12/29/97
Happy New Year to our good friends. We had some fun vacations this year. We spent a sunny
week in Maui in April, and we had a very enjoyable stay at a family camp set among the giant
Sequoia redwoods at 7500 feet (Hank says "ouch!"). Both girls got polar bear awards for swimming
laps in the early morning. Marcia even swam some mornings. We wrote camp words for "Summer
Nights" from Grease, and then we corralled another family to help and performed our number at
the talent show. Fiona found a great group of kids her age. They spent many an evening
discussing the deep topics of the universe, and now they all keep in touch via E-mail.
We're enjoying our remodeled house, and we're almost finished with our giant landscaping
project. We even got rid of the porta-potty. Some neighbors who had a perfect view of the lovely
blue plastic hut feared we might miss the thing after having it for THREE years, so they gave us a
little toy outhouse for Christmas. The back yard is very pretty, with screened porch, gazebo, pool,
playhouse, play structure, tree house, trellis, brick, flagstone, flowers....everything we could ask for.
We're going to plant bulbs this week. Spring should be smashing!
Jillian is settling in at Hillbrook, although she misses her old McAuliffe class very much. She
enjoys her teacher, Mr. Stamos, and seems to have a good time with schoolwork. She's making
some new friends, and she still gets together with her old friends as often as possible; Jillian is
happiest when she has someone to share her fun with. Between play dates, she learns to play
piano, earns Jr. Girl Scout badges, and keeps company with our four cats and the neighbors' dogs.
She played another season of baseball and plans to return again this year.
Fiona loves Junior High at Hillbrook. That is, she enjoys the teachers and the learning, but she
does get frustrated with the large quantities of homework. She sings in the girls' ensemble at
school and in a girls' trio at church. She performed "I Like to Be in America" from West Side Story
in Hillbrook's revue. Then in the summer, she played the role of Irene in PYT's Crazy for You.
Now she's eager to learn what play Hillbrook will be doing this spring. Offstage, Fiona is learning
piano, tap and ballet. She looks forward to the church youth group gatherings, even when it
means fasting for 30 hours to raise money for victims of starvation, while learning first-hand how
it feels to be intensely hungry. She helps with the little kids at church when time allows. She's
busy choosing a high school and completing applications.
Hank worked at Maxtor until Track season picked up. He coached both Track and Cross
Country for the third year at Lynbrook. He had fun encouraging the kids, taking them to meets,
and frequently inviting them to run UP to our house and jump in the pool. Hank was able to run
a sub-4:50 mile for the 26th year in a row. He pulled a solius in his right leg in April and then a
hamstring in June. He stopped running in October to let it heal, and he's STILL waiting. (He
gained 10 pounds in the process, but he's confident it will melt off when he starts running again.)
He was riding his bike for a while, but after getting hit by a car (no bones broken, but you should
have seen the car), he decided to bail on the biking when the rains started. He played Bert in
42nd Street and got to shuffle off to Buffalo with the cast.
Marcia helped with music and drama here, there and everywhere. She put together an
"Andrews Sisters" trio with some old friends for the Hillbrook auction. They sang old classics like
"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," to the accompaniment of a live
combo that included Hank on bass. Marcia leads the Girl Scout troop and teaches singing to the
kids at church. Marcia and Hank worked together organizing Western Night and teaching a drama
elective at Hillbrook. Marcia is really happy to be almost finished with the building and
landscaping! She loves strenuous walks with her friends, Bible study, and generally being wife to
her dear husband and mother to her two precious girls. This full-time homemaking turns out to
be even more challenging and time consuming than those early years at Oracle!
We pray that God's grace and peace will bless you and yours. Love and friendship to all.