Christmas Newsletter

Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies….okay, this isn’t the condensed version of the classic The Wizard of Oz, and as you may have noticed from the return address, we aren’t in Kansas anymore. But like Dorothy, we survived the cyclone, of moving, that is.

Reflecting back, it has been a good year. It started out with Dave looking for a new job – Capital One decided to shut down their KC office by mid-summer 2009. I guess that would make Dave the ‘Scarecrow’, but looking for work instead of a brain. The combination of work opportunities and family lead us to follow the yellow brick road back to Virginia, where Dave found work at Navy Federal Credit Union. While he is enjoying his new job, it was great that he had time off to help with the move and spend time with the kids this summer, although we did not even make a dent in the “Honey Do” list.

Speaking of the kids, they have shown the heart of the Tin Man as well as the courage of the Lion adjusting to the move, a new school, and their activities.

Before we moved, Tyler attended his first overnight camp with our Church. I think we were more scared then he was, especially because of the spectacular summer Kansas storm that decided to roar through the first night. Tyler continues to play soccer – he joined the Annandale Boys and Girls Club travel team. He teamed up with a great group of boys and has excellent coaches who hail from England. Ty started the 3rd grade, and has not missed a beat socially or academically. He still enjoys anything sports related – he’s plowing through sports novels and even decorated his new room with Hokies, Steelers, and other sports paraphernalia. Dave and Ty also enjoyed going to the Steelers vs. Redskins preseason game.

Ellie was busy this summer, attending cheer camp and Vacation Bible School. She was very excited to start Kindergarten ½ days this Fall, and has made lots of new friends. After school, Ellie keeps busy with soccer in the fall and swimming in the winter. She also continues with gymnastics year round. She and Drew have a grand time reading and playing together in the afternoons waiting to pick Tyler up from the bus. Did we mention she lost her first two teeth?

If you know Drew at all, you will not be surprised that he insisted on not being left out while big brother and sis went off to school. The first day Ellie and Tyler left for school on the bus, he was NOT pleased (see picture on the right), so we found a great pre-school for him. He calls it "Drew’s School". His personality is really developing, somewhere between class clown and daredevil with a whole lot of sweet in between. It seems not a day goes by that he doesn’t have a new bruise or bump from trying to keep up with Ellie and Tyler and he always succeeds in cracking us up with his silliness. He loves life and makes the most of it every day!

Melissa (guess she is Dorothy?) has been the glue that keeps the family together. She still manages to squeeze in a couple of days of work each week for Booz Allen while taking care of the kids and house. Not sure how she does it, but my guess is it involves ruby slippers and flying monkeys.

Of course, we can’t forget our oldest child, Toto, I mean Aspen. She is doing well for an old lady of 14 years. She still loves taking walks and begging for table scraps. In fact, since we don’t have a fence, she has managed to take herself on numerous long walks.

In between taking the kids to practice, work, and the move, we have managed to have some fun. Before we left KC, we made a point to see several KS landmarks including the horse and carriage ride around The Plaza, the Liberty World War I Memorial, and College Basketball Hall of Fame. The highlight of the KC sites was the American Jazz Blue Room, where we heard an impromptu performance by KC native and Grammy-award winner Oleta Adams. She was amazing! We then moseyed over to the historic Musicians Foundation Club for an after hours performance (opens at 1:00 am). We wrapped up our KS stint with a going away party, complete with a huge water slide.

Dave & Melissa also finally made it back to Blacksburg for the first time in 10 years. We had a great time tailgating and watching Hokie football. Melissa took Tyler and Ellie to see their great grandmother – not sure who was more excited, Grandma Trout or the kids. Dave continues to find time to run and mountain bike, and even ran a 50K for his 40th birthday. Tyler has started to join Dave on the shorter runs. Don’t tell Ty, but his old man has trouble keeping up with him.

We miss our dear KC friends, Oklahoma Joes’ Z-man sandwich, and Gates BBQ sauce, but we are happy to be able to call on grandparents to help with babysitting, and to enjoy birthdays and holidays with family, catch up with old VA friends and make some new ones.

One more thing…remember at the end of the Wizard of Oz, where the Great Wizard leaves Dorothy behind while he travels home in a hot air balloon? Well, we will be moving again next year. This time, it is only about a mile down the road, back into our old Virginia house.