Nicholas is now 12 years old and is just about up to the 5-foot mark. I expect he will be eye-to-eye with us before the end of next year. He still enjoys being on the swim team, and still loves music. He has had two piano recitals this year and is playing very well (when we can get him to practice). He is also enjoying Middle School (7th grade) this year. He also just got braces, and has a holiday grin of red, green, and silver bands.

Cathy is now 9 (turning 10 in February) and is enjoying school this year as a 4th Grader. She’s in the Chess Club and Book Club, and still in the HOPI Indian Princess tribe, enjoying several camp-outs this year. Cathy is finally out of braces, though still in a retainer (Steve learned ‘The Wrath of Mom’ this year when they lost it having lunch during a bike ride).

Alex is now a very opinionated 6, and is enjoying 1st grade. He now has a room of his own, though it required re-shuffling the whole house. He is still our Junior Crocodile Hunter, able to track down and catch anything. He is an Indian Guide, a member of the Iroquios tribe, and went on his first ‘nation’ camp out to the Circle F Dude Ranch. He made quite a picture sitting on a gigantic horse named ‘Taco’ for a cross-country ride. Alex is also a Tiger Cub in Pack 246, and looks good in orange and blue.

Steve is still working for Motorola, and Joanne is still working for H&R Block, along with being a volunteer in Alex’s classroom and participating in Quota, International, which raises and distributes funds to aid the deaf and hearing impaired.

Our vacation this year was a summer-time expedition to Ohio and Kentucky to spend time with friends and family. This was our first cross-country expedition as a family making the long drive north. The kids kept track as we passed through nine states, stayed in St. Augustine, Charlotte, Columbus, and in our old hometown of Lexington.

We stayed with Steve’s parents, Louie and Madonna, in Dublin Ohio, and made short trips to see his sister Georgana and her kids and grandkids in Toledo, and to have a reunion with the Kutzke clan at cousin Kay’s home in Euclid, Ohio. Steve was able to spend time with his parents and brother Chris, and we took the kids on their usual visits to the zoo, water park, and science museum, along with visits to the Olentangy Indian Caverns (after the 500 times we’ve driven past the sign without stopping) and hiking on the trails in Hocking Hills.

It was nice to see Lexington again, and visit with our old friends from Lexmark and the PTC (they even had a picnic for us!) and spend time with our old neighbors, Sue, Hugh, Mary and Ernest. Everyone was looking well and everyone overfed us. We looked at our old house, the kids got to play on their old swing set and tree house, and everyone hugged their namesake tree.

This was also the year we finally took the kids to Disney, going once on our own and once to meet our friends the Diehls who came down from Philadelphia. Once again it was great to spend time with our friends and former Tribe members, and to finally see the land of the mouse. We got our fill of all of the Disney parks, and enjoyed the evenings at Epcot and downtown Disney.

Steve’s Aunt Marylou and Uncle Pete came for visits at Easter and Thanksgiving, and his parents were able to visit in January and December. Joanne and Steve also managed a brief getaway, visiting Lucaya on Grand Bahama Island.