Our Christmas "Letter"

Merry Christmas Everyone!

We've had a busy year filled with joys and challenges just like everyone else!

Here are just a few:

Challenges

• Darren shattering his ankle and fracturing his tibia the day after Christmas last year.   A slip and fall on the stairs while carrying  a laundry basket resulted a trip to the ER.  Let's just say a trip to the ER during the holidays is not recommended.  
• Career changes and challenges for Darren.  He is no longer at Midwave.  
• Finding out long after Darren's surgery and rehab that he had also broken his fibula.  Many doctors had missed this.  We found it, though and there was no treatment required as it was a clean break like his tibia.  His floppy big toe (the symptom of a broken fibula) was a bit disturbing and a memory we'd all like to banish from our minds!
• Betsi's continued challenge with almost daily spinal headaches, with increasingly more days of pain and less options for relief.

Joys!

• Darren being mobile again, including driving!  Three months was a long time.  Getting back on both his road and snow bikes has been very therapeutic.     
• Reconnecting at Grandview Lodge, Big Island State Park, and our favorite spot on the Gunflint Trail.
• Landscaping our back yard and putting in a pool.  This started with replacing the deck, which is still not replaced! But, the pool is fabulous and we even got quite a few days of swimming in before having to close it for the season.  We're looking forward to next summer!  We like to think of it as "the cabin", but much cheaper, easier to maintain, and no driving!  
• Sam starting high school and loving it, getting confirmed, continuing to play the bass violin, spending every spare moment learning about technology, and getting his driver's permit.
• A pilgrimage to Silicon Valley for Sam's confirmation gift.  He's not an open house kind of kid and this seemed a much more appropriate pilgrimage (and safer than Israel right now!) for our techie kid. 
• Betsi continues to write as she is able, to docharity and volunteer work, and keep the house our home.  

Merry Christmas to all!

Peace,

Betsi, Darren, and Sam