Possibly selling in 2014 so want to have the pictures online somewhere to link to.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Possibly selling in 2014 so want to have the pictures online somewhere to link to.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
2010 Holiday Letter
Ann has a new boss at work (7th in 10 years) so she’s busy getting him up to speed on how Product Support works at FICO. She enjoyed her trip to Bangalore this fall and still goes to the UK at least once a year for work (and loves to go to the theatre while in London).
In his 6 Sigma Master Black Belt role, Jim worked on a major project to help Solar improve product durability on its top selling product and is transitioning the execution of the design modifications back to full scale production. He was able golf more this year – he plays every Saturday as part of the men’s league at Stoneridge.
Jamie continues to do well in school and has a busy extracurricular schedule with dance 4 days per week, along with piano, gymnastics, Girl Scouts and art classes when we can fit them in. She does 2 or 3 Girl Scout encampments every year now, which she loves – the girls do nature hikes, have bonfires, make crafts, earn badges. We take advantage of these weekends for golfing, wine tasting, eating out more, etc. Jamie is in the 5th grade and we’re looking at middle school options for her for next year, hopefully somewhere with a good academic as well as arts program (check out some of her art work on our picture page).
Cookie (Cocker Spaniel), Candy (Pomeranian) and Cupcake (hamster) are all doing well. The dogs are totally spoiled and rule the house (I’m sure that comes as no surprise!).
We took a number of small trips this year. We skied in Utah again, Jamie is quite comfortable on the blue slopes now. We attended our niece Tracy’s graduation from Yale in May and combined it with a short visit to New York City. We’re heading back there this New Year’s – we’re invited to the party at the NYC FICO office on New Year’s Eve to watch the ball drop at Times Square. In June, we visited our friends Sue, Sammy and Loren in Arizona, did a little golfing and visited the Grand Canyon. Then in August we headed to Texas (yes, Texas in August, hot hot hot) for Courtney’s wedding (Ann’s stepbrother Steve’s daughter). It was great to see family and play tourist in the Texas Hill Country, including tubing on the Guadalupe River. In September, Jim and Ann headed to Las Vegas for our friend Steve Wickens’ 40th birthday celebration. We saw Love (a new Cirque show, it was fabulous), ate at Tao, gambled and had a fun limousine outing as part of the birthday celebration. Jim took a quick trip up to Washington and Montana in September – the semi-annual boys’ trip to the USC/Washington State football game in Pullman. In November, Jim and Ann attended our favorite event of the year – the San Diego Bay Food and Wine Festival. Unfortunately, this year’s crazy weather and rain hit that weekend, so it was not the typical chamber of commerce event that it usually is. Then Ann caught up with her SABRE friends at Susan Weigel’s Vegas birthday celebration in December. Let’s just say that a birthday party at the HofbrÀuhaus generates a lot of Kodak moments!
We’d love to hear from everyone and you’re all invited to visit (we still have two guest rooms).
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Pictures from London
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Geaux Saints!
Game day, the French Quarter was hopping! I had lunch with San Diego friend John and his son Tommy, then we headed to a hotel bar to watch the Colts/Jets game. On the way, we made a quick stop to listen to some street performers...
Chris, Susan and Ann at the pre-game tailgate!
I love the New Orleans flair and style at tailgating - step on up and have some boiled shrimp!
And who knew that Shreck was a Saints fan?!?
Same bus (Shreck was driving) - notice the beer tap on the side of the bus!
Now, the higher end tailgaters had the built in flat panel TVs, retractable awnings, etc. These guys are professionals!
The energy and drinks were flowing - check out the video I posted on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ksa6KvowpHg
In the dome, I visited the Saints Hall of Fame - great memories!
Ann with former Saint Brad Edelman - at the Saints HOF...
Then during pre-game, I snuck down to the end zone seating area to check out the action on the field. Saw the Vikings warm-up, the Siantsations (dance team) performance, then the Saints team announced and running onto the field - fireworks, etc.
Terry, Howie, Jimmy and the boys broadcasting the Fox pre-game from the sidelines...
Watched the first few series from there, mingling with the crowd spilling into the aisles. However, it's hard to get a perspective on the game action from the end zone...
