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| Anne, Emma, Grace (and Gus!), and Sarah. Click to enlarge. |
This was a very special Christmas in that all four girls are back living in Minneapolis. Sarah returned to Minnesota after four years in Arizona, and Grace transferred from Loyola in Chicago to the U of M. This meant having time for several family get-togethers versus fitting in just a few during the short college breaks. The above photos are all very current as of the past few weeks, so if you haven't seen any of the girls in a while you can now catch up with their likenesses online.
Some highlights of the year:
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| Sarah at her honors college graduation ceremony. |
Sarah's graduation from Arizona State: Sarah graduated from ASU in May, and it was a thrilling moment. All of us were able to travel to Phoenix to attend, and we had several celebratory meals out to mark the occasion. There were two ceremonies and they were both great; first, the smaller graduation ceremony for the honors college, and two days later we attended the large university-wide ceremony in Sun Devil Stadium.
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| Kent and Marilyn; Sharon and her extended family; Elaine and Steve. |
75th birthdays: Three extra special highlights of 2019 were Marilyn's, Sharon's, and Steve's 75th birthdays. In March we had a party for Katie's mother Marilyn at the French Meadow in Minneapolis, with many family and friends in attendance. In June we hosted a party at Sharon's, Kris's mom's, lake home in northern Minnesota, where the weather was nice enough for the cousins to play in the water. And in July we had a birthday party at our house for Katie's dad Steve, one of many stops during his "victory lap" birthday road trip around the U.S.!
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| Kris and the girls (John not pictured). |
Boundary Waters: The first week in August marked our return to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area for our annual (most years) camping trip. It's a week of quiet solitude for Katie, who stays home, and in addition to all of the girls being able to go, Katie's brother John joined us. It was a great trip with a new route, and other than our voyage beginning with a downpour, it was thoroughly enjoyable.
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| On top of Mont Royal in Montreal, Quebec. |
25th anniversary: Where did the time go? It's hard to believe that it's been 25 years (and 30 since we met!). I think we're in some kind of strange time warp, because we don't feel old enough to be married this long. Did we get married in elementary school? (yes, nearly) To celebrate this milestone, we took a trip around the northeast in October with stops in Quebec (Montreal), Vermont (Burlington and Montpelier), and Massachusetts (Boston). It was a wonderful vacation that took us abroad to Canada, allowed us to spend time with Katie's brother John in Vermont, and brought us back to Boston where we spent part of our honeymoon in 1994. We even stayed in the same place, the Newbury Guest House!
A summary of the year can't conclude without noting a final, extra special accomplishment. Sarah was admitted to the University of Minnesota Medical School in October! As was her boyfriend Jacob. The good news followed several weeks of very nervous anticipation, given that attending in-state will save them a small fortune in tuition and living expenses compared to medical school elsewhere.
We hope you also had a blessed 2019, and will have a healthy and happy 2020.
