SHE was right... SHE is ALWAYS right :)

Yep – she was right… again…

 

So I do a little umpiring in the local high school (field) hockey competition.  I also wear glasses and being a man of a certain age, my most recent prescription are bifocals.  In general, I don’t rate them.  But for officiating a fast moving sporting event – they flat out don’t work.  I don’t have a current contact lens prescription – to be fair – I don’t rate them either.  But I do have a pair of prescription sunnies.  So although it is not recommended – people can’t see your eyes and know a) what you are looking at, and b) are missing some part of the whole nonverbal communication thing if you have to address one of them sternly – I don’t have much choice.  But Colorado being where it in on the globe, come late in the season, the low light levels kind of create yet another obvious problem. 

Serendipitously, it seems an old pair of glasses is at least as good as my current prescription – frankly this does not surprise me much – and any of you reading this know what I mean from those infrequent visits to the optometrist.

{click click click}  Is this better or {click click click} this.  {click click click} This, or {click click click] this…

Heck I don’t know – it all looks the same after 10-12 clicks…  You can either see or not see – the fine tuning I think is some sort of trickery designed to make you buy a new pair of glasses because there is now a slight adjustment to the last prescription.  So it seems hardly surprising that I’ve done a circle or something and ended up back where I was… TWENTY years ago.

But wait – there’s more!  When I got these older pair of glasses in 1996, I was an operations manager at a mine – so they are Safety Glasses – yeah baby – we are talking high fashion and style here!!!

But hey – problem solved – I now have a pair of glasses I can change to when the light dims – with no annoying bifocal element that makes your vision change in an out as you move suddenly to follow the play on the hockey pitch.

Problem is, they are actually better than my most recent prescription – there are no little halos around brighter objects and such.  So as my 51^st birthday looms we decide to do a couple of fun things.  Last night we went to an intimate acoustic performance with Jennifer Knapp – the halo effect was driving me nuts.  So this morning umpiring glasses no more – we are watching our little one playing hockey out in Tennessee via the magic of the internet and I try the old safety glasses – yeah – much better.  Tonight we had opted for a movie – the Steve Jobs movie .  We are heading out the door and there it was…

“You’re not wearing those are you???”

I used the flawed approach of a logical argument…

“I can see better in these?”

I answer with a question because you know there is an answer coming…

Sparing the lengthy conversation – suffice to say apparently they make me look old – and if I’m old, then…

But an important point here – Joy says the look like they are from the 1980’s. NO I say – I know exactly the vintage – they were 1996.  Yeah says she… but safety glasses back then were probably a decade behind in style.

Anyway – under protest – we go to the movie theater with me wearing my 1996 issue safety glasses.  Winning???

Here’s the rub… somewhere in the 1980’s segments of the movie, I’m looking at Steve Wozniak and realize I’m looking at him in pretty much the same style of glasses he is wearing.  Here's your sign...

(image credit - USA Today)

 

That’s really all I have to say about this – well that and I may be making an appointment at the wretched optometrist after I get back from Texas later this week.

{click click click}

Last night under my roof

I’ve largely avoided the emotions surrounding this day by not thinking deeply about it.  But now it is here and all those emotions that have been surprisingly well suppressed are erupting at the most inconvenient of times.

My roof was a somewhat expansive concept – it was in fact a very comfortable suite at a Memphis hotel which allowed me to start this while Jilly slept in the adjacent bedroom.  For nearly eighteen years the roof over her head has been my roof – or to be more complete, our roof – the home Joy and I have made for our family.  But today Jilly moves on and becomes a college student, and will spend her first night in her new home – her first and very sweetly decorated (and of course impeccably organized) dorm room at college in Memphis.  Oh she will come home again of course – but nothing will ever be quite the same, and not should it be.

