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| Lady Liberty at Christmas time |
Christmas 2013
Greetings,
Friends and Family!
2013 has been an eventful and wonderful year! The highlight was, of course, our 7-week adventure
to South Africa, with stops in Switzerland and Italy before and after. There is no way to summarize that kind of
trip, but lifelong memories and friends were made, and there is no doubt for
any of us that Africa will pull us back once again - probably sooner rather
than later. We fell in love with
beautiful South Africa - the country and its people, history, animals and
breathtaking scenery. The kids amazed us with their travel savvy ways, and did
better than their parents with jet lag and looooong flights. Cars, busses, planes, trains, and boats- they
are jet-setters now; they are ready for anything.
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| Clay Class Art Show, 12/13 |
Maggie turned 6 in September, and is in the 1st
grade. She is an artist to her core, and she filled many travel journals with
her own creative interpretation of the things we saw on our trip. She is both prolific and thoughtful in her
drawing and is now taking a ceramics class to explore her creativity with that
medium. She is also quite a social girl
with many friends – both girls and boys - and she loves school. She is among the youngest in her class, but
you would never know it when you see them all together- she is thriving. She made us proud when she chose to be Jane
Goodall for Halloween. She decided this
all on her own after visiting Jane’s Chimpanzee Sanctuary near Kruger National
Park in South Africa.
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| Very serious about Honey Badger football |
Ian turned 8 in October, and is rocking 2nd
grade- especially the pickup football and soccer games at recess, but in the
classroom too! He truly loves playing
and watching both football and basketball.
He is lucky enough to have his Dad as his flag football coach (Honey
Badgers were undefeated!) and a great group of boys and parents to play with.
He loves the Buffs on the field and the court, and makes it to many games. He is also a big Denver Broncos fan. Ian is a
sweet and lovable tough guy, with friends across classes, nationalities, girls
and boys, with a soft spot for little animals and little people. He’s pretty hip though too- he and one of his
closest friends Jace went as Daft Punk for Halloween (you might have to Google
it)!
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| No caption needed... |
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| Coach Matt gets dog-piled |
Matt is an Associate Professor now, officially tenured
and promoted. Neither of us fully
realized the journey that is the tenure year- his professional life was put
under a microscope and brought to countless committees for vote over the course
of the year. It became official in
August, and we celebrated with a big old backyard party. Apparently everyone thought Matt needed a
stiff drink after that ordeal as we still have bottles and bottles of bourbon,
scotch and bubbly brought by friends in celebration. It is certainly a huge
accomplishment, and now he can settle in to academic life after tenure. His research continues to be creative and
span many fields of biomedical inquiry, and his skills are constantly in
demand. Matt’s other hats include
assisting the Athletic Department with recruiting of athletes across sports,
and all around amazing husband, and super involved Dad. Life after tenure is
good!
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| Celebrating Tenure at the CU Heritage Center |
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| Selfie on Boulders Beach, Capetown SA |
Mary continues to work as a Nurse Practitioner part time at
the Student Health Center on CU Boulder’s campus- which some weeks is a little
closer to full time, but she can’t complain when she mostly gets school breaks
and summers off! It continues to provide challenge and a surprising amount of
variety, with a population that is really fun to work with. Her other part time job, co-PTA President at
Ian and Maggie’s school, is another fun challenge that sometimes feels full
time! It’s a wonderful school and community and it feels good to give something
back.
The lowlight - by a large margin - was the devastating
flood of 2013 that impacted many lives along the Front Range. We knew when we
bought our house that a floodplain runs right through our backyard but to be
honest, we never thought we’d have riverfront property!! Around 2.30am on the first night of flooding
we looked out our window and saw nearly 3 feet of water flowing through our
backyard as the rain came down at an astonishing rate of 2-3 inches per hour.
We did not get much sleep that night but we are very grateful that we did not
have to evacuate, and after a few very long days our only damage sustained was
to our backyard. Matt’s parents had to
be emergency airlifted from their mountain home by FEMA, and though their home
was not damaged, they were unable to return home until the roads were repaired
in November. Everyone is glad that they
are finally home sweet home!
As the stressful times make the
rest so much sweeter, we are filled with gratitude for this wonderful
life! Mostly for 2014 we wish to
maintain this balance of work, family, play, adventure, and down time that we
are really enjoying. We hope you are
finding balance and peace in your current life too!
Our
love,
Matt,
Mary, Ian & Maggie
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| After the show… Times Square late night fun! |
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| A spontaneous moment with Santa at the Plaza Hotel |
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| Nice and full after lunch at Tony's DiNapoli in NYC |
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| Silly cousins riding the NYC subway |
