Friday, January 3, 2014

Wow! 2013 flew by! Another fabulous year...

John continues to enjoy crossfit and competitive stairclimbing. He considers running up 72 flights in 12 minutes to be fun. Donna's still resisting the urge to race up stairwells and is getting her workouts on tennis courts instead.

Katelyn has inherited John's affinity for climbing and for toys with wheels. We often hear "I need a spotter!" signaling that she's climbed halfway up the shelves in the pantry, in search of the perfect snack. And she zips around on her scooter, bikes, and her electric pickup truck every chance she gets.

Travel highlights for the year included South Padre Island for a long weekend in April. Big fun on the beach, but when asked her favorite thing about the trip, Katelyn said, "The twisty door." (ie, the revolving door.) Hmmm... So much for the beach and the water....

South Padre was very windy - perfect weather for kitesurfing - which caught John's attention. It turns out that Dallas isn't particularly windy in the spring/summer, so on those days that it is, John ducks out to practice controlling his 11.5 sq meter (big!) kitesurfing kite in preparation for the day that he feels comfortable enough to actually try to kitesurf with it.

During our summer trip to Colorado, we did another fabulous overnight camping trip. While hiking, we feasted on handfuls of wild raspberries, Katelyn crossed the log bridges over the stream on her own, and she skipped and sang her way along the trail. The bear spray that Donna carried obviously left an impression since 3 months later, Katelyn announced, "Dinosaurs are extinct, but there are bears in Colorado."

We went back to Colorado in December. Katelyn learned to ski and Donna learned to snowboard. Having conquered the bunny slope, we're both looking forward to riding the "big ski-lift" to the top of the mountain the next time.

After several inches of fresh snow fell, Katelyn enjoyed her first sled ride. John's family were amazed that Donna had never been sledding (Houston's not known as a sledding mecca...); she also went careening down the hill into a pile of fresh powder. Lots of fun, lots of snow-in-the-face, and lots of laughs.

Katelyn turned 4 in October. She enchants and delights us with her quick sense of humor, her presence and joy in the moment, and her curiosity and wonder about the world. Her sparkling personality and independent spirit keep us on our toes and laughing (and wondering what her teenage years will bring :-)




We wish you a happy new year and health, joy, wonder, and peace in 2014.

Love,
Donna, John and Katelyn.