Missing Christmas Letter

I know many of you said that you missed our annual Christmas letter. We were in major Ellis transition, as we sold our assisted living "The Charleston." After only 2 years, a bigger company made us a "Godfather offer," so we prayed hard about it and found that this was indeed an offer we should take. So, after accepting, we became somewhat retired as of January 1st. As many of you know, Doug said he wanted to be retired by 40 (which he will be this year). However, don't look for it to be permanent.

So, what are we doing now? Well, we're running after the kids, having fun, and looking around for the next project. I'm still the PTO president at Blake's school, so I fill my time w/ volunteer work. Luckily, Doug helps with the carpool duties of the two schools and runs back and forth between practices and church. I'm very lucky to have a hands-on man!

Blake is in the 9th grade at a new Charter high school. It is a new experience for us all, but luckily he loves it! It is a small high school of a 150 students currently, but will max out at 400 as they continue to grow. He has participated on the ballroom dance team, basketball team and football teams. Next year, he will probably try out for the golf team. It is a prep school, so the curriculum is very difficult. During his winterim, he got to go to NY for a week to see 4 plays and all the sights. I got to chaperone and it as a great time.

Samantha & Ashlyn are in 5th grade. They are still taking piano. They played volleyball this year and found that they liked it very much.

Sydney is in half-day kindergarten. She still loves dress up and playing in our hot tub w/ all of her friends. She also loves to snowmobile and often takes a nap while riding with her dad.

Doug & I are transitioning still. We are currently remodeling the kitchen, planning a summer RV trip, snowmobiling when we can, scouting, going to NY and Palm Springs (I hope it is warm there) and catching up with all the things we missed out over the passed 2 years.

One thing I can say is, we loved working with our staff and residents of The Charleston. We had some of the best staff anyone could ask for. Although it isn't the same when we visit now, I still think and dream about our residents. We were able to care for some of the most amazing individuals on the planet. There backgrounds were so varied...singers, actors, entertainers, real estate tycoons, veterans, teachers, inventors, and on and on. Our lives were blessed to know them!

Now that you are all caught up in our lives....we'll tackle the future as it comes!