Jeff and Jenny's Christmas Letter 2006
Here is our Year 2006 in Review! Enjoy!Monday, December 18, 2006
Greetings! We hope that the end of 2006 finds you well and warm. Here are some highlights of our Year 2006. Drop us a line and let us know how you are!
Jenny is in her 13th year of teaching at Bellevue Community College, and she still loves it. During spring quarter, she and her economics colleague created and taught a math/econ “coordinated studies course.” The class met for 2 hours each day and at the end of the quarter the students earned credit for both college algebra for business and microeconomics. It was very professionally/academically stimulating for all involved! Campus politics challenged BCC’s Math Department this year, but we pulled through (barely), and Jenny is still successfully avoiding the dreaded chair position.
Jeff is in his 12th year at Suyama Peterson Deguchi Architects and enjoys the work he does. This year he has worked primarily on two different projects, one a large residence, and the other a large residential remodel. Both homes have amazing views! To see some of the firm’s past projects, check out http://www.suyamapetersondeguchi.com/ . We are hoping to remodel and expand our home in 2007 – stay tuned!
We did take some trips this year. Jenny attended four different math/teaching conferences in 3 states. She snuck off for a day hike one afternoon while at a conference in southern Oregon, where she took this picture of Mt. Ashland and the surrounds.
As a team, we made our annual pilgrimage to the Utah slopes in February, and in May we spent a weekend in Las Vegas with family to celebrate Dad’s birthday and watch a world-class boxing match. Just before the 4th of July, we used a wedding gift – seaplane tickets – to visit Victoria, BC. While we were there, we saw fireworks for Canada Day, visited the Butchart Gardens, and decided that Swans Pub, serving Buckerfield’s brews, was the best place to drink beer in the city.
Canada Day fireworks, Jeff in front of a seaplane on Lake Union, and Seattle from the seaplane
One of the best aspects of 2006 has been Jenny’s sister Julie taking a traveling nurse position in Seattle. What a treat to have her living a 1/2 mile away! Julie stays in Jenny’s condo and eats dinner with us often. Julie’s interest in exploring the Pacific Northwest got Jenny and Julie out on a couple of hikes during the summer, and all 3 of us spent a weekend tasting wine in Walla Walla, WA. The Walla Walla Valley appellation is known for fabulous cabernet sauvignons, merlots, and syrahs.
Jeff and Julie at the Colvin Vineyards tasting room (it's tiny)
Jenny and Jeff tasting at L'Ecole 41
Julie on Burroughs Mountain during our hike at Mt. Rainier National Park
Our most adventurous trip this year was a deep sea fishing excursion. Dad and Pat got the family together for a day-and-a-half charter. We ended up 130 or so miles from San Diego, about 30-40 miles west of the Mexico coast. Mostly we were catching dorado (= mahi mahi), a brightly colored species that jump around a lot when trying to free themselves from a hook. Also, they tend to travel in male/female mating pairs, and so we often caught two at a time. ;-( Neither of us had been on a fishing trip like this before – sleeping 2 nights on board and fishing during the day in between. While it wasn’t “choppy” per se, most of the time on the water we experienced large swells that kept the boat rocking and challenged our balance. You can see evidence of this by noting the horizon in the pictures; sometimes it was impossible to keep the photos aligned normally! No one got sick, though. Jenny repeatedly apologized to the fish she reeled in and thusly decided she’s not really a fisherwoman. Jeff liked the fishing and is looking forward to next summer’s trip. See him here with his big catch as well as some other shots from the trip.
Jeff enjoying the ride
The sibs Jason, Jenny, and Julie
Jason with a beautiful dorado
Dad and Pat
Jeff with his biggest catch
The loot!
The fall sent Jenny back to school for a busy quarter, teaching one additional class above her usual load, to help fund the plumbing renovation in the condo. That project was years in the making and we are so happy it is finally completed! We held our 6th annual wine tasting in October, after which we decided tasting 9 different wines was too much for anyone’s palate. Yet, a good time was had by all! We still play soccer year round, and our team, formerly Here for the Beer, has acquired a new sponsor and a new name: Deschutes and Scores. We’ve been in the championship game the last 2 seasons, and recently we overheard our opponents musing that we must practice, because our passing is so effective. We laugh, as our players range in age from 25 to 45, and we never practice – it’s just so fun for us to play, and the core group of players has remained the same for years. Often when we hit the field, we just “click.”
Team Beer
The weather the Pacific Northwest is known for arrived in November with record rainfall, and the local mountains have lots of snow already. So good skiing/boarding lies ahead! Jeff and Jenny visited Vegas a second time in December for Jeff’s office’s Christmas trip – what a treat! Our next trip is to visit family in Kalamazoo, Cleveland, and the Baltimore/DC area for Christmas, before returning to Seattle to ring in the New Year. Please give us a call or drop us an email if you’ll be in Seattle. We love hosting our friends and family in our beautiful city!
