Merry Christmas 2002!
Hello Friends and Family! Thank you for all the wonderful Christmas cards, letters and pictures.
2002 began with Travis starting a new job as a contractor for a contractor for the Department of Veteran Affairs Austin Automation Center. Suzi began working (again) at her old place of employment in a job share position as an engineer for the state’s environmental agency in December of 2001.
Chance , now three, and Dax, 19 months, continue to be a source of laughter and joy (and exhaustion) in our house. It is quite amazing to see them experience new things and learn new words and concepts. We feel blessed and fortunate that we get to be the parents of these special boys.
Grammy (Hammett) tagged along when the whole family went to New Orleans for Mardi Gras this year. She stayed with the kids while we did the usual round of parties and revelry.
Meanwhile back in Austin, Kyla Dylan, our niece, finally arrived after much anticipation. We are certain that this little beauty will be able to handle anything growing up with an older brother and our two sons as cousins. Lucky for us that we all live close enough for the kids to be great playmates. Chance and Vale are particularly fun to watch together as they are beginning to work as a team in their (mis)adventures.
In June, Suzi & Heather completed the Danskin Triathlon with flying colors. We were all very proud of the ladies. About the same time, we learned some bad news about one of Suzi's oldests and dearest friends. Greg Allen's daughter, Sabrina was abducted by her non-custodial mother. Although the story has been featured on America's Most Wanted, Sabrina is still missing and may not be home for the holidays.
Suzi’s aunt came to visit in August to help out with the children while we went on a cruise for our tenth anniversary. Tia Marta also helped out with taking care of the boys while they were on summer vacation from their school.
The cruise was a big highlight of our year. How wonderful it was to sleep without abrupt awakenings, eat together without interruption and have our room cleaned whenever we left it.
In October, we welcomed Heather Bray to our family as she wed Josh, Travis' baby brother. Chance was an eager and adorable ring bearer at the beautiful outside service. The wedding was a great celebration and we enjoyed seeing relatives and friends from near and far who came to share this special time with our family.
If you have the time, you can peruse the pictures we posted this year at http://yoda.jedi.net/travis/albums/
We hope
that this letter finds you in good health and happiness and you and your family
are enjoying a wonderful holiday season.
Here are some links to old Christmas Letters:
[1997]
[1998]
[1999][2000][2001]