2007 In Review - What a Year!

As years go, 2007 was quite a ride for us. Here's why:

Start with a Vacation

Fredric, Karla and Dave headed off to the Florida Keys during the first week of January. Really enjoyed the Everglades and Key West. Fredric and Dave rented a boat and took it out into the Gulf. Fredric exclaimed, "Now I see why people buy boats!" Dave, looking at the gas gauges, realized why people sell their boats.

January ended with Fredric's Saturn finally giving up it's struggle against entropy. Fredric is now the proud owner of a Mazda 3.

As Karla, Dave and Jessy continued hiking in the Phoenix backcountry events began gathering steam.

Ironically, as you will see, Spring provided an auspicious omen, when the dumbest dove in the whole Sonoran Desert selected our front door to build a nest and lay an egg. Naturally, because of the traffic through the door she eventually abandoned her nest - much to Karla's disappointment.

Next up: Fredric and his girl friend Krystine attended their senior Prom. Cute couple in our opinion.

On Mother's Day, Karol and Matt calmly informed us that they were pregnant! Alas, we don't have a picture of our faces at that moment. People screaming with joy probably don't photograph that well anyway.

Spring ended with a major event for Fredric. Yes, Desert Vista High School graduated Fredric after deciding that there was nothing left to teach him. Congratulations, dude.

It seems that the summer we spent preparing for events. For example, we did some major home renovations in the July/August timeframe. Here, Kena seriously contemplates the concrete resulting from ripping out our old floor. Home improvement projects seem to take forever, don't they?

Kena helped a lot during this period and focused on gaining new skills in order to keep the projects moving forward. Besides taking up the challenge of mowing the back yard of her house, Kena also began graduate school. She's pursuing a Master's of Education at the University of Phoenix, where she's also currently employed as an Academic Counselor.

Naturally, there was a lot of excitement driving the activity. The families of Matt and Karol got together to celebrate their news. I'm sure Matt and Karol were worn out by all the attention but this was the first time for all of us to be in a grandparent role. We weren't very dignified about it.

To us, Karol just kept growing more and more beautiful.

In Phoenix, we don't really have Winter (but, boy, do we have Summer), so I tend to lump Fall and Winter together. Fredric began his college career at Chandler-Gilbert Community College in September (August, actually). He's investigating a Criminal Justice major at this point.

Karla and Dave headed out to Big Sur in late October. What a beautiful place. We found a lovely spot right on the ocean that was a great place to recharge the batteries in preparation for the coming events.

October also saw Karol's baby shower and, of course, Halloween.

By this point, we had learned that Karol was having twins! Karol was due in mid-January, but twins usually arrive early. Even so, we were thinking that October was a bit early for a baby shower. We couldn't have been more wrong. Karol's and Matt's twin boys arrived on November 9!

The boys are named Drake David and Leo Thomas and are two solid little guys. In the preceding picture, Drake is the one closest to the camera.

Of course, we have shots of the proud parents holding Drake (on Nov 14, Leo was still a bit small).

There is a lot more information and pictures about Drake and Leo on the blog that Karol and Matt are maintaining. Please go to drakeandleo.blogspot.com to learn about their journey through life so far.

What made 2007 so interesting was that the excitement was caused by our family extending onward & outward. A beautiful thing from Karla's and Dave's perspective. Thanks for checking up on us. We hope you enjoyed this newsletter. Take care.