Life is full of circles.  Last week, I had the delight of spending a night at Mallory’s first apartment.  Three years ago under equally strained emotions I wrote about her departure for college.  { I set all my regrets on fire }  Jilly actually got to spend a couple of nights with Mallory a week earlier, road tripping down to Albuquerque with one of her best friends from high school.  They had breakfast on last morning of the visit – just the two of them.  I asked Mallory while enjoying breakfast with her at a quaint little café downtown on Gold Street a few days later what advice she offered her little sister.  Apparently it mostly revolved around clothes and shoes needed for enjoying college – well of course it did… 


Mallory’s apartment by the way is artfully decorated – and surprisingly organized – necessity it seems is the mother of reinvention :)

The weekend in Memphis was busy, which was probably for the best.  Shopping, carrying all sorts of good and chattels up to a remarkably transformed dorm room, unpacking and arranging, more shopping, dining – oh my – the dining, rearranging.  And then Sunday night came and Joy had to return home to her first day of class for the year.  We got through that – it was rough – and Jilly and I continued on with the shopping, more delightful eating and more rearranging.  And finally back to our hotel room – my roof – for one last night.

 

Jilly awoke fairly early – we still a lot to do.  We had a few moments to get through – momma was gone.  But then the business of the day engulfed us.  And perhaps that was a good thing.  Packing up our room, then lunch at another great spot – The Beauty Shop – just like it sounds – a former beauty parlor transformed into a quaint little restaurant in a part of town that still holds fond memories of my first visit to Memphis.  More room arranging, a welcome event with the field hockey team who have already made us feel so much a part of a new family, changing out the rental car, dinner at another interesting find – Hog and Hominy, dessert (a huge slice of homemade pecan pie) back at One and Only, the great BBQ joint we all ate at earlier in the weekend, and then finally because there was really no longer any avoiding it – one last trip back to the dorm together.

How do you wrap almost eighteen years of love, laughter, tears, joy, silly moments, disappointments, incredible accomplishments, fun, and just being a father and a daughter into a fifteen minute trip?  The simple truth is you can’t.  And while we will get to experience all of these things again, this is a watershed moment (in more ways that one).  I was going to leave and she was going to spend her first night away from our home in a place that is going to become her new home for the next several years.  There were a few moments in the car as the inevitability of the few plays left us that evening started to hit home to Jilly.  I was able to head that off by joking that if I was going to be able to drive this was not going to work at all and she laughed a little.  Time is relentless…

 

Her dorm room was now quite a contrast – her part of the room as I mentioned was sweetly decorated softening somehow the fierce need for order.  But her roommate would not be arriving for another three days along with the rest of the freshman class.  That area was kind of sterile and uninviting - empty shelves, an untouched desk and perhaps worst of all, a bare mattress.  Being a fall sport athlete gives you the benefit of checking in early and avoiding the chaos we experienced at a much larger university on Mallory’s first day as thousands of others all try and find a close park and flood the stairs and footpaths with endless trips carrying your life for the next year. But as a freshman, that earlier serenity was now transformed into almost eerie silence in the sparsely populated dorms.  We had met the RA for her floor as we walked to her room.  She seemed nice. 

We hung out a little more – I had put off taking care of some important matters – posting my beer explorations in Memphis.  Jilly let me read cards from her momma and big sister.  Recent experience of college life yielded some great pearls of wisdom…

shots are nasty

beer is nasty

perhaps more importantly – people change a lot in college – don’t judge them too soon

and her closing advice – wine is yummy

And then it was time to go.  It was late and I still had a three hour drive ahead of me to an unknown hotel in which I had yet to make a reservation – the late departure meant that it would be in Nashville as I journeyed up to Lexington for meetings the next day.  We held each other for what seemed like an eternity and yet still not long enough.  And of course there were tears – those hot burning tears that come from a deep place within. 

I walked down the stairs alone, fished a box of tissues liberated from the hotel from my bag, and drove away.  I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to get it together pretty much right away.  I don’t know what part of me wanted to believe that doing this a second time around was going to be easier – but finally past experience was paying off!  The rental car had as most do now a blue tooth phone setup and I had various conversations – with momma, with Mallory, and with Jilly.  I was glad she seemed OK – it made the gulf between us expanding at a mile a minute more bearable.  She had updated her calendar with as much of her fall schedule as she knew (of course she did) and taken care of a few other things.  Hockey pre-season activity started early the next morning.  I was glad – perhaps not as glad as Jilly was that she would have plenty to do in the coming days.

