Greetings
Here
comes another year and another year gone.
And now
for our annual recap. Susie and
the kids started the year by taking a trip to Disneyland.
February brought the usual Mardi Gras trip
but with a van full of friends.
Because Mardi Gras fell on the same weekend as the Austin Marathon,
Susie skipped the Austin Marathon and did her first out of town marathon in Fort
Worth, Cowtown.
Spring
was full of baseball
with both boys playing on different teams. There was no shortage of action as
Chance learned to hit a pitched ball this year. We also went skiing with our
friends the Maddoxes over Spring Break at Loveland in Colorado. Since their girls are only slightly
older than our boys, the kids have a great time with each other. We suffered through a power outage that
left us struggling to find enough wood to keep warm for a couple of hours. The kids played Uno until the sun went
down and there wasnÕt enough light.
Good times, good times.
Travis
is still biking and did two longer rides this year: the 85-mile
Shiner Bash and the Outlaw Trail bike ride. In the summer, we looked on with pride as Chance and Dax did
their very first triathlon. They
swam in a pool, rode their bikes and then ran.
August
brought major changes when Travis accepted a new position with Department of
Veterans Affairs. He works with a
team of professionals that evaluate and assess the security of VA sites in
Region 1, which covers California, Hawaii, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Washington,
Oregon, Alaska, Nevada, Guam, Philippines and American Samoa. Approximately once a month, Travis and
other members of his team will visit VA sites and help them improve their
security, protecting veteranÕs private information that may be stored
electronically or physically at these sites.
When he
is not traveling, he works from home.
We are still adapting to these changes including the conversion of our
loft area to a full-blown workspace.
We are hoping to make progress on building a house on our land since we
are bursting at the seams, still living in the same house for the last 14
years.
SusieÕs
work continues to be challenging.
She is the Director of the Air Quality Division at the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality. With
over 160 employees and millions (yes, millions) of dollars in grant money, she
has plenty to manage. Her work travel is not quite as exotic as TravisÕs.
The
kids still attend the NYOS
Charter School. This summer the
school moved locations, which was a little stressful for Susie since she became
the Chair of the Board that governs the school. NYOS is basically a year-round school with a long break in
the summer of only 6-7 weeks, a three-week break in the fall, and two weeks
during Spring Break.
The
long fall break gave the family an opportunity to take a Disney
Cruise in late September. Our
friends, the Lasaters, joined us on this adventure. This trip was a wonder vacation for all. While on the boat, the kids enjoyed
DisneyÕs kidsÕ clubs while the grown ups watched shows. Travis and Matt got to go diving in
Cozumel while Susie, Stacy and the four boys had a dolphin encounter. Dax was reluctant to kiss the dolphin,
but would shake hands while Chance had no reservations about Dolphin
affection. We all had a
great time and plan to go on another cruise in a couple of years.
Watching
the boys play soccer was FallÕs pastime.
Each year, the boys mature in their playing and impress us with new
found skills. Also this fall, Dax
joined the cub
scouts and we became a full
scouting family with Travis serving as Den Leader for ChanceÕs den.
In
December, Susie and Travis combined a family visit to SusieÕs Dad and
Grandmother with a little run down the strip: the Las Vegas Marathon. The weather was perfect and she set a
new personal record. Susie really
felt supported when Travis, her Dad, Pat and John (who happened to be in L.V.
also) met her on the course a number of times to cheer her on.
We are
looking forward to a relatively quiet Christmas, with Travis finally back in
town until early January when he leaves for, yes, Hawaii. We are hoping to join Travis on a
couple of trips this year.
Travis
work travel: San Diego, Washington
DC, Salt Lake City, Cheyenne Wyoming, Spokane Washington, New
Orleans
Susie
work travel: Houston, Houston, Houston, Dallas, Dallas, Dallas, lather, rinse,
repeat.
Here are some links to old Christmas
Letters:
[1997]
[1998]
[1999]
[2000]
[2001]
[2002]
[2003]
[2004]
[2005]
[2006]