December 2015 Christmas greetings from the Weston family! We hope this holiday season finds you and your family well. We have had a busy and enjoyable year. For our annual summer vacation this year, we decided to explore areas of the northwest that we had not explored before, and we split up the vacation into two parts. Our first trip was to Central Oregon in June. We camped at Detroit Lake and Tumalo State Park in Bend. During this trip, highlights included digging for Thunder eggs, floating down the Deschutes River, and hiking Smith Rock. We also hiked in the underground Lava Tubes at Lavalands and rode our bikes all over Sun River. Part II of our Northwest vacation, which began in mid-July, was spent on the San Juan Islands and Vancouver Island. Our first stop was on Orcas Island, where we camped at Moran State Park. Our highlights on this island were hiking to the top of Mount Constitution (8 miles round trip with a 1500-foot elevation gain) and paddling all the way across Cascade Lake in our blow-up raft. From there we traveled to Lopez Island, where we rode our bikes all over the place and watched beautiful sunsets from our campsite at Fisherman’s Bay. Then we headed to San Juan Island, where from our campsite we were able to watch orca whales migrating north. Our last island stop was Vancouver Island, where we visited Buschart Gardens, the aquarium of the Salish Sea, and where we rode our bikes all around the southern part of the island. We also visited the Empress Hotel and checked out Miniature World. From Vancouver Island, we headed down to the Olympic Peninsula and enjoyed camping on the coast and seeing some of the oldest and largest Sitka Spruce trees in the world. Benjamin, who is now 9, has kept quite busy this year between attending cub scouts, playing cello with the school district’s after-school orchestra program, playing soccer, learning piano, enjoying legos, and keeping up with schoolwork. In February he took part in his first Oregon Battle of the Books. Ben has recently become quite interested in Platypuses. Nathaniel, who turned 8 in July, was baptized this summer. He loves playing violin and piano, and he also enjoys reading and learning new things at school. His latest interest is in flying remote control quadcopters. Mary, now 6, started first grade this year and loves school. She is an avid reader who can be found hiding under her blankets in bed reading her book late into the night. She also enjoys making Perlor bead creations, playing violin, doing ballet, and learning piano. She has been taking horseback riding lessons this year and hopes she can take more lessons next year. This year Mary finally got the hang of swimming and riding a bike without training wheels. All 3 of our kids danced with a ballet studio this winter and spring. The three of them took part in their dance company’s production of Sleeping Beauty in June. The boys roles were two of the seven dwarves. This fall the kids opted to take a break from ballet so they could all play on soccer teams. Toby coached Nate’s team. Then in October, they all took part in the Missoula Children’s Theater production of Sleeping Beauty. It was a week-long commitment to daily rehearsals after school, as well as a dress rehearsal and performance on Saturday. The show turned out great – and the kids can’t wait to do it again next year. Toby is in his eighth year of teaching orchestra in Vancouver. His program continues to grow and is bursting at the seams, yet he is still able to keep his cool and help each individual student do their best. In January, Toby hopes to launch a fundraising drive using Crowdsourcing to pay for a classroom set of high quality bows. You may be hearing from him then as he seeks for donations (his shameless plug). Juliette started a new job this fall as a half-time learning specialist for North Clackamas School District. She enjoys teaching children again and is back in the swing of being a special education teacher. She also continues teaching part time for an online university. In her free time she volunteers weekly in our kids’ classes, makes annual family photo books, and she also enjoys riding bikes, running, and cooking. We wish your family a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Love, The Westons – Toby, Juliette, Ben, Nathaniel, and Mary Email: julietteweston@gmail.com tobyjweston@gmail.com or find us on Facebook