'Tis the season of Christmas at the George's abode
concluding a year with some bumps in the road
But our halls are all sparkling with holiday cheer
And full expectations of a much better year

Happy holidays to all! Well, we knew that our long-term cycle of good even-numbered years and troubled odd years wouldn't last. Unfortunately, it ended in 2002. Dave's company had been struggling in the tough times, and finally shut its doors in September. We've not yet fully turned the corner from that. But - it was still a wonderful year. The kids were healthy and happy, and except for the economic uncertainties, everything was great.

In the "never thought we'd see the day" department, Mikey started kindergarten, right on time, just like any five-year-old. A kid who weighed only ten pounds approaching his first birthday, who didn't learn to walk until he was almost three years old, did a lot of growing and got a lot of help from a lot of wonderful people, one of whom was himself. So he's in kindergarten now, even in "regular gym" with all his classmates, and in the words of his teachers "such a funny little man" and "so polite" and "a great kid." Mikey makes up for his good behavior at school by being an unholy demonic terror at home. He's the "family member most likely to raid the refrigerator 24/7." He loves Thomas the Tank Engine and any surface or object, no matter how fragile, is a potential track for his trains. He loves Bob the Builder, and anything in the house is a potential candidate for a Bob repair job, which consists of pounding the object with a plastic hammer, sometimes not even denting or damaging it in the process. Dave's unusually pale complexion is largely due to hearing Mike say "don't worry, Bob will fix it" or "I have some bad news." He was a vegetable five years ago, and he's nutty as a fruitcake now. But that's progress and we couldn't be happier about it.

Emily realized a dream this year and was a Pop Warner football cheerleader. Yes, quite a stretch to put her in a role calling for a loud voice and a desire to be looked at by everyone, including 3,000 people at the county cheerleading tournament. So we happily lugged our folding chairs to watch her 95 degree opening game and the frigid season finale and everything in between. And our minds now have renditions of "Our team is like an alligator (because we're really sharp)" and "How funky is your chicken" and all her other great cheers permanently burned into them. Emily was selected for her school's combined second/third grade class, in which she is exposed to third grade material in some subjects. She is also losing teeth at a record rate, and may be on an all-liquid diet by February if new ones don't start showing up soon.

Meghan began middle school, and is enjoying it, despite the difficulty of starting classes with a group largely consisting of complete strangers. She made the honor roll in her first report card, and keeps busy at school with both chorus and band, in which she plays alto sax, plus French club. She's a gifted writer with a real flair for dialogue. During the summer, she played a lead role in a play at our community center, and, with Emily, was on the competitive swim team at our pool club. Meghan has joined a town swim team and is loving it. They practice for an hour every evening, and the intensive workout helps keeps her lungs healthy.

Katie's life now is like the old Bangles song, "Just Another Manic Monday," except that every day is Monday for her. She started the year volunteering one day a week in Emily's classroom and another day in Mikey's preschool, plus being one of the leaders of Emily's Brownie troop. During the summer, besides our own kids, she watched two girls at our house. Then the Rochester paper, at which she'd worked until Emily was born in 1995, called with an offer to return to her old job. Since Dave was making no money, that was an offer she couldn't refuse. So fall was a blur of everything mentioned before, plus working 20 hours a week at the paper, and chauffeuring Emily to cheerleading practice and Meghan to swim practice. Plus keeping Mikey from eating too much or "fixing" things, and keeping Dave happy.

This was a time of reckoning for Dave. Business had been slow for much of 2001, but it got really slow this year. In fact, his production was off by more than 90% from normal. So it was a blessing, albeit a sad one, when his employer closed in September. Dave had been a recruiter there for 7 1/2 years, and they were some of the most fun and lucrative times of his life. Since September, Dave's been investigating a number of sales positions, and is quite optimistic for more good times ahead. The time off from work has allowed him to really connect with the kids, Mike especially, more than ever before. He's been trying to sell Katie that his increased domestic involvement makes him a "trophy husband," but so far, she's not buying. Maybe if he ever starts bothering to vacuum.

Another important chapter in our lives closed this year, as we had to put Dudley to sleep. Our basset hound had been with us since 1990, right before we found out that Katie was pregnant with Meghan. He was loyal and the kids loved him, but he just got old. Few hounds make it to 13 years of age and he almost did. Bye Dudley, we miss you.

Dead dogs and lost jobs are the stuff of country songs, but that was the year that was for us. As we said though, this was actually a very nice year. Seeing Meghan begin to acquire some of the independence that comes with adolescence, seeing all the fun and trouble that Mikey and Emily get into together, and just knowing how well everyone is doing, made for much fun.

Our record-setting cystic fibrosis fundraising got us a free digital camera this year, enabling us to capture more of the trivial moments of everyday life, and Dave has posted a lot of that stuff on the web. So if you're computer-literate and web-savvy, please see our photo page for lots and lots more pictures from our lives.

All our best to you and yours. Have a great holiday season, and an even brighter 2003!

Dave and Katie

(Other family photos are up one level)