Merry Christmas!

Dear Friends,

Sally, Hannah, Emma, and I would like to wish you and your families a very merry Christmas and a healthy and happy New Year.  2017 was a great year for us, a year of change and joy and growth.  We can’t wait for 2018, and we hope that it will be a great year for you as well.

Our family, 2017

It’s been a different kind of year for me.  As the kids have grown older and gotten into more of their own activities, I’ve found myself taking on a decided family support role.  I’ve raced less but tried to find new ways to fit into our local community, a process that has been extremely rewarding.  I taught swimming at the local YMCA at the end of last year and the beginning of this one, but I ultimately had to give it up due to my schedule.  Still, being in the water, got me out doing some open water swimming with Sally while she kayaked, and that gave me the confidence to join a Swim Across the Sound relay team—right at the last minute.  That was a terrific experience, and now I’m hoping to organize my own team with some of my old Army Swimming teammates for 2018’s event.  If you’re interested, please keep an eye out for that.

Besides working as a fitness instructor and program manager, Sally has often served as our family’s travel and logistics coordinator.  She not only makes sure that the kids get to all of their activities on time, she also arranges our vacations!  We didn’t travel a lot this year, but Sally did organize our first ski weekend with the kids in February, and we went to Maine as a family in August.  Those two trips were arguably the highlights of our year.  We also kept up our season tickets to Army Football games, which became a kind of scheduling and logistical challenge all its own but that was also very rewarding, especially in a year in which the team won all of its home games!

Hannah finished the year as the valedictorian of her junior high school class, was named the school’s Superintendent’s Award winner, and gained acceptance to Trumbull High School’s elite Agriscience program.  The whole process felt like a dry-run for college, but she’s now a freshman and seems to really enjoy it.  Alas, we never made it to a Trumbull High football game.  Emma entered Wooster Middle School this year, where she plays flute and sings with the Select Choir.  My favorite part of this was seeing Emma play with the band at a Stratford High football game.  Beyond that, both girls remain heavily involved with Junior Sailing at the Housatonic Boat Club and with our church’s youth group.  Emma remains active in Girl Scouts as well, and as I write this, we are anxiously awaiting her debut in the Nutcracker this coming weekend.  Hannah has also kept singing, having performed the National Anthem for the Bridgeport Bluefish and at a few charity road races this past summer.  She was cast just this past week in the chorus in her high school musical as well.  She’s also still doing gymnastics, and lately she’s been making noises about going out for Trumbull’s cheerleading team.  We’ll see how that goes.

As you can imagine, Sally and I are mostly just trying to keep up.  2018 promises more of the same, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

With all of the love and joy of the Holiday Season,

Dan, Sally, Hannah, and Emma