Christmas 2010
Season's greetings to you all from Portland, Oregon! Thanks to all of you who have already sent letters to us. We are highly amused by all the weather in Europe. We are usually dealing with the snow right about now, but it seems to have moved over the other side of the planet.
Richard is now entering his 4th year as IT manager of the Bureau of Development Services at the City of Portland,. The bureau just got approval to upgrade its permitting information system to go Web-based and paperless. Quite an undertaking and should keep him busy for the next couple of years. On this year’s “Take Your Kids To Work Day”, Josephine toured of some downtown high rises, as well as Richard and Jennifer’s offices. But she most enjoyed playing Mario Kart on the Nintendo DS against Richard’s technical teammates.
After two years of being success coach extraordinaire, Jennifer left InsideTrack in June. She is now helping Josephine with her curricula and extra-curricular activities as a volunteer costume maker. Good to know that the Masters in Clothing and Textiles is coming in handy. Not to be sitting too idle, Jennifer has found a fantastic jewelry company and the opportunity to get out, be social and spread the “gospel of sparkle” too much to resist. If you are interested in sparkle, check out http://www.stelladot.com/jewelryjen .
Josephine is almost 11! She continues to thrive at the Odyssey program and is in her 2nd year as team captain. She was General Stonewall Jackson in last year’s school play. She was Mary Applegate in the Drain Party on the Oregon Trail Field Trip that mum and dad chaperoned in May. Richard ran into some of the descendants of the Applegates who own a coffee shop on Mt Hood. Currently she is Chief of the Haida tribe in the Mahopa unit (American Indian history) and preparing for a big pow-wow performance.
August saw our annual trip to ol’ Blighty. This year we spent time in London showing Josephine the sights; Madame Tussaud’s, a double decker bus tour, Tower of London with multiple ‘rides’ past the Crown Jewels, Buckingham Palace, and Tower Bridge, We spent time in Blean celebrating Liz and Suzy’s 70/40 birthdays with family and friends. Jennifer and Richard took the Eurostar to Paris for a few days to themselves. Richard enjoyed travelling at up to 186 mph and reaching Paris in ~2 hours. Jennifer enjoyed taking in the sights, visiting Sainte Chapelle, Chanel, Bhudda Bar and Versailles. And finally, we travelled to the Jurassic coast in Dorset with Aunty Lisa and Josephine’s cousins, Shevek, Tchianna and Tarran. We visited Richard’s “broken down” castle at Corfe, which he always pointed out on trip’s to his grandparents in Swanage when he was growing up.
Unfortunately, this year Josephine’s gerbil (Pearl) passed away but she gained a couple of rats (Diamond, Onyx) and a hamster (Topaz). Our adopted Australian Shephard, Raleigh keeps the squirrels at bay, is very good at locating Topaz when she gets out, is a good cuddler and Richard often finds his spot occupied when he comes to bed.
Our warmest regards and best wishes for 2011.Richard, Jennifer & Josephine.
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