We hope this letter finds all of you to be healthy and happy. Much of our joy this year has come from our granddaughter Kyra, who is now 21 months. We have had so much fun watching her grow. With her thick dark curls and bright eyes she is very lovable. She chatters constantly, but until recently we couldn’t tell if she was speaking English, Spanish or...? On Halloween I took her around the neighborhood to see the decorations. In one yard there were ghosts and banshees hanging in the trees. I said "Kyra, look. Oo, scary!" As she looked her eyes got wide and she formed her little mouth into an "O", pretending to make a scary face. Recently Jocelyn and Amanda, with Kyra’s help, strung Christmas lights. When she saw the bright lights outside the house she said "WOW!" She enjoys her day care twice a week and gets lots of attention from her aunts and uncles.

Kyra’s favorite activity this past summer was anything that had to do with water. One warm day in May we could barely keep her out of the ocean which is, as some of you know, usually 52 degrees. Jocelyn and Martín took her to several warmer swimming spots, where she loved swimming. Her favorite activity at Grandma’s and Grandpa’s is finding our cat and terrorizing her, communicating with long "m-e-eo-o-w-s", a greeting which is also utilized for a variety of other animals.

Jocelyn and Martín are very busy juggling parenting and work. In the spring they moved into a bigger house with a yard, where we celebrated Kyra’s first birthday. Martín is now certified as a nursing assistant and also works as a cook. Jocelyn is working as a nursing assistant also and is still planning to attend nursing school. When they can carve out some free time they go hiking or for short camping trips, and on their anniversary we surprised them with a day kayaking.

The completion of this letter was pending a big announcement. Terry just proposed on December 18th to his girlfriend Lauren Chroninger and surprised her with a ring! I predict a full spring and summer with Lauren and Terry both graduating in May and planning to marry in July. School has been a long road for them both; Terry will have completed a double major in chemistry and biology and Lauren a double in music education and jazz performance. Lauren has 45 piano and flute students, directs a Sunday school choir, and performs for her school recitals. Terry continues to work at Beringer Winery as a fermentation analyst. The harvest was early this year so he had a break and work calmed down by the time his final exams came. He also has been doing some research with one of his professors. One highlight early in the year was a trip to Costa Rica - another surprise from Terry to Lauren. They loved the resort where they stayed, spent time hiking in the Monteverde Reserve and wondered what the shrieking noises were. (They later found these to be some sort of shrieking monkey.)

This year has been a long one for Tim, even though it has flown by. He still works for Environmental Science Associates in Oakland, seven years and counting, and continues his interest in the environmental field. His web design business has led him to a number of interesting places and opportunities. This year was no exception. Since becoming active in the Green Party several years ago he supports the local chapter and maintains their website (www.sonomagreenparty.org). This year from January till December he worked with a small group of web designers on the presidential campaign of Green Party candidate David Cobb (votecobb.org), supported the successful campaign of a local Green City Council member, and even went to the Green Party national convention in Milwaukee as a delegate in June. What an experience in digital democracy! Political campaigns and work don’t leave a lot of extra time but Tim did find time to have some fun on our vacation to San Diego. His personal highlight was the 3-hour sail on Abracadabra, an 80-foot ex-America’s Cup boat, in San Diego Bay (ok, Sharon and Amanda went too). One other thing Tim has discovered is that political campaigns don’t leave much time for home brewing. He still managed to find some time for his hobby though, and also went sailing a couple of times, once from San Francisco north to Drake’s Bay for a weekend.

I’ve just completed a year as a licensed Physician Assistant. The more I learn the more I need to learn! Work is trying at times but I love it, and work with a great group of doctors, nurse practitioners and PAs. I’m scheduled for ~24 hours a week - translation - 40 hours a week! When I think that now I see 20+ patients a day and as a student I could barely see 5, I guess I’ve made some progress. What little free time there is I spend being Grandma, or spend some time with my parents. Tim and I try to keep in touch with friends, hiking, going out to dinner, museums or shows. A few weeks ago, we returned to our old Goju Kai karate class, after a 30 year absence. We must be crazy! The only saving grace is that our teacher - Don is about our age - has at least as many aching joints as we do and isn’t quite as demanding as he used to be. Amanda attends karate with us and listens to the old fogies complain.

In June I attended the American Academy of Physician Assistants annual conference in Las Vegas with two of my former classmates from Sacramento. In July Tim, Amanda and I took a short trip to San Diego. The sail on Abracadabra was amazing! Amanda was at the helm for about a half-hour, those navigational skills from Sea Scouts being put to use. We spent a day surfing at Pacific Beach (Hawaii revisited) - well, Amanda surfed, Tim and I floated on the board - and spent a day at Disneyland! I haven’t been to Disneyland for 27 years; it was still as much fun.

Amanda continues to reinvent herself. She moved home in the spring and we’re happy to have her around. She just finished her first semester of two in a Pharmacy Technician program, so she, too will be graduating in May. She plans to use that profession to earn a living wage while attending the Academy of Arts University in San Francisco for a BFA in Fashion Design, beginning in Spring, 2006. She started working at Petaluma Health Center (where I work) in October in Medical Records and is doing very well. After only a month she was offered a supervisor position! A highlight was turning 21 this November, and celebrating her birthday 3 or 4 times at concerts and bar-hopping in the Castro District of San Francisco! She has quite a circle of friends, both locally and through her interest in vintage fashion, cars, anything that has to do with the ’50s, and through her band, Patient Zero.

We hope that you all have your family and friends safe, and at home, and that you have a wonderful Christmas and holiday season. We love hearing from you!

Merry Christmas,
The Morgans
Tim, Sharon, Amanda,
Terry, Lauren, Jocelyn, Martín and Kyra