It’s time to round up the year’s memories once again and attempt the annual essay on "What We Did This Year". I’m assuming of course that all of you enjoy reading Christmas newsletters as much as we do. So here goes...

We started out the year with a visit to Carol in Los Angeles, where we did Disneyland, the San Diego Zoo, and the La Brea tar pits. The day after our return Hilary became ill and ended up in the hospital with a ruptured appendix - not a fun experience. She also got a mouthful of braces right before Christmas and learned the down side of being female as well, so her year got off to a rough start. On a more positive note, she is doing great in school and has enjoyed playing volleyball and basketball this year.

Ryan is the family sports addict. This year he took swimming lessons and has played soccer, baseball, and basketball. He still loves to draw and has recently taken an interest in stamp collecting (his teacher started a stamp club). Both kids had a week of "art" lessons this summer: Hilary took pottery and painting while Ryan was drawing and learning the basics of theater. Watching the two of them grow and change is a definite high!

The furry members of our family tripled when the kids and I arrived home with two kittens that we procured while on an outing to pick strawberries, much to Dave’s dismay. Sergeant Coonstripe (Coon) and Princess Dustmuffin (Dusty) provide hours of entertainment in their attempts to destroy our house and each other. Sasha, our dachshund/pomeranian mix, tolerates the cats pretty well - of course they are now almost her size and twice as fast as she is, so she is wise to share the table scraps with them.

Dave has been a very busy guy, as usual. This year he built Hilary and I beautiful Shaker-style desks - something I have dreamed of having for years. He has also salvaged some blowdown (an excuse to play with big "guy toys"?), done lots of firewood cutting, and is now in the midst of a major erosion control project to protect our road. He also continues his effort to improve our forest land by removing brush and planting conifer seedlings. Basically Dave is our big daddy: he takes good care of the property, our home, and the three of us! Dave’s big trip this year was a weekend spree to his hometown (Granby, Conn.) for his 25th high school reunion. About half of his class showed up and he enjoyed catching up with old friends and chatting with other classmates.

My life continues to be a whirlwind of activity. In January I did some intensive helicopter surveys for elk, which were mostly a big thrill, except for a few guests turning green (one of whom severely tested my endurance by bringing up his breakfast into his hat; a four-seater chopper is a very small, enclosed space!). My job duties have also included surveys for deer, grouse, pygmy owls, and oystercatchers. I spent a few days at a wildlife drug and immobilization class where I got to use all sorts of cool dart guns and such. We even darted a big black bear and a bull elk at the Wildlife Safari, while astonished tourists drove by in their minivans. I have also dealt with LOTS of bear problems this year, fondled hundreds of salmon and steelhead in traps, seines and gillnets, and successfully avoided spending too much time at my desk.

In our spare time the kids and I have embarked on a soapmaking venture which is evolving into a part-time business. Yes, you too can buy our luxurious herbal soaps - check out our brochure and order today. Soap is good, clean fun! In all of my creative pursuits I learn some important things, for example: adding honey to a lye mixture causes an impressive chemical reaction that could do lots of bad things to any surface it comes in contact with (like a newly finished deck). Everyone makes mistakes, right? Hilary helps make the soap, Ryan is our labeler and packer, and both of them are good at selling the soap at the farmer’s market and craft shows. I knew these kids would come in handy if we kept them around long enough!

My good deed for the year was getting registered as a bone marrow donor, which was a simple matter of giving up some blood for special tests and doing a bit of paperwork. So now I’m on The List and could get a call at any time to help save a life. If you are interested in this you can call 1-800-MARROW-2 to get some information on how to proceed.

Well, that about wraps it up. We’re looking forward to a peaceful Christmas here at home, perhaps venturing up to Mt. Hood for some fun in the snow with friends around New Year’s.

Best wishes for a wonderful holiday and a year full of good things.