Growing Up Bo(u)lder: A Good Year

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.

Clay Class Art Show, 12/13

Maggie turned 6 in September, and is in the 1^st 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.

Very serious about Honey Badger football

Ian turned 8 in October, and is rocking 2^nd 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)!

No caption needed...

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!

Celebrating Tenure at the CU Heritage Center

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