Catching up

OK team, we're back at it. After a near year of self imposed sabbatical from writing I will once again try to impress upon the masses of readers (if there are any that still check) the fact that our family is a little crazy, a lot of fun and a whole bunch of love.

We have had a very eventful year with ups and downs and a lot of travel lately. Recap - stayed here for all the Holiday's last year. My parents came for Thanksgiving and Christmas when we also hosted Sterling's two aunts and had a lot of fun. Made my first (and probably last) country ham. Rod and Bonnie came for New Years. Steph arranged for my 40th birthday present to get a helicopter ride from the Montgomery County Airpark to Frederick airport then board a private plane to Atlantic City for the night being the co-pilot on each leg. Courtesy of John and Theresa Tomasini (Wendy Bailey's brother is a pilot and owns both the aircraft). I have a new passion for getting my pilot's license and a plane. Dylan was in two basketball leagues and learned a LOT. He's looking forward to getting back into it this year too. I do have him talked into trying wrestling this winter too. He is going to be one tired kid. Chloe was in an after school art program that she loved and continues to amaze me with her drawings. Addison talks all the time, is potty trained and working on staying in her own be all night - every night. Not there yet but it can't be soon enough. Chloe also did Girl Scouts and began the never ending job of earning badges (badges? we don't need no stinkin' badges - sorry it had to be said). Steph's project went live but the headaches and drama didn't slow down much. She has needed the trips back home just to regroup. She's been tested, poked and prodded to try to find the source of her stomach pains to no avail yet. We have a CAT scan or MRI or something coming up soon to tell us more. Salt & Pepper got our first paying gig with Whole Foods in Tyson's Corner. We were brought in as Cooking Consultants for 3 weeks straight and came up with recipes on the spot to promote the foods they had on sale. They loved us and we had repeat customers that came back just to see us. We now have a booking in the Kentlands and are working on scheduling more in the other area WF. Those are fun times. I'm developing a new project at Medimmune to open a walk-up IT center that will be going live in the next couple of weeks. We went back to KC & KS three times this summer. Once for Mom's Retirement party (complete surprise to her that the entire family - Kristin's and mine - came back), once for Independence Day where we dropped the older kids off for their month with Mid-West family starting in Beloit. We took the kids out to the country so they could really see the stars. They were amazed at how many they could see. Then city boy Dylan got freaked out because there was not much light around and he kept hearing "things" in the bean field. Then the last time was for Grandma Woldruff's 90th Birthday in Clarinda with the entire Woldruff side of the family there. That all happened from mid June to mid July. Mom & Dad brought the kids back with them at the beginning of August and stayed for a week. I think it was the first time they had stayed an entire week in about 10 years. We had a good time and got to go tour the Naval Academy with the Philpott's with Steve and Ann providing background and insider info since Steve graduated from there then taught there for a couple of years.

(to be continued)