Greetings Friends and Family,

We hope you and your family are healthy and enjoying the holiday season once again. This is our annual holiday greeting and news letter, which the Fruitcake Lady on Jay Leno calls “a boring piece of trash”. We trust you’ll find it more interesting than that!

Our big news this year is that we moved back to Massachusetts! After 7 years in Washington we decided we needed to feel more “rooted” and closer to our family & long time friends, activities, and geography, so our reverse odyssey began in March.

In April, Elizabeth flew to Boston on a house hunting mission, making sure to stop in and surprise her dearest friend Mandy on her 40^th birthday. After a few generally disappointing days viewing homes in southern New Hampshire, she returned home. We prepared to put the Redmond house on the market, which we did at the end of April. We immediately got an excellent offer, at which point Jim then took a turn and flew to Massachusetts to buy a house. He found a winner in Groton MA, before EB even saw the emailed photos! What a trusting wife, eh!

May was spent packing and preparing the house for inspection and sale, and making moving plans which were tricky since we were returning with 3 young children.

June was a really busy month. We had a garage sale, Brendan’s 4^th pre-birthday party for Washington friends, Ciara’s graduation from kindergarten, end-of-school carnival, and our move in the space of a week! Thank God for our dear friends Stacey, Karen, Gina, Hillie and John B. who came to our rescue and made sure we got packed and moved on time. We also had a special “Goodbye Seattle” day for the family, including a meal at the top of the Space Needle. Our last day in Washington was June 11^th.

The rest of the summer was spent unpacking and settling into what has become our dream neighborhood. The kids have so many friends to play with, all the families get along and socialize, and some even vacation together. Each month someone has turned 40 and there have been plenty of practical jokes played on the honorees. Every month we have been here, there has been a community party of some sort. We just love living here. We also are back in the heart of our huge group of friends and it truly feels as if we never left. We love our new home and feel that it’s more suited to us.

Another small “first” was taking the kids to the Atlantic Ocean, at Salisbury Beach, to experience a wonderful, warm summer day in New England. Ciara had been to the Pacific Ocean as an infant but the others hadn’t gotten past Puget Sound.

September saw another milestone as Ciara started 1^st grade at Florence Roache Elementary School and began riding the school bus. Not to be left out, Brendan and Enya got a private ride on a real school bus thanks to our good friend Lois who drives the bus in a neighboring town. Ciara is reading very well and enjoys Math and Science. Her Spanish teacher said she is her best student and she has a reputation at school for her prowess on the monkey bars! She learned to ride her bike without training wheels this summer and Brendan now rides with only one. It is a sight to see as he leans the bike over so much that it looks as if he’s about to fall over! Enya is catching up on her tricycle and will not be left in anyone’s wake.

Also in September, Brendan started Pre-K at Alphabet Soup Preschool in Westford with Mum and Dad alternately playing chauffeur; he is enjoying a special math and science class along with the usual pre-school things. He has forgone most of his toys for Legos and today he built a fridge and stove. Both he and Ciara are getting more interested in sports thanks to all the sporting kids in the Deerhaven development. They will be joining the soccer and baseball teams in the spring.

This autumn, Enya is continuing to amuse us with her antics and fun, shy but tough personality. She is currently tackling potty training. Peers in the neighborhood are encouraging her during their Friday morning play dates. Enya also was finally baptized in the same church where we were married nearly 14 years ago! We had lots of friends join us to welcome her to the church and to her new life in MA. It was a fun day and great to see our friends again.

Elizabeth re-launched her business upon returning to MA and got a client straight away. She is keeping the company small for the next few years until the kids are all in school and she can devote more time to outside activities. At the beginning of the year Jim built her website ChaosToCalm.net and set up her online presence, which people have been finding and using.

Jim’s business was about to get going when the decision was made to move, delaying things for several months. Now that we’re settled, Jim is continuing development of the business plan and web service he plans on creating. In the meantime he’s continuing his education and technical training for the forthcoming work.

Jim continues his involvement with the Porsche Club, now in his 21^st year. This summer, he received a national-level appointment as Information Technology Chairman – essentially a CIO, systems and applications specialist, and technician all rolled into one. As the first such person in this position in the club’s 50 year history, there is a lot of work to do; this volunteer role has been consuming as much time as a full-time job the past several months. He greatly enjoys the work and social contacts, and has traveled on four business trips for PCA this year.

It has been over a year since Jim left Microsoft, and he feels great about his decision. There’s no looking back now!

As for our extended families, EB’s sister Colette was diagnosed with cancer and is fighting hard to be free from this awful disease. Please keep her in your prayers. We welcomed new babies, Alex Christopher McCleve & Daniel McCormack to the clan, bring the total to 22 grandkids on EB’s side. Elizabeth’s Dad and other siblings are all well.

Jim’s parents Dan and Millie are doing great and continue to travel. They visited us during a glorious New England autumn in October, with mild weather and beautiful foliage. Jim’s high school friend Eric visited from California on business the same weekend Jim’s parents arrived. Sister Karen and brother Craig and his family are also thriving, with a new job for Craig this year.

We do miss our close friends in the Northwest and hope they will visit soon. We also miss some aspects of the milder climate, though even on the coldest days here, the sun is usually shining bright and the big, wide blue sky is a sight to behold. I also must say… when we left the northwest, Mt. St. Helens grumbled a bit, and when we got back to Boston the Red Sox won the World Series as a welcome-home present for us - need we say more?

We are now looking forward to a “quiet” year where we can all settle into the routines of school, work and play. Our wish is that the peace and joy we have found here will be passed on to you and your family. May we all have a safe and healthy new year with many joys to report in our next holiday missives.

Happy Holidays,

Love Jim, Elizabeth, Ciara, Brendan, Enya