Happy New Year!!!

Another year gone…another chance to reconnect with family and friends about all that has happened in our lives. It’s always interesting, when we take time to reflect on all that has happened over the past year, to realize just how much has changed and how busy we’ve been. At the same time, as we get cards and emails from all of you, we realize how much we’ve missed and how long it’s been since we’ve been in touch. Finally acknowledging that we’ll never be as good as we want to be in maintaining contact with the people we care about, we’ve taken steps to make it easier to “keep in touch.” So if you haven’t already found us on Facebook, we’re there and we welcome the ability to keep tabs on one another as we return to our hectic schedules. We continue to update the blog site occasionally – again, not as much as some of you professional bloggers – so you can check that out if you’re still part of the Facebook “Coalition of the Unwilling”.

2008 has been quite a year for us! Lots of excitement, many transitions, and tremendous amounts of quality family time thanks to our “work” schedules. We started the year with Jason in the second half of his Intermediate Level Education (ILE) at the Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth. Tamara was pregnant and transitioning jobs – moving to a new company that allows her incredible flexibility in her schedule. She’s been very happy there, serving as a Physical Therapist for several nearby Assisted Living Facilities. We continued to be pleased with our choice to include an Au Pair in our family – first Mi-Jung from Korea and then Jasmin from Germany. The arrangement has made it possible for the kids to take part in so many more activities beyond daycare. Both Lance & Lexi took Judo this year; in addition, Lance started Piano and Lexi started Dance.

Jason was finally present for the “birth experience,” having missed both Lance’s and Lexi’s due to deployments. We could not have planned a better event if we’d tried. Tamara’s mother Vicki and step-father Bob had just flown in from Florida; both the mid-wife and doula were there; and Jason was the only one who was new to the natural home-birth experience. Tamara made it seem easy, again. Most of the time, she spent relaxing in the living room, getting massages and eating ice cream. At around 11pm, Tamara told us it was time to turn off I Am Legend and head for the bathtub. Luke arrived 1 ½ hours later and Jason was there to catch him.

Things didn’t slow down for long with Luke’s arrival. Just two weeks after the birth, Jason went to France for a student exchange with their military. Tamara took some time off work, but not much. In that time, she created quite the “Honey-Do” list for Jason. Having finally settled into our home and confident that we had at least another year to enjoy it, we set to work sprucing the place up. Landscaping, a small garden, fixing the deck, a new shed, and a playset for the kids…these were just a few of the many projects to accomplish in the coming Spring and Summer.

Following a month of “vacation” (i.e. projects) Jason started the next evolution in his professional education: the School for Advanced Military Studies (SAMS for short). This has proven to be a terrific intellectual experience but will eventually mean some rather demanding assignments in the future. Despite the requirements from Jason’s school and Tamara’s return to work, we enjoyed a wonderful Summer. We hosted several visitors, traveled a little – mostly locally (Kids’ Museum in KC, Omaha Zoo, and things like Ice Skating and Great Wolf Lodge nearby) but mostly enjoyed little adventures in out own “back yard.”

During the Summer, we said goodbye to Mi-Jung and welcomed our new Au Pair – Jasmin. From the very beginning, she’s been an integral part of our family and an instant “hit” with the kids. She’s made many quick friends in the area, several of them Au Pairs as well, and with them brings new playmates for Lance, Lexi and Luke.

After a Summer and Fall full of backyard fun, we hit the road for one more holiday season with family. We’d recently decided to change our modus operandi for family travel, opting for family outings to rural places yet unseen instead of driving long distances to visit people, staying in hotels and eating in restaurants along the way, spending most of our time in transit. With this in mind, and because we weren’t sure when we’d have a chance to catch up with people again, we headed to Michigan (by way of Chicago) for Thanksgiving and Florida (by way of Georgia) for Christmas and New Year. At the same time, we found a 5th-Wheel RV to fulfill our new commitment to family outings, rural / natural settings, and a slower pace of travel. While this might make it even harder to see family and friends who live far away, it will definitely give us more time to explore new and exciting places with the kids. Family and friends are invited to join us at any time; who knows…you might even decide you like the rough-life.


As many of you know, we've been trying to capture our memories in yearly family photo album. This year's book is a work in progress, but here's what we have so far...