Christmas 1995

David is still designing and testing mobile robots at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, for NASA’s future space station. He was coordinator of the International Mobile Robotics Competition again this year (in Montreal). After the competition he took a few days to vacation in Quebec City and to practice his French (he had spent his junior year of college in Marseille, France). David has made quite a few other trips this year presenting papers and vacationing. In June he used some frequent flyer miles and spent a couple weeks in Alaska. Last March he chaired a symposium on artificial intelligence at Stanford University, and was able to drop in for a visit with his uncle Leon and aunt Ginny and cousins in Belmont, near San Francisco. David enjoys running, working out, camping, traveling, and keeping up with the latest computer technology.

Suzie and Jerry have enjoyed watching their daughter Kaitlyn growing during her first year -- giving her first smile, taking her first steps and saying her first words. She is a very lovely and bright little girl, with a wonderfully pleasant disposition. Suzie is still working as a tax attorney in Madison, and Jerry still works as an architectural draftsman. Suzie is getting back in shape by working out and running again. Jerry missed deer season last year because of Kaitlyn’s birth, but made up for it this year by spending a number of days with his brothers hunting in both Michigan and Wisconsin.

Steve is a fourth-year graduate student in astronomy at the U. of Florida. He expects to receive his Ph.D. next year, and is looking into teaching and/or research jobs, and looking forward to “getting a life.” Like David, he has been traveling a great deal, presenting papers and doing research. He presented a paper in Hawaii this October, and has made three trips to Heidelberg University’s famous Max Planck Institute doing research with German astronomers (however, his girl friend “Dr. Jane” is doing a post-doc at Heidelberg U., so he is undoubtedly mixing pleasure with business). He is also editor of Urania, the newsletter of the U. of Florida Astronomy Dept. Steve is still an avid runner, training about 75 miles per week. He runs (and wins) many road races. He ran his first marathon this December placing 8th at 2 hrs. 51 mins., thus qualifying for the 1996 Boston Marathon.

Nancy finished her one-year residency in audiology at the U. of Florida Hospitals in August. She then took a job as audiologist with the public school systems of several counties in NE Iowa. She lives in Cedar Falls, and is glad to get back to the Midwest. She bought her first car, a Ford Explorer, which she uses traveling to various schools in her work. and making frequent visits to the rest of her family here in Wisconsin. Four-wheel drive comes in handy going to work during those terrible Iowa winters. She also is a very dedicated runner, running in the Disney World Marathon this year and also qualifying for the 1996 Boston Marathon. She and Steve have a motel room reserved near Boston for the 100th running of the Boston Marathon next April.

Peter is a senior at the UW-Madison. He has completed his major in music (French horn), and is working on a major in physics. He plays horn for several university and community groups, and does numerous gigs for weddings, etc. He also has a part-time job on campus supervising auditorium seating and stage set-up for concerts and other events. Last summer David flew Peter and Tony to Houston for a visit. Peter’s girlfriend Julie used some of her father’s frequent flyer miles and joined them. Among other things, they all went to San Antonio for a couple days to see the sights and experience the Mexican culture.

Sarah finished a year working for the U. of Minnesota Psychology Dept. in their Psychophysiology Research Lab, collecting brain-wave and other psychophysiological data for their famous Twin and Family Studies. Then she began graduate work toward a doctorate in clinical neuropsychology at the U. of Florida. Sarah also was able to visit her uncle Leon and aunt Ginny and cousins while on a camping trip along the West Coast last May with her boyfriend Kurt from Los Angeles. In fact, the big news this year is that Sarah and Kurt became engaged in October. He has an M.A. in English, and has found a job in Gainesville so they can be together while she works on her doctorate. They bought Steve’s car -- now they all still have transportation and Steve has extra money to spend on his many trips. The wedding is planned for 1997.

Betsy is a junior at UW-Milwaukee in psychology. She moved into her first apartment this fall. She enjoys computers, keeping in touch with her brothers and sisters and friends through e-mail, browsing the World Wide Web; and in fact, is the fourth member of our family to have their own home page on the Web. While at school she worked as a research assistant in a hypnosis study, and this past summer she once again worked on a ginseng farm (Central Wisconsin is the ginseng capital of the world). And she got to travel some -- she and Katy flew to Alaska and met David for a week of traveling and camping. If they paid their way to Alaska, David said he would pay for the rental car and all their room and food expenses. They couldn’t pass up a deal like that from their rich older brother. The high point of the trip for Betsy was getting close enough to touch a glacier -- something a sign warned them not to do. Betsy also enjoys going to rock concerts. Her favorite band is Blues Traveler -- in fact, she yelled so loudly during their concert in Madison that the drummer Brendan Hill threw one of his drumsticks to her.

Katy began her freshman year at UW-Madison. She is in the Honors Program and living in a dorm for Honors students. Right now she is undecided about a major; however, she obtained the highest possible score on the ACT college entrance exam and could excel in just about any field. Katy works part-time for Peter, setting up seating, etc. She also worked in the ginseng fields this summer with Betsy. Katy also enjoys computers, keeping in touch through e-mail and “surfing the net.” A high point this year was her trip to Alaska. She and Betsy almost drove their older brother nuts. Being in Madison means she makes frequent trips to visit and stay overnight with her sister Suzie, usually baby-sitting Kaitlyn so Suzie and Jerry can have a night out.

Kayla is in her second year living with us. She is from Andros Island in the Bahamas, and is starting her senior year at Pacelli High School. She is applying to colleges for next year. This past year at school she ran on the track team; was active in Quest, which conducts religious retreats for high school students; was on the liturgy committee; on the Student Council; helped Janet with religious education in the parish; and helped out at First Home, a residence for unwed mothers. Although she spent the summer with us, she was able to return home a couple times for visits; and her aunt Dorabelle visited here during the summer.

Tony is a junior in high school. This fall he ran cross country, and his team won the State Championship. However, basketball is his first love and he is finally playing varsity this fall. He enjoys hanging out with his many friends in our basement, playing Ping-Pong, video games, poker, and watching videos. A high point of this year was visiting (with Peter) his oldest brother David in Houston. When David was working during the day, they would play with his home computer. They finally were able to solve the CD game Myst. Tony also has been very active in school, church and community activities, and because of this has been chosen to attend the Christian Youth Leadership Conference in Israel during spring break next year.