Made my way up to my "nose bleed" seats on the Terrace level for the 2nd quarter... Yes, it's steep up there!
I was in row 20 - but you can get higher still! Here is the view of the half time performance from the top - row 43!
After half time, headed down to the Saints sideline seats (field level) to get a different perspective - met some interesting people and took more pictures...
Then after a nail biting finish (snatching victory from the jaws of defeat) - much celebration ensued on the field. The NFC Championship trophy was presented to owner Benson, then Coach Payton said a few words, he recognized and brought up Drew Brees to the stage, etc.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Jamie's Videos
Cheer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7BhtnJGFbo
Jazz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWujCkW_--g
Ballet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-vnkeYFut4
There are also multiple videos of her performing with the school choir, and even some fun "science" videos (coke and mentos)!
2009 Holiday Letter
Hope this letter finds you all in good health. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
Hard to believe, but 2009 is almost in the books by the time you get this letter. We have had a busy and challenging year but we are all in good heath and still gainfully employed. Ann at Fair Isaac (FICO), and I’m still at Solar Turbines.
Following is my attempt to update you on all the great things we experienced in 2009, and some not so great, like milestone B-Day’s for a few (well it’s better than the alternative?!?).
Starting with winter we made a holiday trip to visit our good friends Sammy, Sue and Loren who recently moved back to Scottsdale AZ. We spent a few days between Christmas and New Years with them and checked out the Biltmore decorations and the Chihuly glass exhibit touring thru Phoenix. Our annual ski trip this year was Park City, Utah. Our good friends Carolyn and Michael Ashburn have moved to Pennsylvania (miss you guys), so we had to be like regular visitors and stay at a resort. It was great fun, of course, and we stayed at a ski-in ski-out resort on the slopes, enjoyed the outdoor hot tub and pool surrounded with snow, along with all the usual fun. Jamie is coming along great with the ski lessons and soon she will be leaving Ann and me in the dust!!
March and spring brought us to Texas for a visit with Ann’s Dad (Mert) and Nan for a big family celebration of his 80th. We had fun visiting the extended family, and playing a little golf too, at Sun City in Georgetown.
April was all set up to be our big trip of the year, Disney cruise of course, but after flying to Orlando and spending a day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Ann and Jamie got very ill (IVs and hospital trip!!) and so we were unable to board the ship and had to return to San Diego. Not exactly the week we had planned but thank goodness for travel insurance, so we were able to recover most our expenses. Both Ann and Jamie recovered as well and were back to normal in a few days.
Memorial Day this year was a fun long weekend back in Scottsdale to visit friends, play a little golf and enjoy the pool this time at the Biltmore. It was already very warm in the desert and reminded us why we live on the coast with natural air conditioning.
In July we recovered our cruise trip by doing a Mexican Rivera adventure on the Royal Caribbean cruise line (to see what other cruise lines were offering). It was fun and easy since it sailed out of LA and made logistics simple with a drive and no worries about how many bags we would bring. We had fun with stops at Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta (swimming with the dolphins was our fav!).
August was another weekend getaway, visiting my sister Nancy, nieces Amanda, Vanessa and brother-in-law Matt, too. We had a good excursion to the new ballpark in St. Louis. Tough ticket to get, thanks Matt!! That was fun, and it was good for me to be back in a Midwestern ballpark that still has beer servers in the stands! Ann took way too many pictures of that!
Labor Day and our annual Kanafest, was as always a fantastic way to close out the summer, and reconnect with our friends, neighbors, family and co-workers. Then it was onto 4th grade for Jamie already, man that was quick. 4th grade is much tougher and better – Jamie finally has tests and we can bribe her to keep a 90+ average! And fall… Of course that means football and Pop-Warner. Jamie was on the cheer squad and that kept us busy most Saturdays into November.
Fall closed out with a limo party bus blow out for Ann’s milestone (yep the big 50!). We had lots of old friends visit from Dallas and her AA days. The theme was the search for the best margarita in San Diego. I think we found it (according to the votes) at Barra Barra in Old Town. It was fun seeing so many friends and having a house full of guests. Well that’s about all the room for stories this year. Hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year’s, and even better 2010!! Stay Healthy.
Love, Jamie, Ann, and Jim