Wrapping this up after a few days, and as expected, things settle down and life goes on.  There are good days, and some days are still hard.  As I said earlier, nothing will ever be quite the same, and not should it be – new patterns emerge. 

Mallory writes.  She writes both powerfully and beautifully.  Her words convey great depths of feeling and emotion and impact people intensely.  I don’t know if Jilly writes.  If she does, she does not share it in the same way.  Our girls are so amazingly different, and that is amongst other things, refreshing.  Jilly as her momma says is an incredibly private person.  Jilly takes emotive photographs.  Mallory wrote – posted I think the evening before her last night under my roof something mashed together from the lyrics of a Taylor Swift song (of course she did)…

In this moment now, capture it, remember it. You pull me in and I'm a little more brave, you take my hand and drag me headfirst, fearless.

Last night in Colorado ♥

Mallory was also insightful in her words to her little sister – people change a lot in college. I think for me this is the hard part.  And it not that the changes will be substantial, although I suppose that is not out of the question – both girls are well grounded.  It is more that unlike the past eighteen years we will not get to see it happening day by day.  But that makes the catching up when we do come together again all the more fun.  We’ve given them roots – and now we’ve given them wings.  We hope they will soar, but now it is so much more up to them.

I’ve probably said more than I should and of the few people who may read this, even fewer may make it to this point.  I’ll use the words of another to look forward to whatever it is that lays ahead as Jilly expands her horizons under her new roof.

The rules break like a thermometer,

quicksilver spills across the charted systems,

we’re out in a country that has no language

no laws, we’re chasing the raven and the wren

through gorges unexplored since dawn

whatever we do together is pure invention

the maps they gave us were out of date

by years…

~Adrienne Rich

 

 

The End and the Beginning

This morning I took Jilly to school – for the last time.  This was something I had done so many times, but not so much recently as with growing up comes independence in the form of a drivers license.  But today – graduation day – with Mallory home and guests staying for the celebrations – we needed all available cars.  So I drove her to school.  I pulled up at the best spot – she hopped out and away she went.

It is late and we have had a wonderful evening of immediate family and a few of our closest friends.  A small intimate gathering of 40 or so – 40 is intimate in our family.  But that is how Jilly has always been – private, quiet, deeply connected with a small circle of friends.  So while there is so much I could say – it seems that what I shared with her earlier on a card should suffice to set out my thoughts on the matter.

 

Mallory asked before the ceremonies started this morning if I would cry.  I said I didn’t know, but I did not.  It was a delightful ceremony and full of joy, happiness and no small amount of pride in your achievements and success.

Writing this is a little harder!

Suffice to say, you are and always will be our baby girl.  Yet you have blossomed into a young lady and are also now a high school graduate. You have earned and deserve all the accolades that come along with that.  Dr. Davis used a word as you received your diploma that I think sums you up perfectly – TENACIOUS!  I don’t think he used that word in his descriptions of any other. 

You seize the opportunities provided and make the most of them.  You are an incredibly hard worker, but are also a loyal friend.  Your organizational abilities to balance all you do in your scholastic endeavors, your social time with your friends, your beloved hockey, and your other activities including choir and helping others less fortunate constantly amaze me.

We have been truly fortunate to raise two beautiful, talented, hardworking and strong daughters.  YOU have found your voice and you are looking forward to the path YOU are charting.  We look forward to so many more great things ahead of you.

 
A thought as you go on…

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

~Marianne Williamson

From a Father of Girls - International Women’s Day 2015

A good friend of mine who writes both better and more than I do to a much wider audience decided that something she said a few years ago on this subject was worth recycling.  And she was right – you should read it now – even if you happened to have read it two years ago.

10 reasons i am an advocate for women’s equality (Kathy Escobar)

So I figured if recycling is good enough for Kathy, well it certainly works for me.  I’ve written from time to time about the struggles and triumphs of my daughters in various ways, but two posts came to mind that seemed fitting in some way to mark International Women’s Day..

The first was written some three years ago now:

Permission to Date My Daughter...

A couple of points I’d like to emphasize with reflection after the passing of some years.
 

