Merry Christmas!

            We hope this letter finds you happy and healthy.  We’ve been especially blessed with a year of not moving.  Last Dec. we had Kim’s Dad and visitors from another country for Christmas, a very special way to celebrate.  Our new friends enjoyed Chinatown on Christmas day.

            In Jan, we had an absolutely wonderful time in beautiful Lake Tahoe for 10 days with Jeff’s family.  The boys loved the snow, everyone got to go snow tubing and Dad was able to break off and ski a bit.  Mom was all too happy to stay in the warm hotel room watching the boys and drinking hot chocolate.  We saw Uncle Joe play the drums at a school concert.  Later that month the doctors started seriously wondering if there was something wrong with Frank since his weight was dropping off the chart while his height stayed low and his head stayed average. So for the next few months, we took Frank in for a series of tests to see if something was wrong.

            Feb/Mar - Jeff was sent to Seoul, S. Korea by the Navy and had a blast with the Army… ah, Joint Operations!  Soon after Jeff got home, he flew out to Cottonwood AZ for a short visit with Gramma & Grampa Pizanti.  In early April, Grampa Pizanti passed away after a long fight with emphysema.

            Jeffrey and Frank started going to a place called J W Tumbles – an indoor playground where they learn new, fun physical things to do: crab walking, monkey bars, climbing, throwing and catching, etc. They both LOVE to play there. And, if they are good – which most of the time they are – they get stamps on their hands, feet and belly!

            In May, we drove down the road to the VA Ren-Faire where Mom, Dad and Jeffrey dressed up.  Dad and Jeffrey even won a costume contest together!  Later, we visited our friend Sue at her home in Scotia, NY, to celebrate her retirement from the Navy.  We had a great road trip and it was wonderful to visit and see upstate New York.  Near the end of May, we celebrated Jeffrey’s 4^th birthday at a big park with a train, carousel and playground.  A day or two after that, Jeffrey decided he was now old enough to buckle his own seat belt.

            In June, we went to the Twombly reunion in Butler County, PA, where we saw a lot of Kim’s Mom’s family.  Mom, Larry and Carol followed us back to DC and Jeffrey had the amazing chance to drive back home in Oma and Opa’s car!  He was assigned the duties of Flight Engineer and made sure his space crew was kept informed of all goings-on.  Meanwhile, Frank got the whole backseat of Mom and Dad’s car to himself!

            August culminated Frank’s medical tests with an endoscopy to determine if he had a digestive disease.  Frank had to undergo general anesthesia for about an hour while they scoped him.  Thank God, the procedure went very well and the doctors found absolutely nothing wrong with him, so we are wonderfully content now knowing that Frank is a healthy, small boy who is an extremely picky eater with a possible slight case of reflux.  The doctors kept Frank on an anti-reflux med and that was the end of the testing.  HUGE sigh of relief.  We celebrated Jeff’s birthday at the MD Ren-Fest where only Mom and Dad dressed up this time.  We still had fun watching jousting and drinking beer… root beer of course, what were you thinking?

            Both Jeffreys started school in Sep.  Jeffrey II started 4-day a week pre-school at our church.  He loves every day he goes to school.  We’ve even heard him ask on the weekends if he can go to school on the upcoming Monday.  Jeff started a master’s degree program through the Navy War College.  He enjoys speaking with adults for a few hours every Tues night.  We all drove to Paradise, PA to see Thomas the Train – where else would he be?  Jeffrey and Frank had a blast riding all the trains. Jeffrey kept count of how many trains we rode on – we ended the day with 5… from a couple minutes on a hand-cart to eating lunch on Thomas, what a special treat!

            Frank turned a whopping two years old in Oct!  We invited a bunch of Jeffrey’s school friends to McD’s and they all had lots of fun eating burgers, fries and playing outside on the play set.  Frank also had his 2 year well-baby visit and it seems he’s following his own low height/weight curve.  So, Frank was finally able, after 6 months of testing and 4 months of meds to be completely done with both! Thank God!

            In Nov, Jeff started lectoring at church and both of us have had opportunities to volunteer at school, branch out and do new things.  It’s nice to help.  Jeff was elected board secretary of the Northern Virginia chapter of the Libertarian Party… http://www.lpnova.org/

            Jeffrey enjoys adding, telling time and reading books to the family.  Frank loves shouting out letters, shapes and colors.  We plan to wrap up this year by celebrating Christmas in Chicago and are looking forward to visiting with family there.

The DC area is great to visit as a tourist and our house is open until May for friends and family.  Next June we move to Spokane WA.  Please drop by if you get the chance.  We look forward to hearing from you soon!