My families 2011 Christmas letter (for those who didn't receive our mailed copy)

Dear Friends and Family,

My family in Mexico!

 As this holiday season comes upon us, we are thankful for the memories this last year provided.  We wish your family a happy holiday season and hope to hear from you!  We started the year in style by invading Puerto Vallarta on January 1st with a small army (25) of Jen’s family.  This was the trip of a lifetime and we are especially fortunate to have shared these moments with mom, uncles, and aunts.  The hotel staff affectionately referred to mom as “gramma” – I think it may have something to do her gracious nature/tips.   Due to some foggy recollections, we wrote a timeline of the trip to go along with the family scrapbooking pictures, so you have a couple of extra minutes read the back page.

 In March the kids hosted a “non-surprise party” to our 25^th wedding anniversary – the highlight being the chance to visit with many old and new friends and seeing our young adult children plan the party.  In April, we spontaneously decided to accompany Ron (Phil’s brother), Amy and Chip (Amy’s brother) to celebrate our niece’s, Rebecca, 21^st birthday.  She gave us a personalized tour of many attractions in Edinburgh including castles, the school she attended, and pubs and pubs.  A special highlight for Phil and Ron was golfing at St. Andrews Jubilee course and finishing off the golf day with some 30-year old scotch.   Both justified the necessity to blunt their senses for the 2 ½ hour return trip to Edinburgh with Jennifer behind the wheel through winding roads and roundabouts (sometimes in the inappropriate lane).  We also visited London and toured more castles and more pubs.  Of course we only visited the pubs while waiting to tour St. Paul’s Cathedral only a few days before the wedding of Prince William.  Upon returning to Denver, Jeff (Jennifer’s twin) and Jen celebrated their 50^th birthdays!  They celebrated in style with golf followed by dinner and dancing at Jeff’s country club.  What a blast seeing all 100 or so friends and family dance like it was 1985 (or the age they were then)!   I am sure there were many of us hurting the next day - in more ways than one.

Being a year of special #’s – in July we were off to Washington D.C. where Phil received an award for 35 years of service to the government.  We enjoyed our time with Lisa and Phillip, a night of fun at the baseball game with the youthful Phil’s friends and Mike (Phil’s boss), Jamie and Mark Archuleta (sorry again about that whole being late thing and rain and getting a bit drenched).  Having done the tourist things in D.C., we were impulsive for a 2^nd time this year and decided to test our luck and see if we could get into the US Open.  Jen loves to tell of how Phil almost got thrown in jail for attempting to “scalp tickets”  (good thing it was father’s day and they had mercy) but how Jen managed to get $300+ worth of tickets/bus passes for $30.  Other fun moments included playing in a tournament that Lico (Phil’s brother) organized.   We still find ourselveles traveling to Nebraska and New Mexico to visit relatives and parents.

The younger Phil is in year 2 of law school at Georgetown.  He turned 25 in September and we are proud of his efforts.   Greg is still working part-time at BC and attending the University of Colorado at Denver and hopes to finish up in the spring with a degree in applied mathematics (we are very good at nodding while he explains his projects which most certainly are awesome).  Andrea transferred to Metro State College in Denver.  She is enjoying her classes in Secondary Education and English. Phil and Jen LOVE-LOVE-LOVE having both kids at home – they are NEVER grumpy and ALWAYS help out around the house. (Note: May be biased as it was written by Andrea).  As we send you holiday blessings our family is hosting Heri, a 26 year old teacher from Tanzania who is participating in a leadership program.  Heri says that the American’s are very generous and so very kind.  His gracious manner and infectious laugh have been delightful.  Wishing you the best in 2012!                                                                Phil, Jen and kids