"I am proud of the young women my daughters are becoming.  They are largely confident in who they are and generally are not afraid to be who they are.  Their strength of character humbles me.  This has been true of my eldest for a good many years, but the younger quieter one is starting to blossom and the same strength of character is evident.  And of course I am biased but they are not just beautiful people in who they are; they are attractively beautiful as well."

Too right I’m proud – they continue to amaze me with their drive, their strength and poise, and their positive impact on others, to mention just a few of their quality character traits.  Our little one especially continues to grow in confidence and strength and indeed has found her own voice – something we hoped for and are glad of.  What a difference three years has made!  But more than that…

"At the end of the day, my daughters have to be responsible for their own choices and I want them to feel like they are free to make whatever choices seem right to them.  I can’t lock them away and guard the door with a gun – and I won’t.  Nor can I hover over them physically at all times to protect them from harm.  I want them to be women of integrity and character.  I want them to be strong enough in them own beliefs and convictions to stand up, make a difference in this world, and be noticed and valued for who they are and what they do, not just what they look like."

This to me – at least as the father of girls in part embodies what a day commemorating women is about – that they, just like men, that all of us really – would be noticed and valued for who they are and what they do, not just what they look like.

Somewhere around this same commemoration last year I somewhat coincidentally wrote a post:

We All Should be Feminists...

I think looking back at the evolution of that post, it started our almost coming from the quote in my much older post above – the continuing saga of girls needing to be something other than they are because boys and men can’t control themselves if they don’t cover themselves up.  And the worst of some of this nonsense comes from the church.  To borrow from Kathy’s post linked above as to why she is pro-woman, pro-equality, pro-liberation-of-half-the-population: 

“i think Jesus was.  every interaction Jesus had with women was to set them free and lift their burdens of bondage.  and he said we were supposed to be like him.  i don’t know why the church built on his name has done the exact opposite; it still baffles me.”

Yep – I really don’t know why either – and all I can say is I’m sorry – if we as a church put half the effort into looking after those who need help - the hungry, the poor, the abused, the enslaved, the marginalized – as we do into worrying about nonsense like leggings and swimsuits – what a wonderful world it could be.

But I’d like to circle back on a couple of quotes in that post from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, an amazing woman I heard speaking on the radio – I can’t add much to them but I think they are worth reflecting on and in a way, they kind of build from some of my thoughts in the older post.

“We raise girls to see each other as competitors, not for jobs, or for accomplishments — which I think can be a good thing — but for the attention of men.”, and

“Now, marriage can be a good thing. It can be a source of joy and love and mutual support, but why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage and we don’t teach boys the same?”

I still wonder as I did a year ago, whether if this were not the case, and it very much is that we do not teach boys to aspire to marriage, whether the failure rate of marriage would be much lower?  Perhaps more than that – would the value that comes with that lead to less violence against women and less abusive relationships, whether marriage is involved or not.

So circling back to my little one in particular as she has become an accomplished athlete and may choose to go on to play at college level yet has the maturity to not let that define her.  Really the spirit of this quote from Mia Hamm can apply so much more broadly to successful endeavor in any area of passion, and so to both my girls I close with

“Somewhere behind the athlete you've become and the hours of practice and the coaches who have pushed you is a little girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back... play for her.”

~ Mia Hamm

Christmas 2014

So I haven't written much of late - at least not on paper - it is what it is.  As has been my tradition however, I generally share my efforts at keeping friends and family informed with our annual Christmas missive.  Which this year was actually more of a New Years letter - it is what it is.

So some will have already received this in the mail.  Others may still be on the way - and the rest - well - this is your brief look into my one page look back at the year that was - 2014.


And then there were three…  Reflections on 2014 from the Christensen family in Colorado

SO… our year was busy – so busy in fact especially toward the end we decided early in December that we would be getting caught up with you all in early January.

For us 2014 seems to have been the start of a profound shift as a family.  The girls are growing up so fast – too fast it feels someday, and we are looking over the horizon at the next phase of our lives, with today being the start of the year we become empty nesters.  This brings an intense spectrum of emotions.  But all in all, we are ready – we are ALL ready – and so it’s OK.

