Merry Christmas and a Joyous Yule!

Dear friends and family,

 The wheel of the seasons has turned again, and once again we look back fondly on the joys and accomplishments of 2013.  The highlight of the year was a chance for the whole family to get together in Borrego Springs, California in March. After a stop-off to pick up Thomas and Rachael in San Diego, we enjoyed several days of desert warmth at an “old Hollywood-style” resort, complete with an Olympic-sized tile pool, gorgeous palm trees, beautiful night skies, a variety of birds, odd long-tailed squirrels and a tiny frog with a startlingly loud croak that reverberated through the night.

Back home in real life, Thomas continued with his online graduate program at the University of Southern California. He started student teaching this fall, and after the challenges of a kindergarten class, is looking forward to working with older students. He will finish next March and he and Rachael will be married the following week on the spring equinox. Rachael was promoted at the San Diego car dealership where she has worked the past two years, which is good except now they consider her so indispensable, she has a hard time getting time off. Thankfully, they will manage to live without her the week of the wedding, as well as for the Cheyenne reception in May.

Pat continues with the mineral oil business, but also finds time to run several times a week with Aengus as well as exploring new fishing spots and revisiting old ones. In July, he and Mary took a Wyoming vacation to Buffalo and Sheridan, with a return trip through the Big Horn Mountains and a fishing stop in the Wind River Canyon.

 
Moira assists Pat in the office during the week, but on weekends can usually found in Denver with her boyfriend, or attending music shows around the West. She also experienced a different sort of adventure with a backpacking trip on the Olympic Pennisula with several girlfriends in August.

Mary continues writing, with a new romance out this summer, bringing her total ebooks to thirteen.  She also went hiking on the Olympic Pennisula this summer while visiting her sister Nancy. Her passion for garden continues, and she enjoyed a good growing summer with enough rain to make her roses happy.

This fall brought lots of rain, a lackluster Wyoming football season, but a busy harvest season for the business that helps fund everything else. As the year draws to a close, we are all fairly content and thankful for our health, each other and our beloved pets.

Sine Matu,

Pat, Mary, Moira, Thomas, Nikki, T-Cat, Benjamin, Aengus and Badger