We have taken a few family trips this past year. For Christmas we went to Cincinnati which is always fun. In March during spring break, we went to Washington D.C. to teach the children an important lesson; that not all vacations are fun. We toured the Whitehouse, saw Congress and the Supreme Court in session saw many tourist sites and visited some old friends. In June we went to Chicago to take in the sites and visit Stacey's sister, Erin. Also this summer we went to Cincinnati, this time and the kids had fun visiting with their cousins. In the fall Stacey and her friends went to Chicago again to go to the Oprah show and enjoy some time on their own. For Fall Break this year went to Silver Dollar City with some friends. It is an amusement park in Branson, MO and it was great fun. For Thanksgiving we went to Dallas to visit a cousin, it was great to be in the big city.

The kids have also stayed busy on their own. Each went to camp this summer and loved it. Ellen started soccer this fall, and considering she was a novice, did well. She loves Middle School and plays the flute in the band. Nate has never found an extracurricular activity that he doesn't like. He is in basketball, soccer, honor choir, scouts and enjoys the clarinet which he started this year.

Brian is converting one of his boats to a sailboat because Ellen learned to sail and wants to teach the rest of us. He also had a busy year with work and teaching. Stacey is keeping up with everyone else's activities and has some projects of her own.

We hope that each of you will have a happy and healthy new year!