Ashley is our 18 year old University of Colorado freshman.

Ashley is adjusting to and enjoying life at college in Boulder. She is in the midst of her first semester finals as I write this. With her new Mac laptop, we are able to keep in touch with her via IM.

For the fourth summer in a row, Ashley was a lifeguard and swimming instructor at the local community pool. She worked very hard this past summer and was able to put away a bit of money for the upcoming year in college.

Lastly, even though I (Alan) have final editorial ownership of our family online newsletter, I will not take any easy attempts to mention how much better my CSU Rams were in beating Ashley's CU Buffaloes this past season. Ooops. :)

Here are a few links to weblog entries or photos of Ashley in the past year:

Look Who's 18

Off to College

New Chapter in CU/CSU Rivalry

Tobey switched to a Montessouri school this year and has really excelled in this new learning environment. He is already learning to read and write and we are thrilled with his progress. His favorite things to play with are still trains and cars, along with coloring and building with legos and blocks. He enjoys going to Nuggets games with Carrie and I, and roots for his favorite player - Marcus Camby. Other highlights were a trip in September to see and ride on a full-size Thomas Train at the Denver Railroad Museum, and participating in opening day festivities of the new SouthEast Light Rail line with his Gramps.

Here are a few links to weblog entries involving Tobey in the past year:

Tobey is Three

Tobey sings "Shark Song"

Early Rider's on Light Rail

Cars Movie Outing

Twizzler is our loyal 9 year old Chocolate Lab.

She lives a simple but good life. Take her for a walk, and feed her a few of her custom meals, and she's happy and can be. She's starting to expect to be allowed on nearby couches now, instead of waiting for permission. Her body language seems to say - "look, I'm the oldest member of this house, I deserve to be sleeping on this couch."

Weblog about Twizzler:

Twizzler is 9!

2006 was a year of fun trips and memorable events for Carrie and Alan.

We enjoyed a family get-together this past July in Michigan that celebrated 100 years of birthday's for Karl and Amy. Our summer was busy with getaways to Estes Park and Winter Park. This fall found us back in Cocoa Beach enjoying our condo, soaking up a little bonus sunshine and having a blast for a day at the Magic Kingdom in Orlando.

Carrie briefly got out of the Information Technology job market, but found herself drawn back into it. In the recent Fall, she came across a contract opportunity for CHI - Catholic Health Initiatives as a Data Analyst. So far, it has proven to be that elusive well balanced job with a nurturing, interesting environment to be in, and a great boss to work for. Her green thumb with the lawn and flowers in our front yard continue to amaze.

I continue to work for Strategic Computing, coming up on my 2 year anniversary with the local consulting firm in January. The commute is excellent, and I enjoy the people I work with very much. DecaTech continues to keep me very busy in my spare time in the evenings, and a new blog that I've recently started allows me to express my passion for web design standards.

A few highlights/trips from the year from our family weblog, where there are lots of links to Flickr digital photos:

Michigan Vacation

Winter Park Getaway

October Florida Trip