We wish you and your families the merriest of Christmases and the happiest of New Years!
Love, Jenny and Jeff
Jenny is in her 13th year of teaching at Bellevue Community College, and she still loves it. During spring quarter, she and her economics colleague created and taught a math/econ “coordinated studies course.” The class met for 2 hours each day and at the end of the quarter the students earned credit for both college algebra for business and microeconomics. It was very professionally/academically stimulating for all involved! Campus politics challenged BCC’s Math Department this year, but we pulled through (barely), and Jenny is still successfully avoiding the dreaded chair position.
Jeff is in his 12th year at Suyama Peterson Deguchi Architects and enjoys the work he does. This year he has worked primarily on two different projects, one a large residence, and the other a large residential remodel. Both homes have amazing views! To see some of the firm’s past projects, check out http://www.suyamapetersondeguchi.com/ . We are hoping to remodel and expand our home in 2007 – stay tuned!
We did take some trips this year. Jenny attended four different math/teaching conferences in 3 states. She snuck off for a day hike one afternoon while at a conference in southern Oregon, where she took this picture of Mt. Ashland and the surrounds.As a team, we made our annual pilgrimage to the Utah slopes in February, and in May we spent a weekend in Las Vegas with family to celebrate Dad’s birthday and watch a world-class boxing match. Just before the 4th of July, we used a wedding gift – seaplane tickets – to visit Victoria, BC. While we were there, we saw fireworks for Canada Day, visited the Butchart Gardens, and decided that Swans Pub, serving Buckerfield’s brews, was the best place to drink beer in the city.
Canada Day fireworks, Jeff in front of a seaplane on Lake Union, and Seattle from the seaplane
One of the best aspects of 2006 has been Jenny’s sister Julie taking a traveling nurse position in Seattle. What a treat to have her living a 1/2 mile away! Julie stays in Jenny’s condo and eats dinner with us often. Julie’s interest in exploring the Pacific Northwest got Jenny and Julie out on a couple of hikes during the summer, and all 3 of us spent a weekend tasting wine in Walla Walla, WA. The Walla Walla Valley appellation is known for fabulous cabernet sauvignons, merlots, and syrahs.
Jeff and Julie at the Colvin Vineyards tasting room (it's tiny)
Jenny and Jeff tasting at L'Ecole 41
Julie on Burroughs Mountain during our hike at Mt. Rainier National Park
Our most adventurous trip this year was a deep sea fishing excursion. Dad and Pat got the family together for a day-and-a-half charter. We ended up 130 or so miles from San Diego, about 30-40 miles west of the Mexico coast. Mostly we were catching dorado (= mahi mahi), a brightly colored species that jump around a lot when trying to free themselves from a hook. Also, they tend to travel in male/female mating pairs, and so we often caught two at a time. ;-( Neither of us had been on a fishing trip like this before – sleeping 2 nights on board and fishing during the day in between. While it wasn’t “choppy” per se, most of the time on the water we experienced large swells that kept the boat rocking and challenged our balance. You can see evidence of this by noting the horizon in the pictures; sometimes it was impossible to keep the photos aligned normally! No one got sick, though. Jenny repeatedly apologized to the fish she reeled in and thusly decided she’s not really a fisherwoman. Jeff liked the fishing and is looking forward to next summer’s trip. See him here with his big catch as well as some other shots from the trip.
Jeff enjoying the ride
The sibs Jason, Jenny, and Julie
Jason with a beautiful dorado
Dad and Pat
Jeff with his biggest catch
The loot!
The fall sent Jenny back to school for a busy quarter, teaching one additional class above her usual load, to help fund the plumbing renovation in the condo. That project was years in the making and we are so happy it is finally completed! We held our 6th annual wine tasting in October, after which we decided tasting 9 different wines was too much for anyone’s palate. Yet, a good time was had by all! We still play soccer year round, and our team, formerly Here for the Beer, has acquired a new sponsor and a new name: Deschutes and Scores. We’ve been in the championship game the last 2 seasons, and recently we overheard our opponents musing that we must practice, because our passing is so effective. We laugh, as our players range in age from 25 to 45, and we never practice – it’s just so fun for us to play, and the core group of players has remained the same for years. Often when we hit the field, we just “click.”
Team Beer
The weather the Pacific Northwest is known for arrived in November with record rainfall, and the local mountains have lots of snow already. So good skiing/boarding lies ahead! Jeff and Jenny visited Vegas a second time in December for Jeff’s office’s Christmas trip – what a treat! Our next trip is to visit family in Kalamazoo, Cleveland, and the Baltimore/DC area for Christmas, before returning to Seattle to ring in the New Year. Please give us a call or drop us an email if you’ll be in Seattle. We love hosting our friends and family in our beautiful city!
We wish you and your families the merriest of Christmases and the happiest of New Years!
Love, Jenny and Jeff
