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Hi all, Stephanie and I agree it has been quite a year! Some of you are wondering "who is Stephanie?" while others are wondering "Who is "I"? Read on and find out! The year started on the beach in Port Alfred in South Africa with my boys William (now 16) and Jason (now 14). This was the treat I had been promising when I took them back to South Africa to find their roots and show them where I grew up and to see their Nanna, aunt and cousins Paul and Vicky. It was a great trip, starting with meeting friends in Johannesburg and then moving on to Cape Town, seeing Table Mountain and Chapman's Peak. We then headed to Port Alfred via Port Elizabeth and later I took them through to East London where I grew up. Throughout this time there was some mysterious emailing going on - enter Stephanie.

Stephanie and I met at a party for singles at the local Fellowship Church. Stephanie has two children, Andrew (10 at the end of December) and Sharla (just turned 3).Things were casual for 2005 but in 2006 things moved swiftly and we married on May 25th, much to the consternation of some friends (others loved the idea). The concerns were that she was marrying me because I was being deported (I am a US citizen since 2000), that she was pregnant (nope!), that I was gaining the daughter I always wanted, that I married her for money (we have the same amount), etc. etc. We bought a beautiful home in Trophy Club that is on the golf course and has an indoor swimming pool, converted the formal dining room into a bedroom for Sharla (so she is downstairs and the boys are upstairs, which works out well). We were married in the house as the two living areas are back to back forming a large open area. We honeymooned in Cozumel at a super resort and were ready for the relaxing time off!

I have continued to work at Troy's auto recycling company (a prior consulting client) as general manager, and it has been a good but trying year as we are building a new building and tore down the old building, moved into a trailer where we have been for the past six months. Hopefully in a few weeks we will be in the spacious new offices! I continued my studies and am now ABD (all but dissertation) and it will be a close thing whether I complete that in time to graduate in July 2007 or it will be July 2008. We went on a cruise over Thanksgiving to the Caribbean (Steph, Jason + Andrew) and voted that as best vacation ever, Royal Caribbean proved to be an excellent cruise line (we heard some stories of some not so great other cruise lines) and the weather was favorable.

After that hectic year I managed to further complicate thing by having an accident at work. I was moving Troy's F450 truck and while reversing it, it got stuck, so I hopped out to find out the problem - two planks wedged behind the front right wheel. When I moved them (not expecting them to come out) the truck started to roll back. In my efforts to get into the passenger side I got crushed between the truck and a scissors lift, breaking three ribs in the process. The pain was so severe even morphine could not abate it and it has been a long slow recovery sleeping in a sofa recliner and more recently in a bed where it is agony until I eventually fall asleep.

William and Jason have had their usual good year, playing soccer in their highest divisions ever, where William's team it seems bit off more than they can chew as they are at the bottom of Div 2 Classic league, while Jason is goalkeeper for a team that is 4th in division 3 Classic. William is also on the schools varsity cross-country team where he will letter for the 3rd year and just made the varsity soccer team. He has done really well driving this year (got the Spyder, lucky fellow) and he also got a high speed session on the track as I joined another racing school as instructor and so could get him a discount. Jason is on the high school varsity swim team, a great accomplishment for a freshman! Academically they continue to do well. Andrew is also a gifted student and so fits right in, he had his first season of soccer joining the soccer crazy family and did very well as a midfielder where he is fairly tenacious while his skills develop.

Steph's news:
This has been the year for change, for sure! It is all I can do to keep up. I have been working as a dietitian at an output peritoneal dialysis clinic for a little over a year now. It is a long commute and long hours M-Th, but then I get most Fridays off. I continue to unpack boxes and organize as I can, and it has been a long process. With the move and changes, we have also started attending another church that is closer and smaller. However, we continue to belong to home team (now for married couples) at the church where Brent and I met.

Sharla is petite, has big blue eyes, and lots of blond curls. On Dec 3rd we celebrated her golden birthday (age 3) at Chuck E Cheese Pizza, which she thoroughly enjoyed. She is very sweet, smart, and social; she talks all the time, gives lots of hugs and kisses, and likes to wear pretty dresses and nail polish. In fact, you might say she is “all girl”. Her favorite color is purple, and most days she wants to wear purple clothes too. Her favorite activities are reading books, playing on the “puter” (computer), jumping on trampoline, bath-time, playing at the park, and parties where there are plenty of kids. In April, she had another craniotomy to correct congenital skull and facial defects. That went extremely well, and she “bounced right back”, better and cuter than ever!

Andrew is small with almond-shaped brown eyes, glasses, and straight brown hair. He continues to be very well coordinated, runs fast and enjoys sports, especially playing on his soccer team. Last July, he started keyboard lessons, and has done exceptionally well, as he can memorize and play fairly complicated pieces with both hands! He took a break from keyboard this summer and fall, but will start again in January. This fall, he sang in the choir at his school; his music teacher said he was musically talented with a wonderful voice! Andrew also continues to do well in the school gifted program, and particularly enjoys math. He is currently working on a science project for the school science fair in January.

We love each and every one of you dearly, and appreciate all your love and friendship shown to us, especially during this past year with all the changes and challenges. Trusting you had a very merry, memorable Christmas and have an especially blessed new year!

Lots of love, Brent, Steph, William, Jason, Andrew + Sharla