Mallory is now in her junior year at the University of New Mexico and still making the most of her college experience.  Always blazing a path less travelled, this past semester saw her take on an internship with Plant with Purpose, a nonprofit she first encountered on a summer service trip to the Dominican Republic a few years back.  The internship was in San Diego, and she set it all up herself.  I drove out with her, and we had a great time over the Labor Day weekend at the end of August.  Both Jilly and Joy also got to spend weekends there, and her experience was fantastic, with Mal taking several online classes to maintain her full time status and scholarships.  It all came to an end in early December with her boyfriend Cole flying to San Diego to bring her home – to Albuquerque.  That sounds kind of odd – but it feels like home for her for now.  So we make the most of the visits home, which this Christmas was for a short but joy filled week.  Mallory headed back to Albuquerque this past Sunday – and then there were three…

Jilly has entered her senior year of high school.  Her year has included of course lots of hockey, with her high school teammates completing a remarkable third straight undefeated season culminating again in a state championship.  Other extracurricular activities have included choir and mock trial which she seemed to really enjoy.  Choir has featured several special events featuring a wedding at the famous Stanley hotel (The Shining) in Estes Park.  The focus is now firmly on the next phase – COLLEGE!  Most of the applications are in, one school has already accepted her and another offered her a spot on the field hockey team.  With three other applications pending and perhaps two more in the works, this girl who sometimes dislikes making decisions has some big ones coming!!!

Joy and I sometimes just sit back, breathe, and take it all in – sometimes with a calming adult beverage.  We celebrated our 21^st anniversary in July with a fun day exploring various parts of Denver.  I, of course, was making the most of celebrating the whole year as my 50^th year, which culminated in a fabulous surprise gathering with family and friends at “our local” – Jake’s.  We have enjoyed travels with both of our girls, little getaways together, and still date as often as we can.  Our travels this year were mostly extensions of something the girls were doing – trips to San Diego, Memphis extending to Myrtle Beach, Boston and finally Las Vegas tacked on to Palm Desert for Thanksgiving.  We also enjoyed getaways into the mountains with day trips and a week in Breckenridge.  Although Jilly’s choir performances are impressive, our entertainment highlight of the year had to be seeing Fleetwood Mac!

So from us to you, our friends and family, we have loved being a part of your 2014, and we look forward to what 2015 has in store - sharing in both the good times and the hard times and growing closer together.

"I said to the man, who stood at the gate of the year, 'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.'  And he replied, 'Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.'" - Minnie Louise Haskins

Love always – Peter, Joy, Mallory & Jillian

 

Oh - and there were an assortment of happy snaps some online service graciously (and inexpensively) assembled into a card.  Joy does that artsy stuff and who knows if we even have an image of the final product so this will have to do - it is what it is :)

 

 

 

 

Beware the quiet one…

A little something I shared at out family celebration honouring our Jillian who turned 16 today!

Jilly is our baby – and so it is a little hard reaching this point.  In a couple of days she will most likely get her drivers license and will become even more independent.  That is of course assume she passes the test – it took her two attempts on the written!

But she will always be our baby – she was after all – and always will be, little. 

Maybe really we should say, beware the little one, because although to the larger population, many make the mistake of thinking she is quiet, really when you get to know her – she is anything but.

 

 

 

We have so many fond memories of Jilly. She has always been a bit of a mischief. Like watching carefully for her big sister to get all her dolls perfectly arranged – and then“accidentally” walking through the middle of them. 

Or colluding with her big sister after bed time in “You play, I play”.And there is also the doting little sister, who used to wait by the door for Mallory to come home from school – and then be a little disappointed when her sister needed some alone time to recharge her batteries.

 

But just because she was little – and appearing to be quiet, did not mean she did not have a great depth of strength and determination.  This has sometimes resulted in rather impressive standoffs – like the time in grade school when her space was interfered with and a substitute teacher refused to listen to her pleas resulting in a standoff to where the assistant principal was called in and phone calls were made to her mother, or the altercation over something at one of her birthday parties where again she refused to back down and spent time in her room. 

