Christmas Letter 2003

Fortunately for you, the reader, much of 2003 was lost in a sleepless haze. Although Jasper was a very mellow, easy-going baby, he was master of the 10 minute power nap. Two or three of these per day seemed to keep him going, but did nothing for the rest of us. Rhiannon was up at 6am to leave for school by 6:45am, and Jasper quickly caught on to the tag team approach of sleeping, so that the parents always have some child awake.

We arrived back home in Puerto Rico at the end of January. We regained consciousness about June. There was a long-awaited workshop in Cannes, France, which we wanted to attend, so we took Jasper but left the other kids with the babysitter in PR. We only just got Jasper's passport in time, since the Louisiana birth certificate was delayed several times. But he was a good traveler, and only once was up from midnight to 3am with jet lag (the night before my talk, naturally). We stayed to tour the French Riviera, and took in an international horse jumping competition which happened to be there. That was really fun and interesting to watch.

In July, we took the whole gang off to Hawaii, to visit Mike's parents. It was a very long day, but the kids did very well. Upon arrival, Jasper decided it was time to wake up, while the rest of us wanted to collapse. But after a few days, we were all mostly recovered. Rhiannon and Tris loved exploring new exciting places, like the library (we don't have those, sadly) and the beach (we do have those, but not just a walk out the front door). They liked walking to the park to play, and having a bike path to just go for walks. From there, we left the kids with Granny and Grandpa, and took Jasper to a conference in Sydney, Australia. Whatever were we thinking?? It seemed like a good idea at one time, but sitting in the Honolulu airport was not the time. As they say, she'll be right. It was nice. The conference was different than those we usually attend, but we had nice visits with many people. We saw some nice museums. Had nice food. Kangaroo is very tasty, I must admit.

From there we went north to a meeting of amateur astronomers at a workshop in Nelson Bay. Unexpectedly, it was terrific, and we stayed longer than we had planned. The people were great, and it was very productive (though I have yet to do the things I promised, but I will keep trying). We stayed a few more days and finally saw one wild kangaroo, along with many Australian bird species. We sampled very nice Australian wines, and enjoyed a bit of winter.

After returning to Hawaii, resting all too briefly, and then the marathon back to PR, we could not face another trip to CA. So we skipped the DPS meeting in Monterey, regretfully. But it was good to catch up on things (like sleep) in the fall when Jasper finally decided to sleep through the night. (Good thing he is cute...)

We had a nice visit from Mike's mom in early Dec, and so had an early birthday celebration for the boys (Tris had his 4th birthday, Jasper his 1st). Then on to Christmas, New Years (not as frighteninly loud as previously) and most recently, Three Kings Day (Jan 6). Presents, presents and more presents.

We hope all of you are well and had a happy holiday season. As always, we have a guest house, and invite you to come visit our tropical paradise. It's a nice place to visit, and there is a lot to see.

Wishing you all the best in 2004!

Ellen, Mike, Rhiannon, Tristan and Jasper