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So much has happened during the second half of 2004 that I hardly know where to
start. Lars went off to school at Longwood and I never even snapped a
picture. Kate has worked hard to get her drivers license and I never took
a snapshot of her driving. (When I was in the car, my eyes were covered)
Like I said in the Christmas letters that we did get out, it has been a very
strange year. I am going to throw out a few small pictures and try to talk
about them. If you have any questions, make sure you give me a call.
I haven't gone anywhere. |
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Work Camp |
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This is the second year Kate and Marty went to Work Camp together. We
don't see each other much when we are there. Your days stay pretty
busy and each crew has a different home to repair. Here is a picture
of Marty and his crew and Kate chillin' after the work day is over. |
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When you pass the mouse over the picture to the left, the
picture will change from the house BEFORE we arrived to the house AFTER we
finished. I wish you could see this kind of difference in the team
that worked on the house. Believe me when I say it is there. |
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Kate is home again and learning how to wash cars. She likes the fact
that she can shoot things with the power washer. She really likes to
wash her car the best. |
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Cindy |
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Cindy always takes care of the dogs. She especially likes it when
Charlie gets really muddy. Here are some picture of him looking pretty
and brown. He found a swimming hole when the fish pond filled up with
rain before we had the liner in. Doesn't that look like fun to you
too? |
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But you can see that she got everything under control and Charlie got
cleaned up pretty well. Apparently, there is a lot of stress involved
in playing and getting dirty. It wore both of those dogs out, and they
are enjoying a well deserved rest. |
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Lars |
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Lars had the most exciting year of anybody in this family. He moved
out for the first semester of school at Longwood. He is doing really
well and surprised everybody (but himself) with his first semester's grades.
He took 16 credit hours and got 4 A's, a B and a C. Ne is taking 18
hours when he goes back and is trying to get all A's. |
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He had time for a little recreation also. A couple buddies from
Longwood went into Richmond to get tattoos. Kevin isn't pictured here,
but it did not go so well. His tattoo was really big and it took a lot
out of him. |
| Caitlin (Kate) |
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Kate is showing off a little here. She wants to be a model, and
probably could be. The picture on the right is her trying to keep the
dogs separate. Even while trying to do that, she is able to keep a
smile.
She doesn't look to happy at her birthday party below. I know it
was a bummer for her to turn 16 and still be 3 months away from being able
to drive. For Christmas, she got a custom T-shirt with the logo below.
If you see her wearing this, stay off the road. (Just Kidding) |
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| Thanksgiving 2004 |
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| For Thanksgiving we went back to
Chicago land. It was pretty darn cold. The picture above on the
left is the entrance to Dave and Judy's new house. On the right Kate
and mom sit with Judy's daughter and grand-daughter. It was a very
nice family time. We also had some time to see Laura and the girls and
Dwight and Alex. Lars is showing off some of the skills he has learned
at school.
We also had time to visit with Rick and Ranae. We always make time
for that, but not for taking a picture. How do things get so busy over
holidays? |
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| Christmas 2004 |
Kate got a phone. That pretty much kept her from paying attention the
rest of the day. |
It seems like Cindy go the most presents. Kate looks pretty amazed
that there was space in the family room to hold of the loot. |
Kate made time to kiss Henry on the lips. |
Lars got some pretty silly gifts, including a couple movies. It is
getting tougher to get him things he really needs. He always
appreciates what he gets though. |
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He likes to just spend time with the puppies. |
In this picture, you can see Charlie looking out the new storm door on the
front of the house. Cindy made sure she spent her Christmas present
money on something practical. |
That included the back door also. It should really help when the
frigid north winds blow and it gets down to 40 this winter. |
| Marty did not remain that practical. He
needed a leather jacket for riding. He had jean jackets, but nothing
with the safety features like pads or a wind stop. This jacket was way
more than he should have spent, but it makes him feel safer and warmer when
he is riding in the winter. |
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| Well, that is about all I say
for now. Work has been outrageous for everybody. School has been
tough, friends and family have suffered. Good things have happened to
us as well as our share of the bad. Life is happening and we are
rolling with the punches. During the next year, we will spend more
time appreciating the time we have. Cindy and Marty are going to spend
some time with Marty's mom. Lars is away at school and we realize that
soon he will be out and on his own. Kate will graduate and move on to
something new also. So we are going to try to have a little fun next year
also. We want to spend more time reading, playing guitar, boating,
riding the horse and just hanging out with friends. We may take
pictures, we may not.
Don't be afraid to call or write. If not us, call somebody else
that you haven't seen for a while. As I look back on these two years
documented here, I realize how fast time flies. Don't let it slip by
you without a fight.
Take Care. |
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