Happy Holidays Family and Friends –
We hope you have enjoyed 2016 and look forward to 2017. We had a great year full of new experiences, creative opportunities, and lots of laughter. See the many photos below at the end of the post.
Our family made some wonderful trips this year. In July, we explored the great State of Washington with a week long trip around much of the eastern and central part of the state. We made stops at Mount St. Helens, Ape Cave, Stonehenge replica, Spokane, Palouse Falls, Curlew Lake, Grand Coulee Dam, North Cascades National Park, Lake Roosevelt, and more. We are so fortunate to live in such an ecologically and geographically diverse state.
Later in the month, we took a family backpacking trip on the Ozette Triangle, a coastal route in Olympic National Park. It was a beautiful 3 day, 9-mile trip filled with excellent weather and lots of play time. We highly recommend you make it out to this part of the state as the scenery can’t be beat.
We made our trek to Oregon in late August for the annual Zemke family outing. We camped for 4 days just outside of Tillamook. It was time spent with family, playing badminton, relaxing in the water, sleeping, reading, and smelling like camp smoke.
Laura and I spent a few days in California earlier this year as we celebrated the retirement of our good friend Kim. He’s been such an influential part of our lives both professionally and personally, it was an opportunity we didn’t want to miss.
We’ve continued our almost nightly family reading routine. We started it last year and have enjoyed the time diving into a good book as a family. Brett sometimes brings the book with him on his business travels and reads to the kids via FaceTime. We completed the Harry Potter series this past summer. As we finished each book, we would watch the movie. Of course, the movies can’t compare to the books. Other books we read include Call of the Wild, Hatchett, The Little Princess, and just started the first book in the The Mysterious Benedict Society series.
Ethan finished 3rd grade and is currently loving 4th grade. His teachers are wonderful and not only challenge him and the other students to be good learner, but to learn to show empathy, how to work together, and think rationally. His favorite subject is geography.
Ethan stopped taking piano lessons earlier in the year but started up with the double bass in his school orchestra in September. Yes, that’s right. He plays an acoustic upright bass that’s as tall as he is. He is enjoying this new instrument. Earlier in December, he obtained his deputy black belt in Tae Kwon Do. His goal is to test for is black belt by the end of 2017. We support him fully in going for it!
Autumn is a 1st grader and loves the experience. She truly loves the challenge of learning. She is a social butterfly and has made a lot of great friends. We’re fortunate that she is in the same class that Ethan had so the classroom and teachers are familiar to her, as well as us.
Autumn just finished her second season in the Nutcracker. She performed as a Bon Bon and learned so much from the experience. She enjoys being on stage, learning new moves, singing songs, and the whole production. She played soccer for the first time this past fall. Her team the Running Raptors did very well. She scored a few goals along the way, learned to work as a team (lots of progress), and was thrilled to play in the mud!
Music continues to be a large part of our life. We rearranged the basement so that we had a larger area for Brett and the kids to jam together. We’re exploring the many creative sounds found in Apple’s Garage Band. Both kids love listening and dancing to music. Ethan enjoys the American Authors and Autumn enjoys Jewel, Katy Perry, and the Trolls soundtrack. Laura and I enjoyed Billy Joel in Seattle last May. So much energy and hit after hit after hit.
Laura was hired as a full time 2nd Grade teacher in September. Wow! The hard work she put in to substitute teaching last year paid off. Admittedly, she wasn’t looking for a full time job, but an opportunity to work with wonderful staff at a local school opened up and, well, it was hard to pass up on the opportunity.
This past spring, she expanded our garden from one large garden bed to three garden beds. We grew tomatoes, pumpkins, peas, sunflowers, different herbs, onions, garlic, peppers, and a few more. She keeps busy with gardening, canning, and enjoying a good book.
Brett received a promotion at work and is now the Regional Mitigation Planning Program Manager for FEMA Region 10. As always, he loves the work that he does each day. More than work, he loves projects around the house. The projects allow him to develop practical skills and use creativity so that the house has a personal touch. Pinterest and YouTube videos are instrumental in implementing the projects. He’s very much looking forward to remodeling the basement.
We may not keep in touch as often as we have in the past, but do appreciate the role you have played in our lives. Life changes so quickly and goes by so fast as we were reminded a couple times this year. It’s always good to slow down every once in a while, be in the moment, enjoy the now, and smile.
Have an outstanding 2017!
The Holts
2016 Photo Gallery
2016 Projects
An excellent update on your amazing American family. All the best.
I gotta make me one of those Lego tables. Happy New Year!!
Good to hear from you Ryan. Sending our best to you and your family. The Lego table has been so much fun. It’s an easy way to keep pieces in one spot so they don’t fly off. We added casters so it rolls around. Enjoy building it!
Great picture ! My goodness those two are growing up ! We sure miss having you as (closer) neighbors. Kate and Dylan moved and the house is being updated. We can only pray that the new renters are as much fun as you all, and Kate and Dylan were. Happy New Year to you all. Lets do a BBQ this summer. Love you guys, Doug and Susan.
Thanks for the update Doug and Susan. We’ll definitely do a BBQ this summer. Let’s get past this 20 degree weather. Brrrrrrrr.
Enjoyed the update! Looks like y’all are doing parenting right. Keep it up. My best to you and your family.
Good to hear from you Brian. Hope you are well. We are going to try to make it back to Armenia this summer for a wedding. It’s been 11 years.
Love seeing all these photos of your precious family. You are making great memories for your children to remember forever and, hopefully, pass on to their children. Thank you for always being so welcoming to me when I visit. I cherish the times to participate in your family activities. I love you all and look forward to 2017!
Of course, we always enjoy you coming up to visit and sharing the experiences with us. We’re slowly making the basement more comfortable with each visit.
Thanks, Brett, Laura, Ethan, and Autumn for sharing your lives with us. We are always impressed with your creativity, resourcefulness, and zest for living. May 2017 bring you many more exciting and meaningful moments and adventures!
Thanks Pete and Becky! We’ll make it a point to stop in and see you this year on a visit to Oregon. So many fond memories of our time in Eugene.
Thanks, Brett, for sharing your year. Beautiful family. Love the reading together (both our girls enjoy that with their children) and your shed is amazing. We’re not campers, but we know how beautiful Washington is from the years we lived there. You are surrounded by one of God’s masterpieces for sure. Blessings to you all in 2017. Love, Cheryl & Dan
Glad you enjoyed the shed Cheryl. It was a fun project. I do remember you lived up here. We visited you in the early 80s. It’s vague but I remember it was rainy. 🙂
What an amazing year! Great to see you all enjoying your time as a family and your own interests. Our warmest wishes for a fantastic 2017! -Jason, Tera, Anoush & Oliver
Thanks Jason! We hope to be able to see you this summer. We’ll be in touch.