Merry Christmas 2005 from the Hildebrands!

Hope this letter finds you in good health and enjoying the season.

No big changes for us this year - it was a happy year! The biggest news in our family was the birth of Ian Stuart to Josh & Heather. Our kids now have another cousin to play with!

Travis managed to keep his job at Motive Inc despite the layoffs this year. Susie is still working at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) but only 25 hours per week. By keeping her schedule part-time, Susie is able to pick the kids up from school every day and spend extra time with them both on Fridays, when Chance only goes to Kinder for a half day and Dax stays home.

Chance started Kindergarten at a public charter school called Not Your Ordinary School or NYOS. He managed to get in at the last minute after not having his name drawn from the lottery system. There were over 300 applicants for a mere 20 available spots. Because Chance got in, Dax will also be automatically eligible to attend next year as well. The main campus (where the boys will go from 4^th grade through high school is located within blocks of the TCEQ, Susie's work.) Chance's campus is two blocks from Dax's preschool, just 5 minutes from the TCEQ. Dax is in Pre-K four days a week and spends Fridays at home with Susie.

In November, we purchased four acres of land in Pflugerville. The land used to be farm land; it was developed into 23 lots, each about 4-5 acres big. The Neighborhood is surrounded by still-working farms with our particular lot bordered on one edge by an eleven-acre pond. We have no immediate plans of building a house yet, but we would like to think about beginning construction in the next few years.

Sports:

• Susie ran the Freescale marathon and MANY other smaller races.
• Chance joined a T-ball team in the spring and played soccer in the fall.
• Dax played soccer in the spring and fall.
• Travis coached Dax's soccer in the spring and Chance's soccer in the fall.
• Travis did his first triathlon, first half-marathon, and two 100-mile bike rides. (He attributes his triathlon and running success to his inspirational wife.)
• Travis and Susie did a relay triathlon with Susie swimming and running and Travis biking and running with Susie.
• Of course, the family went camping several times throughout the year.

Travel/Trips:

For fun:

• New Orleans (before Katrina) for Mardi Gras.
• Skiing in Ruidoso in March with the Maddox family.
• Port Aransas in July with the Maddox, Brown and Allums-Murthy families.
• Sea World (x3) in San Antonio (including one trip to do the Splash Triathlon.)
• Las Vegas to visit Susie's father and grandmother on her birthday.
• South Dakota to celebrate Great-Grandpa Melvin's 90^th birthday.

For work:

Travis

• San Francisco, CA
• London / Switzerland / France for 10 days
• New York City for a 3 day class in November

Susie

• Dallas
• Houston
• Hot Springs, Arkansas

(well, after all she does work for the state of Texas.)

Merry Christmas to all!

Here are some links to old Christmas Letters:
[1997] [1998] [1999] [2000] [2001] [2002]
[2003] [2004]

Travis, Suzi, Chance, Dax, Scout