fall and busy with schoolwork and all the things high schoolers normally do. She looks great in her Halloween costume as rainbow brite
Our exchange student Miki went back to Japan in June after finishing her Junior year. We miss her--Mary Beth especially. She was a lot of fun to have around in addition to being a very good musician and student. We hope to visit her in Japan one day.
Mary Beth has kept busy the last year supporting Miki and Emily’s activities in school and looking for bargains on Craig’s list. It’s amazing what she finds. Lots of things from items for Sarah’s apartment or view condos in downtown Portland. We are starting to look for a smaller place that we can call home once Emily leaves for college. It won’t be that long. In addition to keeping Emily focused on her schoolwork Mary Beth is an A-1 paragliding driver. Someone has to drive the SUV down from launch and retrieve pilots after landing.
Dan logged over 50 hours of flight time with his paraglider this year. He bought a new glider in August and was signed off for his “advanced” rating. His passion for this sport has not subsided-only gotten stronger. He has been going to the gym 4-6 days a week to keep in shape for eventual retirement and full time flying. The TriumphTR6 is history. Dan finally sold his current car after 22 years of having one parked in a garage or in storage. It was a requirement from Mary Beth that the car go before Dan bought his new paragliding wing. The new wing is getting a lot more use than the TR6 ever did.
This summer Dan took two weeks for a paragliding vacation in Europe prior to week of business meetings in Germany. Annecy and Chamonix in France, Southern Germany, and Sweden. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate for paragliding. Lots or rain in France. Too much wind in Sweden. Rain and bad winds in Germany. Mary Beth joined him for 9 days while Emily was at speech camp. With Mary Beth along there was plenty of time to spend together being tourists and enjoying French cuisine. It was a great time visiting friends in Sweden. It was much to short a time and we only go to visit with a few of our old friends but we are committed to going back and spending much more time in the next year or two. It was a great vacation.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year…
