Holiday Letter

Hi all –

Seasons greetings. This

Hi all –

Seasons greetings. This time last year we had just begun Jon’s sabbatical that included 7 weeks of travel in Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, and New Zealand. We celebrated Christmas in Hue and New Years Eve in Saigon. We took thousands of pictures and were hoping that Care would have our web site completed by this holiday season. She completed Thailand and is about halfway through Vietnam. She does continue to work on it so perhaps by next Christmas.

This was a year of both losses and gains. On February 13, shortly after we returned from our sabbatical, we had to have Trout, our 17 year old Siberian Husky, put to sleep. We always will remember her stubbornness and her spirit lives on in our other huskies. She is survived by Asia, our four-year old husky, who still really misses her like a mother.

In October, we suffered a loss of a different kind. We were preparing to fly our plane, a 1979 Cessna 182, to Santa Barbara for a long weekend. On the morning of our departure, we received a call from the airport that our plane had been severely damaged. A pilot had hand propped an aircraft which caused it to start accelerating across the taxiway into our plane while the pilot was hanging on to the exterior of his plane. The plane was totaled and we are now embroiled in the insurance claims for the recovery of the damages. Needless to say, it will be a difficult plane to replace and a time consuming process.

In March, we got a new puppy – a red Sibieran named Tasmania (TasZ for short – the TasZmanian Devil is more descriptive). She came from a Tennessee breeder and has proven to be an energetic companion for Asia. TasZ had her debut at the Sir Francis Drake Dog Show and managed to charm the judge into awarding her a first place ribbon.

This summer, Jon flew us to Idaho for an advanced mountain flying course. We stayed at the Sulpher Creek Ranch outside McCall. Jon flew into challenging canyon airstrips every morning and in the afternoon we were free to hike, ride horses, and enjoy the wilderness. Over the 4th of July, we went to Ohio to see Jon’s sister, Sara, and her husband, Rusty. While there we drove up to Columbus, Ohio to visit Jon’s 95 year old grandmother. We had several guests this year – including Larry and Geof and Kath. This fall, our niece, Megan, started college at UC Berkeley so her parents have been up to visit several times and we have made it a point to try to catch up with her when our schedules permit.

Jon just completed his 9th year at Autodesk. He is now working for the Chief Technology Officer investigating growth strategies. He spent a lot of time in China this year setting up software laboratories at leading Chinese universities.

Care continues to work as an attorney at Donahue Gallagher. She enjoys her colleagues and the work. As an added bonus – she takes TasZ to work most days. We are still trying to get TasZ’s billable hour rate incorporated into Care’s pay.

Care continues her course work toward a specialization in tax for use in estate planning (a post-graduate legal degree). She has taken three courses – only 20 more to go! Jon earned his seaplane and multiengine ratings. He became certified as a Wilderness First Responder – an advanced first aid course geared toward wilderness medicine. He also took a course in International Finance at U.C. Berkeley and an executive education course in Growth Strategies from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

We both did some volunteer work this year. Jon continued as a trail watch volunteer for the Marin County Open Space District. He also became a command pilot for Angel Flight – which provides transportation for people needing medical care without the means to travel. He flew six missions for Angel Flight last year. Care did pro-bono legal work for the San Francisco Bar Association. She works in the area of Family Law filing dissolutions for low income couples.

Jon’s family is doing well. All of the nieces and nephews are busy with their respective activities: sports, school, and friends.

You can view our yearbook of activities for 2004 on our website at http://www.rizbee.com/2004/2004_highlights.htm. We hope all is well with you all and your families.

Best wishes for a joyous holiday season and a peaceful New Year.

- Jon, Care, Asia, and TasZmania