Merry Christmas, one and all!  We hope your Christmas season is joyous and care-free, your packages are all trimmed with bows and holly and your snackages are delicious and calorie-free.  (I can dream, can’t I?)

Although marred by sadness and illness, this year has been pretty good for us over all.  On the sad side was the loss of my cousin Dave to a whirlwind bout of cancer.  We’ll miss him at family gatherings and reunions.  Our thoughts are still with his wife and children and their families.

On the illness side, we had a pretty scary time with Katy.  Since the beginning of school last year, she kept having sudden bouts of acute nausea and abdominal pain.  It got worse as the year progressed, and we wound up in the ER on more than one occasion.  I kept asking the doctors if it could be her appendix, and they kept telling me it wasn’t BUT never had a surgeon take a look at her.  They sent us to a GI specialist for several months, but he didn’t help her problem at all.  We went from one implausible diagnosis to another.  In March he told us to restrict her diet to saltine crackers and Gatorade!  At that point I was completely fed up with this and finally got the courage of my convictions.  I insisted that we be referred to a surgeon ASAP, because both my mother and grandmother had chronic appendix problems.  We had been told over and over “It’s not hereditary” and "Her appendix seems fine."  The surgeon examined Katy and interviewed us – then said “I think it’s her appendix; problems like this can run in families.  When would you like to have it out?”  Without batting an eye I said “Tomorrow,” and so they did!  As it turns out, he's the Chief of Pediatric Surgery for the Pinnacle hospital system and folks come from all over the east coast to see him.  We were really blessed to get such a top-quality surgeon.  ALSO, one of his best students published a research paper on juvenile appendix issues, so he was consummately well prepared to diagnose Katy's problem!  Before surgery he gives each of his patients a cute little autographed Surgeon Bear, and Katy kept hers with her during the operation.  She came though it with flying colors and the doctor came to the waiting room to show me pictures of her appendix – grinning like a fisherman with a prize trout.  He was fascinated by an unusual narrowing near the beginning of her appendix; he had never seen anything like it before.  The appendix itself was inflamed, folded in half, and was forming some nasty adhesions.  Katy has not had any abdominal problems since the operation, and several doctors got nasty letters from me verging on “I told you so!” complete with pictures.

In May, Kevin and I chaperoned the Cedar Cliff Marching Band on a trip to Disney World.  The band marched and played in a parade at the Magic Kingdom, and had a workshop with one of Disney’s Music Directors.  It was a blast!  There was also time for the kids to tour the parks and have fun.  And after the kind of school year Katy had, she really needed a trip to the “Happiest Place on Earth.”  Click Here for video of the marching band at Disney World.

Over the summer, Katy went to the Luzerne Music Center for four weeks.  (It’s a fabulous classical music performance school in the Adirondacks of New York.)  They did some really fantastic work!  She learned a lot and had the opportunity to take a conducting class which she really loved.  Unfortunately the primary flute teacher had a bit of an anti-marching band bias.  She told us “You should get her out of that marching band.  It’s just sports music.”  Katy has asked if she can have a "normal" summer at home next year, but I think we’ll look into other camps – maybe something that relates to marching band!  Click these links for video of Katy playing chamber music and for a large ensemble performance at Luzerne.  

Kevin took advantage of his summer to take several classes, and is just one class away from finishing his Master’s degree.  It meant things were pretty busy for a while.  We drove up to Lake Luzerne almost every weekend for Katy’s concerts.  Many thanks to my cousin Tom and his wife Bibsy for hanging out the “Vacancy” shingle and letting us stay over!  Late one evening while driving from camp to Tom’s house on a forest road we saw a deer ahead.  We stopped to watch it cross in front of the car, and then a tiny faun came out into the road.  It stopped and blinked in the bright shine of the headlights, then tottered along after its mother -- bumping the car with its shoulder as it went.  Kevin turned to me and said “I think we were just hit by a deer!”

In August we had the pleasure of joining Kevin’s dad and his wife Maureen for a weekend of boating on the Erie Canal.  The trip was really cool, and so was their luxurious boat!  I had never gone through a canal lock before, and always wondered just how that worked with two-way traffic.  Now, having gone through locks both upstream and down, I finally get the idea!  Click Here for pictures from our Erie Canal trip.  (In case you're new to Facebook albums -- you don't need an account.  Click on a picture to enlarge it, then click on the enlargement to change the picture.)