 

There was a meltdown with a coach in under 9’s hockey that led to her spending the rest of the game on the bench, a feat repeated in the 10^th grade in JV soccer where she felt the coach was picking on her and a friend and benched them.  The coach held out an olive branch – but of course Jilly outlasted her and sat in silence (well that part is probably debatable) on the bench for the entire game!  Given this game was in Kansas (well not literally – but close) and we had no idea what was going on, needless to say, we were not completely amused.  There was one time I remember I made the mistake of offering her a choice – between a nap or a spanking.  She without a moment’s hesitation asked for the spanking.  It is so hard not to laugh at Jillian at the most inappropriate moment in terms of parenting!  One thing is for sure – she has a mind of her own and just like her big sister – she will make her own decisions.

The great depth of strength and determination also shows up in some great ways.  She excels in school and really – most anything she puts her hand to.  This is a little different to Mallory, who also always does well, but has little time for things she does not find interesting.  Hockey of course outside of academics is clearly one of her passions – from the very earliest of days.  She was so disappointed when she went to the local club with a friend from across the street only to be told she was too young and needed to wait a year.  That young boy now plays for Australian age teams – so clearly the advantage of that year was significant!  But start the next year she did and they were oh so cute!  Her second year was of course the worst year of her life – I was her coach and Joy was her teacher in school.  Now of course she plays on arguably the strongest team Colorado has seen in high school completion for some years and is pondering options to keep playing even in college.

And so while she is about to turn 16 and become all grown up, we are glad that she like her big sister has grown into a beautiful young lady.  She is passionate, graceful – when she chooses to be, full of life, and always enjoys doing things with family and friends.  She loves for example babysitting her youngest cousins  - who of course adore her.  She also loves hanging out with friends and has really found her own voice.

Jillian, you have made the first 16 years of your life so memorable – we can’t wait to see what lies in store.  You may be little in stature, but you live life so much larger!

Love always...

And so for some, you will have received this in hard-copy already - well with one minor modification - Joy felt the reference to "annus horribilis" was out of place.  I'm OK with that - it's a part of my colonial heritage I suppose.  But this is my blog so the original version gets a run - for good or ill.  And being a blog, I get to toss in a few extra pictures.

Seems late the day before Christmas Eve to begin writing our family Christmas letter, but our fabulous family photographer and friend will be home from Oman right after Christmas and so we decided to send out New Years greetings.  If you are not used to the Christensen family doing things differently, then why the heck are you receiving this – you obviously are not that familiar with us.

 I’ve been mulling what to say for a few days, and to be honest, it’s been hard.  The many tragic events in the US and wider world this year, especially with one so close to Christmas have torn at me.  I’ve written about them elsewhere so won’t dwell on them or my feelings about them here – a Christmas/New Years epistle seems after all not the place – unless of course you are the Queen.  But that notwithstanding, this year I go a different way…

For this year has not been “annus horribilis”.  From the prologue of Love Actually, one of our favorite Christmas movies:

Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around.

In the times we’ve spent with family and friends there has been a lot of love AND a lot to love for us this year.  These things give us hope and joy.  Our girls have had continued to amaze us as they have grown. 

Mallory graduated after an amazing four years of high school and has not missed a beat in the transition to university.  Overnight, a year of lasts turned into a year of firsts.  As always her life is full of great people and so while she is sorely missed around the house she is making her way in the world as we have always wish for and known she would.  Nonetheless, there are days we will always remember; senior prom, graduation ceremony and backyard party, and that sad/happy day she walked off through security on her way to university.

Jillian also continues to grow and find her voice.  She loves life and somehow finds time to balance hanging out with friends, sport and schoolwork.  Being Jillian, she still enjoys a little down time in the quiet coziness of her own room also, although that space has expanded some having commandeered most of Mallory’s room and closet space.  Sport remains one of her passions with the thrill we all got to share in as she and her very young hockey teammates made a statement going undefeated and taking the Colorado high school state 

championship in the fall.         

Joy and I continue to marvel at all the events in our lives and the great friends we get to share them with.  Of course we miss the dear friends we have made in other places we have lived, but are enjoying life and this season here in Colorado.  I think we both can relate to Mary in the Christmas narrative by Luke:

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Our love to you, and lifes blessings also for 2013.