Throughout the year Kevin was part of the Bargaining Committee for his Local at work (they actually started in 2009).  It was a very interesting experience for him!  He got to sit at the table and play a major role in contract negotiations, seeing first hand what goes on behind the scenes.  After many many meetings and back and forth compromises they finally hammered out an agreement, and the bargaining unit overwhelmingly voted to approve it.  A good four-year contract was signed just before school started this year.

School got off to a good start this year, for both Kevin and Katy.  The marching band’s show had a wonderfully dark theme, based on Poe’s “The Tell-tale Heart.”  In the second movement there was a flute solo, which Katy auditioned for and got!  (She plays piccolo in the marching band.)  We are extremely proud of her accomplishments.  The band had a good season; they took first place at the USSBA (United States Scholastic Band Association) PA State Championship at Hershey!  At Nationals they encountered a few minor issues but still placed high.  There were 25 other bands in their division this year, and they came in fourth.  But against such a large group of really good bands, that’s still a strong finish.  The top five bands were less than one point apart in score!  Click Here for video of the band show at Hershey, and some truly great pictures taken by my cousin Noah Stevens, at Nationals.

Katy’s successes in music have continued.  Recently she auditioned for District Band (several counties worth of top High School musicians), and made Flute 1, Fourth Chair!  There were 50+ flutes at auditions, vying for about 25 spots.  After making the cut, the flutes have the option of auditioning again for the ONE piccolo spot.  Katy had prepared, but not as heavily as she had practiced for the flute audition.  There were at least 10 others auditioning on piccolo, and she almost talked herself out of it.  Good thing she didn’t give up, because she got that too!  What a difference -- she had auditioned for District Band last year but started to feel sick before she played her piece, and she didn’t get in.  This year she was really able to do her best and scored 25 points higher than last year.  Only three other flutists had a higher overall score!  Several judges and several different playings of the audition piece are required at auditions, and each performance is rated on several different criteria.  She received several perfect scores -- so either those were particularly easy judges, or Katy was really "in the pocket!"  She’s also in County Band and County Orchestra this year – so we’ll get to go to a lot of concerts.

For me, this was absolutely a banner year.  After years of planning and changing said plans, we finally renovated the house.  Our house was built with a mother-in-law apartment and its own little kitchenette with a separate door to the back yard.  The main kitchen wasn’t much bigger, and wouldn’t accommodate a modern fridge without completely blocking the entrance on one side.  So, the apartment was the logical place for a new kitchen.  Problem was, that meant no more music room for Katy.  Well, about 20+ years ago, Mother and Dad redid and enclosed the back porch – for which the township required the cement be torn up and an up-to-code footer laid.  Almost half of the work there was already done!  We built a new music room out of the porch and opened the apartment into the kitchenette to make a large L-shaped room.  The old kitchen became a butler’s pantry with cabinets, cabinets, cabinets!!  I love having lots of storage space, and absolutely ADORE the new kitchen.  The old kitchenette is now a built-in breakfast area and it’s my favorite part of the house.  The builder measured the pews at his church, and used the same height and angles.  I had thought we might need cushions, but no – the benches are surprisingly comfortable.  It’s a great place for homework, family dinner, or a quiet cup of coffee while watching the bird feeder.  Click Here for a tour.

This fall, Kevin put in some long hours painting the living room and dining room, which needed it pretty badly.  When the house was built, the plasterers who worked on it were just learning the trade.  Kevin did the best job possible, seeing as what he had to work with was pretty rippley and uneven.  We really like the new warmer color.  Next we’re planning to work on the office and bedrooms, and then it’s on to the basement!

Wow, this has really turned into a blow-by-blow description of our year – minus stuff like getting the car fixed and grocery shopping.  Thanks for putting up with my long-windedness, and just be glad I didn’t include the pictures of Katy’s appendix!  We wish you all an enchanted Merry Christmas and a vastly Happy New Year.

    Much love,  - Julie, Kevin and Katy